(no subject)

I haven't posted what I've written because I didn't write anything on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I was already a day behind my 1600 word total so I am very very far behind now. I was already at the end of a big chapter in my story though, so it makes for a nice place to take a break. I just don't want to stop writing and then go 10 months without writing like I did last year.

Starting Monday I've been working on an old Christmas story. I've written about 2500 words so far, still below my goal of 1600 words a day but it's something. If I keep going I should be able to have a complete story by Saturday.

I made cookies last night -- two kinds. I have goals to make a lot more, but we'll see. I cleaned up the countertop a bit but failed to do much more cleaning than that. I failed to put out my Christmas lights again. I failed to exercise. I didn't do any Christmas shopping. I failed to pay two bills that I've been meaning to pay since Thursday. I brought those in to work today so I'd make sure to pay them today. One of these is the $180.00 I owe to the IRS, I need to get that in soon.

I finished Otomen #4 last night. I bought 5 manga on Saturday when Sky and I went to Uwajamaya, but I feel guilty for doing it, since I have so little money to spend and haven't done Christmas shopping. I'm weak willed -- there were at least a couple I could have waited to buy later. Ah well.

Spent $40.00 on groceries last night too. I was planning to spend $20.00 or less, I just wanted a few things in order to make the cookies. But I hadn't been to the store in a week so I spent more than I meant to.

I should buy a lottery ticket

1. This morning I was cleaning out my in-basket (which I mostly use to store stuff that *might* be useful to have at some point in the future, but not for stuff I'm actually working on currently) when out fell my butterfly pendant for the necklace I used to have. The necklace had broken, and I'd put it in my bag of stuff that was stolen out of my car in September, so I thought it was gone. It's not worth much but I really really liked it and hadn't been able to find one like it. Now I have it back, just need a necklace for it.

2. I went to pay the $180.00 I owe the IRS. I even wrote out the check. But while trying to figure out where I was supposed to send it, I read through the paperwork again. The front page, and several pages following, are all about how I owe back taxes in the amount of $180.00, and they put this in big bold letters. I'd read through it previously trying to understand if I was really supposed to pay another $180.00 and why, but I'd come to the conclusion that there was no explanation, and that I just owed them $180.00 more.

This is all in relation to my 2007 tax return, in which I forgot to pay taxes on some bonds I cashed early in the previous year. They were reported by my Credit Union, and also by Bank of America, so the IRS was dunning me twice for taxes on them. Once I got that part straightened out I sent in what I estimated that I really owed, and made sure my guess was a little high so that I wouldn't be in trouble. I sent in about $244.00. So I had no idea how I could owe another $180.00, but maybe penalties and interest dating back to 2007 added up to that, I didn't know.

I was confused enough that I tried to call the 1-800 number for help. Although they have a contact person's name on the paperwork, I never figured out how to contact him. Instead I got lost in telephone automated menu hell. In the meantime, I was reading the paperwork again, and there was a page that I was supposed to sign if I agreed with everything included, and I wasn't sure why I had to sign anything if I was just supposed to send them more money...

And then, reading the fine print more closely, I realized that all they wanted was for me to sign this page and send it in to them... and then they would refund me $44.00.

Woo. ^_^ I'd say I feel stupid for misunderstanding this earlier... but we're talking about IRS legalese. I thought I had read it carefully and I'd been trying to find out if I really owed them more money or not.

Anyway, suffice it to say, I'm having a good day so far. ^_^