Taxes suck. They really suck for married people.
By tradition, I usually spend a day over the holidays working on my taxes. That way I know if I need to, say, buy a new computer or something for the write off. This year, I put it off until January 1st. Rats. Of course, we might not be in such bad shape as my pessimistic estimates of Rob's Virginia earnings have it. Until we get all our little 1099's and W-2's, we won't know for sure.
This is one area where Rob and I do a turnabout on our usual personalities. Generally, he's the pessimist and I'm the optimist. Where finances go, we switch. I fret over every nickel and dime and he shrugs it off. I wring my hands and fuss and sweat about making ends meet and he's sure we'll turn out okay. I have no reason to believe it won't be okay, but I like to know exactly how not-okay things are before I can relax. Before he moved out here, we went over our respective bills and seeing the sums written out on paper made his brow furrow in concern whereas once I could see how things were, my tensions relaxed about it. Looking at the situation and knowing where we stood put me at ease, while it agitated him.
It's like oatmeal. I make mine with the cooking stuff, where you put water and oats into the pot and stir them together with a pinch of salt and some pitted dates until they boil, then you set it aside for a few minutes before adding in brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon and sometimes Y. Er, milk. Sometimes milk. It is creamy, sweet and filling. I made some for me and Rob on New Year's morning. He looked at his bowl in horror.
"You cooked it."
"You're supposed to, these are the five-minute oats."
"You...cooked...it."
"What did you expect?"
"I put the instant packets in the bowl, add a drop of water and eat it that way. I like it crunchy. I forgot to tell you. But you...cooked...this." He poked at the bowl with his spoon. "You made it into gruel."
I smacked my forehead. "Doh! I should have realized since I like oatmeal smooth and creamy that you'd like yours dry and crunchy!" Of course he does; he's my exact opposite. :-)
In a couple more weeks, we'll be celebrating our first anniversary. Wow. What a year!
By tradition, I usually spend a day over the holidays working on my taxes. That way I know if I need to, say, buy a new computer or something for the write off. This year, I put it off until January 1st. Rats. Of course, we might not be in such bad shape as my pessimistic estimates of Rob's Virginia earnings have it. Until we get all our little 1099's and W-2's, we won't know for sure.
This is one area where Rob and I do a turnabout on our usual personalities. Generally, he's the pessimist and I'm the optimist. Where finances go, we switch. I fret over every nickel and dime and he shrugs it off. I wring my hands and fuss and sweat about making ends meet and he's sure we'll turn out okay. I have no reason to believe it won't be okay, but I like to know exactly how not-okay things are before I can relax. Before he moved out here, we went over our respective bills and seeing the sums written out on paper made his brow furrow in concern whereas once I could see how things were, my tensions relaxed about it. Looking at the situation and knowing where we stood put me at ease, while it agitated him.
It's like oatmeal. I make mine with the cooking stuff, where you put water and oats into the pot and stir them together with a pinch of salt and some pitted dates until they boil, then you set it aside for a few minutes before adding in brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon and sometimes Y. Er, milk. Sometimes milk. It is creamy, sweet and filling. I made some for me and Rob on New Year's morning. He looked at his bowl in horror.
"You cooked it."
"You're supposed to, these are the five-minute oats."
"You...cooked...it."
"What did you expect?"
"I put the instant packets in the bowl, add a drop of water and eat it that way. I like it crunchy. I forgot to tell you. But you...cooked...this." He poked at the bowl with his spoon. "You made it into gruel."
I smacked my forehead. "Doh! I should have realized since I like oatmeal smooth and creamy that you'd like yours dry and crunchy!" Of course he does; he's my exact opposite. :-)
In a couple more weeks, we'll be celebrating our first anniversary. Wow. What a year!
posted by Owl Chick at 1/03/2002 12:05:00 PM
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