Tuesday, November 11, 2008

I got nothin'

I got nothin to blog about so I think I'd like to just ramble aimlessly for a while.

First - if you have not read it yet, you must read The Book Thief. And yes, I'm talking to you! The book is for everyone. It was written in 2005 and I knew nothing about it before I started reading . . . All I can say is that it was amazing . . . and I wasted all my extra time of sleeping on DST to stay up until 5 am finishing it. It is in my top 10 faves of all time.

Second - I keep on forgetting to post about Ellie's little quirks. Since we went to the Love & Logic Parenting classes we have (mostly) stopped using timeouts as punishment and they are only for "cool down" time when the kids are giving me attitude or are throwing tantrums. They can only come out when they are "Sweet" as I call it (give hugs, kisses, and sorrys). So when I use my "mom's the boss" voice and try to lay the law down, all I ever get from the kids is, "Mom! You gotta be sweet to me!" It is nice to always have the reminder that we should all be more sweet to each other.

Third - Ellie's other little quirk right now? Pretending. If she is not pretending she is daddy's sweet baby girl (with baby talk and baby cries), she is a kitty cat & I'm momma kitty, or she is baby Ariel, or a sweet Ursula, or a princess, etc. etc. It is really cute and kinda annoying when I just want to talk to Ellie and instead I have to communicate with an alter ego. On the positive side I think it's time for her first dollhouse!

Fourth - Work. I have been thinking about finding a job during the tax season. Hopes are that if I work full time for a few months there will no longer be a need for me to work part time. To be a real stay at home mom again would be great. I'm looking forward to it this summer. Now I just need the CPA firm I put my resume in to call me back.

Fifth - I have a request. Do any of my Iowa friends know a CPA firm or accountant I could use in Iowa that could help me out with my THIRD tax audit (what the crap!!?!). For those of you who don't remember my first nasty, ugly, two-year-long frustrating federal audit - you can read up on it here. That's beside the point, apparently whichever IRS agent who got fired for so badly botching my federal audit now resides in Iowa and is out to get me. I only have 2 years of tax returns in Iowa, both with less than $35k AGI . . . and how do BOTH of those get audited??? Yeah, I don't know either. The first one they just asked for an extra $30, and I just sent the check because I didn't think it was worth my time and energy to fight it. This time, it's a lot more. And I think an Iowa tax guy would be a good choice - for those of you who don't know, the Democrats in Iowa have messed up their freaking tax system . . . property taxes are twice that of Pocatello and four times that of Vegas . . . not to mention their forms are twice as long and twice as complex as the Federal. You know it's bad when I can do Federal forms in my sleep and win against the Federal Nazis but Iowa taxes are all Greek to me. So yeah, lookin for help from an Iowan.

Sixth - My foster kiddies. Things are actually progressing well. Their dad has fallen off the face of the earth and their mom (if all goes as planned) will have all 4 of her kids move back with her mid-January. I think this is a good thing. I think she really loves them and is busting her booty to get them back. They have started overnighters on Halloween and they have been going well. Her two visits a week have been very consistent which I think helps the kids' peace of mind. Although now I'm getting from the 2yo, "I want MY mommy!" or "You not MY mommy!" Sigh. I know kid. Believe me, I know!

Seventh - I think I'll keep the bloggity blog public. I keep thinking back to that BYUI graduation talk about expanding your circle of influence. Well, I'm not quite sure if I am of ANY influence on here (to my commenters OR my lurkers) or if it is an influence it is any semblance of a good one. I just don't know. But I might as well keep on tryin.

7 comments:

  1. I read The Book Thief this summer and I agree, it is one of the best books I have ever read. It is my *favorite* book right now. Not necessarily of all time, but it will always be in my top 10. I am glad you liked it!

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  2. You thought the taxes were high in Iowa? We are paying twice the propery taxes here in Wisconsin than we paid when we lived in Iowa. It is true that our house is a little bigger here, but I don't think that it can account for that much of an increase. We have been gone for a little more than a year, so did the taxes in Iowa skyrocket after we move out?

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  3. Nope, we left before you guys did . . . so remind me not to live in Wisconsin, where Prop Taxes are 8 times as much as in Vegas. LV keeps on looking better and better as a place to live!

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  4. AAAAAH! Don't even get me started on property taxes. Thanks for reminding me about "The Book Thief" Brandy told me to read it way back in July and I'd forgotten all about it. I'm totally going to go find it this week. And Kristine, I've got to tell you I love reading your blog. I love how it's a smorgesborg (okay, I'm not into spelling today) of news about your family, politics, religion, and stuff that you're thinking about. And? I think you're hilarious. So thanks for keeping me entertained :)

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  5. Kristine, we would love to have you live in Wisconsin! Yes, the taxes are high, but there are lot of nice things about Wisconsin like: excellent schools, you can enjoy all four beautiful seasons, they keep the streets clean and in good repair, the Goodwill stores here are far superior to the ones in Iowa and the cheese is delicious!

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  6. Don't you just love pretending? I can never call Maddy by Maddy anymore - she is always either Ariel, Dora or Gabriella and last night she had to do everything Troy told her to - it was hilarious! Just think - she just hit a new developmental milestone - pretending!

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  7. Sorry I haven't been on here in awhile- some crazy stuff going on around here. I love the pretending! Makes me laugh. I got The Book Thief for my birthday but haven't gotten around to reading it yet:( It is the book of the year for our county- they are trying to get the whole county to read it. Looks good, thanks for the heads up. And good luck with the audit- yikes! :)

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