The tax man cometh and he left a little present in the yard

Finally, my house is paying for itself! I get a tax refund this year! That's right, Uncle Sam is writing me a check for $63! If I only use my tax refund to pay off the house, I will be an out and out homeowner in, oh, 1 billion years.

I think next year will be even more...since I only had 3 housepayments in 2007, I will have paid more in taxes and interest in 2008. I know that it is my money anyway, but it feels much better to receive money from the gov't than to give.

Talk about bad weather! We had horrible storms last night. They left me sitting in my closet at 4am with only one cat. Tigger could not be found. Good thing I didn't get a tornado, or I'd be 1 cat short of a litter. And speaking of litter, there would be litter everywhere. As of 1pm, I still didn't have power. I hope to be pleasantly surprised when I get home today. It may be an evening of reading "Around the world in 80 days" by candlelight for me. I only have 1 more evening before book club, and I have to finish it! I have been too lazy lately.

XXX

No, this entry is not x-rated. That will be my age in about 7 hours, if we lived in ancient Rome. 30. It's not so bad. It really is cliche, but as you approach milestone years, it doesn't feel as old as if it were someone else. 30 is nothing. Some people have college sweatshirts that are 30 years old. Anyway, I'm healthy, happy, and ambulatory, so that is good enough for me.

Off tomorrow to eat some Mexican food & drink some margaritas on a patio, with hopefully nice spring weather. Can't ask for anything more, right? Oh, and I'm taking off work on Monday just for kicks, so I can't drink a few extra for you!

Until then,
forever XXIX

Fire and Ice

I

The morning after...

We had two of the four elements of the Greeks at the house this week. What are they again? Fire, water, wind, and earth? Ok, I guess I had 3. Well, there probably was some wind too. Maybe it was all four wrapped into one winter storm.

After leaving work a little early to avoid the icy roads, I decided to be brave and attempt another fire in the fireplace. After the smoky disaster of last time, I was hesitant to say the least. But I figured it would be the last really cold week before spring. I wanted to get rid of the firewood I had in the garage.

It worked! No smoke escaped into the house. It all went up the chimney as designed. It was very cozy, I must say. Except I was all alone. Due to the bad weather, my Lost watching party was cancelled. Ok, not much of a party, but usually 1 or 2 people come over to watch. Only because I have DVR so we can stop and discuss, and more importantly rewind, to answer all the wtf questions.

I saw my share of wintry conditions this week. On Monday night, we had snow flurries. On Tues/Wed. I was in Minneapolis. They had a very pretty snowfall as I was heading to the airport to fly back. Then I went to the Dallas Stars hockey game Wed. night (my first, it was fun! free tickets...even more fun!) I wasn't prepared for the coldness inside, but duh! They skate on ice. Then we had another snowfall on Thursday/Friday. There are still some patches of unmelted snow in the shadows. But should melt by tomorrow as it will be 60 degrees.

Oh, and I played tennis this morning at 9:00 am. When it was 26 degrees. Yes, I said 26. But we won, so I guess it was worth it. That's Texas for you. 70 degrees and I get a sunburn, then frostbite, and then the great thaw until next November.

Gray Hairs and Wool Blends

I'm resigned to the fact that I am aging. The signs are all coming. The white hair...on my chin. The extra bit of "me" that wasn't in the mirror the last time I looked at my behind. The lack of energy. The excitement of looking for a new business suit.

What was that last part?

Hello, my name is Jennifer. I like shopping for business suits.

On a Saturday night (party!), I found myself looking forward to going to the mall to find a new suit to wear on a business trip this week to the cold north. First I went to Steinmart because sometimes you can find some suits that are really cute and not all uptight. But I didn't find any thing. Well, I didn't find any clothes. But I did find, oh, about a billion decoration things for the house. But it was okay, because I had a 20% off coupon they sent for my birthday. They are so nice.

So I headed off to the mall. Dillards, struck out. Desperation was in the air. I was trying to avoid going to Ann Taylor because I know I would spend way too much. Not necessarily on the suit but on the other 15 items that were too cute to pass up. So then I headed to Macy's which I normally don't shop a lot. I didn't like the layout, but they had some great winter suits on sale. So good I bought 2! So maybe the next time I have a trip, I won't have to make a mad dash to the mall. Of course the next time I go probably won't be in the winter, so I may have to adjust that.

Well, other than the fact that I'm now leaning toward wearing my basic nice black suit instead of one of the new ones, I'm all set.

Aging isn't so bad. I just never thought I would be fighting acne and cellulite at the same time.

When God runs over your stray cat, he dumps another one in your backyard (or Grilling on a Wednesday night)

The weather last night was ab fab, so I decided to test out the old grill. I made pork chops and they were great. They were pre-seasoned from the grocery store. A lot too salty for my taste, but still yummy.

Anyway, as I was grilling, I let the cats outside and they were doing their usual sniffing and eating grass and chasing bugs. Then we went in for dinner. A few hours later, I decided I really needed to clean off the grill or else I would regret it later. So Tigger and I headed outside.

In the time it took for me to walk the 10 feet to the grill, open it, and maybe swab it once, Tigger is standing nose to nose to a pretty white cat. There is much growling and noises you wouldn't think would come out of cats. I walk over to them slowly, not really sure how I can break up a cat fight. Tigger is all afluff and standing his ground. It is his yard after all.

I don't know what they said to each other, but in a split second, the chase begins. Tigger chased the cat to the side yard, and he/she/it leaps over my 6 ft fence like nobody's business. I was afraid that Tigger would try to follow. But thank goodness he didn't. He stayed put but the growling continued. I was afraid to pick him up, but he let. I dropped him off inside. He was still making quite the commotion. Bobby had heard all this from inside, because he was waiting by the door with a curious expression on his face.

My Tigger, the brave hero! He was going to protect me. I just hope he doesn't remember and try to climb the fence that way.

Not house related, other than it happened at my house

I found my first official gray, or actually white, hair this morning! Yikes! There have been a few that I spotted but could pretend that they were really, really blond. This one was different. Maybe it was the lighting. Maybe it was my approaching 30th bday. Whatever the case, I am publically avowing that I, Ms. No Longer At The Kids' Table, have one, if not multiple, gray hair(s).

That wasn't so bad. This will help me ease my way into discussions of metamucil and large, shapeless panties.

CATastrophe

I wished a bad thought and it happened.

I had wished the neighborhood stray cat (who I found out the neighbor does feed) would go away and stop bothering my cats. Well, he is gone, and not in the “I’ve been adopted by a loving family who will feed me and put a collar on me and not let me roam around” kind of way. Driving to work this morning, I saw Trash the cat laying in the road, which isn’t uncommon for him. However, the red liquid next to head wasn’t normal. He was run over. Seeing him like that broke my heart. He was a pain but I didn’t want him dead!

Now, I will be extra careful and not let my boys get out. It would be so horrible to drive up and see ‘lil Tigger sprawled out like that. As a kitten, he was actually hit by a car and rescued, and that’s how he came to me. As God as my witness, I won’t let that happen to him again.

Trash, I hope you are happy wherever you are now. Peace little buddy.