Doing taxes. . . Yuck!!!

I really hate doing our taxes, we usually get money back, but I just hate having to sit down and pull everything out to get them done.  I had gotten really good at doing them and could do them in just about 2 hours with no kids around.  Today I had the worst time getting everything loaded and updated.  It took all morning.  I finished just in time to go get the kids at school.  One big check off of my to do list this week.  I sent a quick text to my hubby to let him know I was done and that we were going to get a refund.  He chirped back and said hey, it sounds like time to get a new boat.  I sent back, oh yeah sure, ok.  He decided that meant he had my permission, and in writing to boot.   He has the best since of humor.  I told him good luck getting to the account before me.   He always knows how to make me laugh.  I guess that is why we have been together 20 years.  He knows when I am in need of a good laugh to help my mood.  He knows when I need a just because hug too.  He always knows when I am having one of those days, even  before we have talked.

Attitudes toward Women. . .

I am not an over the top women's liber but I do believe that we contribute more than our part to society and get little if any credit for the hard work that we do.   My husband is not one of those, thank goodness.  I was quite upset the other night sitting at a baseball game when I heard a "man" yell that these boys shouldn't listen to their mothers.  It just so happened that one of our kids was stealing home with everyone yelling run, run and he was tagged out.  We all thought he would make it.  That is when the comment was made.  The "man" also said, "what do they know about baseball anyway."  Well, that flew all over me.  I pride myself on knowing a little something about all the sports that my kids play.  I even went to the Wake Forest Women's Football camp several years in a row so that I could better understand football.  Yes, we had contact too, I learned how to tackle and block.  So you can see how that "man's" comment would really irritate me.  To make it even worse he is one of our parents.  Now, how bad is that, that this nit wit would rag the parents of his own team.  I have thought several times that I would say something to him but, I have not.  I do believe that it would fall of deaf and dumb ears.  I put man in quotes because a real man respects  women, all women.  Since he is on his second marriage I feel sure that may be his whole problem.  He has not learned respect for women and boy does it show.  Just to clarify this rant.  It is the Moms that  see that these boys are fed and ready to go to practice and it is the Moms that sit with them while they do their homework before games and practices.  It is the Moms that take them to practice most of the time and sit watch and cheer them on during practice and games.  It is the Moms that brought these boys into this world and it is a Mom that will cheer, fret over, and defend to the death these children.   Now that I have all of that off of my chest, I feel so much better.

Another Crazy week in baseball. . . .

Another crazy week of baseball under our belts.  What a great week though.  The weather was wonderful this weekend the boys played ball and I got to watch.  Big T's team is still undefeated and I am so proud of all the boys on the team.  Sprat has not had his first game yet.  He has had a few practice games but nothing that counts toward the record.  I did my first turn in the concession stand.  I don't mind concession stand duty, my first job as a teenager was at Wendys.  I guess you could say I am a burger flipper from way back. I do not like the smell though, I came home and stunk like a french fry.  My hair even smelled like french fries.  Oh well, the trials and tribulations of a field Mom.  Of course, I would not have it any other way.  This week is going to be just as crazy.  Both boys have games this week and practice.   According to the weather it is going to gorgeous!!!  Play Ball!!!

The Bird Feeder. . .

We used to keep a bird feeder with seed in our back yard.  It became more of a squirrel feeder and when we ran out of food we stopped filling it up.  It finally fell apart and we tossed it.  When dear hubby and I were out on one of our shopping excursions last week we bought another bird feeder and decided we would try again.  I love having the birds out there.  We have some of the most beautiful birds in the country in our great state.  I like being able to sit or stand in my kitchen and see them flitting about.  Some days I try to see how many I can name.  I took an ornithology (study of birds) class when I was in college and one of the requirements of the class was to learn the genus and species name for our local birds.  I was really good at it back then.  I even went with my professor one Saturday for the Great North Carolina Bird Count.  That is where bird enthusiasts go out in specific areas and count the many types of birds they see and write them down to report to the lead person heading up the count.  We identified 100 different species of birds that Saturday.  
I noticed this morning a squirrel laying over the top of my feeder with it's little head hanging down eating the bird seed.  I buy high quality bird seed for my birds and I do not like the squirrels eating it up.  The birds cannot get to the feeder when Mr. Squirrely is on it either.  This morning I decided I would get rid of the squirrel.  I got the BB gun and proceeded to take aim.  I was a little rusty and it took several shots before I got back in the groove.  The last shot I took I think I hit his hind end.  He jumped and ran and I hope he does not come back.

Career Day. . .

We had career day or career fair at school today.  I went around and looked to see who I wanted to talk to and found the Police department.  The officer that was there was very knowledgeable and very personable.   I think that may be my calling, to help the police department fight computer crime.  I am really excited about the possibilities for the future.  I have a year or two left in school for this program but it is going by quickly.  I am going to take a security class online this summer and I cannot wait.
I used to think the medical field was the area to be in and now I think computer technology is where you need to be.  We do so much on the computer and smartphones someone is going to have to be ready to protect us.  There are also many different areas of computer security; you can protect people before the crime or you can investigate after the crime.  I am not sure which area I want to concentrate on because they both interest me.  I guess I have time to test both sides before I make a decision.
To anyone thinking about going back to school, I would encourage it.  I am enjoying my classes and learning so much.  It has been almost 20 years since I graduated College the first time, and it has been 10 years since I have been in the work force full time.  I was really nervous about going back to College but there are about as many older people as younger on campus these days.  If you are thinking about trying something new I encourage you to check out the Community Colleges in your area.

Celebrating >>>>????<<<<>>>><<<>>>><<<>>>

My dear hubby and I are celebrating 20 wonderful years this week.  I am so very lucky to have such a wonderful man to call my; best friend, lover, and soul mate.  I can hardly believe that it has actually been 20 years, it does not seem that long at all.   I wonder some days if when our kids are gone will we have any thing in common.  Then he comes home talking about taking me out on the boat fishing or going to the beach to go fishing.  We both love to fish, I just have not been able to as much since the kids.  Since we have been watching the NCAA tournament we have been remembering our honeymoon.  Hubby laughs at the fact we "had" to get married when we did.  My parents are huge State fans and all of our friends are fans of either State or UNC.  In order to have even my parents at our wedding we "had" to get married on that day because of the various games.  We watched the final game in Florida at a bar and  grill on the inlet.  

Then

Now.

Dave Ramsey. . .continues

I completed the Dave Ramsey class last year and to date we are still credit card FREE!  I am so glad for that.  We are well on our way to paying off the car and we are building our emergency fund.  We still have a way to go but slow and steady will win this race.  I have been using Dave's envelope system now for a year and it does make you think before you whip out that cash for an item.  You feel that money going out of your wallet rather than that swipe of the debit card or credit card.  
With all of the identity theft and stolen credit card numbers, what more reason do you need to use cash.  Even if you just use cash for eating out, you are taking your credit card or debit card out of extra hands and eyes.  The more people that have access to your pertinent information the more likely that it will get taken and used by someone other than you.  Try using cash in one or two areas of your life and that will reduce some of your risk.  In my opinion, eating out is one of the easiest ways to cut back on debit and credit card use.  I feel sure I have posted about this before but it needs to be repeated.  One of  the couples in our class said that their credit card number was stolen while they were on vacation.  They were able to track it to their waiter at one of the restaurants they had visited.  When the police tracked him down he had a notebook with many other credit and debit card numbers written down that he had stolen.  That was my wake up call.  What will your wake up call be?