Adulthood

Almost a year ago, Otter turned 21.  Shortly before that, she entered the world of employment.  She said that neither of those would make her really an adult.  What would?  Filing taxes.

 

As of 4:40 this afternoon, she is officially an adult.  She filed her taxes for the first time.  So, does she feel like an adult yet?

 

No.  She feels like a 12-year old in an adult suit!

 

Not sure why, she's getting money back at least.  So are we, but since she is "officially" an adult now, we can't claim her on our taxes.  Since we lost the big deduction, we aren't getting back nearly what we used to or hoped for, but we are getting about what we expected so I'm not complaining.

 

Bill and I are still dealing with the various bugs.  We are both feeling better, but not well yet.  He's still coughing but he's not coughing as hard or as often.  I'm coughing more, but that is most likely because the URI is aggravating my asthma.  I'm not coughing horribly, just coughing.  I took my last antibiotic today.  Bill is still on them for a few days, I think Thursday is his last day of them.  He's taken the cough medicine every night and yesterday he took a couple of doses during the day since he was home.  It made him a little groggy, which is why he was mainly just taking it at night.

 

We did get out today.  Bill needed to get something from the hardware store and the tool store (where Otter works).  Froggy commented about Uncle Crazy not being able to "stay on task" at stores like Home Depot or Lowe's.  I know exactly what she means!  I had to go with Billyboy to Ace Hardware just for that reason.  Otter got to escort him around the tool store, since she knows where everything is already.  But she was generous and used her employee discount on the stuff he bought.  Just those two stops exhausted Bill and I was pretty tired as well.  We also stopped at the video store and post office to check the box, but Otter ran in and took care of those two for us.  We brought Bill home, then Otter and I went back to Wallyworld because there were 3 or 4 things I forgot at the grocery store the other day.  AFTER we got there, we both realized that I could have just sent her for me but by that point, it didn't matter as I was already there. 

 

There was a Girl Scout cookie booth at Wallyworld, so we got 5 boxes.  We'll probably get more, we usually buy cookies from every booth or scout we see.  They are good cookies and the cookie sales help the girls directly.  There has been a rumor about the Girl Scouts organization supporting abortion rights, but I've done the research and it's just a rumor.

 

The movie we rented for yesterday was Free Birds.  Free would be overpaying for it!  It was pretty terrible.

 

Frasier got another mole.  Otter was cleaning out the dog yard this afternoon and she found a dead mole.  It was probably Frasier, he's been the one who's spent the most time outside.  Maggie gets them sometimes, but she's been spending most of her time lately inside - snoozing at my feet, under whatever blanket I happen to be using!

I Thought Yesterday Was Monday?

It might be Tuesday according to the calender.  But this is a perfect example of the day I've had: 

My Stress Fairies came to visit me today.  They had puppies!

They weren't as cute as this one, however.

But a puppy belly will make up for just about any stress that happens.

RIF, after all.

Otter and I had an unscheduled Girls Lunch today.  It was one of those "get out of the office before I strangled someone" days, so I bribed Otter with lunch at Arby's.  She agreed pretty quickly!

Bill had his dental visit yesterday, for what we thought was the last of the fillings he needed.  But as we were checking out and getting ready to leave, they told him that he needed to make another appointment for two more fillings.  I called their office today, and he actually has three more that he needs.  Two on the next appointment, then one remaining.  They are supposed to be smaller than yesterday's, but considering that we were originally told that yesterday was the final work needed, we really aren't sure.  He was NOT a happy camper yesterday, but I don't blame him.

We did get the taxes finished up on Sunday.  We filed them online, and we got the official receipt from the IRS and state tax agency so now Otter can get her FAFSA filled out.  FAFSA is the form that needs to be filed to unlock the keys for financial aid for college tuition.  We came out ok on the taxes, but we realized something:  when we had a business and/or rental property, we always had to pay.  Always.  Even with all the deductions we had.  Now that we don't have either, because the Pachinko business doesn't really qualify as a "business", our taxes come out much better.  Strange.

OK, I think I'm going to go find a puppy belly to rub.  I'm thinking that a certain beagle will probably agree wholeheartedly to being stress relief for me!  And a big, furry coyote might agree - although he's really more of a scratch-my-chin-and-I'll-follow-you-anywhere pooch.

Taxing Sunday!

(Bet you can't guess from the title what Bill's doing today!)

The sun is shining!  It's really nice today.  Not quite as warm as it looks, but it's still very nice.  Sunny and pretty, the birds are chirping and the dogs are lazy.

OK, so the dogs are always lazy!  But the birds are chirpy today.  They are also possibly looking for nesting material, so I might get some yarn scraps out soon.  It's still  a little early and we might still get winter weather, but the birds apparently don't think so.  Otter and I were out in the back yard earlier and we saw a few assorted bugs, so I'm sure the birds are happy.

I attempted to crochet just now.  It's doable, but I'm not going to be in a big hurry to get back into it.  I just did a few simple single stitches on my scrap-scarf-turned-lap-blanket project to see if it hurt my arm.  I definitely felt it, but it didn't hurt exactly.  I just did a few dozen stitches, just enough to test.  I probably won't do any more for a while yet.  But, it was nice to be able to crochet at all!

Bill goes back to the dentist tomorrow.  His appointment is at 9:00.  We'll take Otter to college and drop her off, then head to the dentist's office.  I think I'm going to take a book or two with me, normally I take crochet but it's going to be reading material this time.  Then after we get home, I'm hoping that Billyboy will get some rest.  He's not going to be in the best mood, understandably, but he's got to get it done.

Otter and I will be in need of our teeth cleaning soon.  I'm going to talk to the dentist at that point and see if she can give me a better idea of when Otter's two remaining wisdom teeth will be ready to come out.  I'm really hoping that we can schedule it sometime other than 4 days before the next semester starts!

OK, back to my laundry now.  And then I think Otter and I might make brownies.  We have 3 partially used cans of frosting in the fridge, I think we're going to have multi-colored frosted brownies this time.

Today!

Today is April 15. Tax Day. Tea Party Day (you already know which side of the aisle I'm on for this, right?) Thursday.

And, it's also International High Five Day. So go High Five somebody, hopefully you won't get left hanging!

It's been a long, hard week and I'm very glad that it's nearly over. Sabbath can not get her fast enough. I am in desperate need of several hours of uninterruped crochet and/or reading time. Oh, also nap time sounds really good.

Frasier probably agrees with that last statement, he's parked in the floor beside me and is currently doing his pedicure but that's generally the last activity before he puts his head down on the floor and starts snoozing.

Nevermind, he just got up and left the room. Probably to go to his spot in the living room and nap there. Dog's got his priorities.

I took Otter to a local park yesterday. Froggy - the one where we fed the squirrels and walked around the stream. The azaleas are blooming and it was just beautiful! There were lots and lots of people, a few dogs (on leash only at this place) and billions of kids. Kids of all ages, there was also a senior center that had a field trip and they seemed to be having as much fun as the kids that were there. We contributed to the welfare of several squirrels and they followed us for a while. They are very used to people, and they are tame enough to take peanuts out of our hands. We're careful about it. There were a lot of birds, they tend to congregate where people are feeding the squirrels because they get fed that way, too. No tadpoles yet, it's a little early for them. Surprisingly, my knee wasn't too bad. The ground is very uneven but I managed to walk the stream area without too much difficulty. Of course, my allergies were "full speed ahead" and I was itchy for hours afterwards. But it was worth it! Nana, this is the same park where we took Otter when she was young and you took pictures - which you then turned into a painting of her sitting in front of some of the azaleas. We try to go several times a year, but I don't think we made it more than once last year - Froggy, when you were hear and the squirrels weren't very hungry (for once).

I have ridden my bike twice this week, Sunday and Tuesday. I would have ridden it today, but I didn't have enough time this evening. It might be rainy the next couple of days, so I'm not sure when I'll get back on it but soon. My knees were not happy with me yesterday, the day after a bike ride, which is why it was so surprising that I didn't have problems at the park.

Froggy, I haven't forgotten about the crochet project I have in mind for you. I think I've narrowed it down to how I want to do it (which pattern/stitch I want to use). I'm thinking that Saturday is when I'll see how it works. I'll keep you posted.

Sunday Tabasco Sauce

Otter's suggestion!

It's been a busy week. It was a good one, just kind of busy.

There is still snow everywhere, but the streets are mostly clear now. Even the neighborhood, there are patches of ice but they aren't covered solidly like after the last ice storm. We got out today, we would have cleared off the cars even if we didn't get out. I sent Otter out to the driveway with the pushbroom, to clear the bulk of the snow off of my car. With the remote start feature, it didn't take too long for me to clear the windshields. Bill's car has been broomed off, but he didn't work on the windshields. He said he'll do that in the morning. I did offer to help him but he said he'd rather wait until tomorrow since he'll have to warm the car up anyway and that will give him something to do while it's warming. His car doesn't have the remote start so he'll have to actually start it and the door locks don't work if the key is in the ignition. Which is great to not be locked out accidentally, but it means that someone has to either be sitting in the car or standing out there when it's running to warm up.

We finished our taxes this morning. We came out a whole lot better than I thought we would. This is the earliest we've ever gotten them done, we usually get our taxes ready in early February but we got all the information in that we needed so Bill did them this morning.

I never did get my bird feeders filled. I was going to get them filled up Friday morning, but the rain-snow-ice was falling all day and the birds were not in evidence. So yesterday, I headed out the back door to retrieve the feeders and realized that they were solidly attached to the poles. There was quite a bit of ice on each feeder, and I was afraid I would break them trying to get them off the poles. So I tossed a huge amount of birdseed out on the deck and out on the ground. There have been birds out there ever since. We've seen quite a few chickadees and some cardinals. Just a few sparrows this time. No doves lately, but there were plenty of starlings. Have I mentioned how much I detest starlings? Vermin!

We rented the movie District 9 to watch yesterday. It was rated R, but that was probably because of the language. It had a little violence but not too bad. The story itself was just not that good. I think Otter liked it, but I was pretty bored. Last Saturday, we watched the movie 9, the one about the stuffed dolls not the musical Nine. 9 was ok, it was not the best but the story was interesting. I think that I would have been disappointed with both of them, had we seen then in the theater.

Bill's been busy in the garage, cutting wood for the pachinko frames and he also said he had another project that he started a long time ago but was going to get it finished today. No idea what it is!

I was going to post my January book list, but it's not in front of me at the moment. I will probably get it posted tomorrow. I still have a pretty good stack of books to read that I haven't gotten to yet, Otter and I went to the library last Wednesday before hitting the grocery store in advance of the snow & ice. Groceries are very important to stock up on, but so are books! If you ask Otter, she'll probably say that books are the most important.

A Couple More Thoughts and it's My Last Day of Being 45!

Or as Bill puts it, the last day for 6 months that he is married to a younger woman and I'm married to an older man. For the other 6 months, we're the same age.

We've been working today. For whatever reason, the main file we keep our eBay stuff on for tax purposes decided that it wanted to delete itself. Well, not entirely - the file was still there but it was an older version that was last saved on 10/3/07. Each time we work on that file, it gets saved. But for some reason, it decided that we needed it to unsave itself. Fortunately, we haven't had a whole lot of eBay sales for the last few months so we were able to recreate most of it without much trouble. There is still a little work to go on it, but we've gotten the bulk of it done. No idea why the computer did that.

Anyway, on to my other thoughts. Bill got a really nice ice bucket & glasses set that also has the nice coasters. And it's all burnt orange with Longhorn logos! I informed him that the rule connected with all things TEXAS is that they are a) really mine or b) if he ever decides to get rid of them (which he won't) then it automatically reverts to a) really mine. And Otter thinks that there should be a c) really hers. The same rule would apply to anything A & M related, if a certain nephew of mine is interested!

We finished up my leather house shoes last night. Bill did part of them, since my dry skin was hurting my fingers each time I pulled on the lacings. They are very comfortable and my heel is much better - as long as I have them on. Which will be most of the time I'm inside. Plantar Faciatis is not fun when you don't like to wear shoes! But I'm dealing with it. And eventually, I'll be back to barefoot most of the time (another legacy of our Cherokee mother!)

We probably will attempt the mall later on. It's going to be crowded no matter what time we go, but I'm hoping that the major part of the crowd will have been and gone because all the stores are opening early for special sales. There is a Sears that is not in a mall, but it doesn't have a lot of parking and it's on the other side of town from us now. Besides, Otter has two certificates from Hot Topic stores and they are only in the mall. So I guess we'll be heading to the larger Tulsa mall sometime later on today.

Don wanted a gps, and he'd seen one at Bass Pro Shops. So everybody gave him gift cards for Bass Pro and a map so that he'd get the hint about getting himself the gps. We used an older map for wrapping paper, it came out cute and it was funny. I am just about out of wrapping paper (finally!) and was thinking of hitting Wally or Target to see if they have any left but now I'm thinking of all the other things that can be used as wrapping paper and will be fun to use. I feel a craft project coming on!

(It's now several hours later). I'm updating what I posted earlier. We did make it to the mall. Along with quite a few other people. But we were able to find a good parking spot. Otter and I left Bill in Sears, happily looking for things to hurt himself with. She and I went to Hot Topic, and they were very crowded. She found a couple of things to use part of her certificates on and we will probably go to the other mall with a Hot Topic later in the week. We went back to Sears, where Bill was waiting with the SAW BLADES he bought. Then it was my turn. I had been needing a warmer robe, since the last one a) wasn't very warm after all and b) that was 50 pounds ago. I found a nice, blue, fuzzy robe that happened to be on clearance and it was also 2 sizes smaller than the last one so I'm happy! Of course, it's also probably going to make me fully charged with static electricity so Frasier better watch out!

Otter and I went to WalMart, she has been wanting an Ipod and now with her Christmas cash and Wally gift card she has enough for one. It was an adventure, and not a fun one. They had one left of the one she wanted, and I was going to buy her an additional card for it so she could actually buy songs for it. Only problem is that WalMart's giftcard system is down nationwide. The (insert name for unsmart here) clerk sent me to Customer Service, she said that they would give me the $$ for the card (which I knew wasn't going to happen but it was worth a shot), and they told me that she'd been sending people up all afternoon and that they kept sending them back and while I was there the CS manager called electronics and yelled at her. When I went back to electronics to collect Otter, the clerk in question was nowhere in sight! They said that they would hold the item, there was a note taped to it with my name and cell phone number and it was back in the locked case as we left. We meandered around the store for a while, checked back with them a couple of times and I even called Customer Service on my cell phone but they were absolutely clueless. So we got the couple of things we wanted and went to get in line. While I was checking out, the clerk said that she'd heard the system was back up so I sent Otter back to electronics to ask and they said it was still down. I stopped by Customer Service on the way out and they said it wasn't working yet. WalMart does not have a very good track record with me, I can see someone selling the Ipod to another person even though it has the hold note taped on to it. I am going to call them later on possibly, or we'll stop by in the morning on the way to Incredible Pizza (my birthday lunch) and see if they still have it and if the system is working. And after walking around Walmart for so long, my foot is killing me!