Wednesday, January 21, 2009

The Letter F

Mielikki had this meme up and it looked like a fun challenge, so I asked to play.



Here's the scoop. If you like the meme, and want to play, leave me a comment. I will assign you a letter of the alphabet, and then you will, at your own free will, list ten things you like that begin with that letter.
I, somehow, got the letter F.


So, in no particular order, 10 things I like that begin with the letter F.

1. Free stuff. Seriously, who doesn't like free stuff?

2. French bread, especially when it's still warm. I prefer to just tear off a chunk and eat it plain if I can get it warm.

3. Fancy chocolates. I love chocolate of all kinds, but the little fancy ones are just so much fun.

4. Friendly people. I like to talk to people and hear their life stories. To me there's nothing better than meeting a really friendly stranger who'll sit down and tell you their life story. I've met some of the most interesting people that way. Then again, I've also met some real quacks.

5. Frozen yogurt. It's like icecream, but without the guilt.

6. Family. I love spending time with my family, they're very important to me. And once you're a part of my family there's no getting rid of me.

7. Facials. I've never gone to a spa and gotten a facial, but their the embodiment of girlie fun to me. My sister and I used to get all the home products and give each-other facials. They were also a common activity at sleep-overs in my teens. A night that included facials was always a fun night.

8. Fuzzy slippers. I collect them. Right now I'm wearing some that my doctor says look like tribbles. I absolutely adore big, fuzzy, strange slippers.

9. Funny movies. I love watching comedies, to the point that they're almost the only kind of movie that I watch. I love to laugh and comedies can make that happen. There's enough pain and sadness in the world, I don't need a movie to add to that. I want a movie to make me laugh.

10. Flying. I like to watch planes take off and land. I love to watch the clouds from above, so that they look like a soft carpet that would make a great place for a nap. I also like the excitement that comes with flying. Going new places and seeing new things, or visiting loved ones, or whatever, it's always exciting to fly somewhere.



Okay, that was harder than I thought it would be. The letter F? Really? Do you know how badly my mind blanked out on that one? Oh well. If you want to play, leave a comment and I'll assign you a letter.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Interview

Here's the directions:
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.


1. You have taken on the brave, brave job of being a tax professional. What is the one piece of advice you offer to each and every one of your clients?

Because financial situations vary so much there isn't really one piece of advice that everyone needs. Although, if I had to pick one thing to tell everyone, it would either be "Don't be scared of the IRS." or "Save money for retirement."

2. Tell us a funny story about Donny, the funniest you can remember that makes you laugh every time you think about it.

This one was harder than I would have thought. Apparently I'm not good at coming up with stories on the spot. But there is one that I loved to give Donny a hard time about.

At one point in time Donny and I owned an old, beat-up work truck. The kind of truck where you're not surprised to see that the steering wheel is held together by duct tape. The kind of truck that you would have no problems taking it anywhere, because by the looks of it you can tell it's been to worse places than where you're headed. The kind of truck that you'll use for any job, because there's no way that you could be doing any worse to the truck than what's been done to it before. And her name was Betsy.

Donny was proud of Betsy, and wanted to be sure that we took good care of her. One of the things that he was fanatical about was checking her oil. Since before we owned her she had been leaking oil, so Donny made sure to check the level often. Donny and his best friend Robbie would go out and warm Betsy up, and then lovingly check her fluids. It was a holy rite of bonding to them. The problem was that I was actually trained by mechanics in how to properly maintain a vehicle, and I knew that the oil should never be checked warm. The engine needs to be either hot or cold, but not warm. If the engines warm you'll get a low reading. So the men would warm Betsy up, get a false low reading on her oil, and then add oil. I tried to tell them that they were doing it wrong, but what does a girl know?

There came the day that I realized that Betsy needed an oil change. I waited until I knew that Donny wouldn't feel like doing it, and then I mentioned it and offered to take betsy to the mechanic. Because of my superb timing, Donny allowed me to have the mechanic work on Betsy. When I went back to pick her up I had Donny with me. The mechanic came over and mentioned that they had added 6 quarts of oil and it still wasn't registering on the dipstick, so we may need a new dipstick. Donny never should have let me hear that.

It wasn't much after the oil change that the guys decide to go out and check my oil, since it's got that leak. I mentioned the problem with the dipstick and nicely suggested that maybe Betsy didn't really need any oil. They very nicely suggested that I didn't know what I was talking about and should let them get back to their "man work." A few weeks of the same scene being repeated and I was fed up. I finally told Donny that the only thing wrong with my truck was that he kept putting too much oil in her. I also let him know that the oil on the ground was not from a leak, but from Betsy trying valiantly to get ris of the excess oil that he kept giving her. Because of the tone that i took, Donny got rather upset with me. He saidthat he'd quit putting oil in Betsy, but that when I killed her in a couple of weeks trying to drive her with no oil that he had no way to fix or replace her, and it would be my problem. About 2 years later we traded Betsy in on the car that I have now, and I was still teasing Donny about the oil.

3. If you could live anywhere in the world, no financial limitations, where would you choose?

I thought about Arkansas, since my sister and her kids llive there. And I thought about Washington, since Donny's kids and grandkids live there. But I like where I am. And then it dawned on me, no financial limitations. So, I would buy lots of property here and build homes for all my loved ones.

4. Barbie or Skipper, and, why?

I was never into either one. By the time I was old enough to enjoy Barbies my sister had decided that she was too old for them, so naturally I decided that I was too old for them. I can remember my best friend wanting to play Barbie and getting frustrated because I thought that was for babies.

5. Did you have an imaginary friend as a child? If so, who was it? If not, what was your favorite plaything?

I never really had an imaginary friend, but I had an imaginary world. When we were little my dad used to tell my sister and I that "Only boring people get bored." I took that to heart and became one of the easiest kids to entertain of all time. I didn't need toys and playthings, I had my head. (Don't get me wrong, I still liked toys, I just didn't need them to entertain myself.)

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Stop this world, I want off.

It's amazing how life goes on, no matter what. I miss Donny more than I ever thought that I would. I ache for one more hug, one more kiss. I long to tell him, just one more time, how much I love him, and hear him say the same to me. I wish that I could come home and discuss how work went that day, or vent about my frustrations. And yet I can't bring myself to wish that he'd come back. He was suffering so much at the end there that I can't bring myself to wish for his return. As much as I miss him, I'm happy that he's well again.

I got a letter from social security saying that they had accidentally paid Donny's disability benefits this month, and would I please return the money? Since I know that he's not entitled to any benefits now I have no problem with that concept. However, since they never sent any money, I do have a problem with "returning" it. While I was at the social security office, waiting to straighten out this mess, I ran into an old boss of mine. We got to talking, and I found out that the same day that Donny died his wife went into a coma. I don't really understand what happened,, but I guess it doesn't look good. She got a blood clot in her leg that traveled to her lungs and then her heart. Her name is Suzanne, and I'd appreciate it if people would be praying for her and the family. She has 2 kids who are probably 10 or 11 and 13 or 14.

I'm back to work, and loving it. I manage to stay busy most of the time now, which is nice. I've already had 3 different people come to me to get a jump start on their taxes. I'm hoping to stay very busy for a while now. I need the distraction. It amazes me to what extent I don't know what to do with myself. I've been taking care of Donny for so long now that it seems wrong to be able to make last minute plans. And when I'm home I'm at a loss about what to do. I end up wandering through the house and getting nothing accomplished. What am I supposed to do with the time that I used to spend with Donny?

Well, it's late, and I have to work tomorrow, so I should probably head to bed. Besides, I think I'm almost exhausted enough to actually go to sleep.