...my printer would say it's out of toner when I am trying to print W-2's on the day before they are due. And, of course, it's not really out of toner--the stupid printer industry is just trying to trick me into buying a $75 cartridge that I don't even need yet.
I finally managed to cajole it into printing my docs, but this is why procrastination is bad.
And don't even get me started on what the stupid required W-2 forms cost--$17! I needed ONE--ONE form-- but the smallest I can find is a pack of 10--for $17!
And just for grins, I went ahead and did a quick prep of my taxes. We owe a decent chunk--but thankfully nothing close to the 5-figure hit we took when I first started working and we screwed up our withholdings. Still, I thought we were going to be closer to breaking even this year. I think I need to buy a bigger house so we can take a bigger mortgage interest deduction (yeah, right!). It is so frustrating to be phased out of every other freaking deduction--especially student loans, when the only reason I have a high income is because I have student loans out the wazoo.
Oh, and I got the quote for SS's braces today. $5k. Why didn't anyone tell me braces cost $5k? But after asking everybody I saw today who has ever had a kid in braces, that seems to be the going rate around here. I guess I live in a fairy land where braces actually cost less than my first 2 cars combined (ok, they were really crappy cars).
1/30/13
1/27/13
Defenders of the Downtrodden
That would be SS and TT.
Early in the school year, TT made a new friend, M. I'd never met M because she was new to the school. Soon, TT started talking about M being bullied at school. Over and over again, this topic would come up, and we would talk about how to respond (walk away when possible, and stand up for your friends). TT and SS assured me that they were not the target of the bullying, but it was relentless against M, mostly because of her weight (and, yes, we did talk to the teachers about this).
This week seemed to be a breaking point, and TT and SS told me that they accompanied M to visit the counselor because "she just couldn't take it anymore." The girls reported that they were in the counselor's office for two class periods.
That prompted me to call the counselor to get a fuller picture. To find out how much bullying was really going on (because it is such a buzzword these days) and that my girls weren't being pulled into someone else's self-created drama. To confirm my girls' reports that they were not being bullied (they are not).
The counselor confirmed that there is some bullying, but that she also talked to the girls about what is bullying and what is just rude behavior. She has been involved with M, and it seems like the child just has a tough life. She is being picked on for her weight and because she lives in a trailer park. There are some tough family dynamics.
The counselor also thinks my girls are a great influence on M. That they show her how to be strong against the bullies and that they are accepting of her no matter what. I mentioned that I had been intending to invite M over, because I did not know her, and the counselor thought that was a great idea, but warned that M was very self-conscious about not being able to reciprocate. (And we intended to have her over this weekend, and poor TT got sick.)
So we will do what we can to help her out, and show her that she can have friends no matter what. Her family situation seems a lot like mine was. I was so lucky to have friends in junior high and high school where I spent a lot of time to get away from my own miserable situation.
Late last week, the girls accompanied another bullied classmate to the counselor's office for a rap session. To call this child irritating is an understatement, and even my girls have limited patience for her, but I have always insisted that they are kind to her, and they have been. Apparently, she was this week's target of the bullying, and my girls stepped in to help her out.
I've been trying to think of something more proactive the girls can do. They truly are right in the middle of the mean girls stage (we somehow managed to skip this with PS--I have no idea how). I think my girls have a bit of power because they are fairly popular, but so far they haven't managed to shame the bullies into quitting their antics. Maybe it's just a matter of surviving this year and moving on to middle school where the pond is much bigger.
Early in the school year, TT made a new friend, M. I'd never met M because she was new to the school. Soon, TT started talking about M being bullied at school. Over and over again, this topic would come up, and we would talk about how to respond (walk away when possible, and stand up for your friends). TT and SS assured me that they were not the target of the bullying, but it was relentless against M, mostly because of her weight (and, yes, we did talk to the teachers about this).
This week seemed to be a breaking point, and TT and SS told me that they accompanied M to visit the counselor because "she just couldn't take it anymore." The girls reported that they were in the counselor's office for two class periods.
That prompted me to call the counselor to get a fuller picture. To find out how much bullying was really going on (because it is such a buzzword these days) and that my girls weren't being pulled into someone else's self-created drama. To confirm my girls' reports that they were not being bullied (they are not).
The counselor confirmed that there is some bullying, but that she also talked to the girls about what is bullying and what is just rude behavior. She has been involved with M, and it seems like the child just has a tough life. She is being picked on for her weight and because she lives in a trailer park. There are some tough family dynamics.
The counselor also thinks my girls are a great influence on M. That they show her how to be strong against the bullies and that they are accepting of her no matter what. I mentioned that I had been intending to invite M over, because I did not know her, and the counselor thought that was a great idea, but warned that M was very self-conscious about not being able to reciprocate. (And we intended to have her over this weekend, and poor TT got sick.)
So we will do what we can to help her out, and show her that she can have friends no matter what. Her family situation seems a lot like mine was. I was so lucky to have friends in junior high and high school where I spent a lot of time to get away from my own miserable situation.
Late last week, the girls accompanied another bullied classmate to the counselor's office for a rap session. To call this child irritating is an understatement, and even my girls have limited patience for her, but I have always insisted that they are kind to her, and they have been. Apparently, she was this week's target of the bullying, and my girls stepped in to help her out.
I've been trying to think of something more proactive the girls can do. They truly are right in the middle of the mean girls stage (we somehow managed to skip this with PS--I have no idea how). I think my girls have a bit of power because they are fairly popular, but so far they haven't managed to shame the bullies into quitting their antics. Maybe it's just a matter of surviving this year and moving on to middle school where the pond is much bigger.
1/25/13
So Proud
While playing Monopoly tonight I was bidding against SS for a property. I said " Ha! I get it because you don't have enough cash!" To which she replied, " yeah, I know. I was just bidding you up."
Me: "Wait, how do you even know what that means?"
SS: "From watching Storage Wars." Duh.
She definitely takes after her mother in her no-holds- barred Monopoly gamesmanship.
Me: "Wait, how do you even know what that means?"
SS: "From watching Storage Wars." Duh.
She definitely takes after her mother in her no-holds- barred Monopoly gamesmanship.
1/19/13
Boring
Life has become quite boring. That is generally a good thing, but it doesn't really make for blog fodder. And we are so very slow at work. I hate being bored at work. The days pass so slowly--among other reasons why being slow at work is not a good thing.
We finally changed ISP's because our service through AT&T was ridiculously slow and they don't offer anything faster in our almost-rural neighborhood. DH was reluctant to change because he couldn't bear to give up his 15-year old email address. I finally put my foot down and told him it was his email address or me--we needed faster internet. The change is stunning. We can finally stream without poor quality and hiccups every 5 minutes. And we can stream on multiple devices at once. Yay!
With our new-found streaming capabilities, I reactivated Netflix. And started watching Downton Abbey. Although I've heard much about it, I really had no interest because it looked so very dry. But I was bored and gave it a try and now I am hooked. I finished off the first season, and just activated a free trial of Hulu Plus so that I can watch the second season, and I am trying very hard to avoid any spoilers. My only complaint is that I HATE the score. It is so heavy-handed. It takes me back to my childhood when the Young and the Restless would come on at my grandma's house. I hated that theme, too. It just seemed to predict sadness.
Along the same lines, I have almost convinced DH to give up cable and move to streaming only. We watch so little television that it just doesn't justify the $80/month price tag. There are 5 shows that we regularly record on our DVR. Most of them are available on Hulu, and the remainder we could buy on itunes and still spend less than half what we spend on cable. Has anyone successfully ditched cable for streaming devices?
Other than that, I am a taxi driver. Last night I had to drop SS at volleyball at 6:30, TT at Girl Scouts at 7:00, pick up SS at 7:30 and drop her off at Girl Scouts, pick up PS at 8:00 from robotics, hit the store for emergency wine and cupcakes, and head back to pick up SS and TT by 8:30 (although, blessedly, their BFF offered them a ride home, which saved that final trip.) The kids are busy, even if I am not these days. Poor PS is at school every night until 8:00 preparing for their first robotics competition. Their robot has to throw a Frisbee at a target while fighting off competing robots. It is truly amazing what these kids are able to do. Because they are working so late, parents are taking turns taking meals up to the kids. I think I am going to take a couple of pork roasts and make pulled pork for sandwiches. Any other suggestions for feeding 30 teenagers? They are sick of pizza and tacos. Pasta's been done quite a bit, too.
The good news about busy kids--we have found little pockets of alone time. On Wednesday nights all of the kids have stuff going on, and we have two hours to go to dinner or have grown-up time in an empty house. Even though the kids are now big enough to leave alone, we don't do it very often because, well, we're usually so busy that we feel like we should spend time with the kids. But these little pockets of kid-free time because the kids are busy are totally guilt-free. Yay! So, moms of toddlers, take comfort that someday, many years from now, your kids will have more active social lives than you, and you will actually be able to eat a complete meal, while it's still hot, without having to cut up anyone's food, and while having an adult conversation. And you won't even have to pay a babysitter.
We finally changed ISP's because our service through AT&T was ridiculously slow and they don't offer anything faster in our almost-rural neighborhood. DH was reluctant to change because he couldn't bear to give up his 15-year old email address. I finally put my foot down and told him it was his email address or me--we needed faster internet. The change is stunning. We can finally stream without poor quality and hiccups every 5 minutes. And we can stream on multiple devices at once. Yay!
With our new-found streaming capabilities, I reactivated Netflix. And started watching Downton Abbey. Although I've heard much about it, I really had no interest because it looked so very dry. But I was bored and gave it a try and now I am hooked. I finished off the first season, and just activated a free trial of Hulu Plus so that I can watch the second season, and I am trying very hard to avoid any spoilers. My only complaint is that I HATE the score. It is so heavy-handed. It takes me back to my childhood when the Young and the Restless would come on at my grandma's house. I hated that theme, too. It just seemed to predict sadness.
Along the same lines, I have almost convinced DH to give up cable and move to streaming only. We watch so little television that it just doesn't justify the $80/month price tag. There are 5 shows that we regularly record on our DVR. Most of them are available on Hulu, and the remainder we could buy on itunes and still spend less than half what we spend on cable. Has anyone successfully ditched cable for streaming devices?
Other than that, I am a taxi driver. Last night I had to drop SS at volleyball at 6:30, TT at Girl Scouts at 7:00, pick up SS at 7:30 and drop her off at Girl Scouts, pick up PS at 8:00 from robotics, hit the store for emergency wine and cupcakes, and head back to pick up SS and TT by 8:30 (although, blessedly, their BFF offered them a ride home, which saved that final trip.) The kids are busy, even if I am not these days. Poor PS is at school every night until 8:00 preparing for their first robotics competition. Their robot has to throw a Frisbee at a target while fighting off competing robots. It is truly amazing what these kids are able to do. Because they are working so late, parents are taking turns taking meals up to the kids. I think I am going to take a couple of pork roasts and make pulled pork for sandwiches. Any other suggestions for feeding 30 teenagers? They are sick of pizza and tacos. Pasta's been done quite a bit, too.
The good news about busy kids--we have found little pockets of alone time. On Wednesday nights all of the kids have stuff going on, and we have two hours to go to dinner or have grown-up time in an empty house. Even though the kids are now big enough to leave alone, we don't do it very often because, well, we're usually so busy that we feel like we should spend time with the kids. But these little pockets of kid-free time because the kids are busy are totally guilt-free. Yay! So, moms of toddlers, take comfort that someday, many years from now, your kids will have more active social lives than you, and you will actually be able to eat a complete meal, while it's still hot, without having to cut up anyone's food, and while having an adult conversation. And you won't even have to pay a babysitter.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)