Progress and potential psychological problems

Last night was anything but uneventful. I worked, probably until close to 8 or 9. And while I was working, the mister was doing manly things in the bathroom.

Don't go there.

This is what he was doing.

And that is after I painted, had him hang our new light fixture, and we added the paneling (see all below).
B & W because I don't want to spoil the reveal. =) I am mean like that.

All from my cell phone again, because really, I am too lazy to connect the battery to the charger, and then the charger to the wall. It would be helpful if the charger wasn't upstairs or the battery down here.

But it also might be because of this guy:

  

As I was working last night, I felt something on my shoulder. Marcos had just got done throwing a wadded-up paper towel at me (a sign of love, really), so I wasn't all that impressed with the slight movement.

And then it kept moving. So I swatted at it. And it moved towards the back of my arm, almost in the under region and it BIT me, Charlie!

That bite hurt like a m@*#(@)#*$^@#)@)@()*#$_!@+.

I swatted at it again and it landed on my leg. I yelled, swatted it off and it landed on the floor. I called for my knight in paint-covered armor to come save me. He captured the little bugger and put it in a baggy in case I met my fate. He'd be able to show them what kind of bug it was.

I posted about it on Facebook. 

(EEEh. It feels like stuff is crawling on me NOW!)...

And a friend asked me to post a pic. So I did. Of my bite and the blasted bug.

I woke up this morning to a reply from another friend telling me that it is called an Assassin bug and that she was bit by one a few years ago and had some major psychological issues related to that bite.

Not the most friendly wake-up call. But I am glad she warned me.

I kept googling - trying to determine my next steps.

And that is where I am right now. The bite area still hurts, but it's not swollen or crazy. I don't feel any different. But am starting to wonder when my special powers will kick in.
You know, like Spidey's did.

And now I am wondering what I will look like in tights.

via Pinterest via a cute Sweedish Blog

Alright, Mr. Assassin Bug, do your thang.

A Royal Workout: I love new firsts

Have you ever been to Zumba?
I hadn't. Until last night.
Sure, I have the DVDs and I've tried it in the safety of my living room.

Trust me. It's not the same.

via

Look how GOOD we are looking. That's me in the back. You know, the blonde.
Okay. You caught me. It's bottle blonde.

Okay. This time you really caught me. That's not me, or my class. But I am sure we looked just as good.

The Zumba class was held at a local school's multipurpose room and it cost only $5 per class (or $28 for six sessions, nice!). So worth it.

I. GOT. TO. DO. THE. ELECTRIC. SLIDE. PEOPLE.
boogie oogie oogie.

I am going to attempt to attend both Monday and Wednesday nights. It's close. It's an hour. It's fun. And my cousin is going with me. My much younger, skinner and prettier cousin. Damn her.

So far, I can see myself sticking with this longer than boot camp because it's crazy busy, but not so intense. We can move in place. We can take a breather.

I won't lie. It hurt. But it was so much fun, I dealt with the hurt.
I need to get better shoes and perfect my hips don't lie moves, but other than that, I am the bomb when it comes to Zumba.

(ha!)

Looking forward to class on Monday. I will let you know how I fair then!

P.S. How do you spell blonde? I spell it blonde, not blond. Darn spell check.

A new training plan

It wasn't that long ago that I shared a few documents with you, a little something I was implementing to get the kids back on the chore wagon. Here's that post. And while my intentions were *AWESOME*, I may have made it a tad bit complicated.

In fact, after reading about Shawni's family's money system (and how it's worked for years!), I know my system was too complicated. So I borrowed her ideas. And tweaked them to make them work for my family.

And then I made a Power Point presentation (deck, from here on out). Please note that this is what I do for a living. I make decks all day long. For Senior Leaders. I am good at it. I make them look snazzy. However, I wanted this one to be SIMPLE. I wanted the MESSAGE to the point of the deck, not clip art or fancy font. You can click here to read the deck in its entirety.

At the end of that deck, after explaining everything, I have two sweet sheets. The first is their weekly checklist of items they must do. The second is the Zone cleaning assignments which will show who is assigned where for the week. We have more zones than kids. :(  So that means Marcos and I will each take a zone (Garage and Kitchen, respectively). I knew I shouldn't have stopped at Nic.

I've created some blank forms for you to download, should you wish to use them. But they are easy enough to create your own. You can see from Shawni's post, that she keeps hers pretty simple, too.

Click on each form to be taken to Box to download, for free.

I've found blank check registers to use for the kids to keep their own accounts in order. I've explained to the kiddos, in depth, the need for the 10/20/70 system. At first, I did get a little 'tude. But when they realized how much 10% and 20% were, they calmed down.

We don't belong to a church, so we don't tithe. However, I do believe in giving back. So I am allowing the kids to donate their 10% to the charity of their choice, whether it be the Humane Society or the Salvation Army. I just want them to think of others.

This is so different than anything we've done in the past. I wish I was armed with this knowledge when the kids were still widdle. But, alas, I wasn't. We may be able to train Nic and partially Isabel. And I am glad for that.

So, as you can see. It's not just about chores. Or allowance. It's a complete package. It's about being a member of the family and doing our parts. While teaching them about money, saving for the future, and giving back. It's about them losing their feelings of entitlement. It's about Marcos and I coming together to work off of the same plan.

I will update you after our first Pay Day to see how it is working for us.
I encourage you to read www.71Toes.com; it's a fantastic blog. Shawni is real. The kids are freakin' adorable. Enough said.

Every vote counts

It took all day, but I finally was able to get my vote in... and my seat belt on.

It's funny, before I left to go vote (and visit Hobby Lobby), I asked Nic who he "voted" for today at school.
He was wearing his Scream/Ghost Face costume again.

I asked him who he voted for. I figured I gave birth to him, I had a right to know.
He told me that he voted for the guy who, when someone broke into a house, broke a window and hurt their arm at the window, they would have to go to the hospital and pay for their doctor.

For real.

That answer did not help me in my decision. And truthfully, I think he mixed up a few things. Maybe a Proposition or two. But I think what I got from him is that he doesn't quite care for Obamacare. :P

I am sitting in my office, the kids have homework that involves watching the news and watching the results. My vote has been counted, I think. And I can tell you that I voted for whom I felt would do a better job.

I am Republican by nature. (Nuture?!) That doesn't mean I agree with everything our Republican candidates say or do, but for the most part, I am in line with their thoughts.

I voted for Mitt Romney because I can see his family values. I believe in his family values. And yes, his family values most likely come from his Mormon faith. And that's okay. It's great, even!

I like the idea of America standing up, getting off of our butts and getting back to work. Working towards lowering the unemployment and welfare numbers. Putting the pieces back together, from the past 8 years (and yes I realize half of those years were when Bush was in office - love him). We need to learn not to be so entitled, to work for what we have. To give back to the people who need it the most. To spend money on EDUCATING our children. Yaddah Yaddah.

This is like the 9th inning in the World Series.
I'm biting my nails.

Keeping the Castle: A few cuts here and there

I have a bug. The Fall Cleaning type of bug that I get every year around this time. I've mentioned in a few other posts that I am so over stuff and junk and stuff. Goodwill is loving me. My tax lady is going to hate me.

I decided to start a quick list of the big items I needed to get done asap (you know, in between working, the kids, the guest bath make-over, the hallway make-over, the formals make-over...).

The first thing on that list was a major cleaning on the old frigidaire. Except, it's really a GE. :P Shame on me for not taking before shots. But come on... if you've seen one crowded, dirty fridge, you've seen them all. Right?

While at Target (does anyone else read that as Tarjay?), I picked up a few $1.99 place mats. Not for the table, but for the fridge. I am so sick of mopping up grape jelly, so I decided to cover the shelves in the place mats and if (when!) they get dirty, I just need to pull out the mat and wash it in the sink.

Brilliant, aren't I?

So, I pulled everything out. Everything! And I scrubbed ever crevice of that big hunk of metal and stainless steel. I then rearranged some of the shelves and started to add the mats. And eggs, obviously.

I had to cut a few of them, here and there, to fit. (Mats, not eggs. That would be weird.) One I even had to cut in half, so that I needed to tuck the front of the shelf under it's partner, I could  - without having to take the mat out.

I know...it's obvious that my camera battery wasn't charged, again. I had to use my iPad. Sorry about that.
But, after I threw out a ton and loaded everything back in, I was pleased with my work.

Except that I see a slight photo bomb going on here. The sour cream is out of the place. It is supposed to be on the top right shelf. Next to the pico de gallo (yellow bowl) and salsa. Duh. Obviously the Mr. messed up, after making himself a plate of red chicken enchiladas (tin foil covered pan, bottom right shelf).

Okay. One thing to check off my list. Next thing is the pantry. Or the linen closet. Or something. In the meantime, I am off to go charge my dang camera battery.

Manners are over-rated

Nic has been BEGGING for a Scream/Ghost face costume for days now. Ever since Halloween, really. Well, I had to run errands today to get Isa and Nic shoes. While at Target, I found a Ghost face costume 70% off. So I got it for him. It doesn't matter that there are almost 11 months until Halloween. He loves costumes and dressing up.

Lately it's been Darth Vader or Dracula.

Anyway, after some fun scores at Target, I come home, demand 'thank you's' for the shoes from Isa (she's been bugging) and Nic runs off to try on his costume.

Five minutes later, he returns. He looks amazing. Scary, even.

Alex, the great & considerate one, prompts Nic with...

Alex: Nic, what do you say?

Silence.

Alex: Nic... Come on. What do you say?

Nic (in an eery voice): Hellooo, Sydneyyy!

(Evidently people aren't getting the Sydney reference. My mom and dad sure didn't. Did nobody watch horrible horror movies from the 90s and early 2000s?!?! Just in case; here is the video. Which is where I am sure Nic got this from. Bad mom alert. Letting my 5 year old on You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ht0uR5jWz0)


And then later... the home phone was ringing off the hook. Political calls, marketing calls, and everything in between. It got to a point that we just stopped answering it.

After about the 4th call, Nic finally walked over to answer it. You could hear the loud voice on the other end. I thought it was a recording. Nic listened intently.

A few moments passed and then I heard Nic say, "No, thank you." and he hung up the phone.

Alex and I just looked at him, perplexed.

I asked him what the person asked him.

He said that the man asked if he wanted to donate his sister.

It took a minute but then I realized that it was Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Valley asking if we had a donations.

And here Nic said "no." He must be loving Isabel today.

The kid KILLS me. =D

Mega 'Cited

On a whim, I picked a new color for the guest bathroom walls. There is a ton of white in there (new paneling, sink, shower & bath, subway tile, etc)... so I wanted something with a little more UMPH, but still in the greige-y realm for the actual walls.

In less than 60 seconds, I pointed at a color I liked on my Sherwin Williams paint thingy (technical term, of course) and had Marcos pick it up from Home Depot.

Mega Greige. Love it!

Of course, I'd also love to go with a more true grey; however, with the oil-rubbed bronze accents and Golden Munier (brown-ish) tile floors, we have to make it work.

Can't wait to get the paint on the walls!

The paneling is painted. Sink installed. Light fixture installed. Drywall repaired.
It's coming along.

=)