The Circle of Life...

Here in our house of cats (almost said cathouse, then realized the connotation that goes with that, oops) things continue to be interesting.

Our senior citizen appears to be eating well and gaining weight now that she is on her twice daily medication. But the drugs (or something else) has changed her personality. Normally a cat who spends the day sitting on my lap while I work, and the night trying to get under the cover with me in bed, Katie has become a solitary feline who hangs out in the downstairs bathroom next to the shower, only coming out to beg for food. Then when food is produced, she eats two bites and heads back into the bathroom. Repeat this scenario 10-15 times a day.

Katie's behavior has led to a lot of guessing what is meant by a particular version of 'meow.' Oh, that one sounds like she is in pain. Now she's hungry. Now she's jealous of the other cats. Now she's just downright mad about something. Twice she's been acting miserable enough that I've been ready to call the vet for the 'final vet appointment' and she has miraculously bounced back before I made the call. At almost 17, she is old, but some cats live into their 20's so she's not ancient.

Meanwhile, in my upstairs bathroom is our foster care cat. The shelter calls her Zulu, Diva wants to name her Alexis, and I call her Jaws since she decided my hand looked like a tasty kitty treat last week. Yesterday, she presented us with five new arrivals:

You may now ooh and ahh over how stinking cute these kittens are.

Two of the kittens look just like Katie did when she was a foster kitten. Diva is begging to keep them all - that would be 8 cats total in the house - a few too many for this family. So in about 8 weeks at least some of these incredibly cute kitties will be at the Manchester Animal Shelter looking for a new home....

Catching Up

You may be wondering where I've been the last six weeks or so?  Well, first there were final exams to get through at school, so no blog time.  Then there was a vacation to prepare for - we visited our family favorite - Disney World.  We visited the week that Florida got all that rain.  I think it was measured in feet.  Oh well, at least it wasn't frozen and I didn't have to snow blow it!

Now I am running my animal infirmary.  My almost 16 year old Katie has a hyperactive thyroid.  At the same time, I succumbed to Diva's pleas and we are fostering a pregnant cat for the local humane society, and she has a really bad respiratory infection.  So my days are filled with trips to the vet and dispensing kitty drugs.  And let me tell you, these cats are not cooperative patients!  

So one day soon I'll download a bunch of photos that I've been aiming to post from my camera, and get them on the computer.  But now.... I've got to go dispense some antibiotics.

How to tell it is spring in New Hampshire

1. All but the last shaded pile of snow has melted.
   
2. Dairy Queen has reopened.
   
3. We drive with the sunroof open (and the heat on).
   
4. The Coast Guard has to warn people that water temperatures are still dangerously cold.
   
5. Skin (other than faces peaking out of a tiny hole) starts to appear.
   
6. Flowers appear (my favorite!)
   
7. Frost heaves disappear (and everyone gets their car realigned).
   
8. April school vacation week (just when we stop having snow days)
   
9. The NH state bird (the blackfly) stops by to annoy us all.  Males appear first, but only females bite.
   
10. The sound of hammering, sawing, and occasional swearing as Kilowatt starts on this years outdoor projects....

April 16 - Do you know where your tax forms are?

Today is April 16, which means my taxes have been in the hands of the IRS for about 48 hours now.  Is there any exercise more frustrating than filing your taxes?  

Let's put this in perspective - I have an advanced degree in accounting.  I should be able to file a tax form with 100% confidence that I did everything right.  But every year I have some strange question that I need to get answered.  One year I tried reading all the instructions on the IRS website - won't make that mistake again.  The next I tried calling that toll free IRS helpline - but they've obviously been told not to give yes or no answers.  I hung up more confused than ever.  I've purchased tax books, watched videos on how to do taxes, and called up my CPA friends who specialize in income taxes.  Still, every year, I wonder if I'm doing this right.  

And every year when I hit that 'send' button on TurboTax, I pause to say a brief prayer.  "God, please let my form 1040 sail through the system, let my Schedules A, B, and C be correctly alphabetized, and let form 88-whatever be accurately reporting whatever the heck it is that I have to file it for."

I'm so concerned about accuracy that I pulled out a $150 deduction this year because the receipt I had lacked a taxpayer ID#.  I don't think most people are as paranoid as I, because TurboTax has this lovely feature that allows you to compare your return with national averages.  And every year, I discover that we pay far more than the national average in taxes.  This does not comfort me.  It makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong?

Ultimately, it isn't paying my taxes that bothers me.  I think I get a decent return (it could be better, but still it is decent) in terms of access to education, interstate transportation, and national defense.  I don't think I'll ever get any return from my contributions to healthcare or retirement.  But what really bothers me is this:  trying to do the right thing shouldn't be this difficult.  

  

I Cannot Possibly Be That/This Old

It started innocently enough, like most things do.  I showed up one Thursday night to teach my room full of future forensic accountants that pleasures of a good fraud story.  Timing  of the class was great, as Bernie Madoff gave us fresh fodder weekly and tales of such greed that they are hard to imagine.  

One of the earlier nights, I happened to make a name connection with a young woman in the class.  Her last name was a bit uncommon, so I asked "are you P & M's daughter by any chance?"  She looked a bit surprised and answered "yes."  That was the first step in my aging process. 

Since I waited a bit late in life to have Diva, I forget that people near my age have kids who are now in graduate school.  Yikes!  I worked with P from 1986-1989 when I first relocated to NH.  I had seen him once in the intervening years, but it has been awhile.  

A couple of weeks later in comes my student with a note from her father.  There is going to be a big retirement party at the place we worked together all those years ago.  Four people who were retiring, all of whom worked there many moons ago with me.  So I delightedly RSVP'd and counted the days until I could see all of my old friends and former coworkers.  

Last night was the party.  When I walked into the room, there were probably 70 people there.  I expected to know maybe the four retirees and six other people.  

Surprise #1 -- I knew roughly half the people there.  Many people, like me, had returned to wish these four well in their new adventure as retirees.  Good thing the shindig lasted four hours, because there was a lot of catching up to be done.

Surprise #2 -- when you have not seen someone for 20 years, you miss the gradual aging and instead all of a sudden "wow!  these people look a lot different!"  and "oh x*&^, do I look that old?

Surprise #3 -- lots of people recognized me - and remembered my name.  That's really embarrassing, because some of them I couldn't recall ever seeing before in my life.  Crap, there goes my memory along with other things....  now where was I?

Surprise #4 -- people I didn't consciously remember would walk up to me and say 'hi' and I would remember random things.  I could remember one man's name, but nothing else - not where he worked, what he did - nada.  I could remember another's face, but not the name that went with the face.  Then there was the one who I could clearly remember going on a business trip with, remembering we watched the Stanley Cup together in a bar in Bangor ME, but once again nothing else.  

Surprise #5 -- there were at least five people in the room who time passed by.  They had not changed a bit in 20 years.  I guess I should have asked for the name of their plastic surgeon:)

I took a lot of pictures last night, and I really need to download these photos off my camera.  But for a just a few more days, I think I'll look at the pictures from the 1988 bowling banquet and the golf tournament, and remember the way we were.....

Online Analysis

I subscribe to a number of daily newsletters, and today one of them came through with the following link to a site called Typealyzer.   What, you may ask, is it?  Well, it is a site that will analyze a given blog to attempt to determine the writer's Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.  

I've been a big fan of the MBTI since I first took the test during the early days of my career, and have in fact taken it more than once.  One of the ideas behind the test is that it looks at your personality traits and from there you can determine what type of career you are best suited for.  

After reading about the Typealyzer, I immediately went to the site to try it out.  I have to admit to being a bit disappointed -- I was typed as an ESFP.  Why does this disappoint me?  Because every time I have taken the MBTI, the results have been that I am an INTP.  Granted, I have not shown a very strong preference for the I (introvert) over the E (extrovert).  Similarly, the T (thinking) versus F (feeling) has not a strong preference.  But.... for the N (intuition) versus S (sensing) I'm typically at the far end of the scale as a N.  

So, now I'm curious...and I finally have something blog about:)   If you are a fellow blogger who has taken the MBTI before as I have - do you see similar results?  

The iPod Game

My dear friend Hula played a game posted by  Jason over at The Jason Show, where I love to lurk. It looks like so much fun I couldn't resist trying it out, particularly with the rule #3 variance.  After all, everyone who visits here knows about the one embarrassing song on my iPod, and surely it won't show up (I hope not, anyway) in the shuffle...

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Put your iPod or other music player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
Unless you don't like it, then you can keep shuffling until you get to something you like!
(Jason added this variance to the game) .


WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY? Defying Gravity - Wicked Original Broadway Cast (this after rejecting Hot Child in the City & Rock and Roll All Nite, maybe when I was younger....)
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE? Life in a Northern Town - Sugarland/Little Big Town
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? I'm a Believer - The Monkees
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? Let's Get Loud - Jennifer Lopez
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN? Dance the Night Away - Van Halen
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?  Hooked on a Feeling - Blue Swede
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY? Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?   I Wanna Do It All - Terri Clark
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU? There's a New Kid in Town - Kathy Mattea
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL? I'm no Angel - Gregg Allman
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST? Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley (oh how true this is)
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?  I Don't Like Mondays - The Boomtown Rats
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?  Find a Way - Amy Grant
WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN? Let the Heartache Ride - Restless Heart
HOW WILL YOU DIE?  Your Good Girls Gonna Go Bad - Nathalie Cote (original version was Tammy Wynette)
WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?  Only the Good Die Young - Billy Joel
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH? Every Time I Think of You  - The Babys
WHAT MAKES YOU CRY? Two Dozen Roses - Shenandoah
WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST? Bikini Season - Jeff Foxworthy
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE? Give Me One More Chance - Exile
WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW? Video Killed the Radio Star - The Buggles
YOUR ULTIMATE FANTASTY? I Can Only Imagine - MercyMe