Extra Money

Today I thought about a great way to earn a little extra cash. Well besides being a human Guinea pig as part of a clinic trial, which is kinda cool.

I've decided that tonight I'm going to keep J out all.night.long trick-o-treating, even if I have to carry him half asleep and then I'm going to head out to 7-11 or something like that, or maybe the elementary school and I'll sell the candy I got free at a deep discount. Think it could work?!?

Yeah me neither.

100

The other day I noticed that this would be my 100th post. I've been trying to figure out what I should write about and decided to make it a hodge podge.

First off, I find it sad that it took me over 3 years to even get to the 100th post.

I asked R what I should write about and he gave me an idea that sure wouldn't work for my blog.

Then there is the fact the gas has finally gone lower then $3/gallon here in CA. Hey this is exciting stuff!

But alas, I have nothing good or important to say.

So here's to 100 and may the next 100 go even quicker, and more interesting to read.

Rodents, Bugs, and Fungi

We have them all, isn't it lovely? Sometimes I hate owning a home because of the upkeep costs and I just read an article where a guy claims that renting vs. buying will make you richer. Go Figure.

Anyhow, back to the rodents, bugs, and fungi..

Rodents, we've always had rodents. In the first year here we got 13 rats, next year 7, and then 3. Since then we've been able to keep them out of the attic but I still see them outside on occasion and I know they like the garage (accessible only from outside). We also have gophers and squirrels that eat anything I try to grow and bunnies that love the grass.

Bugs, we have the normal spiders and ants, no biggie, but then we also have these tiny annoying beetles, which R says he's sick of. I have no idea where they come from or what they want but I find them everywhere and they're yucky. Oh and I just noticed that they fly. They are most annoying because I don't know how to get rid of them. And the worst bug...termites. We have them and who knows how much damage they have done to our home. I try not to worry about them because R is suppose to drill holes in the wall were their "kick out" holes are and spray some foam stuff in there. Lets hope it works. We have seen one inside the house, but apparently nothing like the swarm that entered R's boss' house.

And finally my favorite (only because I can't see or smell the termites), fungi! Yes, we have mold in our garage. We've actually been dealing with moisture on and off in our garage for a few years now. It rained a lot a few years back and the ground got so over saturated that it came in through the concrete. To the point we had to sweep it out. We thought it was caused by a plant right behind the garage and tore it out, but that didn't help. Finally when it dried out the water was gone and we've been left with efflorescence, but until recently, no more water. Then a few weeks ago I started to notice a musty smell in the garage. R thought he found the problem and we moved on, not so. When he moved his truck he found the mold. It's on things like the highchair so I assumed it was because it had been so humid and there has been very little fresh air in there, and I figured it was just surface mold . It might still be just surface mold, but one day when I was down there I found water in the garage and figured it must be from the sprinklers because they had just been on, sure enough since turning them off, no more water. Now that the yard is dead we just have to figure out which sprinkler(s) we need to fix, decided if we need a drain along that wall, and do some mold cleanup and hopefully we'll be past this.

Memorable Quotes

So, some of Justus' more memorable quotes (so i don't forget)

Is this for your butt? (as he holds up a tampon)

She doesn't talk real well. (said to me in the presence of the mom)

R went in to say goodnight after school and then told J he had to take his shoes off and would be back. R came out to eat dinner and a minute later J remarks "are you having trouble?" Can't get nothing past this kid.

And as the picture depicts..."I'm takin my temperature!"

If Not a Mom

Seriously, if I wasn't a mom I would get This Bumpersticker!!!

But since I am I might just have to settle for this instead.

Red Flag Warning

I can't keep doing this every year. Every time I see smoke coming from anywhere that is north of work I worry that the fire is close to our house. I thought we were safe seeing as we are right next to a major street and the freeway, but this security was quickly crushed when there was a fire on the other side of the freeway several weeks ago and we were told that if it jumps the freeway we were to leave immediately. Uh, yeah ya think! Our house is literally feet from the freeway.

Every time I see the black smoke, the eerie orange glow, my heart races. What if it's my home this time, my family. And even when it's not, my heart aches for the families that are in danger. I would be devastated if I lost my home of course, but I would understand that if it was just my home and I was able to get my stuff out that it would be much easier to cope. The house and things can be replaced.

During the devastating 2007 fires I had wanted to drive through the lost areas and take pictures to create a slide show and never did, as I thought it might be disrespectful to people who had lost there homes, and there were so many homes. I regret not doing it. Tunnel (current song as of today) would have been the one I used.

May the Lord watch over us this fire season and keep everyone safe.

Justus ESP

Yesterday his ESP abilities were right on.

Prior to leaving for daycare I asked what he thought they were having for breakfast and I suggested porridge. He replies "waffles". Sure enough, they had waffles. I asked him this morning but he said I don't know, he was really cranky.

Then on the way home I called free 411 to get the number for a local sandwich shop. Before they give you the number they always make you listen to an ad. I had told J we we're going to get daddy soup when he says "I want McDonald's". A few second later I get to the ad portion and it was for McDonald's, too odd. And McD is not one of his normal requests, it's usually "Bean Burrito Cheese".

So the ESP continues.