Comments | curtana: Household blah blah blah

curtana

Household blah blah blah

Nov 08, 2008 22:32

Last night we went out the movies! Because we had a babysitter who actually showed up :) She seemed good - she's in Gr. 11, so hopefully we can keep hiring her for a while rather than having her disappear in a few months to go to university or whatever. Arthur said he had fun with her, too, which is always a plus. We're planning to go out next ( Read more... )

home, garden

Comments 9

mousme November 9 2008, 03:39:28 UTC

Yay nesting!

I've been doing similar things around my new place. Isn't it nice to do it for the first time in a new home? At least, I enjoy doing it when I first move. The novelty wears off after that. ;)

Also yay for good babysitters!

curtana November 9 2008, 15:42:45 UTC

Well, the end results are enjoyable :) Having a working toilet downstairs again is all for the good!

missmousy November 9 2008, 05:13:52 UTC

How much do you pay her? I have NO earthly idea what babysitters make these days and, as such, am scared to hire one and offend them horribly.

curtana November 9 2008, 15:17:18 UTC

This one was asking for $3 an hour for one kid, $5 for two, but I felt like that would be underpaying her (like, I think I made more than that when I was in high school!) so we payed her $5 an hour and she seemed happy with that. The ads I've looked at here seem to be around that range - $5-$7 an hour, depending on number of kids, or more if you also want housework done, that sort of thing. Oh, and that's for getting a teenager - older babysitters, especially ones that have any kind of relevant education/experience (you know, training to be a nurse, used to be a kindergarten teacher, etc.) charge more.

I think it depends a lot on the area, though - I've heard that in Toronto, for instance, even a lot of the teenagers charge $8-$9, I guess on the assumption that they should at least be making minimum wage. I'd suggest taking a look through your local Kijiji or other classifieds and seeing what people are asking, to get an idea of the local rate :)

word_herder November 9 2008, 15:10:06 UTC

Andy just looked out across our backyard and exclaimed, "Wait, do I have to MOW again?!" He thought he was done for the season, but it hasn't dropped below the 50s during the daytime and it rained all of last week. It's drying out today, so I think he'll have to wander out there and do it at least one more time.

curtana November 9 2008, 15:42:16 UTC

Yeah, I had hoped that the last time we mowed would have been the last time for the season - not that I should complain, as we didn't have to mow at all during late July and all of August, it was so dry.

urban_homestead November 9 2008, 15:33:52 UTC

Woo domesticity! Well done you guys on the plumbing. That's one kind of household DIY I don't even touch, I just yell for my husband like some kind of girl.

How did your salsa-ing go? Did you manage to use up all your green tomatoes?

curtana November 9 2008, 15:41:26 UTC

The salsaing was great! It was very easy :) I used up all my green tomatoes and a couple that were sort of half-red but a bit sketchy (bruised or split or whatever). That made about six cups of tomato when they were chopped, and to that I added seven jalapenos and one green bell pepper, which has produced a lovely medium salsa that isn't too hot for Arthur to enjoy, at least in small doses, which was my ambition :) We had it over chicken and rice the other night, and that was delicious. I need to procure some chips now so we can enjoy it as a snack too ( ... )

forthright November 9 2008, 17:53:09 UTC

I formally approve the salsa!