What? Did I forget to update this thing again? Darn it all to heck. I suppose I’m due to update the world on how we’ve been doing for the past month. Things have been fairly busy - some of our time productive, some of it not so much. Here you go and until next time…

Taxes Shmaxes

We filed our federal taxes last month as soon as my W-2 papers came in the mail. The return was a nice one. We’ve used it to pay off the credit cards and get few nice things since we don’t tend to splurge too much. The state taxes are going to be done soon now that we have the forms. We would e-file that one except the web site is not letting us log in. It just sits there and hangs. I couldn’t imagine it being that busy. Usually people like waiting until the last minute which is something I’ve never understood. If you’re expecting a refund, why put it off? If you’re expecting to pay the IRS some more, then just get it out of the way. Then update your allowances with your employer so the correct amount of taxes are deducted from your pay check. Then you might actually get a refund next year. Oh well, I’ll laugh at the post office chaos come April 15.

To Move or Not to Move

That was the question earlier this month. Yeah, we tried again. I really don’t think we’ll ever be able to move until we can get everything just right. You know, all of the kids in the school, I get a decent raise, income/debt ratio down, Mars aligned with Jupiter and Uranus. We’re going to do it someday, I swear. We’re just going to need perfect timing. In the mean time, I’m destined to fix up the house and purtify it. Our bedroom has been repainted again. We’re pleased with the color and it only took me primer and one coat! I’m trying to fix the flooring where it’s been seperating due to either the kitchen flood we had or the furnace warping it. It’s not going to be perfectly set back in but as long as it doesn’t fly out. If there’s a next time, we’re going to use the interlocking type that we used in our bedroom and the office.

Icy Death 2007

We must have had some meteorological karma come back at us for our mild December. We’ve gotten a little over a foot of snow over here this month. I know it’s not the 14 feet that upstate New York got but to the Miami Valley, it’s a catastrophe to many and armageddon to some. After two days of snowing and sleeting. I managed to dig out my driveway. I was throwing around huge chucks of ice that made my front yard look like I could film the sequel to March of the Penguins. Why does my driveway seem bigger when I have to unbury it? It’s supposed to warm up this week. Woot! 40 degrees! Hopefully it will be warm enough to melt some of this snow. Stupid groundhog. He’d better be right. Soon. The kids are getting restless missing this much school.

Valentine’s Day

For Valetine’s Day, Mandy picked out a Mother’s Ring. It looks beautiful with all of the gemstones for each child and our own. With six different stones, it’s quite the rainbow of color! The stones are set with the kids’ in a line through the middle with ours on top and bottom. I’m going to need to snap a picture of it and update this post so its brilliance can be shared.

Wii would like to play

I, on the other hand, got a Nintendo Wii. I waited at the Target near us since 6:30am last Sunday, the 11th, waiting with a few others who brought themselves out into the cold for one as well. At 7:00am, we got our vouchers and went to our cars to wait another hour. Needless to say, the wait and cold was worth it. We’re all enjoying it very much, in fact. I never doubted Nintendo for a second.

New Camera

I found a new camera on clearance to replace our FujiFilm digital camera. It’s a cheapy but $50 for a $140 digital video camera is a good deal for what we’ll do with it. It’s a DXG DVC-306. The specifications aren’t too bad. It’s not a professional camera by any means, but that’s not what I was looking for. I wanted simple, takes pictures & video, and inexpensive. Expect more pictures now that I can actually take them.

School Update

I’ve decided to pursue my degree at the University of Toledo. Last week, I finally submitted my application and requested my official transcript from Sinclair. I received the transcript on Saturday and dropped it into the mail to UT this morning. I would start in their summer semester which begins May 14. After contemplating my ordeal with Sinclair, I realize that they’ve just sucked the drive out of me with their program. Plus this way, I don’t have to ever deal with her again.

Penguin Blog

In the past couple of months while I’ve been neglecting this blog, I’ve been posting regularly to a new one I’ve created called Penguin Geek. This blog, obviously, has to do with penguins. Everything about them. News, photos, videos, movies, games, books, facts, etc… I’ve created it to share my fascination and obsession to the world while hopefully educating some people as well.