do the due

I'm glad I decided to review my information before filing. Leaving out some taxes paid really would have messed me up (duh). Now I do not owe as much as I thought, about $150 less actually. I am getting back seven dollars from the feds which is going straight to the governator along with thirty five more. I'm not sure how next year will be with my normal W-2 and 1099 for the unemployment I've been receiving, but we'll burn that bridge when we get there.

hold onto your hat

It's been ridiculously sunny and bright lately- hello spring. I wear spf every morning in my moisturizer but last week I learned very quickly what happens if you fail to reapply, especially after being outdoors for fifty odd during peak hours. When I got back to work it definitely felt as though I'd cooked my head and a quick run upstairs and funny looks from a co-worker confirmed it. Luckily it wasn't too bad but I still felt really silly about the whole thing.

During a Target rampage,I bought two different sunscreens (one face,one body) and a hat- haven't went outside without them since. I might have gone overboard though. The face one is more of proper sunblock so even though it says it is sweat resistant, I come back to the office runny and streaky. Plus it feels really heavy on my face. I think I might just reapply my normal moisturizer and wear the hat, but I might change to one with higher spf than I have now (15). I love me some spray on "cooling" sunscreen for the rest of me though. Thanks to Esme for pointing me to the Target knockoff of Neutrogena.

Since I can't look like Justin Timberlake in my fedora everytime I walk the dog, I needed some other coverage options. I've never been much for hats so all I had at home was a ball cap from a charity auction and western hats from theme parks, which I would not feel right wearing even though I live in a town of cowpokes.

As TLC would say protection is the priority. I wanted to get a bell shaped straw hat like the ones you see in chinatown, so I ordered one from the internet which was cheaper than going to chinatown, though not nearly as fun. They weren't kidding when they included the chin strap. I had to draw up most of the cord and I think I may have given myself an extra chin or two in the process. I had no intentions of losing my hat the very first time I wore it out. Other than chin breakout anxiety, it is a great hat and I want to get another one or two. I was never much for hats, but that is quickly changing.

bathroom pass

the other day i was taking the pup out to do her business and not to go into tmi, it is not as easy to pick up since she's been on canned and dried food for about a week. for the time being, i let her do her thing, keep walking and pick it up on the way back. apparently that was not good enough for this guy in a white pickup who was driving by shortly after said business had been done. i was on the phone but i was sure i'd heard some shouting ending in "shit". i kept walking/talking knowing i didn't have to answeer to this hall monitor, who obviously was not keeping tabs on the number of people who have let their dogs have their way with the grass/sidewalk.

a few minutes later i heard it again. he circled around, and said something like, "you better pick up that shit". i don't know if he needed to make the loop or was doing it just to make sure i heard him but it was quite ridiculous. i'm offended by errant poopage too but i would never go so far as to yell at someone from the safety of my car about it. maybe if i were walking toward/behind someone who didn't pick up i might say something and offer a bag to them, but yelling at people from your car is just whack, unless you're trying to save their life or something. anyhow, as planned i did do a pick up on the way home, but i don't know if the potty police came back later to make sure i had done so.

a block later i was on the receiving end of another faux pas (faux-potty?). i saw an old man standing with his back to the street facing the bushes in a parking lot near his truck. even though it grosses me out i know lots of guys will urinate outdoors because they can usually get away with it. i wasn't totally sure that was what he was doing but that's definitely what it looked like from where i was standing. as i continued on i did see him reach in to zip and then he got back in the truck. i don't know if i should give him a pass because he's older and couldn't hold it until the next stop or not since he should be old enough to know better.

orange popsicles and lemonade

there are just a few more days until spring but it already feels like summer. i see baby lizards scurring back into hiding on my walk home every day, during which i am also reminded of how desperately i need to get a hat and sunglasses. due to another summer side effect, a nearby fire, we had to find a new walk route. i know it isn't smart or interesting to always take the same path. today's worse than usual air quality was a nudge in the right direction, though technically it was a left.

i think i found my summer walk route, at least one of them. it's through an adorable neighborhood of older ranch houses (pre-'87, which is older for this area) with tons of huge shade trees so we can keep cool while we do our thing. these days nearly everyone has a dog and not everyone keeps theirs on lead or secured in the yard so there are lots of different ways to not go, unless you want to risk hurting your dog or someone else's. we've not come close to anything happening yet but i won't take my chances.

any other summer i would probably start slacking on exercise but i can't do that anymore, my four legged trainer will not have it. we'll just have to go earlier/later and make a beeline for the tree-lined.

use yr noodle

since yesterday i've been wanting ramen. even though it is gross and cheap it is oddly comforting. today i caved and bought five packages for a dollar. i used to get ten for a dollar, sign of the times/dating myself. we had some green onions as well as leftover asparagus and fried tofu from last night. i added toasted sesame oil, sriracha and soy sauce and it didn't look or taste like twenty cents after all that. i will need new chopsticks and a bigger bowl if i'm going to keep this up.

i also picked up vegetarian times. i've got a subscription coming to me but i'm not sure when it starts. i chose that and real simple as the two items needed for a friend's daughter's school fundraiser. i haven't subscribed to magazines, other than bust, in a while for fear of not reading them and being wasteful, but i can drop them at the library or to my niece's school for craft projects when i am done. speaking of library, i am so terribly embarassed for not renewing a book yesterday. i owe fifty cents now, which is 2.5 packages of ramen.

r & r & r

earlier this week i started getting a sore throat and i thought i could fight it off but here i am stuffy, sleepy and sore. i haven't done this for a long time but i shouldn't have been surprised. nothing is really going around so i know this is from me stressing out and wearing myself down. i've been so much better at managing stress and taking good care of myself so i'm still a bit frustrated about it but that won't help anything. time for more tea sans sympathy. at least i can finally spawl out and read some great picks from the library.

fix my brain

i don't know where my mind is this week. i've made three grocery runs since saturday and two out of three times i have left without buying the most important items on the list. i want to say its because the first two trips were on the fly and i usually plan the menu and list well before leaving, but i didn't even follow the shortlists i scribbled en route. last night i remembered everything for bean salad i wasn't planning on making and forgot spinach for dinner-luckily my dad was out and able to pick that up. tonight i started prepping and realized i had no brussel sprouts.

this morning i overslept by nearly an hour. i slept in the extra room so i didn't have my usual double alarm action. i hurried to dress, pack breakfast and lunch, barely making it to work on time. i figured i would tea up and rock out to my ipod. i would have, if i didn't leave it at home, along with my cell phone. i did remember the charger though.

i really bummed myself out since i have been doing so well with being on time and on track. i've been even more on point since adding lots of penny time into the mix. its an odd and somewhat embarassing coincidence that this lapse in discipline began shortly after dropping her off at the vet. good thing she is coming home tomorrow night.

on the go

ms. penny and i are starting a new adventure, crate training! after much arguing with everyone about how tall she isn't, we let the measuring tape set them straight. i'll admit she always seems larger than she is but after spending so much time with her i've noticed she's really only about knee high to me and i'm not much taller than most grasshoppers. we got an intermediate sized crate at petsmart last night and i also got a bowl that can screw onto the side or door. it was really hard to not buy much else, but i had to focus on the essentials. plus i have to pay for her spay next week.

luckily i received one of the nine unemployment checks i'm expecting in the mail today. i know it's only for one day, but it was really starting to hit me. my reserves were depleted (other than the f.u. fund-which i refuse to touch unless absolutely necessary). i think i would have been okay if not for some unexpected animal expenses but having my girl at home is priceless.

the park was crazy this afternoon. the playground was a swarm of about twenty kids, lots of hot pink outfits, screaming and nonsense. it was awesome. the school next door was having recess as well so it was quite and uproar and ms. penny kept her cool. she was more interested in sniffing around the grass. as we rounded the corner there was a group of kids in their pj's who were taking an interest so we stopped and she sat for a few while they checked her out. kids love her. one of them said something like, "she has a dog, and a tattoo on her leg", thanks, i think.

i got home and made amazing breakfast, which was more like brunch, for me and my sister while watching six pack on cable. then i did laundry and rearranged my dresser drawers since it has been bothering me for a few weeks now. i'm trying really hard to get more organized/manage time better and i've been doing well, but there is a lot more to be done. crating the pup is going to push me to rearrange my room a lot faster which is great because that is long overdue. this is the most i've sat down all day, holla!

rainy days and mondays

despite my best efforts at preparation, the rain either doesn't show up at all or waits until we are two blocks from home. it usually stops about ten minutes after we're home. we just have these fifteen minute bouts of rain and then nothing for a few more hours, total weather tease.

not that i'm complaining, we need the rain super bad and i'm ready to geek it up in some gear even though i am afraid my calves are too meaty for the boots i bought. mostly, it's the left one. it hasn't rained enough for me to test them out yet. by next winter this should be a non-issue as the kids say.

a week from today i'm dropping off ms. p to be spayed. it's a long time coming and i feel bad for not having done it sooner. i'm going to get a crate for her so she can stay inside for the first few days. i was going to get a used one if i could find it but i've decided to just buy a new one. part of the room rearrangement plan is to have space for her to hang out/sleepover from time to time. it will just push me harder to get it done sooner.

i have been a reading mofo, so proud of myself. many thanks to esme for making me get on the good foot with goodreads. i never read any of the lemony snicket books, but i'm going to check out daniel handler's other work after reading "Delmonico" in McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories. i have to re-read it before i return it at the end of the week. i want to be davis when i grow up.