It is interesting when doing the taxes is a less stressful process than many of the other things going on in life. But such is the state of things for me right now. (Sigh) I am not yet ready to talk about all of that though I am more than a week removed from much of it... well I mean the actual action of it, I'll ruminate about it in my head forever probably and never be removed. No, no, I know I will get past it eventually and think about other things but I have been thinking about the same subject for at least nine months now so it will be a hard habit to break. That was all very vague.
So I worked on my taxes this evening. Each year for the past three or so I have had to remind myself that I can only get back as much as I paid, and I am unlikely to get that much back. Not that I mind paying taxes. I do not mind paying taxes as long as I feel that the money is providing appropriate services and funding to programs nationally. And I pretty much feel that that is the case. But I still get dollar signs in my eyes! This year I was pretty ticked that both Wisconsin and Illinois were taking taxes from my pay once I moved to Chicago. I hope I entered things correctly to have this problem rectified. It is a little dicey since IL and WI have tax reciprocity. At least I think it is dicey- in TurboTax I trust! But as I answered all the questions I got to peruse my spending for last year. I spent almost $7,000 on my car. Crazy! That was more than I spent on rent. I also found that I spent a little more on clothes than I did on groceries and you people know how I eat and the grocery shopping that supports that! But the amount I paid in federal taxes was greater than what I spent for clothes or groceries. Another interesting figure is that participating in Kilties cost me $963, that is nearly a month of graduate student income. Though I am almost surprised it wasn't more. In 2008 the figure was $865. Hmm... in 2008 I spent more money on rent than I did in 2009, that is funny since my rent went up when I moved to Chicago. But there was July when I didn't pay rent.
I returned on Friday from the last of my four weeks of trips. Week one I went to Mattoon, IL to observe crew leader training. Then I left on February 21 to attend dry run training at Census Headquarters near Washington, DC. That was a good time, on the whole. It was a little cooler than we (the attendees) anticipated but I did get to see some museums, my friend Chris and his wife Maggie, and some parts of the area that I had not seen before. I also got to meet people who do my job in other parts of the country. Then I was back in the office for a day and a half before I headed to Eau Claire, WI to observe training of employees who will be visiting homes. I was there for the beginning of training and then went to Waukesha, WI to see the end of training. On Friday, I left for Florida dragging Ryan along to attend Brad's wedding. It was great to get to wear shorts and lay on the beach in my bikini. It was windy, but Brad and Jennifer's wedding was beautiful looking out on the beach and the sun setting behind those in attendance. I am very happy for them! On Sunday, Ryan and I headed to Orlando where we took in a baseball game between the Braves and the Astros, and visited Downtown Disney. Ryan rented a convertible Mustang for the trip which was great, as you might imagine. Then I made it back to work for part of a day before I headed to Bloomington, IN to observer more training. I also got to eat dinner with one of my former classmates at UW Milwaukee who is working on his PhD at Indiana University. It was a great time. Then on Thursday the 11th, I headed to Muncie, IN to observe training there, but the folks were too bright there and had finished for the day by the time I arrived at 3 pm, so I sat and rested in my hotel room, which was a nice thing to do. After observing some of their training on Friday, I drove back to Chicago, having seen a great deal of the small roads of IN but none of Indianapolis! Oh well, I guess I will have to go there another time.
I got back yesterday afternoon and Tracee and I had nap time. Then we ate and got dressed and went to Clay and Cocktails at the Hyde Park Art Center. We met Aileen and her roommate there. We saw the exhibits, played with some clay, and met some people so it was a good time all around.
That is about all I have for now. I am not sure how I am going to reintegrate into 'normal' life after four weeks of living out of a suitcase, sitting in conference rooms, and eating out. I am having a hard time getting motivated to go to the grocery store but it will have to be done tomorrow!
