i should work for the government...

i took all my returns downtown to an official place - 35 freaking miles away- to have my tax forms recorded and processed. i waited  over an hour and a half while they were processed. i paid for parking. then i drove home another 35 miles.

only to find out last week that one year wasn't processed and not every page was copied in one. and they screwed up processing one. i call them and get someone that has been working there 2 days.

i can't get my mortgage until this is finished. i doubt they can fix this in 18 days. i want a house!

the house i have my eye on that needs a ton of work is still available. there is another one i like but it is only a 2 bedroom. but the neighborhood is better and it does have a large mudroom and a laundry room. you could turn either of those rooms into a guest space with a futon. the washer and dryer could be put behind louvered doors, kind of like i had in my old mini mcmansion years ago.

the kids got new furniture and gave me the old stuff. i got it when i worked and used the great employee discount. i have it in the garage right now, until i move. i will use it then. i have been getting rid of stuff and organizing it by putting it in boxes if i want to sell/d it or move it. the crap i don't think will sell but is still useable, i am putting on the lid of the garbage can and putting it out a day early. it's always gone by garbage pick-up day. i even put a "FREE-WORKS" sign on it and i make sure i put all the pieces together in a bag along with any manuals or whatever.

and the crap, of course, i am throwing away. i try to work on 1 box every day or so. i send as much stuff as possible over to my son's, just to piss his wife off. my granddaughter will take tons of shit home, if you let her. she also does household chores, like cleaning  my baseboards, for 45 cents!

they are in orlando right now. they went on a cruise to the bahamas. my son is going to start driving a school bus. there isn't a lot of money in it, but it will eliminate the need for private school (the kids can atend the same district their parent works for and he's driving in a nice district with great schools!) and afterschool care ($60 a week each). he also won't be working 10-12 hours a day and he won't have to dress up everyday. it comes out to about $1500 a week in school fees. worth it, especially since he will be working shorter hours.

chocolate menu

i haven' forogtten my place...

i have just been on my deathbed. i had a virus, followed by an almost complete bowel obstruxxtion ( fixed it before i had to have surgery!), another virus AND my period! this follows on the heels of a bad respitratory virus. so, yeah, i have felt dead!

we are looking at a house in the town we came from. it has 2 stories, but it works. it has a complete 3br 2 ba house, then a walk-out basement with a den, bathroom and two bedrooms there.so i will never have to go up downstairs. it was supposed to be auctioned but the auction was cancelled. i hope they do a sealed bid. i will pay $500 for it. maybe i will be the highest bid! it's happened, i've read about it, but i hope it happens to me.

i haven't been to church in forever. when it's cold and hard to move, i tend to stay home. i did join the y last week, but i have yet to go. i may cancel it if we don't seem to be going, but somehow i got the first 15 days for under $5. it's $39 a month, but i really miss the flexibility i had when we used to belong a few years ago. since i did it during january, i saved the $75 joining fee. i can quit without guilt.

i have been cleaning up my house and packing up stuff i know i don't have to use anytime soon.

one day...

it's not a nightmare- it's REAL!

you can now go on a celebrity cruise with kate gosselin! yes, you can! this just blows my mind, because i know that somehow, this will end with us wrestling on the lido deck and i push her over board.

at first, i thought the kids would be there. can you imagine the kind of perverts who would love to get the tups out to sea into international waters? so i was happy to see it's just her. not the kids too. it's not like i hope the boat sinks like the titanic or anything, but damn, a week with kate gosselin? this sounds like something you do if you are in jail and want your sentence reduced. or you have a rebellious teen who won't listen to reason. just send her to sea for a week with kate! i bet she comes off the boat and hugs you. she may need therapy though.

i really shouldn't talk bad about her, no one is clamoring to go on a cruise with me either.

i bet the food is really is really crappy and they have exercise sessions all the time. or motivational walks. i think i would just jump overboard and kill myself instead.

bucking the trend

i know it's the trend for bloggers to write new year's resolutions, but i think that i will list my new year's suggestions instead. these are a bit looser and a bit less structured. there is no penalty, nothing to break. here goes:

• stop buying stuff i don't need
• stop feeling guilty when i buy things i do need
• get rid of the hoard of crap in the garage
• stop bringing crap home
• say no sometimes
• say yes sometimes
• eat healthier
• exercise more
• eat less
• feed your brain

 think that's enough for now. feel free to adopt these no-fail new year's suggestions. print it out, and post it on your refrigerator or thumbtack it up in your cubicle. pick pretty paper. choose a font you like. pretty it up. heck, get it tattooed on your behind, i don't care. just do it. i think it will make you feel better.

i need a name for it. how about "10 e-z steps to a new me"? okay, we'll go with that for now.

i am also going back to not having drinks with meals. i mean, no cokes, no tea. i don't drink alcohol that often but it's always at home- it's cheaper to buy your own liquor and i don't have to tip the bartender! but sodas and such are $1.50-$2.50 each. i can buy a couple of 2 liters for that price. it's back to water for me. this year i am going to put the money in a bank and save it. for what, i don't know. i'm sure i'll find something to spend it on. i don't eat out often, just once every two weeks or so. it's so much cheaper to cook.

i hope you had a great celebration last night. i was in bed at 11, then the neighbor boy starting shooting off fireworks at 11:45. i didn't go back to sleep until almost 1. oh well, who can complain about beautiful fireworks?

pen to paper

it's that time of year when i begin thinking about the calendar i will use for the coming year. it's a tradition for me to go to the bookstore on jan. 1 and get one for 1/2 price.

i go back on mlk day and get the ones i want for 90% off! then i go crazy. my favorites are the ones with solid bound covers, like textbooks. i get a secret thrill, as if i'm defacing a text book.

i have been using a medium-sized blue sky for the last few years. i have a filofax i use to stick in info that is not relevant at this second. tree guy? he's in there. that kind of thing.

i have bought a small wire-bound planner, out of the the dollar bin. it's pink and black. it will fit in my purse easily. i am going to try it out.

but i might buy the blue sky one anyway. you never know.

the check with the lady liberty is coming. i got a notice to send more documentation for something, my bad. it didn't mention a tax, it just said my refund couldn't be issued until i sent it in. that thing is going in the mail tomorrow. i have to go to the po box, so i will mail it then, as well as something else i need to get in the mail.

i found an attorney and we have to come up with some upfront money so that what we can see if the documents i have is actually what was filed. i will have the money jan. 15 and we are working on an inventory list for damages. they will take the case on a contingency basis, so i am making sure i get every safety pin that was in the house.  i think it will only take a letter from an attorney to get a settlement.

i am still looking for a house. i think i have a line on one near the church. it's got a fsbo and a for rent sign in the yard. the backyard is fenced for the mutt. he's not really a mutt, but just a pedigree with a bad attitude.

disappointment

i got a very sad disappointment today.

i used to have a very horrible relationship in which she used me for whatever could squeeze out of me. she would steal from me even though i would loan her anything i could. she stole my engagement ring from an ex-boyfriend worth $10,000 and sold it for $50. she treated me like someone's easy mark. she never understood the difference from a loan and a gift.

we didn't see each other for a few years. when we reconciled, she admitted she had been diagnosed with bi-polar disease, she was taking effective medication and she apologized for all her pass wrongdoings.

things were okay. for a while.

she asked to borrow a sweater of mine and she is a smoker, so she promised not to smoke in it. this was too years ago. so i asked for it back again last week-end when i saw her. she had it hanging and the neck was all stretched out. it had several huge holes in it. it had a fine coating of dust on it and reeked of cigarette smoke and febreeze, which gives me a headache anyway.

i loaned her a tv for my niece to use. it was not to leave her house. today she told me that it was at my niece's house, one of those places where she would give you a tv for a pack of cigarettes and a 6-pack. then she said her husband was using it in the garage. then she claimed it never worked and she donated it to goodwill. all i know is i am out a tv. it was working when it was unplugged and put in her car. she claimed the tv on her taxes. it wasn't hers to claim.

i had an old honda. since bobo is unemployed, we didn't need it. she financed a hummer last year and she can't afford gas to put in it. i sold it to her for $500 bucks. i even set up a payment plan with her. she broke it the first month by asking to pay only half of a payment. now she's running around telling family members how she "fucked" me over on the car, that it is worth a lot more than i asked for it.

i don't get how someone can be like that and denigrate the people who are trying to help her. i'm done with her.

besides, she hung up on me and i don't tolerate that. i will not be accepting her calls at all.

i can now go back to not having a sister.

i like being an only child better.

i probably will never see the rest of the money for the car. but at least i can put that money down as valuable lesson learned.