Taxes

I have done my own taxes my whole life. I first started doing them by filling out the forms. Then when some Tax companies got online, I used them and continued to do my taxes online by myself. I even did my taxes myself when I was married and had our first house - it was pretty convenient and I didn't have to pay anyone to do them for me. I love saving money!

Well, last year I noticed that the cute little city that I live in (my mailing address is 'Fort Worth,' but I really live in a small little city in/near/beside Fort Worth) had set up for the AARP to complete and then file our taxes if we lived in this little city. All I had to to was to show up sometime on Mondays before April 15th at the City Hall (which is a super small little building) to meet with the AARP volunteers.

Last year I went because it was the first year I had to deal with things I hadn't done before - claiming my Mom, a new house, and what to do about my Dad's passing and my Mom's taxes. So, I broke down and went to this service because it was free.

They were very cordial and super nice! I wasn't sure if they would even work on my return because I wasn't an AARP-type person yet (lol), but they didn't seem to mind. I think they knew I was there for my Mom, anyway.

Well, I went today again and took advantage of their free, polite, fast service. I love it! I even got lucky and the same guy who did my return last year did my return this year, too. Out of about 8 volunteers, he had just finished working on a return when I walked in and so they sate me with him. He even remembered me - it was so sweet.

I need to write them a thank you letter, that's how excited and thankful I am. I love convenience and people helping me out!

Smile Quotes

I don't want the first post on this page to be so sad, so let me share some smile pics with ya:

Stress And Others

I noticed when I am stressed and overwhelmed I take it out on the ones I care about most. I also notice I want to hear from the ones I care about while I'm going through tough times and when I don't, my mind wanders into deep dark areas that I wish would never come up from the muddy waters... all because I "feel" lonely. My heart feels like if I was to hear from them, some of the sadness would go away; just hearing their voices calms me, distracts me, and makes me feel loved and less lonely.

I really, truly hate taking out my frustrations on the ones I care about. But when I am stressed and overwhelmed, I can't handle a lot of the questions that normally-wouldn't-irritate me and I in return get snappy. :( I don't mean to be snappy, though. I'm just mentally tasked and overwhelmed and my mind can't rationalize what is going on and it breaks down into child-like responses of frustration. :(

Besides a lot of questions, I also cannot take comments about things that need to be done. I immediately go into a defense mode and no positive thoughts can break through for some reason. Common sense goes right out the window and I can't think clear and rationalize that maybe the person is just talking AT me, not really saying negative things that I am not seeing what they truly are - just statements, not complaining of my lack of action. Usually they are just stating things that have come to their mind that need to be done; it's no reflection of me.

Then there's the contact aspect. When I am depressed, stressed, and overwhelmed, I admit wholeheartedly I want to hear more from the close male friends that may be in my life at the time. I really can't handle the lack of contact during the tough times - my mind literally spirals out of control and I feel so helpless and think negative thoughts that can sometimes consume me. :( I don't like to reach out when I am depressed or upset; but I wish so hard in my brain for the ones I care about to contact me, and yet they don't. They don't realize a simple phone call or text would mean the world and help me through the rough times. What upsets me even more is this happens even after I break down and explain I enjoy hearing from them and it helps me b/c I'm having a rough time. Isn't that obvious that it means I want/need to hear from them? I guess not. There have been a few times I even broke down and went WAY out of my comfort zone and actually ASKED for them to contact me more... which still led to NOT an increase in contact.

I wouldn't get upset at all at them or my mind wouldn't spiral out of control if I wasn't stressed or overwhelmed, though. I am fully aware of that. I wish I could control my thoughts better during the rough times; I really, really do. But I seem to really lose a good grasp of any leadership principle when I am stressed and overwhelmed and I get very fragile and weak. My mind has a mind of it's own, lol.

I am very happy for my few close girlfriends that I can call at any time or call/text me to see how I am doing. I also appreciate my online friends who keep in touch. Although I am venting above, still doesn't mean I do realize I do still have some great friends out there and I am very appreciative of you! I just I could handle my emotions and thoughts better during rough times...

The Eyes Have It

I decided after seeing some peeps with cool colored contacts that I would buy a box of grey and a box of green. The colored contacts looked awesome on them! I had green way back when in college, but only for a like a month or something.

I tried on many colors about a year and a half ago so I was excited about my choices.

I wore the grey ones for a week before I went to Vegas for my Birthday in February. I figured I wanted cool looking eyes for my B Day in my favorite city! No one noticed or said anything, though for that week. Hmm. Then I figured I would try the green ones before my Vegas trip. I wore them for about 4 days at a tournament I attended (not played in). No one noticed or said anything. Hmmm...

So, I didn't take either color to Vegas, lol. Now I have two boxes of colored contacts that I'm not sure I will wear again! I wouldn't mind wearing them in general, but I swear they make my eyes tired. I need to see if I can play pool in them - I swear I can see the colored edges at times even though I KNOW that doesn't make sense. One of these days I will try it out during league or something.... dunno.

Still, I think this is all hysterical that I planned for the colored contacts before my trip and then they weren't even noticeable. lol!

Sort by

So, why isn't it obvious if I choose to sort in my electronic folders on windows that I would want it by most recent date? Why does it automatically sort by furthest date when I choose to sort by "date" when adding an attachment to an email or to open a document? I mean, really. REALLY?!