Kleeneze

So Martin convinced me that we should start selling Kleeneze products. Christine sells it, and she gets extra cash if she signs someone up. We started doing it last week, and I hate it! Kleeneze is a door to door sales company that sells cleaning products and kitchen gadgets. Some of it is cool, but some of it is tacky and overpriced. Martin said that he would do most of the work, if I just delivered and collected catalogues. It's not turning out that way, just as I suspected. Martin gets this GREAT idea, and I end up doing a lot of work. Anyway, the longer we do it the more I realize that it's a lot of annoying work for not that much reward.

I feel better now that I got that off my chest!

Other than that, things are going great! We got some good news this week. First, we heard from the insurance company about our window. We were afraid that they wouldn't cover the cost of replacing the upstairs window since it is currently a double glazed UPVC window and it needs to be a single glazed wooden sash window because we are in a conservation area. But we got a couple of quotes and sent them in. Martin found out on Monday that they will pay the entire cost, and our new window should be installed in 10-14 days. This means that our house will be completely legal now, and we just saved ourselves £1700.

The second piece of good news is that we got our tax credits reassessed. See, in England you pay, depending on your income, a flat tax of 23%. If you make more than a certain amount, your income is taxed at a whopping 40%. Instead of filing for an income tax refund, you apply for tax credits. The government takes a look at your individual circumstances and give you money back if your circumstances merit it. We were getting a little bit of money as a child tax credit, but now we are getting three times as much now (starting on the 25th of August).

So yeah, it's been a good week. Dylan and I have been having a good time. We've been taking long naps, going to see the ducks, playing in the garden, and just generally having a good time. Martin worked late on Monday and had baseball practice on Wednesday, so it was just the two of us. Christine came and sat with Dylan after he was asleep and Martin and I went to the cinema. We used to go all the time, but now it is a rare treat. I love to go on dates with my husband. I gave Emma a massage on Monday, as well. So yeah, doing well in Barton.

I just wanted to update everyone quickly. Not much to report, but it's too easy to get out of the habit of blogging and before you know it you haven't posted in weeks and an update is impossible.