Awkwardly Silent Canteloupes

**The Bottom Line
Oucho. Mucho oucho. Taxes are just no damn fun. And tax preparation is very expensive. After dropping some more money into Sheri's IRA, the numbers lined up with us not owing the government anything, and them actually planning to send a benjamin out my way. We also managed to hack our tax rate almost in half for the past year. The state I don't owe either, and we managed to get Sheri's estimated taxes taken care of with our refund through the third quarter of next year. With no refund to toss Carmie's way to knock down the cost of her services, and H+R Block discontinuing their discount program, I was stuck writing a rather painfully large check to cover the preparation fees. Had it been even remotely winterlike outside when we left the office, I would have ended up in a most foul mood. But the gorgeous nearly spring day allowed me to mostly ignore the cloud of smoke coming from my checkbook. And I have a year to recover until I have to go through that whole process again. Although that may not quite be enough time...

**A mango would be nice right about now. And some Doritos.

**T.G.I.Whatever...
For no particular reason that I can figure out, other than the weather, maybe, today really felt like a Friday to me. I guess that statement could use some clarification,eh? Today felt the way I remember Fridays feeling back in the day. Back when at 2:30 I'd be staring out the clasroom window, not paying attention to anything but the smells of spring wafting in. When the journey to Peoria was accomplished with the windows down, the music up, and a fresh pack of cigarettes in hand. When the mall was actually considered a viable social scene and you had absolutely no reason to be home before midnight. When working as fast as you could, even if it meant skipping a thing or two, meant getting out the door and into the street sooner. The whole thing underlaid with this pointlessly wild energy that just made you want to go and run crazy for as long as you could. Friday was an event. Something you looked forward to. Something you indulged in. It was a part of the week unlike any other, and it had it's own special vibe. I miss that.
Years of working in the hospital trade seem to have bleached that feeling almost into nonexistence for me. Friday has just become another 8.5 hour period to be spend toiling in a windowless room that always smells the same. There is no longer the eager gathering of equipment in preparation of an all night dungeoneering session. There are no hours spent on preening in the mirror hoping to catch someone's eye later out on the dance floor. The sense of relief that came from walking in the door and just dropping everything, knowing it would be waiting there for you on Sunday evening, is gone. I really do miss that. Be even better if I could figure out how to get it back.

**White roses and ginger. Seemed odd at first, but it keeps rattling around in my brain.
**

Spiffy Arrogant Melon Shoes

**Next In Line, Please...
I have been notified that I am now indeed having an affair with yet another of my coworkers (quite possibly even as I write this). For those of you keeping score at home, this would be, by my best estimation and recollection, my 9th 'other woman' in 13 years. I guess that would explain what happened to my back. It's also no wonder I'm so tired all the time....

**I have also been informed (by a completely different source) that since tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day, it's time for 'us' (translation: me) to give the dogs a bath. Oh. Freakin. Joy.

**Dawn Of The Dragon
All the rough forms are just about completely blocked in on Jo's Dragon, and once I'm relatively happy with all the proportions and such, I'll be starting the detail carving. I may just be able make my deadline. Whenever that is.

**Men In Black
Friday morning we get to plod over to H+R Block to pay people far smarter than us to do our taxes. I am so not looking forward to this. In essence, we now manage to fill a small suitcase with all sorts of receipts, charts, graphs, and small, cranky Peruvian accountants, in order to basically break even after it's all said and done. And that's if everything goes right. Still, plus or minus a few hundred bucks is a good way to end up for the year. I have only the faintest recollection of what it used to be like to sit down and be able to complete my own taxes on a single sheet of paper with a single W-2. At least Carmie, our tax preparer, is cool. She's been doing our taxes for years now. And she always has things in her office for me to play with. I'm just hoping the slump in the economy will have some type of positive effect on our return this year, as that would be about the only good thing it's done for us.

**The only thing worse than getting a call from a telemarketer is getting a call from a telemarketer in training.

**It Wasn't Me, I Swear!!
A recent gift from Viva promises to keep my dogs happily flatulent for a long, long time to come. At least soon I should be able to open the windows in the house to clear out the low hanging cloud of funk nasty toxic fumes continuously emanating from their asses. Unless I die of asphyxiation first....

**Putting Money In The Ground
Red coneflowers? Hardy bamboo? Ferns? Maybe some black elephant ears? The first plant catalog of the season arrived yesterday. This is something I really should not be looking at when we're trying to keep a handle on the budget. Plus, I have basically been banned from converting any more of the yard into space for plants, which totally screws up my idea for getting rid of all the grass. Now, if I just happened to have a bit more yard with a south facing, I'd be sure to find a way around that ban. I guess this year I should just content myself with redoing the front of the house and seeing how far I can get my banana plants to grow. If they managed to survive the winter, that is. But what fun is that? I recently had the thought of putting an arbor up over the front stoop for the summer, and planting some nice climbing vines over the top of it. That would tend to make that area a bit more habitable when it gets really hot out. Might be a good place to make use of some more morning glories. Not that I wouldn't rather plant my pumpkins there, but there would be some weight issues to deal with. Still...
In the end, I hope I may be able to squeak some money out of the budget to just do my usual and buy seeds.

**I need to run out to Menard's and get a new light fixture for the closet before Sheri has a fit.

**Sniff**Sniff**
For some people, pictures seem to be the best way to retain memories. I've noticed I have a really strong link between scent and memory. I remember how the grade school would smell on the first few days of a new school year. I remember how Aussie hair care products smell because that's what Amy used to use. I remember how English Leather smell because I used to practically bathe in it before going out. I kinda remember how the breathing treatments I used to get when I was in the hospital as a kid smelled/tasted. Vanilla has proven to be a big memory key for me as well. And even though I never knew what it was called, I would remember the smell of Morgan's perfume, should I ever smell it again. Odd things to remember. But there they are.
**

Get Fuzzy

From my scalp to places off yonder
My hair has started to wander
From ears, navel, and nose
Now it grows and it grows
For strange reasons I can only ponder