Is it just me?

Last week was a good week, even if I didn't meet all my goals. Here's the SitRep:
2x Arms (2wts), 2x Cardio, 1x Abs, Walk (15 min)
~ Noticed increased arm strength while working on the floors upstairs.
~ Weight still at 165!!! From 171 on 9/10

This week's goals:
2x Arms (2 wts), 3x Cardio, 5x Abs
10 mins daily stretching
Scraping/Sanding floor upstairs

I hate the Legs workout and love the Cardio. Bizarre and so not like me! Since I'm struggling with Legs, I'm going to focus on Cardio. And working on the floors upstairs will work legs some; squatting, stairs, etc.

I frequently find myself watching Ex.treme Mak.eover: Home.Edition on Sunday evenings. No matter how I try to stop myself, I usually find myself being critical. What is up with that? Am I just jealous? But I really wonder how many of these people keep the houses when they're done, or end up "ruining" them just like their previous one.

Yes, I realize that's extremely petty and mean spirited of me. It's not something I'm proud of. But seriously. When they show some of these people and the way they lived before the show. If you're knee deep in clothes and trash, giving you a new house isn't going to change the way you live. Now, I understand that sometimes life gets the better of you and just gets you down to the point where it's just nearly impossible to get up in the morning, much less keep the house clean.

It's just one of those things I wonder about. How are those people in their new houses 3 or 6 or 12 months later? Do they get into financial messes once again? Is the house not kept up just like their last one?

Like last night, I was looking at the house the family was living in. Their youngest child was going through her second round in a fight against cancer. The stress and worry of that, emotionally and financially, has got to be crushing. But the house didn't look that bad to me. Unless it was structurally unsound, why did they have to bull-doze the whole thing? Yes, there was mold on the kitchen floor. Guess they've never heard of bleach. If it's such a big health hazard, did they try to clean it up? Make some effort to fix it? I guess I'm just too critical. Maybe they did and just couldn't get rid of it. The same for the holes in the walls. It's not expensive or time-consuing to fix those. For Pete's Sake - I've done it, and I'm not exactly inclined in that direction. Maybe the house was structurally unsound and they just didn't go into it on the show. I just find myself thinking, they could build 3 or 4 decent homes for what they spend on one, filling it with all these top of the line fancy gadgets, etc.

I cringe when I see them destroying toilets and sinks and cabinets and windows, etc, that are in decent enough shape to be re-used in another home. Especially really old homes. Go online and check out This Old House's web forums; there are always people looking for windows, etc, for their old homes they are trying to restore. I hate the apparent waste of it.

We have a store here in town, called the Re-store, where you can take your old cabinets & sinks, etc. I know quite a few people that have found items there they've re-used. My friend found a corner cabinet with the "Lazy Susan" shelves inside...it fit perfectly in one unused corner of her kitchen. She sanded & painted, and put a new top on it. For a fraction of the cost of a new one, she has a wonderful corner storage unit and counter top. But I guess it's easier - quicker - cheaper - to just demolish. It looks better on TV, too, I guess.

And, of course, first thing I said to myself when they entered the house on last night's episode and they are all ga-ga over the 22 foot high ceilings was "That's going to be a b*&^ch to keep warm in the winter." They do that alot on this show. Big fancy houses with huge spacious rooms and high, high ceilings. I wonder what those heating/cooling bills look like.

Anyway. That's my current uncharitable state of mind. Am I the only one that thinks any of this when watching that show? It's become my weekly test of character. When I find myself with negative thoughts, I try to refocus. Sigh. Why do I do this to myself?