the after

Busy season is technically over, but we're still busy.  Quarterly payroll reports are due on April 30, and Foundation returns and Texas Franchise Tax reports are due May 15. And then there's all the bills from busy season that need to be processed as well.  I've got a stack of bills to get through that's a good 2+ inches thick but my team keeps bringing me returns to process.  Oh, and no more overtime.  So, very convenient.  This was a rough one this year. 

That said, I stuck only to my one pair of beloved Fluevogs for busy season.  I contemplated buying another pair but decided against it for now.  I'm talking full-price Vogs, that is.  Not my ebay steals.  I continue to stalk ebay for thsoe.  So I've got my Munsters which I love, but are higher than I wear regularly (4 or 4.5 inches, I think--3.5 inches are my ideal heels, my idheels) so I can't just wear them out and about forever and ever amen.  Plus, I don't want to ruin them.  Cos they're fucking fantastic.  And yes, I licked them as soon as they arrived.

With my OT money, I caught up on a lot of stuff, which is a nice feeling.  I had a nice dinner or two with Amy.  And I put some in savings.  I'm actually building a New York account, y'all.  It's slow-going, but it's going.  That's the important thing. 

Oh, also, I bought a new radiator for my car.  That sucked.  I was hoping on a quickie inspection for under $40.  Then my engine light came on, my transmission was slipping like whoa, and $620 later, I still haven't gotten my car inspected.  When I got in my accident, the insurance company used refurb parts and the radiator wasn't all that fantastic, it seems.  The fitting that connected it to the transmission was faulty so my car had no transmission fluid in it when I drove in.  (Mechanic said another day and I'd have a dead car.)  So all of Saturday was spent in a rather uncomfortable chair playing Bix on my phone while I prayed for a bill under 4 digits.  I got that, at least. 

Alright, bills loom.  Stupid bills.

loopy to batshit in less than 12 hours

Aaaaaaaaaand, we've achieved total emotional meltdown.  Fantastic.

I'd spend my life sucking dick for skittles if it meant I'd never have to encounter a certain group of women ever again.

it needs to be renamed: We're Trying to Kill You

Our weeks go from Monday through Sunday.  We were on mandatory 60s this week with "much appreciation" if we can do more.  Note, this appreciation is just in concept only; I'm not getting a condo in New York for it or anything.  This week's total will be just over 70 hours when I leave today.  We're on double-days on weekends now.  I don't anticipate having a day off until April 22, which is 26 consecutive days once I get there.

That's why I haven't been updating.  Blah.

in pieces

I'm going to have to do an update in snippits, as I only get a few minutes at a time to jot down stuff that comes to mind.  I've started, deleted, restarted, deleted, lathered, rinsed, and repeated several entries in the last week.  The professionals started mandatory 60s last week.  I was 2 hours shy.  We're on 'em again this week.  I don't remember being on 60s until April last year.  And according to the stats they just sent out, we're way behind last year--like, 700 returns behind.  This is daunting.  At least we can extend, but still.  This Friday I'll get to see the fruits of my labour in relatively literal form.  It's payday, you see.  And it's only relatively literal because I don't get paid in bananas.  ...which is good, as I abhor bananas.

With all the tv shows on hiatus for a while, which I'm thankful for as I'm not home for them right now, I've taken to watching movies from Netflix over the weekends and sometimes at night, depending on time.  A week or two ago, I watched "Once,"  and hereby recommend that anyone with a pulse do the same.  It came out in 2006 and was kinda billed as a modern day musical.  If this is what musicals are going to morph into, sign me up!  After watching, I immediately went to iTunes and bought the soundtrack, as well as another album by the Swell Season (a band the two main characters of the movie formed).  The movie's budget was $160k.  (For comparison, four months after its release , "Little Miss Sunshine" was released by the same company with a budget of $8m.)  It's not glam and glitz like regular Hollywood fare, but it's still stunning.  And it sticks in your head.  It's a truly beautiful film, deserving of the Best Song Oscar that it received.  Rent it, seriously. 

Milkduds are delicious.  They are also assholes.  I'm totally breaking up with them.

Colour me shocked that "Stand By Me" came out 25 years ago.  Twenty five years?  Really?  Am I that old?  Anyway, I'm not a huge Wil Wheaton follower, though I must admit to having a wee crush on him a little less than 25 years ago (though not much).  I know he's pretty prevalent on the internet and he's a skilled writer and seems to be a normal guy.  Kudos to him for the normalcy for sure.  Anyway, he wrote a piece about the anniversary of "Stand By Me" that touched on River Phoenix.  It's beautifully written and worth a read.  I admit, I cried a little.

Update on March 22, 2011 at 10:30 AM by Sarah

Also, I won these Vogs yesterday on Ebay.  (Click for bigger image, if I did it right.)  How friggin gorgeous are these babies?!

aptly named season

Man, they ain't kidding about busy season this year.  I hit my 40 hours Thursday night.  The CPAs were on mandatory 55s (55 hrs/week) and I probably am just under that this week.  I didn't even finish all my stuff today but my team said I could save some stuff for Monday cos they saw the beast of a return I was doing for another gal upstairs.  I'm pretty sure she knew what kind of shitshow she was sending me when she did it; federal and five states, each with K-1s, none of which had filing instructions, addresses, or had ever been done before so it was all from friggin scratch.  It was also for one of our larger clients so they get special treatment, meaning more work for me.  The whole thing took me a good hour and a half, two hours.  I can usually churn out a return in half an hour or less if it's a straight-shot.  It was a bear.  A stinky, rabid bear with dingleberries.  I'm off tomorrow though.  We're not on both days for weekends just yet, thankfully.  

I've got three netflix movies to take in this weekend (Once, Ghost World, and The Science of Sleep) while I pad around the house and paint my toenails for the first time this year.  My feet need some damn attention; they look terrible.  I bought 3 pairs of shoes yesterday, one work pair and two pair of sandals, and I couldn't wear the sandals to work today because I have hooker feet right now.  

If anyone is interested in a Pinterest account, I have invites available.  Just comment with a valid email address (I don't think they show up to anyone but me) and I'll send it over.  I think you might have to tie it in with a twitter or facebook account, but there may be a way around it.  I'll just send it over and you can figure out what you'd prefer to do.  I find it such a fascinating site!  It's just a grab bag of really cool ideas!  (Mom, that's where I found the purse I sent you this morning.)  I've got a lot of different boards going on there for various categories.  My favourite so far is my "Note to Self" category (cool prints of awesome quotes) but my "Wear" category (clothes/accessories/shoes) is also delicious and filled with vintage Dior.  

Chicken lasagna (thanks Mom!) just dinged.  I'ma grub and watch Once.  And draw.  I feel like I haven't drawn in ages, when I know it's only been a few days.  But ugh, I'm used to drawing every night--I start to get twitchy when I can't get the pencil to the paper every night!  Hope everyone's doing well!