The weekend where progress was made and gifts were given

Well, I finally got around to filing my taxes this weekend. So, first, let me tell you, I have never ever had to pay taxes before. In fact, I always got a big ole honkin' refund. Last year, when you combined my federal and state refunds, I received almost $5,000! This year, I was stunned to find out not only would I not get that beautiful little refund, but I would be paying...more than $5,000! I'm still not sure how much it's going to be after penalties and all that. Obviously, from now on, I'll file on time. Because I always got a refund, and because I didn't expect much this year, I wasn't in any kind of hurry. I suspect the sting of penalties in addition to the pain of roughly $6K in taxes will get me out of the starting gate on time next year! You know how you always hear stories of people who have financial, or housing, or illness - related problems, and they post their problems online and help comes pouring in? Yeah, I'm not holding my breath!

So, what did I do when I discovered my entire savings would be wiped out to cover my taxes? I went shopping! Duh!! Some people go pub hopping, I go yarn hopping. I just opened up my traveling knitters sourcebook and started plugging addresses into my navigation system. I found Crazy for Ewe in the quaint little square of downtown Leonardtown, MD; where I picked up a wool, silk, cashmere blend of black yarn and a pattern to knit it in.

Next I found Ch'naca fiberworks in Prince Frederick, MD (more sock yarn purchased here!) and right next door to her was a nice little quilt shop where we gushed over what great people Carol Doak and Jinny Beyer are! I finished up my sulk-fest at Balducci's where I picked up a bottle of Kim Crawford (best Sauvignon Blanc out there right now, especially at this price!) and a crab and mango stuffed avocado, which I paired with Valhalla's 2005 Rheingold---a perfect combination! I was concerned the tropical notes in Kim Crawford would be too much with the tropical notes of the mango...but what is this? A food blog!? Moving on...

After wallowing in self-pity for the first half of the day, there was only one thing left to do...knit! So, I attacked the most recent square for the afghan and got that finished up.

I picked up the first sock several times and contemplated working on it, but I'm just not ready to tackle the gusset. The heel has turned nicely though, and the third iteration does look a lot better than the first two...due in part, no doubt to the fact that it's only ankle length. I just didn't have it in me to do a full calf-length sock for the third time.

But the redeeming factor of the weekend was the gift from the SigO. He went on a road trip with his daughter this weekend and stopped at Wool Gathering in Kennett Square, PA to try to find something to cheer me up. You gotta hand it to him. Nothing cheers a girl like cashmere!! So, even though I'm pretty down hearted about the taxes, I did manage to make progress on the never ending afghan and I did get a pretty awesome gift...so, the weekend wasn't a complete write-off!