I have been either my boss, or someone else’s boss for the past 5 years. When I first started my company, telling people what to do didn’t come easy to me, but the more confidence I had in my decision (based on experience in the field and the fact that at one time I did the job I hired them to do) the easier it became to observe, direct and constructively criticize peoples work. After a few years running the show, I learned that many people work better under close supervision. When I say better I mean; attention to detail, no cutting of corners, deadlines met.
Now, I am the boss on our job site (I share this responsibility with Summer) and I have gone through the same confidence gaining evolution here. I have gained experience planning rough through finish electrical work, rough in through finished plumbing work, drywall, appliances, tiling, bathroom fixtures, fans, landscaping, painting, custom closet creations, hardwood floor installation blah blah blah. Now, I am not an expert in these fields by any means, but I am now confident in how the all of those little things effect the big picture as far as building a house.
So, you would think, that I would have learned my lesson by being a foreman on the job site at this point….but I haven’t. Last week, the neighbor hired a backhoe to excavate some rock on her property. Mark and I were on our way to Home Depot, and I asked what he was going to do with the large boulders. He said he was going to dump them somewhere, so I told him he could put the large boulders on my property and I will use them around the yard. He was cool with it and Mark and I headed to Home Depot.
When we got back two hours later, the backhoe and dump truck were gone, and they had dumped about 8 yards worth of broken up cinder block, dirt, concrete and boulders in our turnaround spot at the end of the driveway.
That’s a lot of rock to move
Ha! I should have learned my lesson and stayed on site to observe and make sure the job was completed properly. So, I spent about 6 hours pulling out the big boulders and rolling them around the yard to line the driveway and our turn around spot. When I was done with that, I started shoveling the dirt into a wheel barrel for transport, and realized that it was going to take me a week to get all of the dirt/concrete/block moved. Yesterday, another neighbor was getting some excavation work done with a back hoe, so I hiked on up the hill and talked him into coming down to our house when he was done up there (for a small fee).
I’ll post some pictures of the rock-scaping when I am done moving rocks! It’s back breaking work.
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I am so sick of ticks. Stefan and I could pick ticks off of Kuta and Monkey, all day long.
I think I may need to purchase a Hazmat Suit to cook. Last night, I was defrosting a bunch of chicken breasts in the microwave, and the weirdest thing happened. I opened the door to check on the chicken and the microwave didn’t turn off! It didn’t really hit me at first, but when I realized the microwave was still cookin’ (may hand was getting hot) I shut the door and hit the clear/off button. The light in the microwave was off, but the cooker was still going. I was just about to unplug it when it turned off (I was turning everything on and off and hitting the clear button repeatedly). 
Listen up people! It’s time to go bowling and all of you need to join us. We have been bowling in Aguadilla a couple of times (Next to the Wendy’s and Freshmart Health Food Store on the No. 2) and have decided if it is a worthy enough sport for The Dude, it’s a worthwhile pastime for all of us. Summer and I would like to loosely organize a Rincon bowling night in Aguadilla. Tuesday and Wednesday nights offer $5 a person all the games you can bowl from 4:00pm to 9:00pm. Medalia is only $1.25 and the place is air conditioned. The way I see it, anyone that goes is making out on the deal. 
legal marijuana for cats and cheech is too young to experiment with such a controversial gateway drug. Don’t worry, catnip has another very useful purpose, it repels mosquitoes! The natural oils found in Catnip is actually a more effective mosquito repellent than the highly toxic DEET. You can plant it all around your outdoor living areas and you can also crush it up, retain the oil and use it as all natural mosquito repellent (I can’t guarantee cheech won’t kill you if you do this). 
like Thai Grilled Chicken Salad with Lemon Grass Coriander Dressing and it is also a mosquito repellent. Lemon grass (aka: Citronella Grass) is a plant that grows in clumps, and can grow up to 6ft tall. I really like the idea of having lemon grass clumps planted around the yard because this stuff smells so good and grows as fast as grass. Uh, hence, lemon grass. The long and the short of it is this. If you plant a small clump of lemon grass by all of the windows downstairs, they will be 6 ft tall clumps of mosquito repelling love in 6 or 8 weeks . 
We planted Marigolds around our vegetables to try to help keep the little veggy eating bugs away from our booty. Marigolds do a good job repelling mosquitoes around the house, but they are annuals (life cycle of one year), so they are not going to live year around like some the other mosquito repelling plant options. 
It is the hallmark holiday of plants. This plant (in my opinion) is banking on the ’sucker’ in all of us. What scientist would name a plant the Mosquito Plant! It is marketed heavily and as its name implies, it is a mosquito repelling plant. I did some research on the Mosquito Plant and can’t find any solid evidence that these things actually repel pesky mosquitoes, so I am just going to dismiss the Mosquito Plant as an option for us. 
I love this. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs to cook with as it has a really strong unique flavor (great for marinating lamb/chicken, infusing with virgin olive oil). Rosemary also grows year around and can grow into quite a large plant. It can become a total ground cover (if properly groomed) or a beautiful hedge once it matures. Rosemary does better in more temperate climates and tropical climates, but it grows quick enough that if you are in an area that actually has seasons, you can grow it on the porch and then bring it inside come winter. The oils in rosemary also work as an all natural mosquito repellent. 