Show Me The $$$!

I had sworn that I would get my taxes done in February, and unfortunately, the month just got away from me. Then March arrived, and the GMATs became the priority and taxes fell to the way side. April 1st showed up and, well, I wanted to go out and have fun. Today, I realized that this is the last weekend before April 15th. Even though I knew I would get a refund, and the tax deadline only penalizes those who don't file but will need to pay, I really needed to get my rear in gear.

Since high school, I have been doing my own taxes. Yes, I would have father check them over. And I will admit that when I had super complicated taxes that involved cross filing in RI and MA, I did have turbo tax step in on the state side,. But in general, I prefer to them by hand, the process makes me feel accomplished.

I do miss the RI state tax return. First, it was less complicated than the Massachusetts one. And second, if you were eligible for a refund, it ended with a smiley face. The MA return is not as friendly. Now that the returns have been filed, I just have to sit back and wait for the money to show up in my bank account.

Clearly if I were a cartoon accountant, I would be a doughnut

Adult Responsibilities - Jury Duty

About two months ago I was mailed my Jury Summonings paperwork to appear May 18th. As you are probably aware, today is the 18th and so I am sitting in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn in the Jury Selection room. It is a nice room; big, comfortable seats, windows, soothing green wall coloring, and until recently filled with about 149 other people.

Massachusetts has a "one day, one trial" policy when you get summoned. This means that if I do not get impanelled for a trial today, I get to go home. Either one day of sitting around or one full trial. They said that there were definately two cases requiring juries and a possible third. The man in charge has taken jurors 1 through 150 at this point to get selected (some people did not show up so only 130 people have left the room). I am juror number 162. There is a good chance I will be told I can leave without ever going beyond this point in the process. I hope they make a decision by lunch.

I will admit, I will be a little bummed if I came up here and didn't even get to see the inside of a courtroom. But, what can I do? I can't demand a tour.

Helpful side note: If you ever get summoned, please remember to bring a book or laptop or something. There is a woman who was above this concept and has been talking to who ever will listen all morning. It is like being in the library and ONE person is talking, so distracting for the others who just want to be left alone to read/work.

I will lie in the bed I made and enjoy it

Putting new sheets on my bed is quite possibly one of my least favorite activities. The whole process just aggravates me. I have a queen size bed which is great for sleeping but is a royal pain to make.

Once the sheets are off, I need to deal with the fact that they need to be cleaned. All I can say is thank you inventor of wash-dry-fold. Before I found you, I would swear and just get annoyed at the idea of fitting all the bedding in a wash machine and then have to attempt to fold huge pieces of fabric on my own. Now for 92 cents per pound I can pay someone else to do it for me! Even in this economy I am not giving this small luxury up. If I did them myself I would still need to pay to use the coin operated machine in my basement so it isn't as if I am completely wasting money here.

Once I have over come the issue of needing clean sheets, I need to tackle my naked bed. It is time for me to climb all around attempting to get the sheets positioned correctly and figure out a way to squeeze between my bed and the wall so that I can use the proper military fold for the corners. Somehow by the end of all this I always end up a bit sweaty. It is kind of pathetic.

In the end as much as I hate making my bed, the best nights sleep that I have are always the nights where I am sleeping in a freshly cleaned/made bed. It just feels so wonderful...it almost makes me want to go through the process a little more frequently...almost

Taxing

Today's goal is to get through my taxes. Most likely I will bring them home with me for Easter to have my dad give them a look over before I submit them, as I haven't done them on my own since I moved here. (I was a wiz at the RI tax forms, most likely because if you get a refund it ends with a :) - no lie, yet another reason why RI rocks my socks)

Currently, I have completed my Federal Tax Return. I left my copies of my 2007 return at work so I don't have anything here to compare numbers...you know, to see if I am on the right track. I guess I will just have to check tomorrow.

Ok time to tackle the MA ones.

Wish me luck!