Just a 46-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH). Dh earned his keep. He received $125 focus group check yesterday and made about $20 on ebay. Just enough to pay for my ring resize, which he really wanted to do. So, works out.
HE made some Craigslist sales as well.
I actually had extra cash in the checking so will give him the $20 from ebay to plow back into his game selling.
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I usually pay most the bills around the 1st every month but I had quite a few to take care of this week:
*Phone bills (put on credit card)
*Dish (credit card - dh told them not to take auto payments, but they did. But with the card theft they were at our mercy. Dh called them and told them to stop the auto payments and they listened this time. But now it's kind of a pain to pay them. We won't have them long anyway. DirectTV by next year I am sure)
*AAA (put on card - $130)
*School Lunch (credit card - figured $45 would cover the rest of the year. First $20 is almost gone. BM Eats at school once a week. I enjoy the break!)
*Oh, I paid one credit card (backup card) online and wary if it will go through. I tried to pay regular card (both had new #s due to recent thefts and replacements). But that one was not cooperating. I may have to mail in a check or something. Feels like russian roulette with how BAD our mail service is. So I hope I can get the online bill pay set back up soon.
*I wrote a check (something I rarely do) for Reader's Digest. I think it is our only subscription besides the paper. Our cooking mags are a gift subscription from great grandma and the kids get Highlights from their aunt. I could have set it up online, but in this case, the check was easier.
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*Dh's car needs an oil change. I reminded him this morning. He said he got a $8 off coupon yesterday. Good timing! (The other ones had expired and I realized we past 6 months. I had my oil changed Oct. 31).
*We signed up to volunteer 16 hours for the Scholastic Warehouse sale. I got suckered into an 8-hour shift. Ugh!
It's sweet since dh's mom (teacher) retired. WE always had tons of free Scholastic products (she had more than she could ever use and chose to give them to us for whatever reason). Anyway, for 16 hours we will earn $320 in Scholastic vouchers. Most will go to school of course, but we may keep $20 for our own purchases.
I have volunteered for multiple opportunities but no one seems to want my help. So I was pleased I was able to volunteer for SOMETHING. Dh has run into similar troubles even with his wide open schedule. The school seems to have more help than it needs. I assume either the Kindergarten parents are extra eager or the volunteering machine lacks organization. Since they are always asking for help. I think, a little of both. Happy to get in some hours. After this we will only need 4 more hours to earn our keep for the year. (Charter school; required 30 hours a year, per family).
*LM told me our neighbors had a BIGGER house than ours! LOL! I don't remember noticing that kind of stuff when I Was young. At all.
His 3-year-old opinion is that a bigger house would be better.
Our house is about twice the size of the one dh grew up in, and about 30% bigger than the one I grew up in. I always worried the kids would end up spoiled. Here we go...
I would tell him that house would have been our first choice and well within our reach ($10k premium for another room or so) but that the layout is atrocious and the appearance of monstrosity is more due to non-energy efficient & space wasting vaulted ceilings throughout the lower level. But yeah, he wouldn't understand. 
In fact, we settled for one vaulted ceiling in the formal dining room, because I think it was the least amount of vaulted ceiling we could find in new construction. (One of many horrible trends in the 2000-era; along with giant kitchens, closets and master bedrooms). My long-term dream is to replace the upper level with a giant bonus room - or more appropriately a bonus loft. I don't know how feasible it will be. But I would be happy to banish the vaulted ceiling from our home. They put enough windows up there that I think if we could get a floor and a railing, it would suffice. Shouldn't be THAT expensive, eh???? Then maybe we could reach all the windows and lights. Imagine that!
The 3yo wants to keep up with the Joneses. Ugh! I don't think the 5yo has ever had any Joneses inklings. None that he has shared...
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For reference: This is my kitchen (though mine doesn't have so much open space on the right side. Right countertop is much closer to island. We have less cabinet space and room, as such. But otherwise, virtually identical). I'd call it "big" but not "giant." Definitely, practical. Island is quite large and yet within reach of stove, fridge, dishwasher and sink. You don't have to walk a mile between these things...
LM also informed me at lunch, when I told dh about his Jonesing, that we should trade houses so the neighbors could live in our "little house." Hehe!
Just an Update
November 11th, 2008 at 07:56 pm
November 11th, 2008 at 09:30 pm 1226439015
November 11th, 2008 at 10:41 pm 1226443270
Though GIANT is certainly relative. I'd consider my current kitchen giant compared to the first kitchen we owned.
But this is the norm when we were looking at houses. Not practical, AT ALL:
http://www.wingesaia.com/projectimages/laureldale/1.jpg
& a bit much... Perhaps slightly exaggerated, but not really.
November 12th, 2008 at 01:10 am 1226452252
I'm with you on the kitchens. I actually prefer galley style (I know - not at all fashionable these days) to ones with islands, but I think if I had kids I'd like an island so that they could be in the kitchen with me without being in the way. I do like having a kitchen that is spacious enough to have 2 people in it without bumping elbows, but so many kitchens we looked at feel like you'd need roller skates to get around in! We've decided that there are 2 types of kitchens: Those for people who actually cook, and those for people who want to impress others with their big kitchen!
November 12th, 2008 at 02:14 am 1226456083
When I taught, I used my bonus points to buy books for Christmas gifts for the students, as well as books for end of year gifts. Yes, my kids knew what they were getting from me.
November 12th, 2008 at 03:26 am 1226460402
i would probably prefer something a little bigger than the photo on here, but smaller (and better designed - i don't really like the look of the one on the wingesaia link, it's very angled and sharp...) than on the link you provided. for two years i rented a house with a tiny kitchen to share between three people making separate meals. it was hell! (that's why i asked lol). of course giant is relative...
November 12th, 2008 at 04:24 am 1226463859
November 12th, 2008 at 02:55 pm 1226501702
I just LOVE the island for space. Particularly after our last cramped kitchen. Love love love it. But we like to cook - and for that it is very functional. I love being able to spread out, particularly after our last kitchen. I think we were hard pressed to fit 2 people in there AND there was NO counter space. Ugh.
SCFR - no - I think $77 is probably the standard. We pay for extra towing because when we were house shopping up here my alternator gave out half way home and they towed us to a shop that said they may get to it in a week. (Here we were in the middle of NOWHERE). This was 2001. Anyway, the tow truck driver actually took pity on us and changed the alternator for us - it took 5 minutes. We upgraded our membership so we could tow 200 miles because we have trusted mechanics on either end and decided we didn't much like AAA's endorsed mechanics. Of course, 7 years later we have never needed to tow more than 5 miles. Of course! But we make the drive so much, to see family, we like the extra coverage.
November 12th, 2008 at 04:39 pm 1226507952
The second picture link shared is gorgeous! But I agree that it's also not very practical, and practicality is more important. And the colors are kind of cold too. Not the color of counter top I would pick.