Jennifer Gimenez on Good Day LA talks “Sober House”
PHIL VARONE posted photos of us from the “TODAY SHOW” on facebook today…he is actually a very funny guy…
i feel like there is so much to say but yet again im exhausted… i feel like im goin to collapse from exhaustion soon… God please help me, im tired so im goin to make this short…i did 2hrs at the gym… but due to being in my car working on the phone i wasnt able to workout wit DARLENE…she is goin to break me tomorrow..i have this feeling but i did work out lifted weights ,ran and did the cross trainer… ive burned over 3000 cals taken 16500 steps and have done over 4 hrs of activity…i even cooked which was a big deal for me… ya i steamed brown rice and opened 2 cans of tuna and cracked open hard boiled eggs… haaa…i mad tuna casarole… i love that , i use to eat that as a kid…mickey was a little extra needed ,which honestly i love…. i just love my mickey even while i pick up his poopoo and as he goes i cheer him on…he is an amazing love in my life…wow if i could be half the woman mickey thinks i am on a daily basis id rule my universe…i have to get up in a few hours im to do a phone interview in the wee hours of the morning then one at 10 am then gym then off to la for meetings and interviews im shooting another magazine but ill keep u posted later…Dr.Drew and i are presenting at the PRISM awards in a few weeks and the first SOBERHOUSE is nominated which is awesome…im also hosting a few events…. now i must say nite nite i have to go clean my toilets… i have a thing about cleans sinks,toilets and floors , actually im a freak over it… i love tilex and bleach too… TOM hates it…oh salt i miss u where r u ….mrs.dash(blah) i know were ur at i dont like u yet….
yes its been a while since i wrote. you know its taken its toll on me…not being able to write is not good for me… ill be honest i feel like im about to explode becuz ive even stop in my personal journal… i can be lame and say ive been too busy … not an exception…
im blown away by all u lovely beings… supporting, loving and cheering me along has been a gift for me…at times i kept asking myself” why the hell am i doing this for”… I DO NOT RUN A SOBERLIVING HOME OR WORK IN RECOVERY IN MY DAILY LIFE…I WAS BROUGHT IN BECAUSE OF MY RECOVERY AND THAT IVE BEEN WHERE THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN…the “AWARENESS” SOBERHOUSE 1 &2: has been able to provide addicts and alcoholics still suffering ,recovering addicts and alcoholics, family/friends /loved ones who live(d) w people like me or have ever loved one of us and have gone thru the torement of our disease w us , is really the reason i did it again…i only say this because it is people like u who email me ,come up to me,post ,comment and all other kinds of modern ways of contact tell me.. then theres “THOSE PEOPLE” ,ahh im praying for u, all these people blogging on messageboards or on tweets myspace and facebook all this negative stuff makes me sad… but with every good thing in life comes some bad… over all ,about 97% of the response has been positive, the support and love im getting from people is truly amazing…like everyone else in the world i have over come obstacles… i am a child of a loving GOD and he has made me ,despite of my down falls ,a woman who has a story to tell… my experience ,strength and hope that miracles do exist…No… what u guys see on t.v is what really happened ,nothing was acted out… i may be an actress but i was dealing with seriously sick people trying to save there lives as well as me staying somewhat sane and sober thru that time in the house… this group was the toughest 8 people i could have ever imagined… it was me against them(more like the disease)…a bit too intense im really lucky i didnt get hurt or killed…but then theres things u will not see and ohhh the power of editing….like me being super stern, did happen, but first i was kind and gentle but most of the time it was mistaken for weakness and they (most of them) kept pushing my buttons..i want u to know how grateful i am to have been able to be of service…
so LIFE and STYLE MAGAZINE is now coming out in a few weeks 2nd week in APRIL… i will keep u posted.. they pushed it back due to some scandals lately…ive been on planes and cars for the last month…i really love traveling … my schedule starts sometimes at 4:30 am and once in a while ends 2/3a.m… not everyday id lose it…im trying my best to juggle my personal life /love/friends/family,work auditions/producing a show/publicity (etc .etc on this career section) tending to my house,gym and trying (not really) to have a tiny bit of personal time , 12 step program,speaking at 12 step meetings,working w 6 girls daily ,speaking at hospitals and institutions and working w my sponsor on me, sleeping every now and then oh and walking mickey…ill b honest with u lately im tripping out on having God fulfill my prayers although i can tell u itll work out for u, but i got to jump and know the net will catch me, it always has before…
im really tired and have to get up in 6 hours to start my journey all over again i promise to make an effort to journal at least 4-6 times a week… i love u with all my heart………oh yes still doing intense training but i got back on salt for a hot minute we started dating off and on again ,but were off again … ill explain tomorrow
As she did last season, house manager Jennifer Gimenez is set to give us her weekly take on each episode of Sober House with Dr. Drew. Below, Jenn talks about the third episode of the show: Mike’s departure (and return), Kari Ann’s intercepted attempt at a return and the curfew violation by a few that resulted in consequences for all.
Toward the beginning of the episode, Mike was kicked out for hitting a camera man. I thought it was strange that he was let back in, given the no-tolerance policy for violence.
The difference between Mike and Kari Ann is that Mike didn’t come into the house loaded and he wasn’t starting havoc. During the group meetings that they had with Drew, he wasn’t interrupting and getting on the phone because he wanted more attention. He was participating. When Mike hit the camera, he felt provoked. Kari Ann had punched the cameraman in the neck; Mike shoved him. It’s still physical violence, it’s still not OK and there are consequences due to that. Keep in mind that Kari Ann didn’t want to be there. She never apologized. Mike did.
But that all said, there really isn’t a no-tolerance policy regarding violence, then.
Dr. Drew evaluated Mike between him leaving and coming back. I know I said there’s absolutely no violence, but we were worried that Mike would die if he was out. And the thing is that I really did care about Mike. We were a couple days into filming and I started to care about all of them at that point.
Speaking of coming back, Kari Ann attempted to this episode. Was this as big of a surprise as the show made it out to be?
There were finally a couple hours where things were going OK at the house. We are all getting along. Seth and I were bowling, Heidi and Tom were throwing a football. And all of a sudden Bob comes up the hill with Kari Ann. It was like a bomb on our happiness. I was like, “Are you kidding me?” You could see by everyone’s reactions how shocked we were.
From what we saw, you stayed pretty quiet.
I think everybody was freaking out. What you see is the one who freaks out the most, and that’s Heidi. I was more in disbelief and trying to keep calm because I knew if I overreacted the whole house would react. I need to lead by example. Heidi started going off about how Kari Ann was loaded. Kari Ann was being really confrontational and going off on everyone. If you really want to come back into the house, why are you going off on everybody? Kari Ann started getting anyone that she could get on her side, and that person ended up being Tom, which was so weird and gross. It was disgusting.
So you think, as Heidi implied, that he was sexually motivated to take Kari Ann’s side?
Yeah. I think that Tom is very distorted in some areas. I think they are all sick. They are sick trying to get better, but Tom sees this girl, and…I don’t know. I don’t think he was trying to be the hero here. That was the first time I saw the interaction between Tom and Heidi turn — they were getting along and then he did something to piss her off. It wasn’t because he was purposely trying to piss her off. Tom’s not all there, I think you see. Tom has a violent streak, an angry streak.
At this point, it was unfathomable as a viewer that Kari Ann’s return to the house should even be considered.
I agree with you. It wasn’t like Kari Ann was trying to change and get better. It was like Kari Ann was just coming back to play the part. She obviously didn’t want it from the moment she walked in there. So I was really shocked, I was angry, I was appalled. I said that I needed to test her. It was at that moment she decided to leave, and not just because of me but because she realized she wasn’t welcomed there. Heidi did have a great point, why come back to a place where you’re not wanted? At that point we saw her intentions — you can’t bulls*** a bulls****ter. We could see right through that. That’s really a key thing: you know that this girl doesn’t want it so why try and help her? I don’t wish ill will, but if you don’t want it, there are so many other people out there that do.
In happier news, Seth made a decision this episode to stay home and play board games instead of going out on their first free night.
I was blown away, especially after all the stuff that was happening. I was like, “Oh no. This going to end in another webcam apology for Seth. This is going to be terrible.” But all week he had been saying, “I really want this, I really want this.” When he told me he wanted to stay home, I got teary eyed because I saw the desire in him. That’s the difference between Kari Ann and Seth – you can see a desire in a person’s eyes.
On the flip side, Jennie, Mike and Dennis Rodman stayed out, violating curfew.
By the way, Heidi stayed home too — she went to bed early. I suffer from migraines and I caught a full-blown one that night. I was vomiting, I couldn’t see and I had to take my migraine medication. When they came home, I was little out of it. It was like, “Are you kidding me? I have to stay up and wait for these people?”
It did seem unfair that Seth and Kendra were punished for what other people did.
This is a group — they rally together. I figured that if everyone didn’t pay the consequences, the people who did stay would think they could get away with something next week because they were good this week. I wanted the people who did the right thing to be angry at those who messed up, not me. In this setting, if one person fails, they all do, because of the group dynamic. It doesn’t have to do with sobriety, it has to do with accountability to each other. Kendra and Seth didn’t have to write the 150 words, but they did lose their phones. When I was living in a recovery home, I got my phone all the time. I don’t think I had it half the time. It happens.
How long do you take the phones away for?
Twelve hours. They were probably going to sleep eight of those hours.
Dennis gave you the biggest problems about this. Among the things he said to you were that you don’t know what you’re doing, and most people in the house don’t respect you.
Meanwhile, I ended up getting his phone, and he ended up writing. If he didn’t respect me, he wouldn’t have done that. He was just trying to push my buttons and I gave him no reaction.
Keep up with Jenn on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.
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As she did last season, house manager Jennifer Gimenez is set to give us her weekly take on each episode of Sober House with Dr. Drew. Below, Jenn talks about the second episode of the show: Kari Ann’s departure, Seth’s return and Mike’s opiate withdrawal.
The first major event of this episode involves Kari Ann hitting a camera man on the way to the Sober House. They notified you of this while she was in transit, right?
Yeah. The thing is with this, the crew members do not talk to anyone in the cast. This guy did not deserve to be hit, not that anyone ever does, but Kari Ann hit one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. It was just completely unfair. At that point, it wasn’t that I wanted to kick her out because I just didn’t like her, but she had gone out of her way to make this such an impossible situation and experience for everyone. I said in Episode 1 that I didn’t think that she was fit to be at the Sober House. I really think that she wasn’t well psychologically. I’m not a doctor but obviously she wasn’t well, and that hitting just proved it. This wasn’t about recovery for her, and it wasn’t about wanting to get better. It was just about causing drama. And I know that there’s always somebody that wants to make great TV and be that person, but this isn’t about that. This is about life and death. This is about people wanting to learn to live, and she wasn’t helping.
The physical altercation, though, was the concrete transgression you needed to kick her out, right?
Well, it was more like, at that moment I went, “I was right.” What if she were to hurt herself or another cast member? She was just so uncooperative with any situation, of anything, period. She wasn’t wanting to participate in any of the things that we were asking her to do, and it’s like you know what? We don’t have time for that.
Given all of the horrible things that she said to you last episode and this episode, was it satisfying to throw her out?
No, it wasn’t satisfying…What can I say? I just felt like this level of care wasn’t for her, so it was like…I don’t know.
Was it like a relief?
You know, there was a bit of a relief in the sense that I knew that if Kari Ann continued and stayed in that house, it was just going to cause more chaos, and we were only on Day 2. If we started off that way, it wasn’t going to ever stop. This is not a show about Kari Ann. This is a show about showing people how they recover and early sobriety and the vulnerability and the lessons of that situation. And I go back to that life-and-death thing, because this is not a joke. If the disease is alive in the house, everyone is going down. If I allow pardon that behavior, what’s next? She pushed the envelope way too far.
This episode weirdly associates Mindy McCready with Kari Ann’s so-called “sex-tape scandal.” What was your take on that?
Well, I don’t know. I feel that it was very unfair to have that being talked about when Mindy wasn’t there to defend her side. I don’t know what happens behind closed doors, and no one else does. No matter what, this drama wasn’t about a solution — Kari Ann just lived in the problem. And even Dr. Drew was trying to tell her in his one-on-one with her to focus on herself, and she didn’t want to take any part of it. She wanted to just play the blame game. I just didn’t feel it was fair on Mindy’s side, and look, Kari Ann says a lot of things.
Also in this episode, you introduced the idea that everybody’s going to have to get a job, and Dennis and Tom were the most resistant.
Dennis is resistant at all time. I really think it’s just him trying to push the envelope. He’s a game player. Dennis wants to see how far he can go to see how far he can get away with things. Dennis ended up having the most touching work experience out of everyone, and he didn’t want to do it initially. Tom was down, too. He was in it. He was folding laundry, cleaning up dirty stuff, he was doing the deal. We have 7 Deadly Sins in our 12-step community, and one of them is sloth, and when push comes to shove, those guys were down. They were there. They did what they were supposed to do. Yes, they’re resistant, but that’s alcoholic and addict behavior. I don’t want to get on the treadmill, I don’t want to do certain things, but I’ve got to do it. A lot of alcoholic and addict behavior is, “I want it here and I want it now and I want it my way,” instead of doing it the right way and having to work for it.
What was going through your mind when it was proposed that Seth enter the Sober House?
It was really hard for me because Seth had been with me on Sober House last season, and we have history that goes back 10 years. Every time Seth relapses, it really breaks me. There’s a little piece of my heart that breaks, because I love him so much and he’s such a great guy. But at this point, it’s like, is it really going to work this time? And I believe in miracles. I was hopeless, and now I’m not. I have hope today. And maybe the light will come into his eyes, I don’t know. I was resistant to him returning because I know it hadn’t worked before, and I took a lot of personal interest because I love him so much. It’s like, how much more can I give him? I have to set my boundaries and I have to let go. We have to let go, and we can detach with love and tolerance. I can detach and love him from afar until he was ready to get better.
Drew said that he worried that by letting Seth come back so much, he’d gotten to the point where he was enabling him. Were you concerned about that as well?
Absolutely. Seth knows how to get to me because we have history, and he knows how to be the sweet guy by just blinking his eyes. But I have to be strong with him. I have to forget that in a weird way, he’s kind of like family. I have to forget that we have so much history, and I have to put that aside. I have to be the person that’s enforcing the rules. I realized that if Seth was going to come back this time, I was going to have to be very hard on him. I didn’t have to laugh at everything, and I didn’t have to go chase him if he wanted to relapse.
Where do you draw the line then between helping and enabling?
It’s a very slippery slope. I’m learning to draw the lines. I’m learning through my experiences on a daily basis. Seth and I, we get into it. He tells me to stop being so hard on him. I was told by Dr. Drew that I was not allowed to have Shifty in the house, I was allowed to have Seth. That allowed me to have a line and a boundary with him. I wanted no part of Shifty Shellshock, because that guy killed my friend Seth. I didn’t want the persona, I wanted the human being Seth.
The final major part of the episode is Mike’s Suboxone request. He was getting hit hard by his withdrawal at that point. Were you worried at all by his behavior?
I was worried, yeah. Day 2 was when Mike started with the, “F*** you, f*** you, f*** you, f*** you, I’m in pain.” I get the pain for a couple of days, but so does everyone else, and they’re not asking for drugs. I understood from Dr. Drew that Mike was going to have a hard kick, but he knew going into the house, too. He had already been asking me all day long about the meds, and I was like, “Oh, no.” I was told that he was a little rough and I started seeing that. More will be revealed as the show goes on…
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OMG my days are going by so quickly…with SOBERHOUSE 2 coming out i am on super overload …doing alot of stuff for it..yes i am still training with the boss ,DARLENE… i just shot for LIFE & STYLE MAGAZINE last week and the story is coming out either this week or next… ill keep u posted…today DARLENE kicked my arms into a whole nother gear… they are super sore .i am very tired today…but i did work out w her for an hr and then did a total 55 minutes on treadmill…i dont know where i got that energy to do that much today… i ended up at the gym for way too long i kept answering work phone calls and found myself talking with people at the gym which totally threw me off… i dont mean to sound like an ass but i dont have the time to socialize there…im on a timed schedule.. i drank my yogurt,blueberry,banana,whey shake…lunch 2oz of turkey meatloaf..an orange and an apple for dinner 4chicken soft tacos w corn tortillas…very small ones … im still hungry….
im really gonna need u guys ,ur support during this experience of soberhouse…
im really tired and still have work to do…long work day tomorrow…
http://www.vh1.com/video/misc/488495/watch-the-supertrailer.jhtml#id =1632982 PLEASE CHECK OUT TRAILOR FOR SOBERHOUSE COMES OUT THIS THURSDAY MARCH 11TH ON VH1. 10PM
Jennifer Gimenez | RadarOnlinecom THIS IS AN ARTICLE THAT CAME OUT PLEASE CHECK IT OUT!!!!!!
last nite i was reunited with DR.DREW,MIKE STARR, STEVEN ADLER, JENNIE KETCHAM and WILL alongside with some thier friends and family…we got to spend some time together…TOM was there as well…it was actually a nice few hours spent…in 23 days SOBERHOUSE 2 is coming out so its about to get even busier for me than i already am…
i have an early audition so im going to make this a quickie tonight…why does being a woman entail so much maintance… i had to color my hair, again… ive gone a lot lighter than last year so its just alot more work with all the colors in it…between that , the nails, toes, workouts,blah blah its just alot of work…
today i did ONLY cardio…ive been on the treadmill the last 5/6 days for cardio after my training with Darlene,but today i ran straight with out not even a minute break…i did 1hr 25 minutes … i ended up running close to 7 miles…man i was a red as a tomatoe…i had a whey protien,banana,blueberry shake this a.m then cabbage salad and a handful of walnuts for lunch, for dinner i had tuna sandwhich with cut up olives and pepperchinis w mustard and 2 tablespoons a mayo….i made 2 cans of tuna but have alot left over for tomorrow and/or the next day or both…i also had 2 oz of chicken i think the running and hard training i also did yesterday is making me need more fuel…and a vitamin water w/lots of water today…so far today alone ive burned over 3000 calories and over 15ooo steps…yesterday BOSS kicked my ass w sqats of all sorts my feet holding medicne ball side to side sit ups then these 1/2 windmills with my legs side to side and then laying on the medicine ball on my back w/weights in my hands crunching then standing ,curling the weights then falling back on the ball…ya all in one time… we did other things too but man i am super sore today…
there is so much more that goes on in one day but im just to tired to go on…
today was my little brothers bday… tomorrow is my dads anniversary of his death… i miss him so much… i will go see him tomorrow… oh if GOD can just open heaven up for him to be able to see my brother and i for just 30 seconds…he would be so proud of DWIGHT…he has turned out to be an incredible man…
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