I caught A Cat peeing on clean laundry this morning. He seemed rather proud of himself, worse yet.

I love that assignment, Erin. My junior year in high school is when we read Beowulf, and there was some trouble with hiring our English teacher so we had a series of subs for the first month or two of school and each one would come in and start us off reading Beowulf. Me being the good girl I was, I actually read it 4-5 times. If only any of them had asked us to write a paper like that, it would have been so much more worthwhile.

I think I'm as far as I can get with my taxes with the documents I have so far - got the W-2 today, so that helped a lot. Now waiting on the 1099 or whatever for stock sales. Definitely not going to try to estimate that from my records. Mixture or options and stock sold, taxes withheld on some but maybe not all, way too many opportunities for me to make a mistake

Next up: getting dressed and doing some of these Outside Things that seem to be so popular. Apple Store, Barnes and Noble, maybe Container Store though that is perilous. Possibly a quick trip to the new coffee roastery that should finally be actually open today.

-t, is your local Container Store the one in Walnut Creek?

I am very eager to do my taxes, and I need the IRS to get on the updates so that I can. I'm going to buy another car and will have a better idea of budget once taxes are done.

I, too, am eager to do my taxes...but I'm still waiting on one more form (from my mortgage company! Kind of an important one!). This will also be the first year my taxes are really complicated (mortgage! homebuyer tax credit! home office deduction!) and am wondering if I should find a professional...

meara, yeah, I usally use a deluxe version of Turbo Tax but I might go to a pro if I can't deal. #HardBeingAGrownUp

Eddie Izzard just said, channeling a Roman centurion, "Quod. The. Fuck."

This is my new phrase.

I'm going to buy another car

As in addition to the one you have?

CJ called and asked if he could stay for the whole belt test. I'm glad he is really taking to being a red belt.

Instead of going outside, I have been cleaning. The kitchen is 80% done...taking a break for lunch.

why the awkward balancing act crazy cat?

My sister-in-law has a fat yellow tabby (female) who does this kind of thing. She will try to balance on the backs of chairs, even the rocking ones. It's a thing.

then there is the restless walk around on the lap thing that the skinny tomcat does. He will take ten minutes if you let him, trying to find the best spot by stepping all over the person.

As in addition to the one you have?

Possibly. I am evaluating options. The Forester is paid off and is dead cheap for insurance. I am thinking of keeping it as my dog/camping/outdoor car and getting a small, chirpy, efficient, cute commuting car. I am weighing pros and cons and am not yet decided. But it's fun window-shopping and test driving and all.

ETA: I am increasingly finding the Forester to be unbearable for commuting because of cab noise and truck chassis. My bones are too old for it on a regular basis. So I will either trade in and upgrade to a 2010 Outback (or Forester IF they've solved the cabin noise problem) OR I will get a Mini Cooper, Lexus IS 250 or a Prius and keep the Forester. I've read that the Minis are not comfortable and are very noisy, but I still want to test drive one because they're so frakking adorable.

That's the nearest one, javachik. Conveniently near the Apple store, etc., I'm already going to.