Economic Downturn? Not so bad actually!

I am going to be honest. We be broke. Okay, maybe not broke but my filthy construction worker of husband and I are pretty much just scraping by living on only his paycheck. Extra cash is a thing of the past for us (or at least until I have a new job). Not only are we just scraping by, work for Gray has been a bit sketchy. Because the construction industry is directly tied to the economy, a couple of people have had to cancel jobs or have been unable to finish jobs and, like I said, things have been a bit sketchy.

So since I have been home, Gray has had a considerable amount of time off as well, which makes things even worse for us financially (go with me for a second, this isn't a sob story, trust me).

We don't eat out anymore, good beer is a luxury not common place. $20 at the movie theater isn't happening. Bills are paid easily of course, it is just the extras that are lacking.



and I can't say that the ducks care, nor do we. It has given us a lot of time to just hang out and be with each other and gives us time to not live life by proxy. Yesterday was one of the best Monday's I have had in years.

We were babysitting my niece while my sister was in L.A. for work and we took her to feed her obsession, literally. She has a thing for ducks that quack. Thankfully, the ducks had quite a bit to say about the quarter loaf of organic multi grain bread she was feeding them.

Please note Gray's face as his favorite mallard is scared away by our niece's advances. Gray has a thing for mallards.

Then we went for a sunset hike before dinner

to a sculpture garden, which was one of the last major international art projects done by Niki De Saint Phalle.

Everyone loves the "garden" and it is so random that it is in our town. Not the place I would picture such an amazing work of art.

and if you haven't noticed, being able to spend the quality time with my family, the people most important to me in life, has given me time to take just a few pictures of my favorite subject. she is such a beautiful ham.



And like I said, the ducks don't mind either.

Wall Art

Picture frames can be sooooo expensive and if you are like me and you have tons of pictures hanging around and you can't afford a mass amount of picture frames it might just make you turn to your creative side to come up with something...ANYTHING..to get those pictures out of the cabinet and on to the walls.

So the filthy construction worker of a husband and I came up with this low cost idea.


All we did was take two rows of cut-at-home-depot flexible wire, string them through eyelets screwed into the wall and crimp them in place and then used a small clip to clip all the pictures on to the wire. It was super easy, no super special tools were required and you really should go give it a try!

Sleepin with the fishes: A shortie

Alright so another week down and our tank is doing well! Oh what? You don't believe me? FINE! I will prove it!



The tank is much more bright and beautiful than depicted here. Honest. So far our mushroom corals are doing great, they are growing and seem to be happy and healthy. Our bright fish addition to the tank is taking great care to protect the corals and if I even so much as go near the tank the little bugger takes his stand in between the corals. They are his, so back off!

Shrooms - a beginers journey

So, our new reef tank has begun to take shape. We got our tank up and running, and because we threw in some old substrate and used natural saltwater it took less than the normal amount of time to cycle (meaning: the Ph is the right level, our salinity has been worked out and our nitrate/nitrite levels are good)and we were ready to get some live critters for our tank this weekend.

We researched and researched to see if it was better to put coral in the tank first or if it was better to put fish in the tank first and we came to one firm conclusion. In the fish world everyone has a different idea of what is best, and everyone is right. What works for some people wont necessarily work for everyone.

We went for a clean up crew first and they have been in our tank for a few days. I adore this snail and it's sweet little mouth.


And today we got our first corals. We bought Two mushrooms and two came along for a ride, the fish store was kind enough not to charge us for our hitchhikers.




Our only problem thus far to tackle is that we are having a hard time regulating the temperature in our tank and we don't want to stress out the life inside. Our nano cube is so small and our house is so hot that the water inside the tank with out a heater hovers around 90 degrees. So, we have been leaving the feeding lid open and using a fan to blow hair across the surface which keeps the water at ~78-79 degrees. The only problem is keeping the tank at a stable temp with out constantly baby sitting it. Any fish/nano people out there who have and tips on regulating the temp with a fan?

I am looking forward to the winter months!

Sweaty? Don't worry, that is how I like em!

It is hot, okay it is really god damn hot. I am not going to sugar coat it because my sugar coating has melted off. Southern California is experiencing a bit of a heat wave and the filthy construction worker of a husband and I escaped this weekend to the "wine cellar" here in town and picked up some new things to try and I am going to try to pass it off as an attempt to escape from the heat and then you won't know that we just really like trying new beers.

The lot:


















The porters and the stouts are mine, the pale ales are his an the smoked ale was ours.

Snake Dog IPA: eh, Pretty good, but skipable. Go for the dogfish head imperial IPA
Sinebrychoff Porter: Try it! DELICIOUS. When we were checking out and the cashier was mulling over our choices she mentioned that this beer was one of her favorites. I assumed she just kind of picked one out and was being a good saleswoman. But I don't think so. This porter was delicious.
Fuel Cafe Stout: Try it! Filthy husband pointed this one out to me in the huge fridge, because in our last trip I picked up an espresso stout and loved it. This was another good one. I am really liking the stouts with coffee.
Marin Brewing company stout: eh, skipable. Nothing special, not to say I didn't enjoy it but I just didn't find it that exciting.
Hop Juice Double IPA: Try it! Very hoppy, but not in a bad way. Very bitter, but not in a bad way. You just need to be into those two things. I am not. The filthy husband? VERY into those two things.

Our pick together?














Skip it, we had high hopes, mostly because I like smokey beers, filthy husband likes ales and juniper berries never hurt anyone. We waited all weekend to try this, we made the perfect meal to compliment it aaaannnddd it was a huge let down. It was fine but not worth the price tag.

Done, did it, finished, check!

Awhile back I mentioned something about needing a change in my life, and about how getting rid of the dingy, beat up, maltreated fish tank and getting a bookcase was going to be my catalyst for change. So, the fish tank is gone. We have yet to sell it, it is still hanging around for now but it is broken down into it's parts and ready to be sold on craigslist.

But have I made any changes?


Um, I would say so!

1)Like I said our huge takes-up-half-the-living-room-fish-tank is gone. Our bookcase is filled with books that were once banished to our dark dingy spare closet. Our small living room actually has room for me to breathe in now and speaking of breathing, we got something to breathe a bit of life into the room. A nano cube.

It is a small 12g Saltwater system that will be used for a fish or two and beautiful corals. I said I needed a hobby, well there it is! I have a feeling it is going to be a time consuming process, with a large learning curve and only a small margin of error allowed due to the life inside. Lots of research has gone into making sure that we are doing this right, and lots more will go in to ensure we keep doing it right. It will be a fun, beautiful, manageable journey.

2) On a much bigger scale, I quit my job and decided not to take the test for my Series 7 license. Okay, I didn't quit-quit. But I have started looking for another job and because my current employer gave me an amazing learning opportunity I felt it was only fair to be 100% honest and inform him that I was looking and give him more than 2 weeks notice. I felt like the series 7 test was the turning point for me. If I was going to remain in the financial industry the test would be my step forward but if I wasn't going to remain in this industry I needed to back out and move on and that is what I did.

Emotionally I am torn between thinking this is an amazingly exciting time in my life and tearing my hair out over the worry that I won't find a job. Whatever comes though, I am thrilled that I have chosen to make this change and very thankful that I have a large support network behind me rooting me on and I really believe that it is for the best.

I just hope I am right....

Bleeding heart

Dear family whose house I am looking after,

I look good on paper. Responsible, honest, trustworthy, timely and compassionate. All characteristics that you want in someone who takes care of your house while you are away on vacation for a week.

I will water your houseplants, bring in the mail, feed your fish, make sure everything is safe and care for your small garden. You don't have a thing to worry about.....

.....Unless you have neglected your small garden to the point where caterpillars have not only moved in and brought their entire family including their great aunt Helga but they have also all grown to be as big as a filthy construction worker's middle finger...and then some.

Here is the thing, I am not going to touch those things. Am I scared of bugs? Maybe, but not caterpillars, these ones are beautiful, soft and I would invite them to an afternoon tea. Why won't I rescue your garden from the attack? Well, to be quite honest, I won't rescue your garden because it is pointless. I am no detective, but my thinking is, if these caterpillars and their great aunt Helga have had time to grow this big...this is just a guess now, so bear with me, but I am thinking that you might not have even cared about your garden that much in the first place. The weeds up to my waist told me so. The caterpillars though? Oh man, the caterpillars, they care. They care about your garden a great deal and they seem to be very comfortable living amongst your tomato plant and *ahem* looking after it. So you know what? They win, they get to stay. I refuse to remove them. I will water it, feed it, stake it (because you failed to) but those caterpillars? Those suckers stay.

Nature: 1
You: 0

Love,
Your compassionate house sitter

Oh, and in case you never venture down to see your small garden. Here are your new tenants


and don't be a smart alec, I know that isn't a filthy construction workers middle finger. I made him switch to his thumb so you wouldn't be offended when it looked like he was threatening you with vulgar sign language.