This Is Life Working

Solar Panels & Worms

2009-04-01T10:06:00.003-06:00

Well our solar panel drama continues. Shortly after I posted my last entry, I found out (through the Vendor's FACEBOOK page) that they were actually mistaken in advising us that we would be eligible for the treasury grant. So we are back to relying on the IRS to reimburse a bulk of the cost of our solar panels.

We have reviewed the IRS code and language, and can see where our vendor gets their opinion, but the conflicting information from other vendors and web research still makes me very nervous.

Even more irritating is that we STILL do not have an installation date. After I sent the sales rep a nasty email a few weeks ago and CC'd the President of their company, they gave me a "tentative" date of April 20th. I would think that since that date is now only 3 weeks away they should be able to confirm it now, but they are avoiding my contact efforts.

For the record, our vendor is Astralux Solar and I do not recommend them.

On a more positive note, the worms are working out well. We made a bin for them using blue storage tubs and have 2 pounds of worms (aproximately 2000 of the little guys) working away on coffee grounds, wilted lettuce, egg shells, the Financial Times, and all kinds of other goodies. It took a couple of days to get it stabalized and we did have some odor and runaways at first, but the bin is virtually odorless now and when you open it to sift through it, you can't even tell that they are working on old moldy table scraps.

So, in summary: Worms = Highly Recommend; Astralux = Stay Away

Also, we're expecting a baby "any day now", keep posted or check the baby blog for more information!

Solar Panel Update

2009-02-23T17:44:00.002-07:00

We've had a little bit of stress around the solar panels lately. First of all, they STILL are not up. It appears that our vendor did such a good job at signing people up and taking advantage of the changes in the laws back in November that they are buried in orders. I am a little stressed about this for two reasons: (1) I'd like to be able to take advantage of as much sun as possible!! (2) I really don't want to be dealing with strangers on my roof around my due date and/or with a newborn at home.

I tried to raise a fuss about the install date, and the only progress I made was to learn exactly where we stand on the waiting list...we are number 28. They claim to install an average of 2-3 homes per week, weather permitting. So that means we're probably about 7 weeks out. With 6 more weeks till the baby's due date. Apparently, that is too far away for them to put us on a calendar so we have to keep on waiting.

The second major stress factor has been the tax credit. We were fully sold by this company on the belief that the 30% tax credit is taken "off the top". In other words, we calculate the benefit from the total cost of the system. However, in our research and conversations with other vendors, we've come to believe that the credit is actually supposed to be taken off of the net cost--the amount you paid after rebate. This discrepancy results in our out of pocket cost for the system more than doubling.

For a while, we were really worried about what to do. We considered scrapping the contract all together. We also considered going through with it and then protesting after the installation was complete. We thought about fulfilling the contract and then complaining to the Attorney General about the false advertising that has made our vendor a lot of money. We thought about filing our taxes with the misinformed advice that the vendor had given us and just risking it. When it came down to it, we still really wanted the system. We felt like we'd been duped.

Then last week we were saved (again) by the bad economy. One of the inclusions in the economic stimulus package is a treasury grant for solar installations. This would replace the 30% tax credit that was passed in last year's bail out bill. And it clearly states that the grant is based on the total cost of the system (the top number, so to speak). Yippee!! Now we don't have to worry about the IRS, the language is clear, and the money will be made available faster.

I'm still not tickled with the vendor. I bet they were pretty relieved to see this pass, as they had to have been sweating just a little about all of the questionable tax advice they were giving.

Being Green with Bugs

2009-01-10T12:27:00.002-07:00

Lately Erik and I have been researching a couple of bug projects. I've always liked bugs, and these two projects are good for the environment while at the same time eliminate ick.

Project 1: Vermi Composting. Last summer we started a compost pile in the yard, but it is a lot of work. You have to maintain the perfect environment, add waste at the right ratio, turn the dirt, etc. Of course, this is till a good way to deal with yard waste, but it can only be done during the summer and it's a lot of labor. I think I've found a better solution....WORMS!

Composting with worms is supposed to be super efficient, create a great soil, can be done indoors, and beleive it or not it doesn't stink. We're going to make our own bin and order the worms online.

Project 2: Biological Pest Control. Last summer's buffalo grass project didn't help with our pre-existing weed problem. The large amount of water that the buffalo grass needed to take root kept the weeds growing and growing.

There are few things that I hate more than anything that ends in "cide"...especially herbicide! I worry about it's impact on me, on the cats, about tracking it in the house on my shoes...and it STINKS.

We've discovered that many plants have a natural enemy in the insect world. With the proper introduction of these bugs into our yard, we should be able to naturally control some of our more problematic weeds.

I can't wait to get some bugs!

Blogging

2009-01-06T20:01:00.002-07:00

One of my main reasons for this blog over a year ago was that I wanted to make sure that when you google my name, you actually find ME. That mission has been very successful. Last time I googled myself, I found 3 pages worth of results that actually were connected to me.

When I first got started, I struggled with concerns about what people would think and who might be reading. But now, I've really taken that on as the fun part of blogging. I've now built a whole network of sites where you can find out more about me: Linked In, MySpace, Facebook, and my blogs (I keep two of them now!). I even attempted to leverage this network while job hunting, encouraging resume readers to visit my Linked In site, where I was able to promote myself in greater detail than my resume alone could do.

And just recently, I've discovered the secret to blogging...reading and leaving comments on other blogs. I've stumbled across a network of baby blogs and have had so much fun reading them, posting to the ones that inspire me or make me laugh, and then watching people discover mine in the same way! Unfortunately though, I just realized that my profile didn't promote the baby blog...so to those new baby blog readers, look again or just click here to read more about my pregnancy adventures!

Another unexpected joy of blogging has been the contact with pure strangers. Twice now I've had people contact me with questions about my life and adventures, and it has been really rewarding to see that I'm not just writing in a private notebook.

It really is fascinating to me to see the way that the internet has changed the way we communicate with the world. Here's to another great year of blogs!!

2009 Goals

2009-01-02T11:23:00.002-07:00

Financial

Replenish savings to the level it was at on August 1, 2008
Create savings plans for the following:
- Emergency fund
- Baby's college education
- Retirement
Pay an extra $500 / month toward principle on the mortgage
Reduce student loan debt by 50%
Combined income of $175,000

Household

Paint and decorate the following areas of the house:
- Master bedroom
- Nursery
- Master bath
- Dining room
- Kitchen
Plant an organized and diverse veggie garden
Build a gate in the back yard for easy park access
Flowering trees/shrubs (or maybe fruit) along perimeter of back yard

Social

Make new couple/baby friends who live close by
Host at least 3 parties at our house
Join two new social groups (book club, play groups, etc)
Develop network of baby resources

Family

Send out holiday cards no later than December 10th
See all of our family at least 2 times

Personal

Return to weight of 125 lbs after the baby comes
Learn to sew, knit, or some other creative skill by hand
Read 12 or more books
Inspire others to live more "Green"

2008 In Review

2008-12-31T12:17:00.002-07:00

I found this on another Blog and thought it would be a fun way to wrap up the year...

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Spent 5 weeks living in another country
Got pregnant
Helped my husband build a patio
Planted trees

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't do resolutions, I do goals. See post from last week on how I did...

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yes, Suzi Granger

5. What countries did you visit?

Mexico

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

Flowers in my back yard
Color in my home

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

August 6th - Erik & I both quit our jobs
July 7th - date of my last cycle (hey, when your pregnant you get asked this one a lot!)
November 4th - day the US elected the first African American President

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Crossing one of life's big to-do's off of my list - live in another country and immerse myself in their culture.

9. What was your biggest failure?

I should not have pushed Erik to quit his job at Dalbey

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Home pregnancy test

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Barack Obama

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

14. Where did most of your money go?

To pay bills during 3 months of unemployment

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

News that there is a baby on the way!!
Election results
Spending 5 weeks in Mexico

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Viva la Vida by Coldplay

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? Happier
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter
c) richer or poorer? Poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Exercise

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Pulling weeds

20. How did you spend Christmas?

With the Kubecs

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

Yes, with Speck

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Dexter

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

24. What was the best book you read?

Twilight series

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Arctic Monkeys

26. What did you want and get?

To learn Spanish

27. What did you want and not get?

A maid

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

Atonement

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

30th Birthday - watched a presidential debate followed by a spa day

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Not having the stress of unemployment

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Preggo

32. What kept you sane?

Knowing that everything happens for a reason

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Barack Obama

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Health care, and the fact that pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition!!

35. Who did you miss?

All of our friends who we hardly see since we moved

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Dana - my baby mentor!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

Follow your dreams, even when it seems like the crazy choice

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Sorry, this is way too hard to do.

30 Things in 30 Years

2008-12-28T11:33:00.003-07:00

Being the end of the year, I've been thinking a lot about my 2009 goals--which I am still working on. I've seen several of my blog friends recently posting long term lists and thought it might be fun to do one myself. Since I turned 30 this year, I'm going to make a list of 30 things to do in the next 30 years (in no particular order).

Have 2 kids
Take my children on a Disney vacation
Finish my basement
Learn to decorate my house
Go to at least one World Cup
Travel to Europe
Travel to South America
Learn Spanish
Go on a Wisdom Course Year End Cruise
Compete in a Ballroom Dance competition
Get braces
New tattoos to represent my husband & family
Organize a family vacation with baby, aunts & uncles, and all grandparents
Learn to sew
Own some Alpacas
Start my own business
Read Wizard of Oz and Harry Potter books to my kids
Reduce my Natural Gas use
Travel to Asia
Learn to like vegetables
Be a good wife & mother
Retire by age 60
Always put money aside for the future
Be mortgage & debt free
Have at least one source of passive income
Be the boss
Breed kittens
Support my husband and children in having a life they love
See my kids graduate from college
Get a graduate degree

Solar Panels

2008-12-23T10:07:00.004-07:00

I had fun the other night reading through blog posts over the past year. While it was NOT on my goal list to decide on a solar solution, it is one of the accomplishments this year that I'm very proud of. We recently made our second installment payment for the system, which covers the cost of materials. Our installation date has been bumped out till March now, but here is a mock photo of how they will look on our house.

Goals - A Recap

2008-12-19T18:27:00.004-07:00

I'm surprised to see that Winter is here already, and think that it is close enough to the end of the year to revisit my goals for 2008 and see how we did.

2008 Goals

Career

* Support E in finding a job he loves where we can spend more time together during the week (he should be working at new job by December 31, 2008)
Well, Erik is now on job #3 for the year, and back where he was at at this time last year. We definitly spent a lot of week day time together, between 6 months of working at the same office and 3 months of unemployment!

* Reach or exceed all of my sales goals at FWI
I was on target to meet this goal when I quit FWI in August, so I'm going to say that I didn't fail OR succeed at this goal.

* Mentor a new salesperson who will love working at FWI and have that person be in outside sales by year end
DONE! Good job Leanna.

Finances

* Combined household income of $200K or more
No.

* Add at least $30K to Savings/Investments
Close, but then we went and took a bunch of money OUT of savings so this is also a no.

* Pay down student loans at a rate of $1000/month
No. Was doing good at this goal till the job changes.

* Pay additional $500/month toward mortgage
Yes! Despite 3 months of unemployment.

Household

* Spend at least 15 minutes 5 days per week on housework
Ha ha ha ha ha.... I guess if I count cleaning clutter off of the countertops, that I probably met this goal. But I don't think that is exactly what I had in mind...

* Paint all living areas of the house to fit my dream house
Not yet :(

* Complete phase 1 of landscaping for under $5,000 (lawn, patio, some trees & shrubs)
Done.

Social

* Host 3 parties at our house
(1) - Housewarming
(2) - Jami's bridal shower
(3) - My birthday
Done.

* Engage with at least 2 recreational activities where we can make new friends as a couple
(1) - Guadalajara
(2) - nope, there is no #2

* Add at least 3 new friends to my social network
(1) - Dana
(2) - David
(3) - Dan
(4) - Heather
Done!

Recreation & Travel

* Travel to see our families in California, Washington, and Maryland
California - yes, once in January on business and then again next week
Washington - yes, in July
Maryland - yes, but just Gwen on business

* 1 Vacation to someplace with a beach
Yes! Several days in Puerto Vallarta while in Mexico plus time spent at Ron & Michael's in July.

* Try at least 3 new activities
(1) - Speaking Spanish 24/7 for 4 weeks
(2) - Being pregnant
(3) - Job hunting! Ha ha ha.

* Go on at least 2 backpacking trips
No, but we did have one day in Guadalajara where we walked all the way home from el centro, which took about 6 hours, so I am going to count that as 1 urban backpacking trip.

Request to Mr. Obama

2008-11-07T19:56:00.002-07:00

The new web site for Barack Obama has a comment section where you can submit your suggestions on how they should be doing things. Below is my submission, which I am also sending to my Senators:

I think one of the first projects that the Obama-Biden administration should take on is delivering the universal health care plan. With 10.1 million people unemployed and many companies struggling to keep their doors open, American's at least deserve the peace of mind of knowing that their health is not on the line as well. Many opponents of the universal health care system will likely be greatful for this policy if heaven forbid they should find themselves without an employer backed plan.

In August, I found myself in the position of being unemployed, uninsured, and pregnant. I was appalled when I went to shop for self insurance and was rejected time and again for having a "pre-existing condition". Even my Doctors justified the logic of denying a pregnant woman and her unborn child health insurance. "After all, you don't know if that baby is going to cost $5,000 or $1,000,000" they said.

Fortunately, I found a job within 90 days for a company based in Washington state--where I am told there is legislation in place to prevent insurance discrimination against pregnant women. I was lucky. Millions of Americans depend on their health care coverage for day to day survival.

Well being should not be an employee benefit!

Fall At The Kubec House

2008-10-24T10:01:00.005-06:00

Fall has officially arrived, the buffalo grass has gone dormant, and the leaves have fallen from our trees. The change of the season has brought many new and exciting events to our home this year.

Solar Panels

Today we signed the contract for the long awaited and debated PV solar panels. I am happy to announce that we truly leveraged the poor economy on this one. One of the many "ear mark" items on the bailout bill passed by Congress a few weeks ago was an elimination of the $2,000 cap on federal solar energy credits. The utility companies are responding to this change in the law by reducing their rebates. We were able to squeeze into a very small window of time where we get both, the high tax credit AND the high rebate. This resulted in an additional savings of about $5,000 for the solar system we were looking at earlier this year.

In the long run, we are purchasing a solar system sufficient to generate about 80% of the electricity we used over the last year for just over $3,000. It works out to a ROI of about 10%. Where else are you going to find that in this economy?

New Jobs

Next week Erik and I both start new jobs. Erik will be working for a company called America's Job Network, selling career consulting services to high level executives (resume writing services, interview coaching, etc.). I will be working for a company called UC4 selling a software system that automates business processes. Both positions offer the opportunity for better pay, benefits, and flexibility than our previous jobs. Erik will even have the option to set up a home office.

Trees

The initial design of the back yard is now complete, with the addition of six trees this fall. All of the trees were stategically placed to solve specific "problems" in the yard. We planted two Austrian Pine trees at the corner of the yard to add privacy, two Autumn Blaze Maples on one side of the house to block the glaring glow of some annoying street lamps, and two clumps of Aspen trees on the other side to provide shade to the kitchen and living room in the heat of summer.

Of course we got the best deals possible on all of the trees, with a total out of pocket of about $500 for all six of them. And with all of this time off we've had recently, Erik planted them
himself.

Politics

We are now officially addicted to the 24 hour news cycle. This is by far the most exciting and inspiring presidential election that I can remember. This last week we voted early and also went to see Joe Biden. This weekend we are going to an Obama rally. If you'd like to read more detailed political views from our household, check out Erik's new blog.

(and last but not least...)

Speck

As if all of these changes weren't exciting enough, we've also got a baby on the way! We've known this news for some time now (I actually found out just before we left for Mexico), but I was keeping it out of the "public domain" until after new jobs had been secured. You can follow Speck's development and my experiences with pregnancy at the Kubec Baby Blog, which I am now making public.

I am currently 15 weeks pregnant and the baby is due sometime in early April.

New Photos Posted...

2008-09-21T13:55:00.002-06:00

For those of you following our adventure to Guadalajara and/or the progress of the Buffalo Grass, here are some new photos (please follow the links to Picasa Web Albums).

Buffalo Grass - August 08
This is how the grass looked before we left for Mexico. A few days before we left there was a big rain that flooded the park behind our house.

Guadalajara
There are more pictures that I haven't taken off of Erik's iPhone yet, but here is a good representation of our adventure. I tried to caption some of the photos so that you know what you are looking at.

Buffalo Grass - September 08
How the grass looked when we got home yesterday. A very kind neighbor pulled all of our weeds while we are gone, and the grass filled in quite a bit as well.

The FULL Palin SNL Skit

2008-09-21T11:16:00.001-06:00

I had a hard time finding this, so I thought I'd repost it (in case anyone else was out of the country last week and missed it!).

Adventures in Mexico

2008-09-15T09:06:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, our host family offered to drop us off at a nearby "hot springs" for a relaxing afternoon. As hot springs are one of our favorite destinations, we said OK.

On the way to the springs, we stopped at a roadside stand for some fresh and yummy Tamales. We arrived at the pool to find a scene that looked a lot like Boulder Creek on a Sunday afternoon...tons of Mexican families with BBQ's and music, just hanging out and enjoying their day off.

We ate our tamales and changed into our swimsuits. The water was more warm than hot, but enjoyable none the less. After a couple hours of playing in the water we packed up our bags, changed into dry clothes, and headed out.

The bus was not there, so we thought we'd walk around. And that was when our real adventure started. There in the park, we found a rodeo! No admission charge made it even better. There were cross dresser rodeo clowns, caballero's, dancing horses, a full band, and bull rides. I will make sure to supplement this post later with a photo of Erik getting some attention from the clowns.

At the end of the show, the guys sitting next to us struck up a conversation. One of them was very drunk--so drunk he said I look like Brittany Spears! We ended up getting a ride partway home from them (in a car with one working door and no seatbelts). They dropped us off on the side of the highway and hailed us a cab for the rest of the trip home.

All together, we spent about $25 for the day (which included a raffle ticket for a chance to win a bottle of tequilla, and a tip for the entertainment). We were the only gringos anywhere, and I think we were the only tourists of any sort. This is what we came to Mexico for...to be with the people! It was a great time.

Something Exciting Happened on The Bus Today

2008-09-09T18:16:00.002-06:00

After almost a month of suffering on the bus for 90 minutes per day, something interesting finally happened on the bus today.

On Friday's long ride home, I happened to look into the window of the next bus over and noticed a guitar player "entertaining" the passengers. I was jealous. And impressed--it requires serious balance to stand on these buses even when holding on to the bar. To ride with no hands, standing, and playing a guitar must take a lot of practice.

For once, I was thankful for Erik's iPhone and all of it's stupid applications. Above is the (choppy) video Erik took. The other passengers don't seem to have enjoyed the entertainment as much as I did.

I was heartbroken when I realized the only money I had on me was $200 pesos (way too much to tip a random guitaristo)...and even more sad to see that nobody else tipped him either. It made my day!

10 Things...

2008-09-07T12:50:00.002-06:00

10 Things I Miss About Home:

My bed
Frankie, Mrs. Beasley, & Dempsey (the cats)
Bagels, Sourdough Bread, smoothies, the fresh tomatoes in my yard, a fridge full of cokes, and all of my other favorite foods
My car and mobility
The Dishwasher
Having a job and something important to do every day
Washcloths
My yard, the buffalo grass, and my flowers
TIVO & Cable On Demand
Speaking without worrying about whether or not what I say is being understood

10 Things I Will Miss About Mexico:

Tiendas & Mini-Supers
Salsa with every meal
Colorful buildings & houses
Pinkie the Ferret & Chido the Kitten
Learning something new every day
The bus...NOT!
Inexpensive beers & food
The best chocolate crossaints EVER
Our great family here
The lack of rules

20 Sights You See In Guadalajara

2008-09-02T15:27:00.005-06:00

Shoe Stores. Lots of them. Today I counted 10 on one block.
Buses (Camiones). But don't expect to find a route map or a schedule anywhere. The locals seem to have the routes memorized.
Fruit Stands. These come in two forms -- larger tiendas (corner stores) that prop open their garage like doors every day and sell all the fruits and veggies you'd buy in the grocery store and then some, or small corner stands that slice up melons and sell them in a plastic cup.
Litter. Seems there has never been a "Keep Mexico Beautiful" campaign. And good luck finding a trash can.
Concrete. Houses, buildings, streets, sidewalks...everything is made of concrete. And along with this, you will find in the window of every hardware store wheel-barrow's and bags of concrete mix.
Churches. One cab driver told me there are 450 churches in Guadalajara...Catholic of course. Most of them have bells that they ring on the hour, half hour, sometimes on the quarter hour, and occasionally at other times that don't seem to have much logic (maybe it is a call to mass?). Most churches have either a fountain or a "kioska" (a gazebo) in their courtyard.
Kids in Uniform. Seems most of the kids go to private school, especially the younger ones. The little kids wear green pants with green sweaters, the teenage girls wear the good old schoolgirl plaid skirts with white polo shirts. To dress it up, they wear funky socks.
People in Pickups. I'm pretty sure it is illegal in most places in the states to ride in the back of a pickup truck (no seat belts), but here it is common place. I've seen cops riding in the back of trucks, little kids standing in traffic, and tired workers taking naps in the back of trucks without back ends to keep them in.
Homeless People with Deformed Feet & Legs. Seems the Rotary Club might have missed Guadalajara. To their credit though, the homeless people are pretty few and far between (considering the population is 4 million)
Opticos. Almost every block in the city has an optical store. They've also all got a "mini-super" (a tiny convenience store), a shoe store, a paper store (because gift wrap gets its own store here) and a costume shop.
Dulces (sweets). Three forms: candy, ice cream, and "pan de dulces" (bakeries). As a result, you will also notice that most women over 30 pack on a few extra pounds.
Homes. Tons and tons of them. The city seems to have a never ending sprawl of residential areas. The houses are all skinny and built adjacent to each other, like row homes. Interestingly, this seems to be true of all income classes--we went on a drive around what I would call a "richie neighborhood" and those houses were adjoined as well--just bigger.
Old Colonial Buildings. The heart of the city is 450 years old and the architecture reflects it. My favorite part are the pigeons that congregate in the plazas.
People Selling Random Stuff. Toys, keychains, fresh potato chips (which of course you douse in hot sauce and lime), fruit, bubble wands, sticks of gum, magazines, newspapers, popsicles, window washings, you name it...
Tile. Many of the sidewalks are paved in tile. On top of concrete, of course.
Roundabouts. An attempt to manage the insane traffic. Most of them have very lovely fountains in the middle.
Tacos & Abogados. There are taco stands everywhere. Some are permanent restaurants, others are mobile street stands. Most of the restaurants also sell abogados (I'm probably spelling that wrong), which are something like a philly cheese steak--shredded meat, beens, and hot sauce on a hoagie bun. I'm not a big fan of the abogados but Erik likes them.
Jesus. Of course this is pronounced "Hey-soos". He's everywhere. Every bus has at least one, and there are numerous billboards around town.
Farmacias. My favorite is the one with the "Doctor Similar" mascot. No difficulty finding a place to fill your Rx here.
Delivery Drivers on Mopeds. No matter what the weather, if you order your food to go, it comes via moped. And you should see the "all weather" getup that the driver wears. With the almost daily rain shower, this is much needed.

Guadalajara - Week 2

2008-08-31T19:44:00.005-06:00

From Guadalajara

So I've been in Mexico now for two weeks...all the time drafting a blog post in my head. Thank you Becky for reminding me to actually write it!

Erik and I are living with a local family in the suburbs of Guadalajara. The husband, Rafael works for FedEx and his wife, Olivia, takes care of the house and family. It is a full house, with one other exchange student, a college age daughter, Olifer, who is in law school, and a kid named Jaime who lives upstairs--I think he rents a room. And as is typical of a Mexican family, there are a lot of other friends and family in and out.

Every day we take the bus into the city for school. The ride is about 45 minutes and sometimes it is standing room only the whole way. This is the worst part of the day and we do dread the bus. In an effort to make the bus time more productive and entertaining, I've loaded up my iPod with music from Itunes Latino. We dread the bus so much that one day last week we actually walked the whole way home--which took 5 hours.

We attend the IMAC school, which primarily exists to teach the locals English. Our observation is that all of the middle class in Guadalajara know at least some English, and most of the schools are bilingual. For 4 hours a day, we learn Spanish. I personally find this particularly challenging, because the lessons are 100% en espanol. Makes it very hard to comprehend every detail when the explanations are all in the language you don't yet know.

We've done a couple of weekend outings, which I will write about some other time. Overall, the experience has been great so far--so much so that we extended the trip by a week so that we can be here for the 16th of September, which is Independence Day. Unfortunately, I forgot the USB cord for my camera, but I will get Erik to load some pictures from his iPhone and supplement them later.

Guadalajara, here I come...

2008-08-08T20:24:00.003-06:00

It's been an eventful week in my house. To make a long story short, working with the husband didn't work out, and this week we both found ourselves without jobs.

This created a unique situation. No bosses, no jobs, no kids, hardly any bills...when will we be in this position again? Retirement? 25 (optimistic) years from now???

So we are going on an adventure. I've always wanted to do a language immersion program but it's just never been right. I've been married, had a job, had bills to pay...how was I supposed to take more than a week's vacation?

A week from tomorrow, we leave for Guadalajara. We fly into Puerto Vallarta (tickets bought with miles--thank you FWI), transfer inland by bus, and stay for 4 weeks with a host family. The host family feeds us 3 meals a day while we participate in daily Spanish lessons at the local school, see the sites, and practice our Spanish in the authentic Mexican city.

How will I live without Facebook and 24/7 email?! Well, I'm sure I can find a cyber-cafe for my daily fix (and blog updates). What about TV? I-tunes? If I'm going to eat Mexican food 3 times a day for 28 days...I might have to get over my hatred of corn tortillas and refried pintos. Or maybe I'll get lucky and my host family will be just like Chipotle.

It is my dream adventure, I can't wait!

Princess Chunk

2008-07-30T08:30:00.000-06:00

WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina Stray fat cat named 'Princess Chunk'

Posted: July 29, 2008 11:42 AM MDT
Updated: July 29, 2008 11:42 AM MDT
Stray fat cat named 'Princess Chunk'

Princess Chunk

NATIONAL (NBC) - In New Jersey, a precious feline is so plump she almost sets a world record.
The fat cat has been nicknamed 'Princess Chunk.'

The 44 pound cat was brought to the Camden County Animal Shelter as a stray.
Animal rescue officials say she's just two pounds shy of the world record for fattest cat.
That record was set by a Tabby in Australia, who weighed 46 pounds, 15 ounces.

Princess Chunk was brought to the shelter Saturday and will be up for adoption next Saturday if no one claims her.

Posted by Bryce Mursch

Life besides buffalo grass

2008-07-26T19:42:00.005-06:00

I'm up to 571 hits, which makes me think that maybe some people are actually reading my blog (besides my mom). Some of you may have found me when researching buffalo grass. I have been posting often about the grass, but wanted to let the world know that there are things growing in my yard besides the grass and weeds.

Today Erik and I went to Paulino Gardens and bought 4 Hydrangeasand 2 Butterfly Bushes. I'm very excited about both and have put a lot of time and research into choosing the correct plants. The Hydrangeas will be taking the place of 4 bare-root roses that were planted in early in spring--all but one of the roses died, and we're attempting to save the scragly remains of the 4th rose. We bought a special hybrid of the Hydrangeas that are supposed to have mutiple bloom cycles per year. My hope is that they will grow tall enough to be visible from the living room and bedroom windows, which are just a few feet above the plants now.

The Butterfly Bushes are placed at either end of the row of hydrangeas and should also be good and visible from the house.

In late June we also planted 4 Korean Spice Viburnum bushes and a row of about 10 Purple Ice Plants. The Ice Plant has done well and I expect they will continue to grow in to form a nice matted edge around the patio. The Viburnum seem to be hanging in there. They hadn't shown much sign of growth until this week, when fuzzy nubs appeared at the top of some of the branches. It seems late in the season for them to bloom, so I'm eager to see what happens.

Here are some photos of our yard that I took today.

Buffalo Grass Progress

2008-07-09T19:49:00.002-06:00

The grass is finally beginning to show signs that it might someday look like a lawn. From afar, it still looks like a bunch of dry soil with small patches of something growing, but from the photos below you can tell that it has really taken off. I think by the end of the summer we will have a full but thin lawn. We're probably looking at this time next year before it actually looks like turf.

Here are my latest photos:

Recent Visitor Map

2008-07-03T16:16:00.003-06:00

How cool is this?

Household: Get Rid Of Ants Without An Exterminator

2008-07-03T15:51:00.002-06:00

Household: Get Rid Of Ants Without An Exterminator

The cayanne pepper trails seemed to show an immediate decrease in the ant traffic on the floor en route to the cat food, but was inneffective at keeping the little buggers off the kitchen counter.

Chalk lines on the foundation of the house put an immediate end to the ants sneaking into the bedroom (which was probably bound to be a short lived infestation anyways, since we do not eat in bed!).

Corn meal looks to be an urban legend. While it was amusing to watch the ants delight in carrying off their new found treasure, we didn't see any results.

The winning method was (as some readers suggested) boric acid. We mixed it with maple flavor syrup an filled small containers throughout the house. At first we were discouraged--it was certainly attractive to the ants but did not stop them from entering the house. And then one day, just like that, they were gone. Apparently it takes a couple of weeks to take effect.

What We Say Without Words - washingtonpost.com

2008-07-03T15:41:00.002-06:00

What We Say Without Words - washingtonpost.com

This was a very interesting article...something to keep in mind in business!