And Taxes

I purposely omitted the first part of that phrase. Maybe I’m being superstitious but after the past year you will forgive my caution. On the health front, I finally had a visit with the dermatologist that didn’t require a biopsy which in the past has inevitably led to more Mohs surgery. I count that as a huge win, along with having a strange woman running her hands all over my body (but I digress). The dermatologist did joke that my wife would be surprised to have me showing up from my appointment without a bandage. The doc wasn’t going to let me leave without making her mark though. She found three suspicious spots that she burned off with liquid nitrogen. Two were on opposite sides of my head so that will make finding a comfortable position to sleep tonight problematic. At least I’ll have the after effects of First Friday celebrations to help in that arena.

FBR Playing with Facetime Filters Again

The New Bed

My evil plan to reduce my pay through semi-retirement finally bore the hoped-for fruit this week as I filed my state and federal taxes. By reducing my income I fell into a lower tax bracket. That combined with gaining another deduction for turning sixty-five meant I’m not paying the thousands of dollars in extra taxes this year as in the past few. Filing taxes is so much easier now than it used to be. I remember having to go to the library to find forms and then navigating through those for hours. I used the H&R Block software and they make it so easy, even importing my W-2 form and military retirement 1099-R instead of having to enter it manually. I was able to get everything done in less than two hours.

My Favorite Panamanian was exceptionally pleased with the outcome and we headed out to spend some of our newly found wealth. We first had to stop off at the local social security office. My wife turns 65 next week (despite protestations to the contrary) and we filed her Medicare application last week. Since she is a naturalized citizen, they needed the original copies of her naturalization paperwork as well as her birth certificate. They said we could mail the originals to them or visit the local office. Mailing seemed like a dangerous option given the importance of the documents, call me dubious. I was steeled for a long wait in the usually inundated office but the place was deserted when we showed up. The door was locked and a curious security guard came out to ask us what we wanted. When I told him, he asked us to wait and checked with someone inside who agreed to see us. It was kind of eerie walking into the place because it was built to handle the huge crowds I was concerned about running into. There were dozens of customer windows for people to walk up to that were completely unmanned. Another sign of the times we live in. The guy helped us and we were on our way after five minutes.

Dance Party Pictures from Last Night

Daughter and FBR Partnered Up

And Even Twirled

Directly to a furniture store, having a massive sale before closing down for renovations. My Favorite Panamanian told me we were on her continuing quest for a new living room carpet. We were uniformly unsuccessful in that pursuit and I made the rookie mistake of taking my eyes off my wife long enough for her to wander into the mattress section which led to the bedroom set section. We ended up buying a new set because the price was incredible and I am informed that it was needed. I should probably surrender to any chance of ever keeping up with her. They deliver it next week.

Birthday Party Imminent

There will be no posting for this upcoming weekend in Frail Deeds because I will be decisively engaged with celebrating the third birthday of the redoubtable BRS. She has assured me repeatedly this week during our calls that she is appropriately excited about this momentous occasion. As long as the snow holds off we’ll be staying until Sunday night so I can watch the Super Bowl with my Favorite Son. The FBR held one of her patented dance parties during our FaceTime call last night. When she saw that my wife and I were dancing with each other to her music she dragooned her mother into joining her so she would also have a partner. I think they should officially list grandchildren as life sustaining resources.

Latest Puzzle Completed

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn