
Ok, I know I've been slacking lately. I have some reasons for it that I won't divulge here. Outside of that it's been work and playing catchup the past week.
Whats new?
First, I've been returning back to the gym lately. The past two-three weeks I've been stepping up my fitness, or at least trying to. Working a lot on cardio and easing back into lifting. I really, really want to get back into swimming again, but to do so, I either have to join a gym with a pool-the closest one is 24 hr fitness about 6 miles away; or use the Scottsdale lap pool, which costs $3 a day and is 12 miles away. That's the only thing that my town of Gilbert lacks is a public use pool. They open up a few Jr. High School pools during the summer for use, but they aren't lap pools, just pools for families to play in the water.
Either way, the fitness is coming along well. I'm being better with food. No fried stuff, no soda, and a lot more veggies-with the broccoli farts to prove it.
The garden is going crazy. I'm harvesting lettuce and herbs now, and in about 3 weeks the peppers,tomatoes, possibly potatoes and squash. There are limes busting out on my new lime tree and all the new growths on the other trees, cacti and shrubs are progressing wonderfully with the onset of really warmer weather and the constant source of water from the drip system (which, let me tell you, is a time and life saver!)
I've taken on a few projects upon myself. First is to overhaul and clean the house, which I will be doing the next 2 weeks. I'm thinking of moving the office into the master bedroom and converting the current office into a home gym room. I need to thoroughly vacuum and shampoo the carpets, get down and scrub the tile grout, clean baseboards and other anally-reserved cleaning chores.
Starting and adding to a huge ass family tree project...man, my familia has a ton of peeps..
I also need to contact a licenced electrician to see about wiring a 240 outlet on the patio so I can start jacuzzi shopping.
I've been bill free this month (outside of standard ones, utilities,groceries, etc...), so I am trying to save as much as I can for a possible return to Hermosa Beach in June. Nothing is reserved or set as of now, nor are any travellers confirmed. I get the feeling that this trip will come down to the absolute last minute as everyone I know is trying to scratch money together. Latest research is of an estimated $500-$600 for just the hotel room, 2 queen beds for 2 people for 4 nights.. Airfare is $135 to LAX. The way gas prices are soaring, this may be a better option as for me to fill up my truck 3-4 times to drive there and back would be $125, and 7 hours each way.
I've been trying to move some money around and beef up my investments and securities. I moved about 3k out of a mutual fund and placed it into a moderately conservative IRA portfolio, which I hope to constantly add to over the years. I also tinkered around with my money market fund thru ING. and used their new offer for an online money market checking account that pays 3.8-4.2%. It is a paperless checking account. If I decide to pay bills through it, it will be electronic, and the account comes with a mastercard debit card. Considerably better than my current old school checking account where I am still writing checks to pay my stuff out of an account that pays absolutely no interest. I get the feeling that account will be used from now on as a transfer account to access my new ING as well as all my other accounts.
I've been a ice cream making whore this week. 2 new batches. One was vanilla peppermint chocolate chip and last nite I made peanut butter chocolate chip. So good...yet so bad for me...
I've been in contact with about 3-4 different investment companies that are all currently providing me with property listings to look into buying with my father. Some look good, some are astronomically out of our price range, some are crappy and some would be awesome if the seller's terms weren't ludicrously stupid.
That's about it hommies...I'll try to keep up.
Peace out.