Renew.

I just found myself needing to renew a few books from the library, as they are due soon and I haven't even started them.  But, on the bright side (if that's the dark side, I guess, which it really isn't), I finished one book on Saturday, and will finish another tonight.  I guess this actually makes me ahead of the game, considering that my goal had been to finish a book every 2 weeks, and I will finish at least 4 in January (and, really, that number is likely to be 5, since I still have another week to go!)  Last night, Joe and I talked a little bit about the things that we read, and about whether or not we make diverse reading choices.  In the end, we both do, but how we define "diverse" is a little bit different.  Essentially, his "diverse" is all non-fiction, and tends to have something to do with the government, either in its modern form, or historically OR to do with business models and practices.  Mine includes everything from young adult fiction to poetry to cookbooks to biographies to classics.  Regardless, I love SO much that we both love to read.  I really hope to instill that value into my son, too, because I think it is a wonderful thing.  And, while it's true that reading can help one to be more educated, it's also true that reading can be an amazing adventure.  A well-written book become so absorbing that we feel as if we're a part of it all.  I think that's sort of the point of all art--to be absorbing.  I think that it is pretty incredible how artists of all types can take the mundane and make in extraordinary.  I think that is what creativity is: making the most trivial of things seem to be important, making the most quotidian things seem to be unique.  I love that.  And, when we choose to see the world that way, it makes everything much more exciting.

In other news, I have been pushing to look for downgraded cable packages, as I feel pretty strongly that the t.v. contributes much less to our lives than many other things that could fill both the time and space that it takes.  We may never be fully rid of the Big Black Box (which ours literally is...it's a beastly thing), but if we can consciously decrease the amount of time that it's on, I would be thrilled.  I think that it would be an interesting research project (and good support for my claims) if I were to just track for two weeks how many hours the t.v. is on and, also, what we watch.  I think we would be surprised.  Similarly, I think we'd be surprised at how much we could accomplish with our newly-discovered time if it was on even just half as much.

And, finally, it's tax season.  For the past two years, we have gone to someone (to whom Joe had gone for years prior), mostly because my W-2 situation was crazy.  One year, because I had two jobs while in grad school and two different jobs after I graduated, I came in with a stack of 4 W-2s PLUS an extra one, because The Coffee Company For Which I Worked sent two sets.  But, now that I get to stay at home every day, sorting through all of our filing stuff will be much easier.  Therefore, as a means to save significant money, we are hoping to file our own taxes this year.  Do you, my faithful readers, have any experience with the on-line tax forms that are available?  Is there one that you would (or would NOT) recommend?  Was the whole experience fairly manageable?  We are on the hunt.

1. Sleeping in for 15 extra minutes and not having it even remotely mess with the rest of my day's schedule.
2. The sound of steady rain.
3. Crossing everything off of my to-do list.
4. Out-of-the-blue compliments.
5. Freshly-baked brownies IN (yes, in, not just with) a mug of milk.  My college roommate, Rachel, taught me this little trick (it's a trick because you also get to enjoy chocolate milk at the end), and I am hooked.