Photo-Filled Saturday

Our day consisted of:

(1) We went hiking with my dad and brother on South Mountain this morning (which was actually the result of a conversation in which Greg declared that I am a lazy butt, which I'd like to deny, but can't). The trail we took gave us some good views of the valley, which Greg took pictures of:


The hike was followed by breakfast at IHOP, where I saw Will and Stacey with Ben.

(2) This is our living room with Greg's studio lighting equipment all set up (but this picture was taken after three rambunctious kids were on the backdrop):


It was fancy shmancy.

Greg took pictures of his former co-worker and family as a practice session. Taking pictures of three young kids intent on chasing kitties who made themselves scarce meant for some picture-taking challenges.

(3) Since all of the equipment was still set up, we experimented with the equipment taking pictures of ourselves!

Extra Treats + Greedy Fat Cat = No Good

This:




is what happens when you give too many treats to a greedy fat cat so afraid of not getting her fair share of treats that she will scarf them down whole and throw them up later.

You can't see because I made the pictures small, but there's some strands of eaten-and-regurgitated Shirley hair among the cat vomit.

More Craft Room Wall Hangings

With my supervision, Greg put up two more wall hangings in my craft room!
(In other words, I did nothing while I watched Greg do everything).

Greg helped me hang the little scrapbook-y calendar underneath a combination white/message/cork board that I got at - can you guess? - Costco:


Now I just have to get around to doing all the other little crafty projects that I had envisioned for decorating my craft room. At my current pace, those will happen never.

Downtown Mesa for a Wedding and Walking

Seems like downtown Mesa is quite the happenin' place on Friday nights.
(But in my opinion, how can any city in the metro area have a "downtown" when Phoenix doesn't even have a good "downtown").

Greg and I were invited to his co-worker's reception:


(Greg took this picture they sent out with their invitations)
(I didn't realize that I was doing this until now,
but . . . I'm taking a picture of a picture that I have a digital copy of!)
Since the reception location (Regency Garden) was in Mesa, I said to myself, "Hey! What are the chances that Mystic Paper, which is also in Mesa, is close by?" I know Mesa's a big place, but Google Maps informed me that Mystic Paper was literally just around the corner.

Greg obliged me and we left for the reception a little bit early so I could check out the store. I wasn't able to look around long enough to see everything, but I wouldn't mind going back to get some make-and-take supplies for the next quarterly card exchange - they had the largest Basic Grey selection that I've seen so far. Who's interested in coming with?

Card Exchange - Birthday Theme

I went to another quarterly card exchange a couple weeks ago, but was too busy to take pictures and blog about them. I get a lot of flak from Greg for not using the cards I get from the card exchanges, but they're just too pretty to use!

Some of the cards exchanged (so creative!), including the "make-and-take" card (bottom right):


My card:

ebay it

and "it" = "questionable Chinese-made wedding dress"

So my mother-in-law, Charlotte, found an ebay listing for a wedding dress that my sister-in-law is interested in (read here on Kati's wedding planning blog): See ebay listing here.
(I would have posted a picture, but I didn't want to potentially spoil anything for anyone.)

Iffy-ness factor: Moderate

The dress is very pretty, but it seems like a gamble. The seller seems pretty mysterious too, despite the good rating. It may be that the manufacturer also makes dresses for designers and are doing some "unauthorized" side jobs, which if true, would make this a safer gamble.

I know that I'm a pretty risk-averse person, so I'm not sure that I would take that gamble, but I'm glad it's not my decision to make. :) I wonder if Kati was yay or nay on the idea.

Tax Time

Last year, I did our taxes using a handy tool called "TurboTax" (also known as "Taxes For People Who Don't Understand Taxes"). Here was my process:

1. Plug in number
2. Plug in number
3. Plug in number
4. Click "submit"
5. Poof! I'm done

This year, our taxes are apparently more complicated. Here is Greg's process so far:

1. Analyze all 2007 expenditures for sales taxes paid
2. Crunch some numbers on ten key
3. Comment on how we might owe money
4(a). Complain about how my W-2 hasn't arrived yet
4(b). Ask for my 2007 year-end pay stub
5. Crunch some more numbers on ten key
6. Comment on how we might owe money
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 as needed

According to the tax accountant-in-residence, we owe taxes because our withholdings were too low for this year (?!) and we might also owe some penalties (?!?!). Penalties?! I feel like a bad girl.

Edit at 7:26 pm:
I've been given an updated status of our tax situation. Outcome: so good.
Greg also wanted me to point out that changes in our situation this year resulted in our withholding estimates being off. (Read: Greg doesn't want people to get the wrong impression about the caliber of his "skillz" as a tax accountant).