What to call this post?

I'm not even going to apologize for slacking off! I do that in every single post I make, and I think it's getting pretty old.

So you'll probably notice a button on my sidebar that's yellow and says "This is getting good!" That's just the semi-official logo for the community that I live in, Daybreak, and I think clicking on the button will take you to the website. I love it here! But that's not why I put it up. I'm normally against advertising for other companies for free (which is why I like to wear clothes from certain stores, but NOT if they have the name of the store written all over it). But for posting that button, I was given a $20 gift card to REI in the unlikely event that Leo and I ever decide to become outdoorsy people, we have $20 to help us out!

Tiago is 23 months old today, we're working on plans for his birthday party next month. So far, we only know it's going to be a Cars theme. But all the stuff for parties focuses on Lightning McQueen, and it seems that Mater is his favorite character.

Leo is busy at work as usual. He's headed off to Costa Rica next week, then to Colombia, Peru and Chile next month (or so the plan is so far), then to Spain in October. Oh well...the best benefit of all this travel is the SkyMiles he gets in his account. We almost have enough miles to pay for two tickets to Mexico for Christmas, so we'll just have to buy one! (for a savings of at least $1400....whew!)

I'm working on the stuff I need to start teaching piano lessons in September. I never realized there was so much more to it than just showing up and charging money for my time! At least not if I want to do it right and do right by my students. :) It'll be nice to have some extra money coming in to help pay bills and for the fun stuff. We don't need it, this is going to be more of a hobby than a necessity, but you can't argue with extra money!

I also have a new responsibility. I am now a contributing author on the Belcher Family blog. My mom was a Belcher, so her cousin set up a blog for all Belcher descendents, and I am in charge of posting events about my mom and dad, Lisi and Jake, and Leo and I. I'm just glad I didn't ever have to grow up as a Belcher. :)

Oh! So I remember what initially prompted me to post this posting to the blog.

Have any of you ever fantasized about being on bed rest during pregnancy just so you have an excuse and a large block of time to sit down and work solely on scrapbooking? I do...I have lots of photos to scan and catalog, and approximately 27 years of my life to scrapbook. Then Leo is never going to scrapbook his own stuff, so I'll have to at least catalog his photos in chronological order. Then I want to keep Tiago up on his scrapbook, I think that's just a small favor I can do for him. Bed rest would give me an excuse just to lay there (literally!) and work on that for a couple of months at least.

On another pregnancy note, (no, I am NOT pregnant!) if any of you reading this are planning on having any more kids, take note of the Hospital Indemnity and Sickness plans. Leo and I got ours from AFLAC, and basically after 10 months, it'll pay you for your time in the hospital, doctors fees and surgical benefits (they consider delivery a surgery). Regular delivery scores big $$, but C-sections score even bigger $$. So for just over $100 per month, I will get $3200 once I deliver a baby. So it's a fantastic deal if you time things carefully, to only pay premiums for 10-12 months and deliver after you've had the policy for at least 10 months. It's completely legit and legal. But I'm not an insurance salesperson, so you'll have to find out your own information. Our salesperson told us that AFLAC is considering changing the terms of the policies to exclude maternity and delivery because they lose a lot of money on that, but as long as you purchase a policy before they change it, then you're good to go!

The $$ can be used however you want. Leo and I have excellent insurance plus great benefits provided by 4Life to cover the cost of our deductible, so this isn't a necessity, but like I said up above, you can't argue with extra $$!

Well, I'm off for now! We're in the process of painting our bedroom, so I need to tape off the accent wall and maybe get ready to put on a coat of primer during Tiago's nap. We decided to paint the rooms in our house in the theme of the 4 Elements, Earth, Water, Fire and Air. So our Master bedroom area is water, our hallway, stairs and part of our living room is going to be Fire, then we haven't worked out the rest of the details. :)

Au Revoir!