Sickly sweet-

Pickles- I don't eat many of them, because of this subject.
Syrup- Poor Charles loves this sweet stuff and I just drizzle it on my wafs.
Mandarin Oranges- I talked about those in my talk at church. I once ate a can furtively in the bathroom. Nuf said.
Raisins- I can only eat those in bran flakes. Otherwise they sicken me. Bliah.

I started working at a place called SMSMasterminds yesterday. It was good. I have to go through "Boot camp". This includes 9 lessons filled with videos about how to sell, be a good merchant, etc. It's interesting and quite monotonous at the same time. Work is such a beautiful thing. It's nice to have a job and to be able to pay the rent.

Charles is a champ. He earned 9 points yesterday. I earned 8. We're earning cookies around our house these days. We figured it was a better way to dispense treats.

We have to get 4 points for a cookie, 6 points for 2 cookies, 8 points to give us a 2 point lead for the next day and earn us 2 cookies. 16 points is the big prize- whatever you want. You have to do productive things to earn points. You can do more time with each, but you only get a point for the first 1/2 hr. It promoted balance.

2 pt- working in our garden/compost stirring
1 pt- 1/2 hr scripture reading
3 pt- 1 hr scripture reading
1 pt- 1/2 hr exercise
3 pt- 1 hr exercise
1 pt- 1/2 hr recreational reading
1 pt- 1/2 hr artistic skill/talent enhancement
1 pt- 1/2 hr language study
2-3 pt- 1/2 hr companion language study (I get 3 pts b/c I hate it more)

You get a free cookie if you make your lunches a week in advance. And that's a wrap. Not a rap.

We are also trying to keep our new rules:
1. Say no to invites to places that cost money
2. Use canned food in planned food (we have lots, but we know fresh is healthier)

3. Plan dinners at FHE for the next week
4. Go through budget and other plans at FHE
5. Avoid processed food- we can process our own business
6. Follow the point system to earn daily treats
7. One great dessert a week- one batch of cookies, pie, cake, etc.
8. Be nice, eat rice- false rule, but we are eating burritos for dinner tonight if the avocados are ready. Woot!

We're hoping these rules will help us maintain a healthy lifestyle and our budget. We got a pay cut moving to SLO and we did just buy a new car- a 2015 Honda Fit. We decided for the cost of a used car with miles on it, we could get a new car, with no miles. Thanks Obama. I never actually thought I'd have a new car, but I do now. Another first.

We're also hoping to plan our lives a little better so we can have less hectic lives once school starts. Good habits and the like. Also, maybe we'll eat some different stuff. We currently eat the same stuff consistently, but if we wrote dinner plans on the calendar, we could diversify our intake.