A Really Goode Job, please VOTE for me!!

Hi all,

I hate solicitations, but I actually do need your votes. Can you please take 30 seconds to click on my video and then enter your email to vote for me? You don't even have to watch the 60 second video I posted... just vote!

I applied for a Really Good Job to bethe Wine & Lifestyle Correspondent for Murphy Goode Winery this Fall. The job is amazing--live the life, write the stories, twitter and facebook about it and generally get people to fall in love the Sonoma and MG wines. Easy, right?

Well, not exactly. I need YOU to PLEASE vote for me. I know, my video is a bit cheesy and not nearly as cool as the other kids. But just because you have a cool vid doesnt mean you can do the job. And I know I'll do it justice. How can you really get people to fall in love with a place you've never lived in??

So VOTE LOCAL! Please?

http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=s6AcQV2P7E4

I, for one, am looking forward to consistency

in daycare that is. E starts daycare July 1st and unlike other moms and dads, I am looking forward to it. We just averted a child care crisis for tomorrow afternoon because we had nowhere to take E for 3 hours. 3 stinkin' hours. Our babysitter is in Croatia. My go-to stay-at-home mom friend is on vacation, my other SAH mom friend was unreachable. My only other option was to ask my mom to come down a day early... which meant she'd be here Mon-Friday. Need I say more?

Thank god, L's mom saved the day and said she could take him for 3 hours tomorrow. I am eternally grateful and look forward to the day I can be her savior (for day care) as well. Not sure when that'll happen... maybe when she goes back to work?

Nonetheless, I am grateful for good *good* friends who step up when we have no one else and am very excited to see how the consistency of professional daycare will make our lives easier (or at least more manageable).

That is all!

Trimming the fat is actually kinda fun

With the forthcoming addition of daycare to our list of financial obligations every month, plus our desire to buy a house this year and take care of our yearly tax raping issue, M and I have executed a new family budget and are sticking to it (this time).

This has meant trimming the fat on all unnecessary expenditures and I gotta say, it's having quite the positive effect. I like knowing exactly how much I'm supposed to spend on lunches each week. I kinda like bringing my lunch on Thursdays because I know I'm eating healthier and I'm getting work done during my lunch now (with the small exception of posting right now). I'm budgeting my time better too and carving out much-needed time to hit the gym. That's gotta help trim the fat on my waistline (stay tuned for updates).

And I was just introduced to a cool site that posts fun, cheap stuff to do in the Bay Area. Woot! I'm loving looking at all the fun stuff we can do as a family and not spend a lot of money.

Finally, we've instituted mandatory monthly "family only" weekends during which we have NO plans with other folks and spend the entire weekend doing whatever the hell we want. Hopefully that won't include chores and bill paying (although to a certain extent it's a necessary evil), but we are looking forward to tending to the summer garden, playing with elliott in the backyard, going on family bike rides with our new (to us at least) pimped kid bike trailer, etc.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what benefits we'll reap (financially, emotionally, as a family) in the next few months. Hopefully we will be able to get that house we desperately need by Nov 30th and hopefully I'll lose those last few pounds before Elliott turns 1 (like I desperately need).

Here's to trimming the fat, yippee!