Writing a Check to Uncle Sam

I put my taxes in the mail this morning. Nothing like waiting till the last minute huh? It took me so long because:

#1 I was pissed that I owed money (first time ever).
#2 I think it is dumb when they are going to give the money right back to me in the form of a tax rebate in a few weeks (or months?).

I’m not against paying taxes. There are a lot of services we get for that tax money that we could provide for ourselves as individuals.

But I barely make any money (case in point: my friend’s wedding costs more than my yearly salary!!). And I already did give the government money. Just obviously not as much as they wanted. Minor detail.

Ugh! Writing that check was certainly not the highlight of my week.

(I’m not a total brat, I did think about it a bit more. I still make more than minimum wage – even when I consider myself to be working 40 hour a week rather than the 20 hours a week that TA/RAs are contracted to work. And I’ll get a degree or two from a prestigious university for free. And have health insurance. It makes me concerned with how people get by on minimum wage?!? No wonder the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider! Maybe we should stop spending so much of our taxes dollars to fight wars overseas and instead concentrate on the problems within our own country?

OK, I’ll get off my little soapbox.)

Carrie Bradshaw for a Day

I'm not one to typically lust over shoes. Practical over pretty is my motto (I do walk about 2 miles to and from the bus most days). But lately I've been drooling over shoes left and right.

Take these:

Would they not look adorable with about a million outfit options?

And then there are these.

Certainly not for everyday wear, but perfect with this bridesmaid dress:

Which is super cute in itself, and most importantly super wearable post-wedding. Gotta love a bride/BF like this.

But alas, I have no money. Just a fatty dividend from REI, so the only new shoes I am seeing in my future are something more along the lines of this:

Still cute AND practical.

If I Had a Million Dollars

In an attempt not to be so pathetically sad, here is a lighter post...

If I win $89 million in Mega Millions tonight I will:

1. Have no problem funding a trip to Hawaii AND a trip to South America in the next few months. And can even go to my 10 year high school reunion at Thanksgiving.

2. Buy all the beer and grillables for our upcoming house BBQ in 2 weeks as promised.

3. Fly to San Francisco for Courtney's B-day BBQ. And even bring her a present.

4. Hire a personal trainer to whip my flabby ass in shape.

5. Buy some new pants, because while my ass is still flabby, it has lost some volume and all my pants have saggy butts.

6. Splurge on a facial and massage - I deserve it.

7. Buy a 2nd fridge for the house, because honestly, that is the only thing that drives me crazy about living with 3 roommates - no room in the fridge.

8. Save the rest for a rainy day.

Moola

I applied for a scholarship back in the fall and then pretty much forgot about it. Today I received a letter telling me I won!

I'm lucky enough to be fully funded at school so it just means an extra $2500 in my savings account.

Now I just have to get my arse into action to work on the next scholarship application. The stakes are higher here - a fully paid for year in Denmark.

Time to get motivated...

March Madness

The fun starts today.

I think I did a good job with my picks this year.

My two upset predictions for the 1st round: A&M over Syracuse (despite my upstate NY roots) and Seton Hall over Wichita State. I have some 9 seeds over 8 seeds to, although I don't really classify that as an upset.

My Final Four: Texas, Kansas, UCONN, and Villanova.

Another prediction, my productivity levels will drop over the next few weeks. Coincides great with the raise I got yesterday.

Yes, you heard me right. A raise. Out of the blue. A big one too – 10%. Just to say my efforts are appreciated in the company. And because they know I could go somewhere else at get a huge salary raise. I’m in high demand. Nice feeling. Just 15 weeks of work left though until my 3 month “sabbatical.” Until then, no complaints about more money each paycheck.