Monthly Archives: May 2014

Immunizations not covered by insurance are more ludicrously expensive than they have any right to be. As a side note, why would any insurance plan not cover any and all preventative immunizations? Public health fail. Also, I don’t like to pay for not fun things. I mean, I know it keeps us alive and all, but still…

Also not pleasant – physicals, blood work, peeing in a cup, x-rays, etc. Fortunately, insurance is kind enough to cover those.

Passport-sized and qualified photos for legal documents are inappropriately expensive when you need 18+ of them. Fortunately, you can also do them yourself for 1/200th of the price. DIY for the win.

Estate planning lawyers are expensive. And depressing (the content, not the lawyers). And there’s a lot of difficult, overwhelming decisions to make when you draw up a will, and durable powers of attorney, and health care proxys. Did I already say they were expensive?

The social security card office is, in fact, way more awful than a DMV.

Whhhhhhhyyyyyyy is it still, in 2014, such a freakin’ zoo of hassle for a legally married woman to take her very own maiden name as her middle name in Ohio, New York…pretty much everywhere I’ve lived since getting married? Maiden-name-as-middle-name is not uncommon, and it should totally be included as an easy option in every single state when a women changes her name because of marriage. Ugh, law making humans are the worst.

What’s wrong with my totally legal and valid birth and marriage certificate? Why does it have to be attested and authenticated by several levels of government agencies for the low price of EXPENSIVE?

Meetings with a financial advisor to hash out budgets, financial goals, investments, and insurances are helpful – and thankfully free – but make me feel like I’m a zillion years old. Who uses a financial advisor at the age of 27 when you have no finances to speak of anyway?

Figuring out specific details of tax law is, in fact, just like rocket science. It’s frustrating and feels impossible. And when I do find the answer, I’m only about 50% sure I can trust it and that I haven’t overlooked some other loophole or pertinent requirement that’s going to mess everything up.

Research. So. Much. Research. Probably missing a million things too.

This is what has been consuming my life for the past two weeks or so. You know, in addition to my actual job and other familial responsibilities. We are feeling so overwhelmed!

In other words, this is what I’m trying to do now…

But, despite how necessary and good all of the above is, this is what I’d much rather be doing…

This weekend was the BEST. We’ve had a really overwhelming past couple of weeks, so a gorgeous, relaxing weekend together was exactly what we needed.

We slept in on Saturday, enjoyed a late breakfast of sweet raspberry-lemon curd and guava pastries and savory sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches outdoors in the sunshine at the public market, strolled the stalls browsing the produce, went to Mendon park to play a few rounds of washers in a soft, green, grassy field, and walked around the edge of the cool blue pond to spy on a sweet family of geese with their fuzzy newborns learning to navigate the waves. We also stopped for ice cream, ran a few low-key shopping errands, went to church, and settled in for an evening of mac n’ cheese, wine, and The Amazing Spider Man. Sunday we headed to Webster park for a few hours to play washers, lawn darts, frisbee, and fly our kite, then we c00ked steak, corn on the cob and green beans on the grill for dinner, followed by fresh strawberries for dessert. We finished the weekend at the Vintage Drive-In for a double feature of The Other Woman and Draft Day. There was also a great rain storm on Friday night, which was so blissfully peaceful and relaxing while we slept, and all weekend the weather was breezy and sunny and just the right amount of warm and cool during the day.

I adore these long, late spring/early summer weekends when you have no plans and you can watch sunsets and star gaze and just go where the wind takes you. I wish they could last forever, but I know their impermanence is part of their beauty.

 On Saturday Ted and I (well, technically TORVentures ) spent all day providing sound equipment and run crew for a local Cupcake Bakeoff Competition.

Clearly, it was delicious. This was our takeaway – cupcakes for DAYS!

I need a salad stat.

{Guess where?}

{House brew}

{Brisket topped house salad with candied pecans, cayenne buttermilk ranch, and cornbread}

{Ribs, coleslaw, baked beans, cornbread, and one very happy dude}

{Pecan pie with chocolate chips, whipped cream, and topped with a shot of Jack Daniels}

We basically never treat ourselves to evenings out like this, but on some rare occasions, a celebration is totally called for.

This little gem accompanied my Chinese takeout shrimp w. broccoli, a viewing of the movie Tangled, three episodes of Parenthood, and a game of Scrabble last night as part of our weekly Sunday “Family Night”.

The universe has impeccable coincidental timing.

{All images are from my inspirations pinterest board and I’d be happy to credit them…if I had any idea where they actually originated from. If one of these images is your creation, please let me know so that I may properly credit it.}