it all comes to an end sometime.

as mysterious as it began...it disappeared as quickly. yes...my streak has come to an end. i really felt like a superstar and am truly going to miss that high, but more than that, i'm going to miss those non-hungover days.

generally, i drink like a 40 year old alcoholic, but for a brief and wonderful period my hangover's the day after partying brought no nausea and no headaches. actually, there were no hangovers...i could wake up and run my errands with a quick skip in my step. and how do i know that i have retorted to my old ways?...i just took a minute to praise the porcelain gods in the middle of my last sentence...and that wasn't my first visit.

it was a great moment in my life....like i was 21 again. i hope to encounter that streak again someday in the future. but one can only hope.

Survival to Boredom: reminiscing high school

...you know it's bad when you start doodling in the margins of your Event Update Report while in the middle of a Sales Meeting to keep yourself from boredom. the nostalgia of the scene brought me back to Mr Bentz’s High School Math Class.

just another way

since i have been 5, whenever i walk into a room my father says to anyone who's listening, "wow, she looks like a movie star." you think i would have turned out to be conceited...but really i know it's his way to express his love for me.

a little depressing...mostly for me.

I’ve really been missing my ferret lately….Miss Ferret (I let a three year-old name her) was an extraordinary friend…there to tick me off, keeping me in check…missing me while I’m out on an adventure, keeping me grounded…comforting me when I was gloomy, knowing that regardless of the pain I was still loved and needed…

I had a dream the other night about her…it felt so real, but that non-reality really put me in a melancholy mood after waking. I was holding her...she reached up and sniffed my nose, turned around and wanted to be set down on the ground…she’d itch herself and came running back over to me, wanting to be picked up again, where she would lay in my arms, until she wanted to get back down again…until she wanted to be picked back up again…and then wanted to be put back down. Half the realism came from her up and down movement… it was so typical of her…she never knew what she wanted. Ha…funny …just like her mother. But I could feel her nails scraping against my skin…her soft white fur laying across my arms…her pink little nose touching my, what seems next to hers, gigantic nose.

After telling my friend this dream she said to me, “I honestly think she was visiting you to say hello and see if you were OK. Really. She's your spirit animal in the conscience world. How blessed you are to have that visit and have such an open heart for that connection. My heart goes out to you...hopefully Miss Ferret will visit again.”

After hearing that, suddenly I wasn’t so glum…my mood actually became slightly optimistic. Oh my little stinker…I love her and her little visits, hopefully it comes again…and soon.

St. Patrick's Day: Live Like There's No Tomorrow

I love St. Patty’s Day…and if you’re going to celebrate this once a year opportunity, it should really be the day of…the weekend before never really gives it enough justice other than an excuse to party. But St. Patty’s Day always turns out to be such a positive day…a positive experience. For example…I woke up today with the sun shining…and a 70 degree day ahead of me. I had a very nice brisk walk on my way to work…encountering friendly smiles, warm “hellos,” and shouts of “Happy St. Patty’s Day” around every corner…not to mention the cutest little husky puppy I’m pretty sure I’ve ever seen before. On top of that, I’m leaving work early on the request of my supervisor…letting us get out there and enjoy the day, where I’m going to get a Guinness that never tasted so sweet. I love St. Patty’s Day…which is exactly why everyone should live it like there’s no tomorrow.

boo.

sometimes my own footsteps scare me....

Freakn’ Taxes

I worked very diligently on my taxes the other evening. To be honest, I look forward to doing my taxes every year…I find it fun in a way. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t find starring at paper work for hours that enjoyable…but it’s such an adult responsibility that I find a thrill in it…well, if that makes sense. Anyway…when I was done, the little piece of paper sitting in front of me stated that I owed our federal government nearly $800. Clearly this couldn’t be right. I made a mistake somewhere…after all, what I made last year wasn’t even close to $30,000.

What the heck?! That’s when I began to inquire…

My Dad: “Your brother didn’t have to pay in and he made quite a bit more than you last year.” (….he’s being generous and trying not to make me feel bad when he says my TWIN brother made “quite a bit more”…he makes over double, clearly he chose a better career path)
My good friend: “Dear, we made practically the same amount at our full time jobs and made the same amount as bartenders and I’m getting money back.”
My other good friend: “Wrong, never do your own taxes. Go to H&R or something.”

Ok…so after enough comments like this I realized that I clearly did do something wrong. So I decided to make an appointment and head down the street to the nearest H&R Block…where I sat for an hour and ended up paying $150 for them to tell me I did my taxes correct after all and I STILL owe the government too much money.

Seriously? My dad’s advice “You must have claimed a 1. You need to get that switched.” Taking his advice, I stopped by our HR office to find out what was going on.

“Well you must have claimed a 1,” says my HR lady, confirming my father. “The government takes fewer taxes out when you claim a 1, which is why you have to pay back. However, that still seems like a lot for you to pay in.” She hands me the appropriate paper work…and I switch my “1” to a zero…as I will not allow this to happen again next year.

Just a minute ago she calls me in her office to have a little chat. “Tasha” she says to me “you claimed a 3. They were barely taking any taxes out of your paycheck and that’s why you’re paying so much back.” A 3!!!! A 3 exists on a tax claim? I didn’t even know you could claim anything beyond a 1. Where did a 3 come from?! And how could I have claimed it if I didn’t even know about it?! What on earth IS a 3???

So here’s the bottom line. Back in January, rather than losing our jobs, our company gave everyone a pay cut. Ok…not a big deal. I’d rather have a job than none at all. But now…looking at the big picture, I just received my second pay cut…going from a 3 to a 0 on my federal taxes. Two pay cuts within the first three months of the 2009.

Dear lord…this is going to be a tight year! Maybe I can make some extra money selling fanny packs on the corner of a street.

And they say Chivalry is Dead.

Nicest thing…as I was getting out of a cab heading home from a show, a gentleman came running over. I opened the door and he immediately stepped up. I had assumed he wanted my cab, seeing numerous screaming people running towards it while driving from the show towards my place. As I began to climb out, he reached for my hand and lifted me out of the car. Turns out, he didn’t want my cab at all. Rather, he was on his phone outside a restaurant and saw that I was about to step out onto a thick layer of ice and didn’t want me to fall……so gallant and courteous men still do exist.

the good life.

best thing on earth...boogie on the corner of a street. and preferably with a friend. it feels good to dance, even if it's only 12 on a thursday night in front of bar and on a popular street. it's not about them, it's about you.

A New Self-Revelation

I unearthed something brand new about myself today. Generally I don’t like my handwriting, but this discovery helps me in that department…as my scribble looks better in blue ink than it does in black ink. Upon this breakthrough, I immediately removed all black ink pens from my pen organizer and replaced with them blue ink. Strange yes, but does it make me happy…absolutely.