Well, if she's out there, I hope you find her, Meara.(And yes, my refreshing self has pondered that, too) I think it doesn't hurt that I post about politics sometimes, which can be weirdly euphemistic(If people really hate somebody, they say "He has high unfavorables" And they "author" things, which I kind of hate.(Not as much as the military and sports metaphors, or, God, "throwing someone under a bus" which is on my top ten never want to read it list.)

I'm just so tired of trying to be hopeful that someone awesome is around the corner.

My sistah. I deleted OKC off my phone in November. Went to the site in December and it depressed me so much I haven't been back.

On a tangential note: I rarely use an umbrella in Seattle, but it was raining really hard the past couple days and I would've. Except I left my umbrella in the car of a girl on our second date (back in December). She forgot to bring it on our third date, and that one fizzled out--apparently she was not feeling it. We're still friends on FB. Do I go buy a new umbrella, or can I ask her to like, drop it off on my porch next time she's in the neighborhood?

Plus side: I am done with our taxes.

Minus side: We owe the Feds a fair amount this year, for the first time in a while. It's for a fairly nice reason - we made more money because I worked all year and mr. flea wasn't furloughed - but still. That was depressing.

That sucks, flea! I did mine last night but didn't finish them (online TurboTax). I can't figure out the whole home-office deduction thing. Every year it tells me I didn't spend enough to get the deduction, but that it'll carry over or something, but then I can't see that it carries over, at all. So I'm wondering if TurboTax is screwing with me, and I'm missing something, or if I just don't get to deduct anything even though I work 100% from a home office. I also can't figure out why the "sales tax deduction" amount keeps going DOWN, even if my income went UP a little bit (it makes an estimate, since in WA we don't pay state income tax--but in 2012 it estimated like, 4K, and in 2013 $3800...and last year, $3700, or something. Very weird). But I should at least get some money back.

the company owner choosing the drama llama over me, etc.

bonny, your fears and anxieties are pretty reasonable given the situation. Of course, that isn't to say that they would stop you when you decide the time is right to act. But this bit of what you said stands out to me. Please understand that it isn't the company owner making a conscious decision of value - it is a matter of water seeking its own level. This person is not in good mental balance. Nor does she crave wisdom and balance with her whole heart the way you do. The repeated refusal to respect your expertise shows that she she lives and breathes drama. It is her air. She can no more choose you than she can choose to grow gills and breathe the ocean. You staying with that business is leaving you a fish out of water. You can do it as long as you need/want, but it is draining you without replenishing what it takes.

meara, and everyone else here who dreams of finding that special someone - that kind of loneliness sucks so hard. I wish I could wave a wand at it for you to make the hurt go away, and then wave it again to make the right persons appear.

flea, I hope you don't have to scramble too hard to pay that.

I didn't file yet, because 1) mr. flea likes to look them over and B) if you owe money, you file on April 15, right? That at least gives you time to find the money.

In other depressing tax news, the millage rate in Cincinnati is significantly higher than in the very wealthy suburb of Boston where my mother lives. I know this because I was griping about how much high the property taxes (which we're about to start paying) are here than they were in Georgia, and my mother said, "Oh, I am sure ours are much higher" so I looked and actually hers are a lower percentage of home value (though of course their homes are higher value, because East Coast). While I approve of most of the stuff the property taxes pay for (for example, the public schools my kids attend) it is still not that fun to actually pay them (they're going to be about 1/3 of our monthly house payment.)

We also owe a painful chunk for a good reason this year (Bumped to a higher tax bracket. Yay! Failed to adjust our withholdings. Err...) I feel like it would be easier to be one of those anti-tax crazies who bitches about having to pay anything at all, but I'm totally down with paying! Just not with having to pay it out of pocket right now!

meara, I say save yourself the potential hassle and buy a new umbrella.

I'm awesome and single. Except I'm sort of single by choice, so maybe I don't count. Most of the time I'm fine with being single, but I'd love to have someone to hang out with and do friend things like help move furniture and drive each other to the airport and stuff. I've made a few local friends, through the Board Game Club, but they're all married and/or have children, which cuts out their freedom to go do fun stuff with *me*. Doing dinner and/or a movie every three months or so is fun, but that's about all I get to do with them. I miss having a partner.

I'll do taxes next weekend when my sister comes to visit. She has Turbo Tax and I've been using hers every year. I never have managed to take a home office deduction even though I also work 100% from a home office. I don't know what that's about - what's the point of even having it when it's impossible to actually claim it?

I think I've misplaced all the paperwork already. Subconsciously I don't want it.