Monday 24 November 2014

I Have a Cunning Plan...







Hey, see this? The Silver Fox and I have another house in us. Well, I have two because I want a container house but apparently it would be too difficult to get through council.

So the Silver Fox was doodling

There were conversations had about style, orientation, windows.. " what would you do differently..?" sort of comments

There was more doodling

A bit of a costing was jotted down on another bit of paper

A real estate person was called and asked to value our current home

There were lots of 'hmmmms' and some 'double-hmmmms' to be heard

More jotting

Some agreements:
Solar, timber floors, white palette, white and silver outside, number of bedrooms...

There were some disagreements:
'No bloody heated towel rail crap'
'Oh really?' I always say this when there is going to be trouble from me. (It is all I wanted in this house)

I won

Some more 'hmmmms' and we slept on it

So, currently we are just finding land, doing some costings. I want a small r-e-a-l-l-y clever house to suit two teenagers who may be staying until their mid-twenties. Well, best plan ahead

So, that is the brief: a clever, small house to suit 4 with 1 dog. Get the breeze right, the lighting right, the power points right, own bathrooms for the teenagers, 1 pool, perhaps a pool house....

What else? We have done it before. The skill will be to keep it timeless while ensuring a cost effective build.

Will keep you posted.

ciao for now


just Martha. X




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Tuesday 11 November 2014

Bra Shopping...





Miss T is taking me bra shopping...

Hang on a minute! That doesn't sound right?

But it is true. She is

Well

The Silver a fox and I are going to a black tie event so I tried on ye ol' tried and true faithful from the back of the cupboard. Long, black... ticks all the boxes

But

It is some time now since I wore it and I might have gone bra-less then but not now. Certainly not now. It has sort of thick cross over straps and the front and my strapless bra can be seen from the front. Hmmm, as I was contemplating which was worse: seeing a bra or flopping breasts... Miss T chirp-ily informed me I needed some stick on cups.

"That will do the trick" apparently.

Really? Who knew?

And as a bonus there were no scathing comments about my dress, or me, or me in my dress!

So, I am off to buy some stick on cups for a func-shwa (function)

Come to think of it, they sound a bit painful.

I hope I keep my skin

You never know

ciao for now


just Martha xx


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Monday 10 November 2014

Interesting Logic...




Ahhhh, the Silver Fox. God love him

So we purchased some groceries as I wanted to make a monster bolognaise sauce to use and freeze. I bought 2 kg mince, loads of sauce mix, veges, garlic etc

So, the Silver Fox offered to make it

Noice. All that living from home has paid off and he has some serious cooking skills these days.

So, this is where the trouble began.

The discussion

The logic

The arguing

The Silver Fox was very hesitant to use the 2 kg of mince because he could make it with only 1 kg and save money.

Hmmmm, my point was that he was making 2 kg mince with all the sauce so we would have loads to put in the freezer and thus use in a variety of ways for a quick meal: bolognaise, Mexican mince, burritos... etc

His point was that he could still do these things and only use 1 kg meat

My point was if he did this then it would make less and be used quicker thus making the need to cook more. The point of using 2 kg was that it would make over 2 kg with the extras

His point was he could save 1 kg of mince that I could turn into hamburgers and he made lovely bolognese sauce and that it wouldn't be wasteful.

I told him to make 1 kg worth and... double it. He gave me a withering look.

Hmmm, he has obviously lost his mind

I told him to just make it and that I was going to blog about it as his logic was truly wonderful

He said that yep, that was him, wonderful


He did make the sauce but is still whinging about it

I'm surprised he didn't tell me to make it myself really but that would defeat the purpose wouldn't it of getting him to do it.


ciao for now


just Martha xx


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Thursday 6 November 2014

just Chilling...




The house is quiet. Master T is home. Unusual to be quiet. Master T is 14 and acts like he is 14. He is quick to get feisty and can argue the leg off a chair.

Sheesh!

For example, I wanted to take the babes out for sushi and wanted Master T to do his chores of emptying the rubbish and putting the bins out. This is how the conversation went:
Me:"Please put the bins out because I have a surprise after"
Him:"You don't pay me to do my chores. I do them because I am part of this family apparently so I will do my unpaid chores when I want to"
M"Well, I would like you to do them now"
H"Again I will do it when I am ready"
M"I have a surprise after you do your chores and if you don't do them then you can't be part of the surprise"
Finally does the chores
M"Thankyou. The surprise is going to sushi"
H"What makes you think that I want to go to sushi anyway?"
M"Because you like sushi, it is dinner time and you have done your chores. I would have left you behind if this continued much longer"
H"I am more than capable of making my own dinner so I could stay home"
M"Do you want to stay home? If so I can just take your sister to sushi"
H"I suppose I will come"...

Exhausting people. Exhausting. I am consistent and follow through but really! I remain calm and then chat to him later in more depth about his behaviour.

Master T is studying for his exams. He is a little... l-a-z-y with all of this. Pity because he is actually quite clever.

So, my job is to find out how to motivate him

Hmmm. Removing his phone really works so I'm using this at any opportunity. That's my job as a Mum, to motivate and follow through. I have been known to take it off him for 2 weeks at a time. I have history so he usually conforms pretty quickly. I call this the "Fonzie Principle" . You have to have a reputation for it to be really effective. I have a reputation, have really good hiding places and know to put it on silent so he can't ring himself. Hahaha. Miss T trained me really well when she was 14 and I was using similar techniques.

I'm also paying him to get good grades. Although if he is naughty in class he faces the consequences of his behaviour. He knows this but we do discuss how much money he could make and what he could do with it. To increase his motivation.

He has still been going to his MMA class where he does boxing and Brazilian Ju Jitsu. I spoke with his lovely instructor and said "he is being 14, can you work him really hard tonight to get that energy out?" He gave me the 'thumbs up sign'. Master T came back all sweaty and very relaxed.

Yay!

Sometimes, I study with him and try to get him to think more laterally and apply his knowledge. Sometimes I do this by keeping his body busy so his mind will work and he will chatter away. I usually take him outside to skateboard while I sit in the gutter and fire questions at him. Classy family but it seems to work for us. I think I read somewhere that if you keep a boy's hands busy they will talk.

So, wish us luck in his exam. He does all the hard work but I am behind the scenes organizing, planning and reminding with the study timetable on the fridge and the timer in place.

He has chosen his subjects for next year so I wonder if this will make a difference in his motivation?


ciao for now


just Martha xx


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