Post Tax

 I can't believe how I spent all that time on Turbo Tax - only because it was free - and then had a message at the end saying I had foreign assets and had to upgrade.  Whatever!  Of course I don't, and of course no one can tell me how to uncheck that box - which I never checked in the first place.  I refused to upgrade just because I spent all that time and then was told I had to pay.  Why offer it free, knowing it's never going to be?  I'm starting early and doing my own next year.  I spent a long time going over every entry, and I know what to do now.  We'll see next March!

We're still plodding along waiting for spring.  The cherry trees are beautiful, and everything is blooming.  It's just rainy and cool.  Noreen and I took a long walk yesterday and enjoyed it.  We were walking along in the drizzle, and all of a sudden the sun came out, immediately surrounding us.  We both said, "Ahhhhh" at the same time.  We even sat on the porch for a while when we finished walking.  

I'm still enjoying listening to books.  I don't think I will read as many this month.  I have about 10 on hold, so I'm to the point of requesting short stories to fill in the gaps.  I just finished Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks, and I don't think I would have stuck with it so long if it weren't for his voice reading the stories.   When he talks, I just want to listen, but the stories leave me hanging.  I like a kind of ending to a story, and some of these just fizzle out - or maybe this is the modern short story.  He sure pays attention to detail though.    https://www.amazon.com/Uncommon-Type-Stories-Tom-Hanks/dp/0735273839

He also reads some of Ann Patchett's books, and These Precious Days explain how that all got started.  I enjoy her writing and downloaded everything I could find by her as well as Anne Tyler.  

https://www.amazon.com/These-Precious-Days-Essays/dp/B08WH9L21V/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=570529872880&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9033296&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=14740508290464921767&hvtargid=kwd-377357863801&hydadcr=6835_13207589&keywords=these+precious+days&qid=1682013718&sr=8-1

It seems like lately I'm trying to catch up with all the books I missed, but now I don't remember half of the ones I've read, so I have all those that I could re-read.  I finally found a book I read in the 90s - Walking Across Egypt by Clyde Edgerton, and it's just as funny now as it was then.  Only now I'm about the same age as the "old lady" in the story and can identify with just about everything she does and says.  She reminds me more of my grandmother than me though.  I can imagine her better than me asking the dogcatcher to wash, dry, and put up her dishes while she's stuck in a chair because she would be humiliated if her neighbor came over and saw them unwashed and her watching a soap opera.  

I have become obsessed with listening to books though.  I guess there are worse obsessions.

What else have I been doing?  Not much.  Just watching the girls when I can and getting them home from school.  They even came over and spent some time on the weekend because Emily and Ryan are desperate to get that kitchen finished.  You can already tell how nice it's going to be, and they are excited about it.

I think this is Emily's favorite part.  I have the plastic version of it stuck between my refrigerator and the wall, but this one can hold an amazing amount of stuff.

My poor man's version but still perfect for what I use it for:  Spices, baking things, and cat food.  I'm not sure what I would do without it.  

Ryan put a greenhouse window behind the sink last year, which was perfect for rooting cuttings and starting seeds, but it turned out to be a magnet for the new kitten.  He had a field day getting up there and turning over the little jars of water and doing all the cat things.  I'm not sure this will do much to keep Gus out, but extending the counter top into the window space is such a great idea.  No pesky window tracks to keep clean.  

The pantry is also a work of art.  It was already almost as big as my kitchen, and they could keep a ton of things in there, but now there's a prepping sink and a nice place to keep the coffee pot, plus all those drawers and shelves.  I think Emily is just as proud of the new Oxo storage containers as she is of anything.  I would love to have had matching containers for absolutely everything when I was that age and cooking a little bit.  

I'll see what pictures I can grab from the phone, but half my day is gone, and I've not even had breakfast.

A chattering squirrel lured Bowie out to the front porch where he found a little sunshine.  Sweet boy does love to be outside, but I worry about bobcats or whatever other things come into town sometimes.  

Layla took advantage of a temporarily empty basket to enjoy a safer vantage point.

Yesterday was the Walkathon to raise money for the PTSA.  Even with rain, all the kids seemed to be having fun.  There was a Wild West theme and a barbecue meal for the parents.  

This is the only Facebook picture I could find of the girls.  Katherine running, of course.  

Graysen enjoyed her basketball season, everything but the team's name.  The Sour Peppermints?  I think it was voted on but not by her.  It was a good time for them, and she made a couple of new friends.

Gus and Emily relaxing on a Sunday afternoon while the girls played at the apartment.

They brought their Calico Critters but no furniture, so they improvised with whatever they could find.

Don't ask.  No one knows why Snow White has been banished.

A no-longer-played-with horse stable became a cozy sleeping nook for someone along with a piece of practice crochet they found.  I guess that's why we never throw anything away.

No more time and so much happened.  The Win-Bins decided to start online Spanish lessons, and they invited me on the Family Plan.  I'm serious about it.  I remembered enough to read and understand enough to start on level 9, but I'll never be good at it.  It's too fast for me, and I can't think fast enough, but I enjoy it a lot, especially the phrase Yo soy cansada (I'm tired).  And that yo is pronounced Jo.  It makes it so much prettier.  

Tired and hungry. Hambrienta.  I don't remember learning that word.   It makes wish I had a hamburger for lunch.  

 I have more pictures stored away, but they'll have to come later along with correcting typos.