I’m done with our taxes. Sort of. The local and state taxes have been submitted. The federal ones are just about ready to go. (I’m still waiting on one of my forms. sheesh.) Thank God for TurboTax. We will be getting a few dollars back–enough to cover our upcoming yearly garbage bill and then some, anyway. That’s pretty much what I shoot for–getting a few dollars back. I don’t understand these people who get all excited about getting a bunch of money back from the government (otherwise known as an interest-free loan to your Uncle Sam). Maybe you ought to adjust the withholdings on your W-4 form and not get so much money taken out of your paycheck. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have a fatter paycheck year-round than get my money refunded to me when I file my taxes. Of course, given how low interest rates are right now, it probably doesn’t matter.
family dinner 2005
Well, the annual dinner with the parents occurred this evening. As I mentioned yesterday, we did an Italian theme this year. For appetizers, I made an antipasto tray consisting of prosciutto, soppressatta, genoa salami, capacola, marinated fresh mozzarella, provolone, giardiniera, green olives, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red bell peppers and Parmesan crisps. Drinks were served, of course. The options were vodka and squirt or homemade wine (Carmenere/Malbec and Symphony).
For the main course, we had Italian stuffed chicken breasts, herbed orzo, roasted asparagus, and a herb/mesclun salad. Amaretto-chocolate pudding with raspberries and whipped cream was for dessert. I haven’t eaten in hours and I’m still stuffed (and I didn’t even have dessert. of course, I could’ve easily made a meal just from the antipasto).
A good time was had by all. It’s kind of nice to get together this way once a year without something else hanging over our heads (like birthdays, holidays, weddings, etc.) Next year, I’m thinking of pushing the dinner back to later in the year, say March. As I mentioned yesterday, the tradition started because of the Thanksgiving turkey that Brian’s employer gives out every year. But, we’ll probably be able to use that up from now on because we’ve put ourselves into the holiday hosting rotation. Anyway, we had the dinner in January because I didn’t want to hold onto that turkey forever. But January is so close to the holidays that it would be nicer, I think, to have it a little later in the year. We’ll see.
the past few days
Nothing noteworthy has been going on recently, so that explains my lack of posts.
I did manage to do what no one thought could be done–fatten up Brian a little bit (enough to make him go buy an exercise bike this week and actually use the thing every day). Middle age=middle tire? Good thing we’re heading off the rest of the middle age crisis by buying his motorcycle this year.
Jacob had some excitement yesterday. I got a note from his friend Jake’s mom (Jake goes to daycare with Jacob). They wanted to invite him over for a playdate soon. So, I called her last night and the date has been set for next Saturday. Both boys are ecstatic. I have to assume they’re going to get along just fine seeing that they’ve been playing together at daycare for over two years now, so this could end up being a regular thing for the two of them.
Today, I’m just doing my usual Saturday work–washing clothes and straightening up around the house. Plus, I’m cooking like a fiend. Tomorrow is our annual “Dinner with the Parents” night. Every year at some point after the holidays, we have our parents over for dinner. This tradition started because Brian’s employer gives out a ridiculously large turkey every year at Thanksgiving, so we had everyone over in order to eat the turkey. This year, we had Christmas dinner at our place, so we ate the turkey then. But, the tradition lives on. This year, we’re having an Italian feast. More details to follow tomorrow…
vonage
We took the plunge and signed up for a VOIP (voice over IP) provider on December 11. Goodbye, landline! We went with Vonage. I read some good reviews about them and they seem to be the most popular provider, so that clinched our decision.
So far I’ve been happy with the quality of the connection. We’re paying half of what we had to pay with Verizon, but we get unlimited minutes. Of course, if your internet connection is down, you have no phone, but that’s what cell phones are for, right?
The one bad thing about the process was trying to transfer our current number to the new service. It was a major headache which involved at least four hours of my time (either on the phone or sending emails). If you factor in my bitching, my hours might be up to 24. Just ask Brian. Had I known it was going to be such a pain in the ass, I might have opted to just get a new number. But, after almost a week with no one being able to access our phone number, finally, our number got transferred last night. So everything is good in the world again. From reading a forum I found on the subject, I knew there was a good possibility that we were going to run into issues with the number transfer, so at least I was mentally prepared for it.
If anyone’s interested in this service, let me know and I’ll refer you. We would get two free months out of the deal and you’d get one month free. I definitely have some tips for you before you sign up, though. Email me for details.
I feel like such a techno-geek. Embracing the latest technologies and all…
just got lucky
The wonderful garage that works on my car (Deyarmin’s on Goucher Street) fixed my exhaust problem today. They made a new exhaust pipe for the one that fell off my car yesterday. Total cost: around $60. If they would’ve gotten the part from the Toyota garage, total cost: $585. This is why we don’t go to the dealership for service. Needless to say, I love those guys! Plus they squeezed us in today, so that was really nice of them. It is so convenient living two blocks from a reputable garage when you have a vehicle that has 100,000 miles on it.