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I’ve said it before (like every week), but this should be named “things i’m annoyed / confused / want to complain about”, however I couldn’t figure out how to make any of those into a snappy title, so Tuesday Troubles it is. And yes, I do realize that these aren’t true “troubles”. I know that many of these for sure could be defined as first world problems!
~I watched the USA vs. Ghana World Cup game yesterday and while I was watching it I decided I wanted to try and figure out a little about how the game structure worked. Wow. So confusing. I think, thanks to this video, I have it down, but it took a while to understand! Also from what I could tell, the United States has never won the World Cup and it’s probably not happening this year because we are in Group G which is the group of death? And also, if you want to go to the World Cup and stay for the entire thing you will need to be taking about a month off work.
~I am pretty sure I have asked this before, but do you cut the grass at your house? Have you ever? Not only do I not cut the lawn on a regular basis, but I have never done it. It’s just something B does (and likes to do). But anyway, B’s gone for a bit and the grass is growing! I am sure I could figure out how to turn the lawn mower on, but I’d be afraid to mess it up (B is serious about his lawn care) so I am either going to have my brother do it (he’s a professional) or hire one of the lawn services that cuts one of the neighbors lawns to do it. But I must know, who cuts the grass at your house?
~L (who is 6) wants to do a scavenger hunt (or two or three) this summer. I think that sounds very fun, but I need some ideas on what kind of things I can have him find. Do I theme it? Plant things for him to “find”? If you have ever done one with children, I would love some ideas!
~Did you see this story about the Kentucky restaurant that is banning tipping in their restaurants and how servers will make $10/hour or 20% of their food sales, whichever one is more. I am not sure how I feel about this. I used to be a server, but our tips were a built in percentage (18% I believe) and then they were pooled and split between all the servers. Not sure that was the best way either, but it also was a country club and not a traditional restaurant, so things were different. Anyway, I like the idea for when you give crazy good service to a table and then they turn around and give you $5 on a $100 check, but will service be as good? I would love to see how this works out in the end!
That’s it from here for now! What’s troubling you today?
Did you see the Bath and Body Works deal for today? $9 candles! I bought so many lol
I need to get shopping!
We have about 2.5 acres to mow…. So we have 2 riding lawn mowers and one push mower. The husband and brother ride, and I push. I do detail work pretty much. I go where the rider can’t. And seeing my push mower is cheap and nothing fancy, it’s a really good workout!
You guys are serious over there!!
Have you ever heard of GeoCaching? http://www.geocaching.com/
Geocaching is a global scavenger hunt! You use gps to locate caches that others have hidden. The caches usually have little toys and a log book for you to sign. When you find a cache, you sign the log book, take something out of the cache and leave a little something behind for the next person that finds it. We really enjoy it, but I must warn you that it can get addictive!
We have never been, but I am for sure going to look into it!
There is a cache at Macomb Corners! We found it last year.
I remember you saying that! That is perfect!
You should try geocashing! I’ve never done it personally but I’ve heard/read a lot of good things about! It invloves people hiding or burying things for you to find, and you find it based off of gps locating and some other stuff. It sounds like alot, but I’ve heard its worth it. For L’s age I would love to see the theme for your scavenger hunt. Maybe have the clues lead you to things you can play with at the park and the last thing you find is at the park?
I live in Kentucky and know a few servers who are pretty happy about that change making its way here. I’ve heard it compared to tenure, the servers are still going to give good service and are less likely to have off or bad days because they dont have to worry about getting stiffed by people. There’s a place in New york that does this and theres some country where tipping is basically outlawed because they’ve had so much success.
I love your blog! I check your page several times a day. 🙂
Thank you!
And I totally agree, we need to try geocaching. I am going to do some googling on it tonight!
I lucked out with the mowing thing. I am allergic to cut grass, so I have never had to do it. My husband is the grass cutter and when I was a kid, it was my sister. When I had my own home, before I married my husband, I had landscapers come out and do it for me.
You did luck out!!
Ughhh!! my tuesday trubble is bath & body works. I did a hull yesterday and bought 22 soaps (I only had 10 left :/ ) on sale plus the 20 percent off. I seriously couldn’t resist. I wanted to get candles but they were not on sale and something told me to wait. Guess I’m going back today bc today only $9. How anoying, my poor boys. I was just there last week for wallflowers. This may possibly be a but embarrassing if the same employees are there AGAIN!
I have a lawn service. So it ls Easy breezy 🙂 my son has been asking about a bunny hunt (easter egg hunt) so maybe a scavenger hunt will do. Maybe the same concept with out egss???
Well you clearly needed 22 more soaps. LOL. I need to get some of those $9 candles today!!!
I should just make a sheet with a dozen things on it and hide them around the house and yard and let him work on it. And when he gets them all I will give him a prize.
I have never cut the lawn either. I have a landscaper who does it for me. My older brother used to mow my dad’s lawn when he was maybe 13 or 14, so I imagine it’s not THAT hard… but probably best left to the pros!
The no tipping thing is interesting. In Europe there is no tipping at restaurants. Not at all. Which obviously works because it’s the same everywhere. Not sure how well it will go over as a stand alone, but hopefully well! It’s probably a great idea for resort towns that are very slow in certain seasons. Not super during the busy season for the servers, but better for them when it’s slow at least. Time will tell I guess.
But there usually is some extra fee tacked on in Europe isn’t there?
It may depend where you are? But where I’ve traveled (Holland, Germany, Czech, Hungary) there wasn’t. And it was so inexpensive! One evening in Hungary we went to dinner (5 adults WITH adult beverages) and it was only like $50.00 total. Sit down, tablecloths, dessert, the whole thing. Crazy.
That is crazy! I have really only been to France and Switzerland!
When I lived in England, I worked at a pub that served drinks and food. VERY occasionally someone might tip me, but when they did, it was something like 30p (about 50 cents). There weren’t any other fees to compensate built in. The argument that’s often made is that people in the service industry (in the UK and other places in Europe) get paid a living wage. I think I made ?4.50 an hour- and since the cost of living was pretty numerically comparable (things that cost $1 here often cost ?1), it was not what I would consider a living wage. I’m not sure I’d call $10 an hour a living wage either, but I am a chronic over-tipper.
Actually, regardless of which group the US would have been in, they would have a hard time winning and beating teams like Germany and Netherlands, whom they would have had to face eventually, anyways. The only difference ( if they had been in an easier group) is that they would have had a better chance of progressing on to the round of 16.
Do you think they will make it?
I’m quite certain that they won’t win the cup. There are teams that are far better.
As for advancing to the next round, Portugal has much better individual players than the US, but for some reason, they aren’t playing very well as a team. If they continue to play badly, US might advance to the round of 16.
You never played soccer growing up? It was the girl thing to do when I was in middle school so I played then through highschool so I guess I understand the game when watching. It was a good game last night.
I don’t mow the grass. I have never ever mowed grass ever. I have two brothers so they started doing it when they got old enough and I never did 🙂 M does it here too and like you I’m sure I could but I don’t really want him knowing that. I go with having someone do it if it needs to be done while he’s gone.
Ha. No I didn’t! My suitemates in college played for MSU so I get the game for the most part, but I just didn’t really get how the World Cup worked!
I have never mowed my yard. When I was little and we lived out in the country area I would use the riding lawn mower. When we bought our first house and therefore our first lawn mower as a married couple I told my husband that if he did not buy a self propelled mower I would not be mowing the lawn. Needless to say, he did not buy the right one. Sucks to be him.
Ha!!! I think a riding lawn mower might be pretty fun to use!
I work as a server at a private club in Florida, and for a lunch shift, I typically make more like $15+ an hour. Our official pay is $9 + 9% of sales, and if anyone wants to give us extra, we keep that as well. So if I work 10-5 on a given day, and have $600 in sales (that’s about an average day, slow days are more like $300 and a really busy day can be $1000+) then I’ve just made $16.71 an hour. Of course, this is different than a normal restaurant. Because even on a day where we’re absolutely dead, we’re still at least making the $9 an hour. So for that reason, making the change might be better for that restaurant, it mostly depends on their normal volume.
I agree. It all depends on what they were making before!
Yes, you are right, the USA has never won a World Cup. They are in what is considered “Group of Death” but after watching the Portugal vs. Germany game, I think they may have a chance of coming out of the group alive. If Portugal continues to play horribly, I believe that USA and Germany will advance to the next round. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
And, men who work with my dad did take a whole month off to watch the entire
World Cup. My dad took last Thursday and Friday off to watch the opening ceremony and to watch Mexico play on Friday. We soccer fanatics are serious about the game! lol 🙂
I hope they do advance! Would there be any chance that they could win???
I am pretty sure they can advance to the next round, but I don’t think they will win sadly.
Germany and the Netherlands are playing very very well. I have a feeling one of them may take the cup.
Last night, the tornado sirens went off at 1:30am — really strong winds. No damage at my house, but I am gruuuumbly today. Roar. Coffee isn’t even doing it.
My boyfriend mows our lawn! I can’t start the lawn mower. It’s too tough for me to start and I just don’t “get it.”
I don’t have children, but I organized a department scavenger hunt at the Iowa State Fair. Do you have any local fairs? You could think of it on a bigger scale — a trip to a Farmer’s Market or a store, etc, and “find a head of lettuce,” etc… fun little things like that in a scenario you might not even normally think to do it in. 🙂
I should start making him his own grocery list for the store. Our Kroger has little carts that he likes to push and I think that he’d love to have his own list and things to be responsible for.
Hi! I hire a local lawn service because of my fibromyalgia. It’s been a really good thing, because it’s someone I know and I really want their business to succeed, and they’re able to do things I wouldn’t because they have better (and more!) equipment than I’d ever have if I did it myself.
Scavenger hunts: I’m afraid I don’t have good specific suggestions at my fingertips, but I’d look on Pinterest, because I’ve seen some really good ideas on there. One of my favorites was a photo scavenger hunt where you take your phone and get pictures of different things and with different people (like your postal carrier!)
Have you tried geochaching? (sp?) I haven’t, but I think I should try that with my son this summer.
I have not tried it, but I know people just love it. I think L would love it as well! We should try that this summer. I know there are some spots near us.
We were just at one of the library’s summer reading programs, and I thought that a library scavenger hunt would be a good thing to do on a rainy summer day! You could have kids look for things like a book about trucks, a picture of a dog, a pencil and so forth.
Oh, I like that idea a lot! We have such an awesome library here and L would love that.
I have a lawn service/snow plowing service. Part of my HOA. It’s wonderful not to ever think about the grass! Or the plowing, shoveling, bush/tree trimming, washing of the siding, driveway sealing. I do get a little anal about my plants though.. I don’t let them touch my flowers.
I do actually miss that part about living in a condo! I never had to think about it!
Random, but I saw a Kickstarter for a new Michigan box. It looks intriguing :3
I saw that too! I can’t wait to see their first box!
I’m curious too. I have wonderful memories from living in Michigan.
For the scavenger hunt, my 6 year old loves them. We just did one while camping, where we gave her a paper bag with a list of things on it to find. She loved it. Her favorite, though, is the digital scavenger hunt. I give her our old digital camera and a list of three categories, like “something that is red, something that is loud, something to wear” and she takes pictures and comes and shows us. It is really fun to see what she comes up with!
Oh I like the picture idea! I am going to have to incorporate some pictures in our hunt for sure!
I’ve done nature scavenger hunts at the park. Both boys love doing them. You can google it and even find one with pictures to make it easier for them. My trouble – my husband is traveling. Camps, carpools, teenager’s social life, stuff breaking etc. No break for mommy 🙁 Still I enjoy being with them.
My husband is out of town as well!
I’ve always been a little on the fence about tipping. On the one hand, I agree that great service deserves a great tip. However … I don’t exactly agree with having to pay a certain percentage of my bill in a tip — 15%, 20% whatever. Shouldn’t I get the same great service for ordering a $5 hamburger as I would for ordering the $50 lobster meal? I don’t think I should pay more in a tip just because I chose to order something more expensive … I think the waiter/waitress decides their fate in their service. At least in my case.
I think you get a different level of service if you go to fancier place. They have less tables per night than if you go to Chilis or whatever.
even know how to turn on a lawn mower! We recently got fake grass in our backyard because that’s how much even my hubby hates mowing the lawn!
As for the scavenger hunt. We like to do clues to a prize. For example the prize might be ice cream or a favorite toy and you would start off with a clue like, “Look where you eat your dinner” or something like that, then there would be another clue at the dining table that gives another clue to the next hiding spot until you get to the grand prize. 6 clues should be good for a 6 year old. It’s a great way to work on reading and reading comprehension too at this age! It’s super fun to see the kids searching for the next clue and get so excited! Have fun!
What is your fake grass like?? Someone near us has it and I am always fascinated by it.
That is a good idea! I think it would really help him with his reading. And be fun at the same time too!
My comment was cut off, how embarrassing!
Fake grass is awesome if you want your lawn looking perfect always and never have to do anything! It’s super expensive though, but worth it for us!
I totally thought of you when I saw the ad for $9 candles! I had to buy some, even though I just bought a bunch at Yankee Candle. I mean, they practically force you to buy them when they’re marked down so low, right? If we didn’t buy them, they would probably think we didn’t like them and feelings would be hurt (trying out my excuses for when DH notices another batch of candles showing up!).
I had to mow the grass when I was growing up and hated it so much that I made it very clear when we got married that I was never mowing the lawn again! Any teenagers in your neighborhood that could mow it while B was away? If not, call in your brother!
I don’t think we have any teenagers around here, but seriously there is a different lawn care crew here everyday doing someone’s lawn so I could just ask them I bet.
My husband mows the lawn. I don’t even know how to turn that thing on. I don’t think I am going to get candles from BBW for a while — kinda underwhelmed with the last ones I got. I am burning Natori candles right now and love them — they are huge (20 oz) and smell so good. You can get them at TJ Maxx, Home Goods, or Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Josie-Natori-Fragrance-Scented-Candle/dp/B00JMOL3UG).
I need to check them out. Thank you!
I read one of your posts on my phone and didn’t have time to comment…but, you said something to the effect of “being surprised at what some people will swap.” I HAVE to chime in. 1. someone swapped me for the “Work Hard Stay Humble” wall decal !!!!!! 2. I was looking at a swapper’s listings and she had that yummy strawberry fig bar from PopSugar but her listing said “used.” WHAT? Do you want to swap for the wrapper?!? I am constantly amazed.
OMG. I am cracking up. How do you sap a used fig bar?????