My taxes are done! Yeah!

When it comes to receiving money, I always work in an expeditious manner! I have a file I keep tax related documents in all year. I buy TurboTax in December and start haunting the mailbox in January for my W-2s and 1099s.

If you file on-line for Virginia taxes, you can get your money in just a few days. So, of course, I do so. However, I am rather chicken about e-filing for my federal return.

Now I start haunting the mailbox for my check. I suspect I have a long wait. It is the largest check I will have ever received. At least I will have time to dream up all the ways I could spend it before I put it right into my savings account.

“Have we ever had a fight?”

I was surprised when my best friend asked me this the other day. I was even more surprised to realize that the answer was no. In nine and a half years we have never argued.

I would like to think it is because I have matured in my 30’s and have become adept at relationships. But I know that is not the case.

Simply put, I am a better person when I am around my friend.

She sees the best in me and somehow that translate to our relationship. Knowing that she does not find me overweight or embarrassing (as I hear from my family a lot), I am free to be myself. There is no pressure to adapt, change, mold myself to another person’s perception of who I should be.

Hers is truly an unconditional friendship.

I savor our time together, be it in person or playing Scrabble on-line. I cherish this gift that God has blessed me with in her.

We are called to be the light and fragrance of Jesus Christ in the lives of others. She is. She is gentle. She is kind. She is patient. She is compassionate. She is humble.

She encourages me. She admonishes me. She inspires me. She loves me.

After nine and a half years, I am still awed and humbled that I have her in my life.

What a wondrous thing it is to have something in your life that is peaceful and refreshing…and has never by marred by angry words or behavior.

Selah.

I was having a good day. For once. Until.

I was able to help my boss a bit and laugh the whole time...first at her new vehicle and then at my own driving. She up and bought a 23-year-old pick-up truck that is on its last leg. She knows one of those guys who will fix anything for next to nothing, but she needed a second driver to pick up the truck from the previous owner. Since she was in a rental car while hers was being repaired, I was the default choice for pick-up-driver.

Hmmm...picture a hole in the dash where the radio was, the vent stuck open in winter, no turn signal (though I did accidentally squirt my boss with windshield wiper fluid several times while trying to make the turn signals work), a mottled rear view mirror, no windshield wipers, no passenger side mirror (it was there but dangling and unusable) and VERY LITTLE BRAKES. I had to MASH the clutch to the floor to change gears. The wheel was so sticky I was glad I couldn't signal anyway.

Still, it was something of an adventure to drive the wretched thing.

I got a universal remote for $3.99 and FINALLY got rid of the THREE remotes sitting on my coffee table. The programming took but a minute. It was a beautiful moment.

Later I did a 3-way call between my parents and Sprint and walked them through changing to a cheaper plan and changing their numbers since they had moved.

Really, I should have gotten the good Samaritan award for today.

So, I FOOLISHLY decided to download the security updates from Windows that I had been neglecting because XP makes me nervous. I did the updates on my desktop computer and WHAM...it no longer restarts. Nothing. I get the Dell log-on screen and then NOTHING.

NOTHING.

I am soooooooooo thankful that I decided to move all my files and Quicken Data to my laptop so I could work on both computers.

Still...why NOTHING??????