Buzz Buzz

Buzz... like a bee? Get it? Cause I'm busy like a bee? We normally have something 4 or 5 nights a week but the past couple of weeks have just been ridiculous. This week in particular because our finals are this week.

Monday night we had a planning meeting for mine and Jenn's joint baby shower in March. I've never felt so many emotions overlapping at once. When I got home my stomach hurt because I had spent so much time stifling laughter at inappropriate moments.

Tuesday was mom's second liver anniversary! So she's not only young at heart, but.... well, I won't go there. Too corny. A bunch of us went to celebrate at Thai Orchid, which has the best plum-glazed chicken ever. It was a lot of fun, as usual. I am very thankful for mom, especially since there's this whole new baby thing coming up and I need her on call. Just kidding, mom. Half.

Yesterday we went on base to get our taxes done. I think we could do our taxes ourselves, but one year in Charleston Stephen tried to do them with Turbo Tax and by his calculations we owed a couple of thousand dollars or something. So we had them done by H&R Block that year, which cost somewhere in the mid-$200 range but because we ended up having to fix some mistake they made, we got a rebate for $100 or $150, I can't remember. Then last year we got them done on base because it's free and we both worked in NC and SC which just makes it that much more confusing. This year we went on base again for several reasons. I don't trust either of us to handle itemizing everything, we had school expenses for the first time, four different jobs... things that probably aren't difficult but you might as well get someone else to do it, particularly if it's free. They even had a thing that calculated how much money we saved by not paying someone to do it ($214) and showed on the screen as we went how much money we were getting back. Stephen kept kicking me everytime it went up the slightest amount. I get it! We're rolling in the dough now! Stop kicking me! Just kidding, not rolling in the dough. But every year I am reminded how much fun it is to get that big chunk back. Now we can break apart that chunk and pay off some credit card debt, some baby debt that will happen, and stash the rest for a rainy day.

I can't complain about the guy preparing our taxes, but I can tell you bluntly that I didn't appreciate his behavior. He spent half the time cussing under his breath and the rest of the time acting like we were complete idiots.

Bad mood guy: So, how much did you get back for the stimulus last year?
Stephen: (glancing at me, raising his eyebrows, getting no help from me since I can't remember anything from ten minutes ago much less last year) Uh.... $1600?
Bad mood guy: (stares at us with mouth open) Well, considering the fact that you each got $600, I'd say you received $1200. NOT $1600.
Me: (mouthing to Stephen) Why did he even ask!?

Girl double-checking our taxes: So why did you put C here? This is supposed to be code A.
Bad mood guy: Since when?
Girl: Since always. It's always been code A.
Bad mood guy: Whoops. Wonder how many people will get audited from that. I've been putting C for months now. That's how I was trained and I've been doing this a long time. Whatever.

Speaking of not being able to complain, I've had several people ask how I'm doing on my Lent sacrifice. Today is day 8 and I have complained four times so far. I'm even keeping a journal of what I complain about. I complained twice on Feb. 25 (the day I started!) and then not again until I woke up Sunday morning and promptly said, "I hate rain!" Darn it. There was a situation on Saturday where I didn't actually complain, but I was pretty much a butthole so I counted it against myself for that reason. Last night in youth group someone mentioned a show on the Disney channel and I said, "Oh, I don't like that show." Some of the kids thought that was a complaint, but I think it's a statement. What do you think?

Tonight we have our second childbirth class. I've really been wanting to blog about last week's class (immunizations) but I just haven't gotten around to it. It was very interesting.

Oh yeah, another great thing about getting taxes done yesterday is that I had a chance to take my final exam before church. I was trying to figure out at what point I was supposed to take a 3-hour exam and write a 20-page paper when we have something until at least 9:00 every night. So, thank God I was able to at least get that done yesterday. Now I just have to figure out when I'm gonna write that paper...

That's the end!

Want #25

I want to give up something for Lent. I have every year for several years, except I think I forgot last year. The point of Lent, to me, is self-denial. Give up something for 40 days that is actually hard for you to give up. I used to give up things like chocolate and soft drinks, which anyone who knows me, knows that really isn't hard for me. One year I even gave up cussing, which was even easier. Seems like I lost the meaning of Lent somewhere along the way!

So this year I want to give up something that will be really hard for me to do, and something I want to do anyway. I am giving up complaining. I know that most people give up something more tangible, like cigarettes, and then donate the money they would have spent on their vice to a charity or something. But I have felt for a long time that complaining is something that Christians do way too much of. Hearing someone complain can really grate on my nerves if it's something that can't be changed, or something that is seriously insignificant. But then I feel hypocritical because I know that I am guilty of complaining of the same insignificant little things (hitting three red lights in a row? dealing with the installers at work? okay, don't get me started on that).

A long time ago, I started out on a venture created by a church in Missouri, called A Complaint Free World. It was started out as a 21-day adventure (going by the theory that it takes 21 days to create/break a habit). The average person complains 15-30 times a day. Don't you think that time could be spent saying something uplifting ... or maybe you just don't need to say anything at all! I have a bracelet that I got from this church a long time ago, and I'm supposed to wear it every day, and everytime I complain, I will switch it to the other arm. I did this once before but I was switching the bracelet so much I got tired of it. Shows how much I need to do this!!

A few people are going to have to hold me accountable!!

At work - Renee
On Wednesdays - mom and dad
At CFA - Jenn
At home - Stephen
At church - Cindy
Everywhere else - ME!

I hope this will make me more positive. The church running this has found that it takes people anywhere from 4-10 months to go 21 days without complaining. But once you quit verbalizing your complaints, your negative thoughts tend to fade as well. I really want to do this because I don't think God created us to be these grumpy, whining people that we as humans have turned into.

So no matter how big my belly gets, how little sleep I have, how bad the pain in my hips is, how far behind on time cards the installers get, you won't hear a peep out of me. I hope.

*Update: Right after I clicked out of this blog, Tim walked by my desk and I told him an issue I had yesterday with customer service. That's right, it took me about 30 seconds to have my first complaint of the day. I will try to do better!!*