Saturday, August 6, 2011 - Kenny and the boys let me sleep in this morning until 9am and it felt really good. After breakfast the boys played basketball and soccer and then we all went to the gym and worked out and then walked half way around the compound. While on our walk we seen a guard or gardener for the compound in the port-o-potty with a water hose taking a shower in it. We didn't think much at first when we seen the hose until we noticed his clothes laying on the ground next to it. After the walk I cut Kenny's hair and then we got ready for church. On the way to church we seen a guy selling live chickens and ladies carrying fish, bread and one selling flip flops. We went to church early for Jacob's class but the priest never showed up. After church we got pizza to go and came home and skyped with Jason, mom, Josh and everyone and then Danny. We all watched Blind Side together...that is one of Jacob's favorite movies.
Sunday, August 7th, 2011 - We didn't do much today, went for a walk and played a little soccer and basketball with the boys. Went to the gym, the boys love going to the gym, and then to the playground. Kenny met Georgia and her kids and husband today. We came back home for lunch and then all took a nap. Kenny made some ranch dressing today and it was very good. He cooked a couple whole chickens on the grill and they were very good also. I made fried potatoes and onions, green beans and banana bread. I made the banana bread from the bananas in our yard. We will see if anyone likes the bread or not. It was about 77 degrees today. Jacob skyped Aiden and then we all skyped Mema, Pepa and Papa Nose. They love seeing us and the boys on the computer, they always smile ear to ear and Pepa even uses it. He is usually aggravating the boys about their money banks.
Monday, August 8th, 2011 - Didn't get much sleep last night because of the people partying down the street. Went to sleep about midnight. Kenny stayed home this morning because the maid and the Real Estate lady came today. The dish TV people came around 8am to hook the boys and our room up to cable. Fatima, the maid, said she wanted more than $300 a month for transportation and cleaning and the real estate lady told her no. She said she would come and clean until she is done and leave for the day not 8 to 5. I said that's fine. She didn't look to happy but said she would take the job and would be here at 8am tomorrow. The real estate lady said to test her by leaving money laying around and see if she take it. If she does then fire her and get another one. I told Kenny I wasn't sure about this after all. I told him I would give it a try for a month and see how it goes. I could save $300 a month and clean myself. It won't be so bad when the boys are in school. Plus she speaks no English so it is going to be hard to communicate. While the RE lady was here we went around to some other houses and picked out some furniture we liked better. We got a washer and dryer and new dining room table set. We also got a new couch and love seat that recline and coffee and end tables that match. We also found a table and chairs for our driver.
For dinner we made beans and cornbread and they turned out awesome. Jared picked Sorry as the game we play tonight. Jacob won the game. Baths and bed by 7:30pm so we can get in the habit for school next week.
Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 - Today was a long and stressful day. Fatima started which I was worried about. I guess it was just the unknown....not knowing how to speak to her in Portuguese and just hoping she likes it here and she doesn't steal anything. I left some money in the boys room and my room and she didn't take any of it. She had lunch with the boys and I and through charades we all talked and had a good lunch. The boys were amazed she ate two ham sandwiches and a bowl of beans. I gave her some banana bread that I made from the bananas in the backyard...none of us liked it.
When she first got here she changed clothes and asked for a smock, which I didn't have, and then she told Baptista to tell me she needed more money for taxi. I told her it would come from what I would pay her for August and she wasn't too happy. She started mopping downstairs after cleaning upstairs and I took the boys to the park. The guys came to fix the cabinet door and the pantry shelf and then some other guys came to check the leak in the ceiling and worked on the toilet. Hopefully, it is fixed now. One of the guys told me the maid said please, please, please give me $10 for the taxi and don't take it out of what I pay her at the end of the month. I said I can if she doesn't ask me for $10 everyday and she said she wouldn't. I had to show her how to use the washer and dryer and dishwasher and she still washed most of the clothes and dishes by hand. Kenny had some clean white socks in the dryer and I told her they were clean and she just needed to put them up and she said they were not clean because the bottoms were still a little brown looking. She washed them by hand and put them to soak over night with bleach and detergent.
It was a good day but very stressful. She left about 2pm and I took the boys to the park for an hour and they played so good in the sand with each other. We made smothered pork chops tonight. It was very good and everyone liked them. Tomorrow I am going to attempt to go to the store with Fatima to find her a smock and cleaning supplies she needs. I think I am asking for another headache.
Jacob went straight to sleep tonight and as I write this I hear him talking. Last night was a rough night getting him to sleep. It took 2 hours getting him to sleep and then he woke up at 4am and wouldn't go to sleep until about 5:30am.
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 - Today was a good day. Fatima came and I showed her how to work the dishwasher and washing machine again. I took her shopping with me and the boys. It was a little help because I could tell Baptista what I wanted in English and he could tell Fatima in Portuguese and then she could ask the people in the store. We still can not find a telephone for our house and still can not find any chicken. We went to 3 stores today and still no chicken. Kenny is going to try a place by his work tomorrow. Tomorrow we also get our new table and chairs and some new living room furniture. I can not wait until our shipment gets here and we have our rugs and all our decorations. I think it will make it feel more like home. The boys and I went to the park for a couple hours today and they played well together. We couldn't find Fatima a smock today so I gave her $30 to find one. I told her I would get some scrubs when we go home in December for her to wear. After going to Kero today the road home was very crowded with cars so Baptista said he would take us another way and we ended up going across a pasture on a dirt road. It was very bumpy but he said we would make it. The boys love it and Jared said we should have a motorcycle. Jacob showed Fatima how to use the microwave today at lunch. Kenny was going to make hamburgers today for supper but the hamburger meat smelled bad so he had to get a frozen package out and ended up making chili and french fries. The hamburger meat here smells different and has a different texture for some reason. It also cost $10/lb. Only 4 more days before school starts. I skyped Mary Anne tonight and also text Maddie on face book a little. She starts school tomorrow and she will be in Middle School. She said she in in Hall B which she wanted and seemed excited. I told her not to be nervous she will do find. I sure miss that girl!!
Thursday, August 11th, 2011 - Today was warmer about 77 degrees. Kenny, Baptista and Nelson and some other guys went and got us the new living room furniture and dinning room table from the other houses. The furniture is allot like we had in Marlow and it is so much better than what we had. Fatima didn't like it but we do. I told her today to only run the dishwasher before she leaves instead of twice a day. I told her to make sure she separates the color clothes from the whites and to wash the bed sheets every Friday and she said ok then went upstairs and stripped the beds and washed the sheets. :-) She never lets the clothes dry all the way in the dryer. She takes them out half wet and hangs them up to dry. Jacob found one of his shirts in his daddy's closet and Jared's clothes was in his closet and Jacobs in Jared's. I understand she is learning and doesn't have these things at her house and probably doesn't understand anything I am saying. She made some green tea today from some lemon grass in the backyard. The boys and I tried it and it was ok. She tried our tea yesterday and liked it when it was hot. When she left she put her tea in the freezer instead of the fridge. I asked her to vacuum the rugs twice a week and when she went to vacuum she couldn't figure out how to get it to come on. Kenny went to help her and she didn't have it plugged in to the electricity. It still amazes me how people still live without these things we take for granite like electricity. Something else she has started to do is funny things with our top sheet on our bed. Last night it was folded up and across the middle of our bed under the comforter. Today it was made like a bow on top of the comforter in the middle of the bed. Jacob thought it was funny she didn't know how to make a bed. We told him she probably doesn't even have a mattress or sheets and he couldn't believe us. She asked me for $65 to go get her a maid outfit from the mall. I went ahead and gave it to her but she wasn't able to find anything. So far we have made it on about $1,200 for the month for groceries and eating pizza on Saturdays. We gave Nelson $20 today for helping move all the furniture. He was very thankful. School starts in 3 days and I think I am more nervous than the boys.
Friday, August 12, 2011 - Today Fatima and Baptista showed up at 7am while I was in the shower and rang the doorbell and woke the boys up. She made my bed with the sheet right today. I showed her the cleaners to use to clean the bathrooms with. She said the mop I had wasn't good so she mopped with a towel instead. She started the washer over after it was finished washing the clothes a second time. I caught it and took them out and put them in the dryer. Then she did a load of just one towel. She also stopped the dishwasher before it was finished and then asked me why there was still water in the bottom of it. At lunch she was cleaning the wall behind the stove and she squirted toilet cleaner all over the walls to scrub them. I couldn't say anything or I would have died laughing. She is really sweet and nice and does everything I ask her to do. I think this is probably her first job and I am ok with training her on how to do stuff if she catches on quickly. She tried the boys waffles this morning with peanut butter and syrup on them. She said they were too sweet and then she had us try a supa-supa fruit from the tree outside. It was ok but very sweet. She said she loves them.
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