Off to School

  Declan getting on the bus.


  

No More Milk :-(

Yes, that is a frowny face. I have fought this for years. Denial is a good thing. I just can't drink milk. Cheeses seem to be ok, a small bit of milk with my cereal is ok, but no milk. I get sick. Don't need to tell you details, but it is just not fun.

So, I haven't been a glass of milk drinker for a long time, but I do like Mochas, Lattes.. ice blended drinks. Give me the shot of extra whip... cause it tastes so good. How will I survive? I had a soy Mocha yesterday at Starbucks. It was ok, but not quite the same. The only good thing...well...it is good for loosing weight. And, good for my pocket book. While Jeff and I always try to watch what we eat, and what we spend our money on... my weakness has always been that ice blended drink at Starbucks or Coffee Bean. 7 Sing dollars and a stomach ache later, I always feel bad (both in a literal and figurative sense) afterwards.

So, onto another healthy change. Feeling better, feeling a bit richer today...to the tune of 7 dollars, but still feeling a bit sad for the loss of my favorite drinks.

Scrappers Talk Radio

So had some fun this week posting my opinions over at Scrappers Talk Radio. In a nutshell, I have been asked to be the international expert and opine on the trends in international scrapbooking. I mean really where to start... the awesome aussies like Ngaire Barlam, Emily Falconbridge, Helen Williams? The amazine Celine Navarro from France? How about Shimelle Laine?

How about the awesome companies like Delish Designs? Urban Lily? New designs comming from France? Oh where to start?

So, I started with Far Flung Craft and my reason for starting the business. Next week I will get to talk about someone else. Can't wait!

Cost of Living

So, we are paying our taxes this month in Singapore. It is a big bite, but only because we don't withhold. Jeff worked 9 months last year, I worked the whole year. Because I work from home as an independent contractor and have the Far Flung Craft business, we are able to deduct business expenses for the business, which does help reduce our overall taxable income. That being said, taxes in Singapore are low. Really low.

In the US, we would be in the higher tax bracket based on our jobs. So far we still don't pay any US Tax (don't even get me started on the fact that US Citizens are about the only ones in the world subject to double taxation on income earned overseas....) but let me tell you what we paid this year.

Our total tax bill...less than 5.5% of our income. Unbeleiveable.

For this, we get semi-socialized medicine. Jeff's total hospital bill for surgery on his foot and an overnight stay was $500 US. We were NOT insured. That is TOTAL cost.

We have a high standard of living with all of the things we could need.

We have an effective and clean public transportation system that is inexpensive

We have access to public education for our children, if we chose to use it, for little cost.

We have a safe and clean environment in which to raise our family.

Even when you add in the cost of my child's private education and you assume that we would not pay for that in the US, our "Tax" is still less than 19%. Big issue will come when Kiera attends the American school if we can still claim that the cost of living is better here.

Pictures from February 2006

 
 


I am thinking about a scrapbook layout, but saw these pictures from February in Singapore. A big rainstorm, lots of puddles... lots of laughs. This is really what life is all about people! Pictures taken at Anchorpoint condo at Thomas Forster's birthday party.