Day 6.b

It was a busy day at Casa M. J. worked a lot in the yard - cut down another shrub on the 'remove' list. Wow...he and I need to go to lunch more often 'cuz he came back here and 'got right to it'! Our yard trimming bin is jammed full and there are various other empty pots and containers with trimmings in them, too. I'm going to work tomorrow on measuring the 'space' we'll have so I can seek advice from my sister about putting in raised beds. The spots we have available are certainly not the best for gardening - but it's all we have. The only other option is to convert the small remaining patch of lawn to raised beds - and I'm considering it. But we'll start small with a couple raised beds and see how we do. They won't be easy to get to or work in but I'll figure it out. And we're going to start very simply.

We also took J's car in for service (all prepaid or under warranty); went to Petsmart for the final days of the best pet food sale EVER - in fact, will go back tomorrow 'cuz now Chloe's out of kibble and since we only have one dog now, I don't want to buy the huge bag at Costco; went to Costco for gas and our weekly food. The kids cleaned out all the PS2 games that they don't play much anymore and J. took them to Game Stop to try to sell them. They were offered measly amounts and declined. We'd do better at a garage sale so we're going to pick a future Saturday in the fall (when it cools off a bit) and have a sale to end all sales and cull, cull, cull. H. got a haircut. B. went to a jazz rehearsal at Main Street Music. Busy, busy.

B. was offered a list of things to do this morning for 'compensation'. An hourly rate for lawn work (there's tons of weeding, trimming, sweeping, power washing, etc. to do both front and back) and a couple 'fixed fee' items (like washing the wheels of the van). He seemed interested. Did he ever take any initiative today to actually DO any of those things? No, he did not. His definitions of motivation and initiative appears to be getting out of bed and doing HIS things. And then he needs money, so he decides to sell all the games for a quick buck. Which ended up not working out 'cuz even HE had to admit what they were offering was a joke. Which I knew it would be and kept telling them - but I'm just the mom. What do I know. They kept saying 'the radio ad said they pay $15 per game'. Yeah, right. So I'm a bit peeved at B. for the moment - there's plenty of work to do - work that I could call 'chores' which would be a part of his allowance work - but I'm willing to HELP HIM earn some pocket money - and he doesn't make any effort to do any of it. I'm pretty darn close to telling him that I'm thinking his dad and I don't have the funds anymore to pay for the third car - insurance, gas, upkeep ($335 last month for work on the A/C). He needs to get a job - but with his grades, I'm fearful he wouldn't be able to pass school at all.

Boys. Is it boys? By the time I was B.'s age, I had already been working a part time weekend and evening job for a year. I was paying for all my own clothes, gas, car insurance, etc. And I've continued to do that ever since. Where does motivation come from, I wonder? He has two fairly motivated, successful parents. Does it kick in soon for him? I hope so. I worry about that a lot.

I'm going to head into the kitchen shortly and test some 'warming methods' for a night of SRB starters. Crock pot, warming tray, electric skillet. Three batches. And I'm going to try different containers - that are 'flatter' - I've been using my Pampered Chef batter bowls - which are narrow on the bottom and then widen up - maybe it makes it too hard to keep the heat consistently through the batch? Hope it works. I'm sort of thinking it WILL work tonight 'cuz we have church tomorrow, so if it ends up working, I'm going to have a heck of a time trying to get all the sponges ready and timed just right, factoring in 2+ hours for church in the middle of the morning/early afternoon! But I'm up for the challenge! Bring it on. Come on, starter. WORK! Please!