Thursday, February 16, 2006

The stress of taxes equals pride in ownership!

I got me a new cell phone last week. I have never had a cell phone, always borrowed my kids' or Pat's because I figured what was the point with 3 others around the house. I don't need one.

I've been having some fun with it this week though. I've been taking pictures of my daycare kids and sending them off to their moms so that they can at least see their kids while they work. The kids love it and will pose all day if I ask them to. And the moms that I have sent them to, well, if it were me, I guess I would love to receive photos of my kids especially if my work day is long and stressful and when I ask, one in particular gives me a knowing smile. Her and I are pretty good friends actually and she is a wonderful mom and friend. Her baby is just 9 1/2 months old so it has been hard for her on some days to leave her little guy.

This morning I sent pics to one of my other parent's, one of each of her two kids. I hadn't sent her any yet this week but thought I would give it a shot. So, about 20 minutes later, I received a text message asking who I was??? Then after she received the second child's photo, she figured out that it was me. I just have to laugh because a couple of these parent's haven't programmed their phones yet with my new number so they don't have a clue who is sending pictures of their kids....they must think that I'm a stalker or something.....well, I just called this mom and apologized profusely because sure enough, she wondered what sick pedophile was sending her pictures of her kids. LOL We laughed about it but all the same, I feel terrible.

Pat and I have been very busy the last couple of weeks improving things in our house. Well, we personally haven't been improving it but we have been using all of our tax return to pay people to deliver and install various things that we have needed over the years.

One very dire need we had was a new refrigerator. We got that last week, a side by side with an ice and water dispenser and it is HUGE! Like the size of a walk in cooler. Or perhaps its just that we have been living with 20 year old refrigerators for so long that the thought of anything bigger was simply just that, a thought. Our old refrigerator came from our old house. It had served us very well all these years but about 5 years ago it decided that it was growing weary of remaining cold. Of course a seal on it was falling off but all the same, before that we had it cranked to the highest setting we could get it to in order to keep things cold. Summer time would come and we would have to go down to buying one gallon of milk as needed because if we kept milk in there it would end up sour and everyone knows how gross that is. The retired frig just couldn't keep up with the heat. But we sure do love having a frig now that keeps things almost too cold.

We also, after about 10 years of saying, 'Man we really have to get new....", broke down and ordered new carpet for our living room. It will be installed on Monday and we are so excited. Our old carpet is probably as old and used as this house is. We have never been in a position to replace it in a room that is rather large but bit the bullet and anxiously await it's installation. Our old carpet is paper thin and bare in some spots, and the padding that is there, well, what padding???? It's like walking on a wood floor. Since we painted just recently and replaced drapes and such, it will drastically improve our living room. We will have to remove the woodburner that we have which is kind of a sad thought but it's in such a bad spot that we really have no other choice.

And last but not least, after the carpet is installed, come Tuesday we will be getting new furniture to finish up the room. Couch, loveseat, and a chaise lounge which all of us in this house are already fighting over as to who's spot it will be but I cannot wait to see the improvements. Our furniture now is absolutely beyond repair. With daycare, 4 kids of our own and dogs and cats, well, one can only imagine what a shambles it all is. I've never really had the 'joy' of being overly protective of carpet and furniture because usually we are getting stuff from friends or family that is used and broke in and I have never really been one to care whether or not things match, just as long as they work. And I always say, why buy new and nice things if I'm doing daycare because in a couple of years it will need to be replaced. However, I have told Pat that I will allow the kids to jump on the couch and loveseat to remove the stiffness from them so they're more comfy.....hehehe.

So all my stress over tax time was well worth it this year. Each and every year we tend to put our return towards bills or car repairs or things that don't show any real improvement, just peace of mind. And with recent revelations that we cannot sell this house we figure that we might as well make improvements on it that we can live with and try to make it a home that better suits our taste.

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