Potpourri

1. We've almost survived our first winter in Idaho Falls. I say almost because it's only the first of March so we could still have a few months left. It has not been fun. It's cold. ALL. THE. TIME. We eventually bought one of those little space heaters and now we carry it from room to room. It has been a Godsend. And I don't think we are the only ones who are ready for winter to be over. I've dealt with some pretty crabby patients the last couple of months at work and it's getting really old. There was one day in particular I only saw three or four patients and I somehow managed to upset every single one of them. I'm thinkin' everyone is in need of some sunshine. People are a lot more friendly when the weather is better. 

It's crazy how much more snow they get up here. We bought a new car back in October because we were nervous about the Olds making it with all the snow. The Olds, bless her heart, has a hard enough time on very dry roads so we were extremely nervous about how she'd handle the I.F. winter. We got a Chevy Equinox and we LOVE LOVE LOVE it. All joking aside, there is absolutely NO WAY the Olds would have gotten me to work on a few of the snowy days we had. And there was no way she would have made it home for Thanksgiving. She would have shaken with fear just looking at those roads (or she would have just shaken - she does have a loose bearing and a bad strut ya' know). It's so nice being in a vehicle and feeling completely safe. The Equinox gets and A+ in my book.

(You can see the olds cowering in the background. Poor thing.)

2. Taxes suck. Literally. They suck the funds out of my paycheck (one-third of my paycheck goes to taxes/social security/etc.; a little excessive don't you think?) They sucked all my plans for a big return out the window (I had dreams of paying off some debt, maybe going on a nice vacation...yup sucked those plans right. out. the window.) And they sucked the life out of me for the nearly two weeks I spent preparing them. Yes, you may wonder why it took so long. For starters, we had SEVEN W-2's this year. That's right. SEVEN. That's a lot. And for nexters (I think I may have invented a word just there), I was so much in denial at our puny tax return that I decided to prepare them a second time with a different program to see if I got the same result. I did. And it was infuriating. In fact, if it hadn't been for Brandt going to school and the credit we got from that, we would have OWED money. And if that had been the case, I think Brandt and I would have packed up and moved to New Zealand (I actually did get online and check out New Zealand's tax system in the midst of all this because I was so mad at America - but turns out their system isn't any better - at least from what I could tell in the few minutes I spent researching it). Seriously, it's so maddening. Maybe I wouldn't be so mad if I understood it. But they make it so complicated that no one knows what's going on. I read a statistic the other day that said in the 1920's there were about 11,400 words in America's tax laws. Today, there are over seven MILLION. No wonder it's so confusing.

3. We got callings. After being in this ward for ten months, they are putting us to work. Sort of. Brandt teaches the Elder's Quorum every second Sunday of the month. I teach Relief Society every OTHER second Sunday of the month. It's pretty sweet.  

4. I will turn 25 in a few weeks. And I'm feeling old. People talk about embracing their age and being proud of it, but I can't help thinking about how things used to be. You know that Toby Keith song, "I Ain't as Good as I Once Was.."  That's me. I remember how flexible I used to be and how I could get dropped in cheerleading and bounce right back up (cuz bouncing is what we cheerleaders do best) and try it again. And now, I love doing this Bodystep class at the gym, but my knees hurt for two days afterwards. Oh the pains of getting old......(my mom will probably laugh at that one).

Another sign of oldness: I was talking to my 16-year-old sister the other day and I guess the teenagers these days have a whole new lingo that I don't understand. The new hot sayings, just FYI, are "Kag" and "I'm your dad." I don't get it. They also have this "understanding" about dating. You can either be "a thing" with someone, which means you both like each other (maybe this is what we called "friends with benefits" back in my time?) but you aren't tied down to that person, OR you can be boyfriend/girlfriend, which means that you are more committed to them - you treat each other better. Right now it seems like it is more popular to just be "a thing" - I think it's retarded. Not to say you should be singling off so much in High School (otherwise you may end up marrying that person {see picture below}), but I think calling it "a thing" is just a way for guys/girls to get more action and not have to "commit". It's totally "Kag" if you ask me. (Did I use it right Syd?)

5. Brandt makes me smile. He bought some new sunglasses with his birthday money from my mom. They are polarized photo-chromatic (whatever that means). Basically they are supposed to be the bees knees for when he goes fishing. They are like transition lenses - they get darker as the sun gets brighter, etc. But, if you know anything about Brandt, he can't wait until this summer to try them out. Oh no. And it's too cold to stand outside and test them out. So he opened the blinds, then OPENED THE WINDOW (It was around twenty degrees outside), and pushes his head against the screen as much as humanly possible while wearing his sunglasses and looking into the sun. It was really funny. I allowed him about 30 seconds before I asked him if he knew how much it cost to heat our apartment and would he be so kind as to close the window. Ok, I probably didn't say it quite like that, but you get the drift.

The results of singling off dating in high school. Love you babe!

6. Life is good. Really good. It's still cold, and taxes still suck, and I'm nearing middle-age, but I am happy. Really happy.