Gov't Affairs

My Canadian passport arrived yesterday. That took about 3.5 weeks from the time my application was dropped off with the courier to the time the courier appeared at my door with the new passport.

Kent's US passport arrived the day before yesterday. Processing for his took just a little more than 3 weeks from the time he dropped off the application. In all, both were processed relatively quickly and we are now free to move about the planet, although the extent of our international travel in the foreseeable future will be a trip to Vancouver via Seattle in May.

Our 1099 forms arrived in yesterday's mail so I was finally able to finish our US income tax filings. (For non-US tax filers, the 1099 form is used to declare non-salary income, in our case revenues from square dance calling gigs.) I've submitted mine electronically; last year's direct deposit was relatively expeditious so I have high hopes I'll have my refund from both the state & feds within a week or so. Alas, I did not have Kent's checking account numbers at my finger tips so e-filing for him will have to wait until we're both home tonight.

I expect we'll do something wild & crazy with our refunds, like replacing the beyond-hideous wallpaper in the main bathroom. Yay. Hold me back.

At least I don't owe Maryland like last year.

Gov't Affairs

My Canadian passport arrived yesterday. That took about 3.5 weeks from the time my application was dropped off with the courier to the time the courier appeared at my door with the new passport.

Kent's US passport arrived the day before yesterday. Processing for his took just a little more than 3 weeks from the time he dropped off the application. In all, both were processed relatively quickly and we are now free to move about the planet, although the extent of our international travel in the foreseeable future will be a trip to Vancouver via Seattle in May.

Our 1099 forms arrived in yesterday's mail so I was finally able to finish our US income tax filings. (For non-US tax filers, the 1099 form is used to declare non-salary income, in our case revenues from square dance calling gigs.) I've submitted mine electronically; last year's direct deposit was relatively expeditious so I have high hopes I'll have my refund from both the state & feds within a week or so. Alas, I did not have Kent's checking account numbers at my finger tips so e-filing for him will have to wait until we're both home tonight.

I expect we'll do something wild & crazy with our refunds, like replacing the beyond-hideous wallpaper in the main bathroom. Yay. Hold me back.

At least I don't owe Maryland like last year.

Post Valentine's

I'll be the second person to admit I'm not the most romantic person on the planet --I'm sure any one of the guys I've dated in the past would fall over themselves for the privilege of being first if they weren't so tired of me in the first place. But I digress.

Valentine's Day has been edging upwards in its utter irrelevancy to me for years, always competing with Christmas for the top spot. I think this year, VD has won out.

It's not that I don't love my dear fuzzball but I have a hard time co-ordinating a burst of loving adoration with the date on the calendar, especially when (a) the date is arbitrary, (b) the date is a work day/work night, and (c) our schedules are solidly packed.

Last night, we were calling the regular Baltimore Tuesday night square dance in lieu of Dayle. Our romantic Valentine's dinner? Stuffing our faces with pork-fried rice on the way out the door. Worse yet, Kent's been battling a stomach bug for the past couple of days; the cramping is unpredictable, occasionally painful and always uncomfortable. Rather than him having to risk running off the stage to the men's room at the most inopportune moment, we agreed early on that I would call the entire night.

Overall, the evening went very well. I did a vastly better job this time of employing the entire call list for each level rather than inadvertently blanking on portions while the mic was in my hand. I called some prepared A2 material which I was planning to use for my GCA calling slot at the ACDC event this coming weekend; while some figures were fine, others were a disaster. Part of this was an unfortunate mix of dancers --there was one body in each square who danced only Plus or hasn't danced A2 in many years-- so there was much stumbling, but no doubt at least two figures were technically legitimate but difficult in execution. I'll make some edits later today.

To top off our Hallmark-mandated romantic day, shortly after heading to bed, Kent began snoring. Loudly. I spent 1 AM onwards sleeping in the guestroom down the hall. Happy Valentine's.

Post Valentine's

I'll be the second person to admit I'm not the most romantic person on the planet --I'm sure any one of the guys I've dated in the past would fall over themselves for the privilege of being first if they weren't so tired of me in the first place. But I digress.

Valentine's Day has been edging upwards in its utter irrelevancy to me for years, always competing with Christmas for the top spot. I think this year, VD has won out.

It's not that I don't love my dear fuzzball but I have a hard time co-ordinating a burst of loving adoration with the date on the calendar, especially when (a) the date is arbitrary, (b) the date is a work day/work night, and (c) our schedules are solidly packed.

Last night, we were calling the regular Baltimore Tuesday night square dance in lieu of Dayle. Our romantic Valentine's dinner? Stuffing our faces with pork-fried rice on the way out the door. Worse yet, Kent's been battling a stomach bug for the past couple of days; the cramping is unpredictable, occasionally painful and always uncomfortable. Rather than him having to risk running off the stage to the men's room at the most inopportune moment, we agreed early on that I would call the entire night.

Overall, the evening went very well. I did a vastly better job this time of employing the entire call list for each level rather than inadvertently blanking on portions while the mic was in my hand. I called some prepared A2 material which I was planning to use for my GCA calling slot at the ACDC event this coming weekend; while some figures were fine, others were a disaster. Part of this was an unfortunate mix of dancers --there was one body in each square who danced only Plus or hasn't danced A2 in many years-- so there was much stumbling, but no doubt at least two figures were technically legitimate but difficult in execution. I'll make some edits later today.

To top off our Hallmark-mandated romantic day, shortly after heading to bed, Kent began snoring. Loudly. I spent 1 AM onwards sleeping in the guestroom down the hall. Happy Valentine's.