I'm doing my taxes. And Steve's taxes. Why I'm doing this is a mystery because when it comes to taxes-money-investing I'm as stupid as they come. I just can't get my head around any of it nor do I care. There is nothing I find more boring than finance talk. When I was in university my then-boyfriend did my taxes for several years because it was right up his alley. I need a tax-doing boy toy now.
In the past I have been really flippant about my taxes. I made no effort what-so-ever to determine what deducations I can claim because I had all the money in the world. Now the world has taken all my money (or rather, I became a stay-at-home Mom and that my friends amounts to the world taking all my money) and I suddenly care about how much money I give the government. I mean, if I don't have to give it to them, why should I?
Unfortunately my filing practice didn't suddenly become less-flippant in the last year and there are many things I could have claimed, if only I had kept the receipts, particularly medical expenses. That'll teach me. From now on, all possible claimable receipts will be filed into the tax folder. I'm saying it here to hold myself accountable.
Next year I'll be whining about the same damn thing and will probably only have a handful of receipts but I vow to try.
I'm in a bad mood. Stupid taxes.
From Roshan, who let me play :)
1. If you could play any character on TV or film, who would it be & why?
These questions are always hard for me because I'm not really a movie/TV buff but let's say Professor Dumbledore from Harry Potter. Mostly because I was watching Philosopher's Stone last night :). He's all things I want to aspire to as a person. He's generous and calm, strong and wise and even though he's incredibly smart, he lets everyone around him still teach him things and make their own mistakes.
2. Have you taken up or wanted to take up a sport or a musical instrument that you really wanted to do and have dropped or never taken up? (I hope that questions is clear)
When I was a kid I played piano and had to drop it after my parents separated (a long story). It taught me the value of hard work but I can't say I came away with any musical finesse. My sister inherited all the musical skills in our family :). Sporty I have never been, but I wouldn't mind learning to surf. I think it would be a fun sport, you're in the water at the beach, and its something you could do as a family. I'm certainly not a team sport player, though, and never will be. I hate being put on the spot or having the entire game rest on making the right move at the right time. WAY too much pressure for this gal.
3. What 5 things bring a smile to your face every day?
(a) my son, obviously. But it needs to be said, no?
(b) Steve, I so wish I could share with you some of the stuff this guy says to me on a daily basis, he cracks me up. Its not fit for blog-consumption though.
(c) Vegas, my dog.
(d) I usually get a smile out of one of blog peeps
(e) my email buddies :).
4. Which is your favourite time of the year and why?
Fall. It smells like what falling in love feels like. In my own life, I have fallen in love in the fall.
5. If stuck on an Island, which 5 music albums would you want to keep with you?
oy. uh. um. This is a hard question because although I like just about every kind of music there is, I'm not someone who is a music junkie. I'll know all the words to a song and have no idea who the artist is! I'm too lazy to go out to our trailer and get my discs, so I'm just going to give you bands I'd like to be able to listen to while I'm all alone on that island. In a way I am already kinda stuck on an island :).
(a) Johnny Cash
(b) Blue Rodeo
(c) Great Big Sea
(d) Michael Buble
(e) Tim McGraw
To play along…
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
The last couple of nights with Callum have been sheer hell, plus then we threw in the traveling back from Calgary and everyone on this end of the internet is pretty pissy.
I'll post a happier post tomorrow when my mood (hopefully) improves.
Earth Day is tomorrow so think green! Make a change today for a better world tomorrow! I think my next change is going to be to buy canvas Save-On Food bags, I just have to discuss it with Steve about buying them. My mommy (who rocks. with socks.) gave me the organic veggie money so I get local vegetables delivered, and she even gave me a itty-bitty bit extra so I was thinking I could get the bags. Or put it on my credit card. Haven't decided yet.
I put the little guy down for his nap-the-second and he promptly flips out as soon as I closed the door. I checked my email and said to myself I'll calm him down when I'm done. Then I checked some blogs. Then I realized he stopped freaking out and I never even bothered to get up. I'm mean. He's asleep. All is well :).
Someone needs to explain to me what is so great about Facebook because I fail to see it. I think you all should spend less time on Facebook and more time updating blogs so I can see what's really new in your life. I'm just sayin'. :)
Things here are crazy busy. Tofino was really nice and relaxing, and Callum traveled really well. He's great in the car with no drama at all, and he had all his required naps although it took a little more cuddling than he would get at home. He didn't sleep through the night but I really didn't expect him to, he never does in a new place for the first little while.
It rained like crazy on Sunday which sucked, but we still managed to walk the beach and then we just relaxed and played games. It was still fun. We stayed at Crystal Cove Beach Resort (this is something to consider Michelle!) and that was awesome, the sites are really nice and treed and still full-service. My experience has been that full-serviced sites are basically a parking lot and SUCK, not my idea of camping at all, I'd rather not service the trailer than be in a site like that. If you go to the camping link on the site and scroll down and see the picture of the knarly looking tree - that was the site we actually stayed in. And it was about a minute walk to the beach which was gorgeous.
Tomorrow Callum and I are going to Calgary (for everyone in Calgary who reads this and didn't know that, I'm sorry. I won't have a car and my Mom bought the ticket to spend time with Callum so it was sort of intentional I didn't tell anyone - if you want to drive to Mom's house and hang out, you're more than welcome to, but I doubt I'll be doing any running around). This means that I go from packing to camp to packing to travel to Calgary and that is a lot of laundry and packing. I'm also busy with my volunteer work, so I am one very busy bee these days.
The weather here has been fantastic, too. I really wish I had a garden to garden :(.
We're off to the west coast this weekend with Sir Callum, Steve, Steve's sister, and Steve's brother. It's going to be one very full trailer! We're bringing the tent, too, because I think when it comes down to it, Steve's dream of everyone staying in the trailer isn't going to match reality.
Oh, did I mention the dog? The dog is coming too.
I am really looking forward to it, though. It's going to be three_whole_days where I am not the primary care-giver all day long. That, to me, sounds like HEAVEN. My own dream on this might not exactly match reality when we get there, but the idea of not having to deal with every baby-issue all day long has me giddy.
In other news, I'm toying with the idea of signing up for a community box program where fresh, organic produce is delivered to my house every week all summer long. Its $30/week, but you have to pay the entire cost up front. $30/week is not unreasonable at all for produce in my food budget, but I'm having issue with the idea of paying for it all up front. I'd rather pay in smaller increments. Have any of you ever been a part of a community box program? The farm is only about 15 minutes from our house, so it would be very fresh produce. I could go out and get produce from the farm directly, but that's not the kind of person I am, I just don't see me going to that many stores just to get my groceries every week. The idea of having it delivered right to my door is very appealing. Thoughts?