death and taxes
Ah, another week of ups and downs.
Dustin is done working nights! To celebrate, we decided to spend the entire weekend together. Because we are lame, spending an entire weekend together consisted of us going to Newman to get our taxes done, which means we got to spend quality time with Oli, Soap, and my parentals. We are supposed to get about $2000 in tax refunds. Woot! $1000 to savings, and $1000 for paying down/off credit cards and old debts. After looking at all of my w-2s, I only made about 8k in taxable income last year. Rather amusing, as I am positive I made at least 15k after tips, which I only claimed during the month and a half I worked at the Firkin. Either way, my low claimed income makes us eligible for discounted rental rates at most apartments and townhouses, so I suppose that's just icing on the cake.
While writing of the inevitable, I found out on Friday night that a good friend's battle with leukemia ended badly. He will be missed. I feel pretty awful, but I feel even worse for the people whose lives still involved him on a daily basis. When Holli called me and told me the news, I just couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if she was suddenly taken from me (I knew this friend through his best friend, who dated Holli for a few years). I asked how his best friend was doing, and she told me that he wasn't speaking to anyone right now. That made me feel about 30 times worse. I'm not sure when or where his memorial will be, but hopefully I'll be able to make it.
On a lighter note, Mostly Meatless March is underway! I kind of went on a wing stop binge before swearing it off for a month, but um... Okay, there's no way I can turn that into something positive. I'm going to miss it, but I think I'll be able to survive, being as how we only have it about 1-2 times per month anyway. I'm really looking forward to finding new and incredible ways to make hummus and/or black bean burgers. I'm also pretty determined to master at least one method of preparing tofu. I've already got a few ideas. All in all, spirits are high, and optimism is at 100%, although now I'm quite hungry. Hummus sounds incredible. I'll have to pick up some Tahini on my way home.
Dustin says he wants to start going to the gym more. Dustin hasn't been to the gym in at least 2 months, possibly 3. We'll see how long this lasts. Maybe I can talk C the Gym Buddy (who has taken to trying to use me as a dating service, now that he's single again) and see if we can get back on the Motivation Train. I am starting to think that with the money we're paying for our gym memberships, we might just be better off to buy a gym quality cross-training elliptical, because that's basically all we go for that we don't already have at home.
Things are slow as ever on the work front. Ladyboss is gone for two days, and Manboss just implied that I'll be around for a long time, which was nice, given the current economy and its impact on business here. Ideally, Ladyboss will start training me to do more of the menial things that she has to do (quotes, bills of lading, etc.) so I can work towards becoming competent by the time summer rolls around and business gets cuh-razy, so I can ask for a raise. I'm pretty content with how much I'm making now, but I think an extra .50-$1 per hour would really put my finances in a more secure place.
I woke up this morning with that ridiculous Wham! song stuck in my head. It's going to be a long week.
Dustin is done working nights! To celebrate, we decided to spend the entire weekend together. Because we are lame, spending an entire weekend together consisted of us going to Newman to get our taxes done, which means we got to spend quality time with Oli, Soap, and my parentals. We are supposed to get about $2000 in tax refunds. Woot! $1000 to savings, and $1000 for paying down/off credit cards and old debts. After looking at all of my w-2s, I only made about 8k in taxable income last year. Rather amusing, as I am positive I made at least 15k after tips, which I only claimed during the month and a half I worked at the Firkin. Either way, my low claimed income makes us eligible for discounted rental rates at most apartments and townhouses, so I suppose that's just icing on the cake.
While writing of the inevitable, I found out on Friday night that a good friend's battle with leukemia ended badly. He will be missed. I feel pretty awful, but I feel even worse for the people whose lives still involved him on a daily basis. When Holli called me and told me the news, I just couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if she was suddenly taken from me (I knew this friend through his best friend, who dated Holli for a few years). I asked how his best friend was doing, and she told me that he wasn't speaking to anyone right now. That made me feel about 30 times worse. I'm not sure when or where his memorial will be, but hopefully I'll be able to make it.
On a lighter note, Mostly Meatless March is underway! I kind of went on a wing stop binge before swearing it off for a month, but um... Okay, there's no way I can turn that into something positive. I'm going to miss it, but I think I'll be able to survive, being as how we only have it about 1-2 times per month anyway. I'm really looking forward to finding new and incredible ways to make hummus and/or black bean burgers. I'm also pretty determined to master at least one method of preparing tofu. I've already got a few ideas. All in all, spirits are high, and optimism is at 100%, although now I'm quite hungry. Hummus sounds incredible. I'll have to pick up some Tahini on my way home.
Dustin says he wants to start going to the gym more. Dustin hasn't been to the gym in at least 2 months, possibly 3. We'll see how long this lasts. Maybe I can talk C the Gym Buddy (who has taken to trying to use me as a dating service, now that he's single again) and see if we can get back on the Motivation Train. I am starting to think that with the money we're paying for our gym memberships, we might just be better off to buy a gym quality cross-training elliptical, because that's basically all we go for that we don't already have at home.
Things are slow as ever on the work front. Ladyboss is gone for two days, and Manboss just implied that I'll be around for a long time, which was nice, given the current economy and its impact on business here. Ideally, Ladyboss will start training me to do more of the menial things that she has to do (quotes, bills of lading, etc.) so I can work towards becoming competent by the time summer rolls around and business gets cuh-razy, so I can ask for a raise. I'm pretty content with how much I'm making now, but I think an extra .50-$1 per hour would really put my finances in a more secure place.
I woke up this morning with that ridiculous Wham! song stuck in my head. It's going to be a long week.