TMI Tuesday
2008-04-15, 3:01 p.m.

Day 1333

This is some blog meme thing that I swiped from (One) Biscuit (Hound) � you�ve no doubt seen it elsewhere too.

1. Did you have to pay or did you get money back?

On the fed side, had to pay. Lost Zach as a dependant. That exemption, plus the loss of the lifetime learning credit hurt.

On the state side, we got some back, but not as much as normal. Ideally, I�d like to be +/- $100 on both. (Why let the government use my money for free?)

2. What was your biggest financial mistake?

Related to this years taxes? Maybe not adjusting to losing a dependant.

In general? Buying a minivan 5 years ago. Needed it at the time, but at $3.50 a gallon and climbing, it�s getting 18mpg is a killer.

3. Are you a screamer?

At the horizontal Olympics? Not so much. Maybe a groan or two. I won�t tell you what Cindy does or doesn�t do. Unless you ask nice, and in private.

4. What part of your body, other than your genitals, do you love to have touched? What part of a partner's body, other than their genitals, do you love to touch?

Upper & lower back, especially for a massage. After last weekend, my glutes could also have used a good rub down. (I�m serious � between the spinning and squatting for the floor? Ouch!!)

As far as what I like to touch? That hollow below the ear & behind the jaw, up & down the outer side of a strong thigh, the small of the back, just below the waistband . . .

5. What commercial/catch phrase best describes your life?

Crunch all you want, we�ll make more!

How do YOU spell relief?

Side effects include but are not limited to . . .

Bonus (as in optional): What was the last thing you took without permission? What was the last thing taken from you without your permission?

The 10 minutes it took to write this up. Ok, ok, besides that, ummmm The guy in the cubicle next to me (Leroy) retired a couple of months ago. His office is still empty. The left arm of my office chair has a gash in it from where it didn�t quite fit under my desk. Leroy & I have the same style desk chair, except that as of this morning, HIS chair has a gash on the left arm pad and mine looks fine.

I�d say Cindy has been taking my trust by continuing to think she can hide her drinking, but she�s never really had THAT trust back. Outside of that � nothing of consequence in the last few years really.

Real entry time.

Got my taxes done. Lost Zach as a dependent/exemption. Ouch. Somehow, Turb0 T@x also thinks I can�t use Eric�s tuition expenses towards the lifetime learning tax credit (or exemption, I don�t recall which). That is also a big ouch. Between the two of them, (and less mortgage interest, but that�s a good thing), I owe the feds a little money. But! My return from the state will cover that AND an all expenses paid trip to the nearest McD�s for a couple of H@ppy Meals. If we walk.

Still, I�m getting more back from the state than Eric did. His state return? $31. And tehnically, he owes me $10 to cover electronic filing. I may eat that one because if I�d done the work sooner he could have filed by mail for free. Besides, I�ll get it out of him in work this summer.

The Sunday liquor situation in New York �

For years, ever since I was old enough to care, one could not buy liquor or wine in New York on a Sunday. Beer you could get, but not till after noon. (Yes, in NY you must get wine at a liquor store. If you�d like a nice Shiraz to go with that pork loin, you�d better plan ahead)

Anyhow. Recently, as in a few years ago, the legislature amended the laws and allowed liquor stores to be open on Sunday, provided they closed one other day of the week. Most stores seemed to pick Monday as their day to be closed.

Personally, I don�t care. I don�t consume enough liquor or wine anymore to really worry about it. I must admit though, it did take me by surprise when Cindy was imbibing Sunday. The wine we use for cooking was accounted for, my meager beer supply was intact. Plus � I heard ice cubes, and she was hiding her drink in a heretofore unused cabinet. I accidentally caught her putting it back in when I made an unexpected appearance in the kitchen. She thought she had time for a swig � I forgot my tape measure. Oops! Bottom line � she was taking advantage of NY�s new liquor selling laws.

At least she left my beer alone. She�s had 3 of the 5 Saranac Black Forests that are gone, and snuck in one of my Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate stouts (wonder how she felt about that one? 10.5ish% alcohol and it�s chewey!) Now I�m down to 1 BB Monster Ale, 1 Chocolate Stout and 1 Black Forest. Ought to last me 2 or 3 weeks - if left to my own devices.

Kids coming over for dinner tonight, I have my meeting AND I need to get the FIL�s takes at least filed. No time to discuss that elephant tonight. If Cindy gets brave and skips her meeting again tomorrow night, I think I�ll be forced to openly question her intentions. What it comes down to is this: Her continued drinking makes me fear that we�re headed down the same path we were on when we entered into couples counseling last year. Granted, we are not as far down the path, but I think the second time through the trip will be a little quicker. When we, as a couple, were wallowing in the depths of that funk, I did some things I never thought I�d do � I was turning into someone I didn�t like.

Now, I can certainly learn to handle my own self better. But I can�t do anything about Cindy. All I can do is communicate how I feel. And I think that was one of the other things she was getting at in our early sessions � I never did that. Sure, she knew when I was happy, sad, mad, hurt about immediate, superficial, things, but long term, deeper trends? I never said boo. So, I suppose that in an effort to live up to what Cindy wanted to get out of the counseling, I should remind her that she isn�t living up to what I wanted to get out of it. Soon.

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