Today, despite having a million other things we'd much rather do, we got up and loaded up the car with all the recyclables, and drove them over to the recycling collection center, where we discovered that they moved things around, so we had to do a lot of peering into smelly metal bins to figure out where to dump our bottles and papers and cans. After finally figuring all that out, and then grabbing a quick breakfast, it was off to take care of those pesky taxes.

I think this is the first year in a very long time that both of us have had only one job (no thanks to the dot bomb), so there were a few fewer pieces of paperwork to sort through. Of course, despite our best efforts we did manage to leave a few things at home, as usual, so Richard got to make two trips back to the house to rummage in the files and track down the stuff we were missing. In the meantime, the tax preparer and I spent far too much time peering cross-eyed at the instructions for how to calculate the nifty tax break that we got from buying the Prius last year. Their software did not make it remotely easy, nor did it make it very clear just what we were supposed to do, and how we were supposed to calculate the relevant numbers (how does one extract the cost of just the fuel efficient piece of a hybrid car when the dealer not only does not provide a cost breakdown, but has no idea how the heck to get one because it is all an integrated machine, for crying out loud, and why were we calling him anyway).

We eventually figured it all out, and the computer did its magic and calculated all the numbers, and the end result was that while we ended up getting money back from the state, it was just a little less than the amount we owed the the feds. I suppose that means it all worked out okay, even though I admit to having had wistful dreams of getting a refund overall. Ah well. At least the taxes are now out of the way, and done nearly two months early, and once we get the state refund I'll immediately write the check to the feds, and then it'll all be done. Take that, procrastination gene!

Today was the usual mix of music practice and church, followed by some knitting. There’s enough of us yarn addicts at church now that we’ve organized a rather informal knitting and crocheting circle. We meet after church for an hour or two, braving the random ants in one of the Sunday school rooms (a room which seems to have the world’s most determined ants because no matter how hard anyone tries to get rid of them they always come back). This afternoon I actually got to show someone how to knit, which was actually kind of fun because it wasn’t all that long ago I was on the receiving end of the instructions.

Interspersed with bouts of tax-induced hair pulling, choir rehearsal, grocery shopping, and knitting, we have also been watching season 5 of Angel, which finally arrived on DVD from Amazon this past week. I think it is, so far, my favorite season of the whole show. As much as I love it though, it depresses me a little that when these DVDs are over there will never be any new Buffyverse TV for me ever again.