I am so frustrated and angry. Why didn’t I just have Uncle Dick do my taxes? Even if he charged me 500.00 it would have been worth it. The time and emotions I have invested into this endeavor! WHY! Why can’t it be easy? The latest goose egg is I discovered my company took out NJ tax even though I never worked in the Jersey office. Apparently they had me listed as being in the NJ office while I worked from home waiting for the Philly office to open. I went into Turbo Tax and placed a checkmark in the box that stated my employer withheld a different state’s tax. The following screen told me that I would have to submit my W2 Form with my return. But I planned to e-File it! Does this mean I can’t e-File it? I don’t know! Finally I decided to heck with it all, I am just going to e-File it just so I can get this darn thing over and finished. Well, it tells me I have to do an electronic signature and it needs information from last year’s return. I AM IN MY OFFICE IN PHILLY! I AM NO WHERE NEAR THAT INFORMATION! So I cancelled out. It seems that I just can’t seem to get this finished. I am beginning to think the real reason Thoreau refused to pay taxes is that not only is it unconstitutional, it’s PAINFUL! I think I am going to have a party once my taxes are submitted. I will party after I write the check. (How is it possible that they take so much out of each paycheck yet at the end of it all, I still have more to pay?) UGH! UGH! UGH! 😛

by William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee;
A poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company
I gazed, and gazed, but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought;

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

I did it. I signed up for a year of XM radio. I got a call yesterday morning as I was making my rice pudding without milk or cream or raisins. The woman was real nice and I realized that I really do enjoy XM and I couldn’t imagine going back to regular radio once my trial expired which it would do so in just a few short days. I am happy I signed on as a paying customer. Why, just this morning driving to the train station, singing along to 50’s on 5, I realized how much I love XM. It’s like a game– keeping sync with the music when the signal is lost:

Paul: You and I will be as free
Donna: You and I will be as free

Paul: Keeechhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Donna: As the birds up in the trees

Paul: Kessschhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Donna: Oh, please stay by me…

Paul: Diana!
Donna: Diana!

And the satisfaction I experienced as Paul and I duetted on the last line– heavenly!

Rob and I went to my parents’ house for Easter supper. I brought along two dishes I made– pineapple bread pudding and Alton Brown’s Indian Rice Pudding. I made the rice pudding this morning and I deviated slightly from the recipe. I didn’t have any milk or heavy cream or raisins or pistachios so instead I used Silk and a spoonful of pistachio pudding mix. I completely omitted the raisins. Somehow the stars aligned because it worked and tasted pretty much like how it should if I had used milk and heavy cream.

My mom served ham, kielbasa, pork loin, hrudka (cheese), paska (bread), potato salad and tomato salad. It was a delicious meal. Lisa and I called Lenka in Bratislava. I can hardly believe it’s been two years since she left us to go back home to Slovakia. My mom showed me a DVD that her cousin sent her. He had transferred some of the family’s old home movies onto DVD. It is nice to have such a nice family record. I brought along my digital camera and I took pictures of the food my mom prepared and then I sat the camera on the table right behind me with the intention of taking more pictures during the meal. Only after everything was devoured and Lisa and I were leaving did I remember my camera. DANG IT! The only pictures I snapped were of food. Grrrrr!

Now I am home, dressed in warm sweat pants and my new terrycloth robe that I use more as a sweater because it is so warm. I did my expense reports on Friday but my taxes are still only 1/2 complete. The only urge I have is to watch La Femme Nikita episodes. I think I may make some mint and chamomile tea because my stomach feels queasy after eating so much.

Tomorrow I will be working late. There is a user group meeting that I am going to attend in the evening. I am not exactly looking forward to it. How is it that I just had a three day weekend (I took Friday off) and I still feel like I need another day off? Maybe it’s because I haven’t been on a vacation in ages. Sure, there was the 2 month imposed vacation last year after my old company laid me off but I can’t say that was stress relieving. Maybe I should plan a trip. Whatever it is, I need to do something.

1. TAXES
2. EXPENSES
3. PUT AWAY CLOTHES
4. LAUNDRY – at least 1 load or 2
5. FINALLY ROLLOVER THE OLD 401K (it’s been a year!)
6. CLEAN BATHROOM

Thinking about it, I should have bought light bulbs for my bathroom when I was at Walmart yesterday– light bulbs that go above the mirror. And I really have to find a new storage idea for my makeup and brushes. I have this tower of wire drawers. That sounds kinda odd but that’s exactly what it is and it sits atop my sink and holds my makeup, hair supplies, and other toiletry items. At first it was a real Godsend but over the year it have become a real blight. I need a better way to store my things– especially not so much out in the open. The problem is there is very little room under the sink because of the pipes. I should have especially looked for options when I was at Ikea and Walmart but I just simply wasn’t thinking. Next time.

I am not overly excited a new week has begun. I wish the weekend kept going and I could have more days of doing nothing special. As it is, that is not a good way to start the week and so I am just going to pretend I am happy to be going back to work. That usually does the trick. Before I know it, I believe myself.

Looks like the Brideshead Revisited remake is back on track. My favorite characters, Anthony Blanche and Kurt have yet to be cast. My choices? Til Schweiger would make a wonderful Kurt. I am not coming up with a good Anthony– anyone have any suggestions?

I spent the weekend at Rob’s farm. We shopped and walked and ate and watched tv. It was a nice weekend.

We went to Ikea and I bought the cutest teapot for only 8.99! Check it out:

Later we went to Walmart and I bought a TV Stand, a blender, red capri pants, and a glass cutting board.

I also got some peeps and Mini-Cadbury Eggs! What a great idea! These Mini-Cadbury Eggs are the most perfect size– even more perfect than the original size which I always felt was a little too much.

Tomorrow I must MUST must finish my taxes. No more excuses. I also need to do my expenses. It’s been weeks– months. I am so lazy.