It's Like the Party Neva Ends

Here are some clothes pins in your face.

Well, kids. Consider my taxes officially D-O-N-E. Hurray! I went to H and R Block and had them do them for me for the first time. I usually just do them myself on-line, but with the 1st Time Home Buyer Tax Credit thingy, I wanted to make sure I did it right. So, we amended last year's return to get that back a little sooner. The other way to do it, would be to file my taxes for this year on-line, get that return and then amend that return. You can't do the home buyer thing on-line, because I guess people were trying to cheat and now they're watching things more closely. It was pretty pricey paying them to do it, but it was so much faster and easier and if anything goes wrong, they're accountable. Sounds worth the extra bank to me.

If all goes well, I should get my return back by the middle of the month. Which is good, because I'll realistically need to buy a fridge and a hot water heater sooner rather than later. My fridge is making the most interesting noises and my heater is 18 years old. The inspector guy said his died right at 18 years. Those are two things I'd like to be proactive with. I'm sure it would be great fun to wake up to cold, cold showers and a mess of water on my laundry room floor, or realize that a week's worth of groceries has been sitting in a warm box for a day...Or not

I know I like to talk about aging, because I guess I'm in the middle of that process, and it's fascinating to me. There are so many great things about it, as far as I'm concerned. Sure there's the physical downturns I've been taking since my twenties, but those are really balanced out by how much happier and more self-possessed I feel. Don't get me wrong, I've still got a mess of demons chasing me, we're just better acquainted now and I'm learning how to deal with them. I really believe that if you are willing to look at yourself and figure out what bothers you about yourself (not what bothers other people. Fuck them. They don't have to live in your head all day) and work on fixing it, aging isn't half as scary.

That having been said, I realized today how different I've become about certain things as I've gotten older. Back in the day, I would just procrastinate and do my taxes on the last day and have them hanging over my head for months. Now, I've realized that I don't like that feeling of dread at having to do something. It's not that I don't ever procrastinate, but I rarely let it get to the point of stress and drama in my head like I used to. Now, just 51,206 other things that annoy me about myself left to work on in my life...

Don't Nobody Know My Troubles But God

Here's a picture looking out the bathroom window at the snow.

So, Stinky asked me if she could have some friends over to watch movies and play Apples to Apples tonight. I had no problem with that, because we have the room now and that way I know exactly where she is and what she's doing.

Since it's a co-ed deal, I like to go up and do surprise "hand checks" from time to time in order to ensure that no one gets impregnated in my house. During one of these, I was halfway up the stairs, when I realized they were watching Paranormal Activity. (I was able to get it at one of those Red Box dealies) So, I snuck the rest of the way up the stairs and yelled, "Boo!" And then cracked-up while several members of the state championship football team jumped out of their skins.

One of the guys, jokingly and cautiously said, "Wow. You're kind of an asshole..." Everyone else held their breath, while I tried very hard to keep a straight face (which is no easy task for me, let me assure you). I finally laughed and said,

"I know. I love that about me." Then, before I went back downstairs, I reminded them not to make-out. The same kid told me not to worry, because girls had cooties. And that was exactly the answer I was looking for.