Play Ball!

A sheer avalanche of happy things have happened. A quick overview:

• Thursday, due to sheer luck, I got to attend an intimate acoustic performance by Counting Crows at the Apple Store in Soho. They had the full band, all on acoustic instruments. They played some old stuff and most of the 2nd half of the new album. I was standing 30 feet from one of my favorite bands ever. It was really special and I feel so lucky I got to go.
• After Counting Crows, I decided what the hell and went to Schocholautte's gig at Niagara. They were ON FIRE. For serious, I know I'm dating one of the band members, but holy shit these guys are good. They played longer than they were supposed to. They had new people in the audience and fans from a previous gig. They made some cash off of "donations." And for those of you who know this song, "Oh, My Dear!" was out of its fucking MIND. Michael threw his guitar on the floor and started pelting it with random items. These guys just keep getting better and I am so happy for them.
• Friday, the office was almost empty and the work was mercifully scarce. I got to go home early and catch a nap. Because I'm old.
• I was not sick this weekend for the first time in 3 weeks, huzzah.
• Saturday night, I got to go out and have fun for once. Ryn had a Bag Party, giving away cool free samples from her job. I scored a great new bag for work that fits my laptop and a bunch of other crap, plus some cute little bags too. But more than that, it was great to get to go hang out with a bunch of girls and hang and have fun. Even if, as the boys predicted, we did spend part of the night talking about babies and marriage and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. And bangs and tiaras and shoes. Oh fuck you. :)
• Yesterday, Kris and I finally ordered our new bed!!!! It will be delivered Wednesday morning. Tomorrow night is the last night I will spend in that crappy terrible bed (which is good because I slept like SHIT last night). While we were waiting for a salesman, we laid down in the sample of the model we ordered. Oh my God, everything just feels like it's going to be all right when you are laying in this bed. Sigh.
• Kris and I are going to have a niece! Jessica found out today that her baby is a girl! This renews my baby enthusiasm. I'm so happy for Jess because she really wants a girl. YAY!
• Even if they haven't started playing yet in Yankee Stadium, IT'S OPENING DAY!

Good in Bed

This was one of those great nights, you get every once in a while that you just can't plan. 

• Got out of work early for sheer lack of anything else to do.
• Came home and seduced my man (2 nights in a row, woohoo!)
• Laughed and talked for a while, no stress or problems, just fun
• Went out for a casual dinner, that was slightly indulgent, but not too bad (keep in mind, my definition of slightly indulgent is "I ate 2 mozzarella sticks.")
• Hit up Linens N Things where we picked up the comforter and sheets from this set
• Stupid cashier rang up one of our coupons twice so we got a supremely good deal

Overall, it was just one of those things. Many nights, I spend my time worrying about things that needs to get done, things that I need money for, or things that I fear just aren't as they should be because I'm somehow screwing up. Tonight there was none of that. Just two people who love each other enjoying each other's company, picking out nice new stuff for their home and giving themselves a break from cooking and cleaning. Pretty awesome, really. Close to the definition of perfect.

(The actual definition of perfect would entail some of the features of the daydream Kris told me about wherein he won $25 million and we both got everything we wanted and then gave a bunch of it to people we love.)

Minor Damage

There are days when "it could have been a lot worse" is just not helpful to hear. There are other days when it is the best news in the world. This is one of those latter days. 

Today's Happy Thought: Good news! I can actually AFFORD the rapin' by the government this year. It will mean surrendering ALL of my Christmas bonus AND the check I'll be getting thanks to the Economic Stimulus Act, but if I give up both of those things, I will be DONE with this whole mess. I can start the frick OVER and not worry about all this ugliness any more. It will not hang over my head. I'm so thrilled that I actually returned my accountant's message from this morning on the same day to give her some info on a deduction I had forgotten about. Bingo! Go me! AND I spoke to our company financial planner about rolling over my old 401k. 

Look at me all financially responsible and whatnot. Will someone please reward me with a present? I like shoes!

Cheer Up Edition

It's been one of those days when I really need my happy thoughts. There's been the catching a cold twice in ten days. There's the being bored to death by checking an index at work for the last several days (yes, checking the accuracy of an index in a textbook. This is what I think of when I am making small talk with someone and I tell them what I do and they go "oh neat!" No it's not. Stop it, people.) Then last night there was being frightened that the man who stopped by yesterday trying to get me to sign up for Verizon FiOS may actually just have been casing my house for a later robbery, causing me to stay up in terror until Kris got home from band practice, because I really am a big ol girly girl. And then there's tonight's dreaded visit to the accountant. 

There is no way my tax situation can possibly be worse than last year. Last year I got a big ol unfriendly present from the government that I am still attempting to pay my parents back from bailing me out of. So naturally, tax time holds a negative connotation for me. And it's not just the fear of owing thousands of dollars, it's the fear that I have, once again, fucked up. Even though my accountant is the official Nicest Lady on the Planet who assures me that there's no shame in making mistakes on your taxes, that's why people pay other people to do them after all, I still beat the hell out of myself if I perceive any small way that me doing things differently could have made the situation better, even if I don't know what that something I could have done differently was. And then there is, of course, the idea that I have taken my Christmas bonus, which was to have bought me a fabulous, relaxing Caribbean vacation that I quite richly deserve, and put it in the bank for just this moment, where I will have to hand over almost half of it to this woman for her services and if I owe a substantial amount, guess where the rest of said bonus is going. 

So yeah. I need me some happy thoughts.

• I am going to stop bitching about it and just get a haircut. Once you've gotten a style that works for you and found a stylist you trust and can afford, you're an idiot not to just get the haircut when you need it. I'm just not used to maintaining a hairstyle, is all.
• Maybe, if Kris sees how great my hair looks, he will get a much-needed haircut too?
• Tonight I will lay my hands on both the long overdue Counting Crows album Saturday Nights/Sunday Mornings and the long awaited first early mixes of one of the first of 3 songs on the Schocholautte single. 
• If there is any money left from my bonus when all is said and done, I am going to go shoe shopping and buy a fabulous pair of shoes. Said shoes will provide the present to myself that I feel a bonus should go towards and shopping for them will allow me an experience I've mostly had to deny myself lately, in favor of paying down debt. Any further money after shoes will be used practically to help with said debts and/or pay for things I need, like car repairs and computer memory. We'll see how much the government wants first. All this makes me feel good.
• Once this accountant meeting is over, at least I will know and at least I will be done with it. I will be able to move on and be able to accomplish more rewarding grownup tasks like visiting doctors with my fancy new insurance. And I will not have to live in dread of whatever the outcome might be. 

Haircut and new shoes and new music and accomplishment. That and a latte will have to be enough to get me through the rest of this day. Your additional words of support are much appreciated.

Recovery

Lord. I just wrote a whole post but then accidentally erased it. I don't have the energy to reconstruct it but here's the gist:

Cousin and baby doing well. Easter brunch = yummy. Sick all weekend, but didn't miss anything important, spent whole time on couch with movies/napping. Somewhat better now. Easter Peep Gallery.

When Happy Thoughts Are Important

It seems there's quite a bit of medical trouble in my family this week. God's phone is ringing off the hook with calls from my relatives. I'm worried to varying degrees and though I'm not a pray-er, I am trying to send positive energy where its needed and if you have a minute, it would be nice if you could too.

My cousin-in-law's mother is having a bad reaction to her chemo and had to be hospitalized for fluid in her lungs. It would seem she is on the mend but not out of the woods. This really worries me because CIL is very close to her mother and this must be hard on her. Also she has 2 young kids, both adopted, one who's not been in the country for a full year. They are also very close to their grandma and I worry for them.

Another cousin is having complications with her pregnancy. Something to do with high-blood pressure and I'm not really sure what else. The point is, they will probably have to deliver the baby this week. Technically, she is within the neonatal window, but seriously, I think this kid is not due for another 3 months. For the poor kid to have to come out so early and spend 3 months in a NICU, struggling to live, it breaks my heart and makes me very very scared. Especially since my cousin has wanted to be a mom for so long and I can't even bear to think what would happen if her child didn't make it.

The fact that both of these situations have improved since I heard of them makes me feel better. But if you can send prayers/good vibes/positive energy/whatever toward Vivian and Karen, and Lori and Will, I'm sure it would help.

UPDATE: Apparently my cousin will be delivering tonight. Please continue to send all good thoughts her way.

Comedic Interlude

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