I don't know if I mentioned that during our trip to the northern zone our translator was a guy that used to be my best friend at school...(very long, painful story...the short-short-short version: he slept with my boyfriend!)...
back to the present...so, there we were and, all that hatred that I felt for him at one point? GONE!...all the bitterness? GONE!...you know what? forgiveness IS liberating! (I just don't think it's entirely a matter of will, you have to be emotionally ready to let go!)...well, the thing is he came to our house, we chatted for hours and hours and got up to date and, the next day he sent me an email apologising for what had happened over 12 years ago! (I didn't expect that, honestly, if I invited him into my home that meant everything was over)...so, anyway, I wrote him and explained that, from the moment I had invited him, it was because he was forgiven and, that we both knew we ALL had some sort of "fault" in all this, if only in not knowing how to handle all that was happening...so...we are friends again...I don't think we'll ever be "best" friends again (though, who knows? ) ...and, since he' s working on translations now, he sent me some work that he didn't have the time to finish...so, this week I get $74 for that work and, he already knows I'm available from 5pm onwards to do translations!!!...so, besides a renewed friendship (which is priceless) I already got an economic benefit out of the whole thing!

Or, as the song says: No estaba muerta, andaba de parranda!!...lol!..not exactly...

please be patient if you see a lot of typos, the "s" on my keyboard is not working properly!...

As most of you may (or may not) know, I started a new job in April of this year...some days I have little to do....others I have a regular workload and, only occasionally do I have lots to do!...it feels SOOOO weird!...really, it IS weird...most days I'm home by 5:30pm (if you can believe that!)...the monthly pay is only slightly better, but, there's a mid-year bonus and the end-of-year bonus is almost double what I got at the other place...plus, if you take into account quality of life, then it's definetely worth it! (also, if rumors are true, then this was definetely the right decision at the right time!...apparently the other place is going to let go 500 employees before August!)

So, I'm trying to enjoy my time here and not go crazy....my file is perfectly up to date..including the docs that arrived this morning, thank you!...my Outlook Inbox is practically free already (most things have already been taken care of) and I only keep "active" things there...and never for more than a week!...my desk is clean at the end of each day...((cue music from The Twilight Zone))...

Ale is a much happier child, we have time to play and read and watch TV together before bedtime...she just finished her Preparatoria and is ready for the 1st Grade!...since I didn't want her vegetating for 6 weeks, I enrolled her in summer camp at a local club and, she's taking swimming lessons, tennis, karate, ballet and arts and crafts on a rotating schedule from Mon-Fri, 8:30-12:30....her afternoons are blissfully free, so she can rest or play or generally enjoy the art of just 'being' for a change....she's chosen to teach Nanny to write in cursive!...

We have also acquired a new pet...a cat, who now has the un-original name of KITTY...HELLO Kitty is her full name! ...she's a total sweetie....if you are wondering what Fiona (our dog) thinks about this new creature in our house....well, Fiiona thinks Kitty is her puppy...she keeps "cleaning" her (eewwwww, the poor thing ends up covered in dog drool at least 3 times a day!) and steers her out of trouble...literally, the cat cannot take a step without Fiona directing where she should (or shouldn't!) go!...I predict the time is not far when Kitty will teach Fiona the meaning of "giving someone space!!" LOL!...but at least things are peaceful in the house!...
Well, guys, I'm sort of defying all those "no expectation of privacy" warnings that keep popping up on my computer...(no internet service at home...the bills caught up with us!...when you live paycheck to paycheck -- and at minus $200/month!, missing one salary payment has a HUGE impact!...Hoping to report progress soon!)

we had our new furniture installed this week at the office (at one point I was sitting on the floor typing on the laptop and answering phones!...I would post pictures, but cameras are forbidden inside the Embassy building...unless you work for security or for the public affairs office!)...anyway, all that furniture came in boxes...HUGE boxes...I picked the biggest one and brought it home for Ale...she´s having a blast!...right now, she´s just laying inside it with her feet on the edge and laughing like crazy!...she´s decorating the interior with hearts and smiley faces (that´s what she´s reporting right now!)...I don´t think Ale would be more entertained if I had brought the most expensive toy in the world!....last night, the thing was a spaceship going "back to her own country, ten countries away from France" (if anybody can tell me where that might be, please do so, I´m terrible at geography!)...ah, the magic of imagination! ...I actually pity the poor kids that have enough toys that do everything for them!...boxes, pots and pans, twigs....those really are the best!

well, you've read about it, beware of "free" gifts, they might end up costing you $$...

We got a free tank from one of my cousins...it had two ornaments and 2 plants, the filter, a lamp and a fish net...we had to buy sand and a glass to mount the lamp...while it wasn´t all too expensive, it´s still out of budget...($15)...we filled it and it´s working now...we are just waiting a whole day so we can move the fish (and our mermaid!) into it later today...we did not use bottled water, see, but used water that had been "sitting" in our pila for two days, so it should already be free of clorhine...we just want to make sure it´s 100% safe by waiting the customary 3 days before putting them in!...it looks so nice!!!...of course, Ale chose pink sand, and Clau wanted purple sand, so we bought 4lbs of each!...the guy at the store tried to get me to buy gray/tan sand, but, my poor fish are so gray themselves, they would be invisible in that!...so, the move is scheduled for tonight!....I´m so excited!!!

I like to keep a stock of toys for b-days Ale might get invited to....but, lately she's had lots...and all boys!...so, I have about 4-6 toys for girls which I CAN'T use!...so I need to buy some toys for boys...(I ran out of the "unisex" ones a long time ago!...mostly puzzles, building blocks, coloring books...)

((sigh)) time to go downtown again!

Ale told me yesterday that she wants her first job to be at a pupuseria...nanny has taught her how to make pupusas and, today Ale taught ME! (no, I had never done it before!)...she then asked me if the people that make pupusas make good money...I told her not the employees, but, maybe the restaurant owners...there´s a lady here that´s famous because she started selling on the side of the road and now has 3 or large restaurants, and they´re ALWAYS packed!

The question took me completely by surprise!...I was just paying Ale's school and, since it was already 3:00pm, I popped in to say "Hi!" to her...and one of her classmates just shot it: Ar you poor?...No, why?...Alejandra said you were....Oh? well, we may not have money for luxuries but we sure aren't poor...

I guess I need to have a talk with Ale about this....I mean, how did she get this distorted view? we live in a small house in the wealthiest municipality in the country (true, it's not ours, it's a rental, and we share a household, but, still!)...we have a car, we have a nanny...and, while we don't have money to splurge, Ale can't exactly complain of NOT having "stuff"...as a matter of fact, she's the one that gets the most "stuff" at home...

I don't know, maybe kids have been talking about trips and cable and ipods and Xboxes???....I know for a fact that there are 3 kids in her class that have cellphones (?!...why would one give a cell phone to a 6 year old??!!)...and I know most of them have cable...Ale has also been asking whether only parents are allowed to have TV's in their rooms or whether some children have TV's of their own...Again, even if I HAD the money, I doubt it I'd want Ale to have her own "dumb box" in her room...

my sister´s best friend´s mom is here for a visit...after 26 years!...we three sat in our living room yesterday afternoon and just chatted and chatted and chatted...of love, life, death and everything in between...it´s funny because she remembers us as children, and we remember her as "a grown up" and, at this stage of our lives, we are just "women" and I guess we understand each other a lot better than we ever did!...

She brought as all presents...a nice outfit for Ale, a pencil case for her pencils, and a watch....

some outfits for sis (I still haven´t seen them) and niece and, even some for me! ...so now I have two new blouses that fit perfectly and pants, which I need to fix (not surprising, sis and I are always doing this, becuase we are short, all our pants have to be adjusted!)...they´re nice leisure clothes...which is an extra luxury for me!

yes, I know, we are all individuals and that means we ARE all different...however, the mentalities of nanny's daughters really baffles me!...

Daughter #1 - the eldest who just graduated from high school has gotten a job at a bookstore...it pays minimum wage ($175) + commissions (so, now I will have to switch from buying at the branch in mall X to mall Y, but that's ok, they're both close to my office!)...anyway, she wants the money to pay for her university, as she wants to become an engineer....

Daughter #2 - the one that had a baby at 14...is currently going to night school to get her high school diploma...working as a maid, making $30/week...she wanted my cousin to take a credit line (in cousin's name) so that she (Daughter #2) can get a 25" or 27" TV...never mind that the family already owns a 17" TV, but has no refrigerator...

Now, nanny herself would never even think about asking me to get a credit line in my name to buy something for herself...at most, she asks me for small "loans (rather, advancements on her payment, which I discount in smaller amounts...she never asks for more than $50 and, I discount it by $5/week, for example)...

Now, I know that having gone through High school instead of quitting after 9th grade - the way she originally wanted - changed Daughter #1's outlook on life and of her own potential, but, still...you'd think having a baby would have made Daughter #2 more responsible with money...

I'm really looking forward to seeing how Daughter #3 will turn out! (she's 12!)

I want to make her something nice for Valentine's...she always makes me nice presents, just because, and I thought it would be nice to give her something, as I know she's not expecting it! ...

finally! one of our local brands has started producing wholewheat pasta!...only spaghetti so far, but it's a start!...before, you could only get it imported (= EXPENSIVE!!!)...now you can get it at prices only slightly higher than normal! ...I bought a pack, and convinced the family of at least giving it a try!!...Ale liked it, sis and niece still haven't tried it!

literally!...it fell off and she didn't even notice, so she was crying this morning because Raton Perez wasn't going to give her $$$ if she coulnd't produce a tooth!....

I told her I'd try to get a hold of Raton Perez and explain the situation...we've had this happen before and RAton Perez did leave her some money...just not as much as he does when there's a tooth in his box!

soooo....since Ale couldn't find her colored pencils,the next case was to come out of her piggy bank...first she asked: can I take out just $1?....sure! we'll see which kind of colors you can buy with that...first she went straight to the nicer cases: $4... $3.60....ok, to the cheaper ones...$1.71.... $1.41.... $1.27 ....OK! a case for $0.99...How much will I have left? $0.01....hmmmm...just one cent??...can we find other ones??....ok, we found a case of 12/24 (12 pencils/24 colors) for $0.85 (on sale)...those ones, Mommy!....

and, yesterday morning she must have still been thinking about this because she asked: Mommy, who will buy the next case of colored pencils??...so I said to her: It depends. If these are all used up, then I have to buy them, because that is my responsibility as a parent, to provide you with the stuff you need to study, but, if you lose them, then YOU will be paying for them, because it's your responsibility to take care of the stuff that I give you....

so, I guess taking the $0.85 out of her piggy bank (she put back the change!) REALLY hurt!

so...Ale has managed to lose 2 cases of colored pencils since January 8th...when she lost the first one (Staed.ler ones!), I bought her the shortest, cheaper ones I could find...((you should have seen her face!)) ...I told her she couldn't have "nice ones" until she learned to take care of her things...I also warned her that these would be counted EVERY day...she just called me and said that her new pencils (bought last week!) had been "thrown into the garbage"...she said "the cleaning people at school threw them away"...she also said she spoke to the teacher about it...now, it is obvious to me that if the people from cleaning threw them away, they must have been on the floor or something...anyway, this weekend I'm making Ale take out money from HER piggy bank to buy new colored-pencils for school...she just HAS to learn to take better care of her things!

there was an article on school lunch boxes (or, rather, what's in them!) in the newspaper...mentioning how a lot of kids end up getting only junk food, and outlining what a nutritious snack/lunch box should be packed...they even gave a Mon-Fri example, which looked quite yummy!...I'm happy to see that the stuff I pack in Ale's is considered nutritious, perhaps a bit on the "lean" side...but, then, Ale is not a big eater, so packing more would mean waste!...today, she had some low-fat yogurt and raisins, some fruit nectar (which costs less than the sugar + coloring beverages!) and a bag of pop-corn (to share with friends. I buy her 3 bags every two weeks, so it's not a daily thing)...these were her snacks...her lunch was chicken, rice and veggies....She also takes a half-liter bottle of water every day (which she refills at school)...so, eventhough she doesn't eat much, at least what she eats is well-balanced...and, now that she's only getting $1/week to spend, she really cannot buy too much junk food with that (and, I'm happy to say, she generally picks either fruit juice, potato chips and/or brownies...rather than, say, soda, cheese puffs or candy!)

since my nephew will steal any money within sight, I told cousin I could keep her money at my house and she could come and retrieve it as needed, instead of hiding it around her house (he's alone at the house all day, which means he has around 12 hours daily to search for her hiding places!)...well, the other day I needed $40 to pay the nanny (forgot to withdraw the money from the bank before going home)...since this was before a holiday (Jan 16th), I didn't want to send nanny home without cash, so I took $40 out of cousin's envelope and gave it to nanny...I told cousin and promised to repay her...for one reason or another, I haven't reimbursed her yet...she called me today to remind me that she needs her money...it made me so mad...I told her, yeah, I need MY money, too...she said; "Oh, I know, believe me I'm well aware that I owe you that money"...yeah, well, she's "been aware" for over a year now!...some people! aaaarrrrghhhh!...If I didn't consider it highly unethical, I would just keep the money and tell her to "put it on my tab"...

unless it's exploitive (?) I am all for kids doing a little work (I used to work 2x a week at my parent's grocery shop)...helps them a lot, I think...Of course, it has to be age appropriate and should not interfere with their studies!

so, Ale helped with the school supply packages...she helped us set up things so we could make the packages (bringing stuff from the boxes to the table: 5 boxes of colored pencils, 5 boxes of jumbo crayons, 5 erasers, etc.) and she helped load/unload the cars (we carried the heavier packages and the papers, which are more delicate, but let her carry the small bags with the bottles of liquid soap and 1/8 gallons of glue, which are light enough for her to handle)...she also promoted the backpacks..which resulted in 5 additional ones being sold...so, we decided to give her some money ($5) for her work....since she was just helping because she likes it, it came as a surprise to her...I gave her 5 x $1 notes and told her I wanted her to keep at least $1 for her piggy bank...she thought about it and said: Mommy, I want to keep $3 for the piggy bank and use $2...(Yay!)...when we paid her, the first thing I told her to do was count it...right after she counted it, she separated $3 and gave them to me "for safekeeping until we put it in the piggy bank" and then took the other $2 and placed them in her wallet, as she wanted to use it at school...

I'm so proud!

That was my share of our earnings for the Xmas + School supply sales...

Allocated as follows:

staying on track with my proposed plan and re-working the numbers:
cc == $295.00 (to be paid tomorrow)
Ale's bed == $116 (PAID $108.53/ PENDING $8)
Ale's school == $137 (PAID)
Ale's transportation from school == $30 (PAID)
personal loan == $69.63 (PAID)
Infamous phone bill == $303.15 (PAID)

car maintenance (tires,brakes and shockabsorbers)== pending, depending on cousin's payment (wish me luck!)

Which basically means I'm "broke" again...but, Ale has a new bed and I have $597.37 less debt...and I'm up-to-date with all payments...I can DEFINETELY live with that!

Now, I need to re-focus my "outside of work" energies into the translation business!!

staying on track with my proposed plan and re-working the numbers:

from the toy sale$166)
cc == $50.00
Ale's bed ==to be paid today 070107



From the translation:
cc ($145.80)
technical dictionaries + internet bill(investment in business as per allocation - $145.80)
savings $36.45
donation $36.50


From the school supply sale (?):
cc == $550 (expenses)
Ale's school
car maintenance (tires,brakes and shockabsorbers)
personal loan == $70
Infamous phone bill == $300

Payment due from cousin (!)
infamous phone bill!-- she says she'll give me at least $200... we'll see...this would be put towards cc == $200 (?)
Loan to pay for 2 months of school for her darling Prince last year: $170 ==
additional bedding set for Ale's bed +/-$30 and cc +/- $140

I keep playing around with these numbers!

Cousin and I have been working like crazy-- getting up at 6am and going to bed at midnight...it has paid off, though, we already made enough money to repay the loan to our cousin ($800), got back what we invested (about $300) AND, got $559 each...we may have to reinvest part of that, though!...we'll see how things go, we still have 3 more days, but we don´t want to go crazy like last year!!...

On non-financial related news, nephew R came by the other day....sis and I agree he´s NOT ok...another reason for worry is that we locked ourselves out of the house and he said: no problem...he simply took out some windows (we have the kind that open and shut to let in the air...) and slid sideways through the bars in front of the window (he´s THAT skinny)...took him less than 2 minutes!....I already bought a planter for that window, and, tomorrow I will go out and buy some soil and some thorny plants...I guess it IS financially related, since I will be spending some money on that...((sigh))

well, gotta go to bed...it´s 1:41am already!!

Just wanted to wish you all a wonderful 2007 and to let you know I´m still around!

we are tracking all expenses/payments with cousin on the school supply sale....I was commenting this with sis the other day and she said she doesn't understand why I do business with cousin if it seems that I never make any money...I agree, profits are not as good as they could be (about $700 for the whole toy venture this year....and an estimaded $500 for the school supply venture in early January)...that's a lot of effort for that money and, on top of that, I never get to "see" the money ...meaning I don't really get to do anything "visible" with it...I don't buy stuff...I just put it towards debt...

I agree with sis that there are other things I could do and, that going into business with cousin has proven NOT to be the cleverest decision (after all, that is how I got suckered into putting a phone line to my name in her house!)....but, another reason is precisely to check what she owes me and, to at least be able to recover SOME of it when we are dividing the profits...

((sigh)) Believe me, G_d willing, I won't have to do the toy gig in 2007 (most likely, I will have to do the school supply thing, as we estimate that there will still be items left over due the changes in the lists!)....it takes up too much of my time and energy and, leaves Ale needy for my attention and very resentful of the little time we spend together....(a happy kid is A LOT more valuable in my book...right now, I really cannot afford NOT to do the toy thing, otherwise too many debts will go unpaid... ...Ale really deserves better!)

so, on judge's orders, nephew D is working...he got his paycheck last Friday and, paid cousin some $$ (part for the money he stole from her, part for those clothes she bought him...)...anyway, he paid me $10 towards his phone bill (so "only" $993 to go!...but, hey, I'm willing to give the guy some credit for at least (and at last!) trying!--no, I will not go soft and pardon the debt, either!

I'm looking at what Xmas will cost...about $200-$250 ....that pays for my half of dinner and also for presents (sis, niece, Ale, cousin, friends, teachers, nanny, etc)...not really too much all things considered...still, $200-$250??...part of me says I should be paying off debt with that money, while another says if I don't spend some money doing stuff that is fun, I'll go crazy and burn out...I don't know which side to believe!...The money is already spent anyway, so, short of returning the gifts that have been bought but not given out yet (which is impossible for the most part, having been bought from informal businesses downtown!)...well, there's little I can do about it anyway...

Yet another part of me wants to go out and spend, spend, spend...but, I KNOW I need to shut HER up and throw her out the window if needed, so I'm not worried...plus, it's not like I have the money to indulge her, even if I tried!

...almost, at least!...we went to the market yesterday and bought tomatoes, onions, cilantro, green peppers, some carrots and the special blend of spices for the turkey sauce (annato, sesame seeds, a special dried pepper- chile guaque, thyme, oregano, bay leaves,garlic) ...we went home and roasted the spices and chopped all the veggies...then back to the market to have it all processed at the mill (Ale had never been there, and thought we were going to see a WIND mill! LOL!)...then back home to cook it and add the salt and pepper...I kept trying to figure out what was "missing" and, then, it hit me: TURKEY!! ...the sauce won't take it's full flavor until the turkey has been cooked in it!...I let it cool and am freezing it today!...This means I'm already ahead with my Xmas cooking! --total cost for ingredients and processing: $5.90

already typed the lists in Excel to see how many of "Y" we need to make 20 packages for Pre-K, 20 for K and so on...

Cousin went downtown today to buy some stuff that we ran out of last year....tomorrow we will go through our current supply and see what we have/what we need...our total investment this year shouldn't be more than $200, as we still have so much left from last year...

On Sunday we will start getting the packages ready....That gives us 2 1/2 weeks to get all packages ready....sale starts on Jan 3rd and ends Jan 10th...

this will be the first "additional income" for 2007....of course, as with the toy sale, it will not be included in my $20 challenge, as this is something that we already did anyway...

December is a tough month!

regular price $145, sale price $116, and they gave me a set of sheets (which costs $15 at the store, and which I could have gotten for $5 downtown...)...oh, and they also gave me a bottle of wine (for any purchase over $60 on your store card)...
no, don't worry about the store card charge...I did that just for the reward points...I'll pay in full and I'll pay 0% interest on it!

things I paid:
1 month's rent (I was behind with my payments)
personal loan
cc
nanny's Xmas bonus! (well, I haven't paid THAT yet, but I will tonight!)

We still haven't collected all the toy money, from that I will pay:

cc
Ale's bed
Xmas dinner

From the translation:
new tires for the car
infamous phone bill ($150)

From the toy supply sale:
cc
Ale's school
car maintenance (brakes and shockabsorbers)

Payment due from cousin (!)
infamous phone bill
cc
Ale's school
additional bedding set for Ale's bed

Hopefully, everything will go according to plan!

...at least, not at the moment...
I reminded cousin of my $$$$ yesterday....I also told her she needs to take a good look at her priorities next year, because she's been putting her wants before her needs, and her (financial) obligations are a very distant third...so, the way she allocates her money usually is:
- pay cable and internet (internet is "for business" and cable is "the only entertainment" she has)
- pay house (which she had already paid off and re-mortaged--with a money lender, not a bank, technically, she sold him her house and is buying it back, she cannot default on this or else she loses the house!!-- allegedly to have money for her business, but, half of that went into buying STUFF)
-food (and, because "there's only two people" at her house--her and her son--well, "it doesn't really make a difference if we buy the fancy stuff once in a while")
-gas (for business, ok)
-school (back when her darling was attending!)
-utilities
-money to reinvest in the business
-car (she's refinanced her car about 3 times already....she should have finished paying for it 2 years ago!...the reason she doesn't? As long as she's still paying, the bank pays for the insurance!!!-- smart, huh??--oh, and my sister co-signed for it...she's been getting calls threatening to dock her payment for a year and a half!...if it ever goes to that, it'll affect sis' credit record!)
-medicinces and follow up treatment for her diabetes
-other debt (like, owing me $900 -- which is already affecting MY credit record! having a $360 on a cc that she claims she already paid, but, if she did, she should have cleared it by now, don't you think?)

Now, tell me this isn't screwed up!

So, I told her she needs to switch things around. Right now, medicine and health should be #1, followed by food, but NOT GOODIES!, school (if that bum ever returns, although, if you ask me, she'll just be wasting her money if she starts paying for a school again!--public school is NOT an option, Precious Prince might have a heart attack if he has to be with "low class people"!)....
-house
-utilities (if you default 2x in a row they cut your service and then you have to pay reconnection fees, which are expensive!)
-car (only $300 to go!)
- money to reinvest in the business
- gas (technically, this one and the previous one are the same)
-other debt (yes, even $20 a month would help!)
-cable and internet (actually, I believe these should go)

I also told her she needs to start fixing her own credit, because at this point she's already running out of people willing to cosign for her or lend her money! ....AND I went as far as to remind her that she cannot count on her son helping her if he continues down the path he's following...

She's probably hating me by now, but, you know, right now, I don't care!

...because of the amount of toys that we bought, one of the stores gave us 3 Barbie shirts (size s and m, they will fit Ale perfectly!) and also some Max Steel dolls, er, action figures.... I'm keeping one of them to give to my best friend's son (who is 9 and VERY into Max Steel!)... that means I only have to get Ale some pants or a skirt...which I can get for about $2-$3 each!

I wonder what other freebies I could find...

still not from what she owes me, but from the toys that have already been paid (all others should be paid by the end of the week!)...I told her I want MY money before it disappears! (be it because it gets stolen by her son or because she spends it!)