Well, that's done

Break is almost over. I am unhappy in that I neither got as much work done as I wanted to, nor did I have very much fun. I DID get over the cold, at least.

I also got my taxes completed today, so there's that. The last piece (the 1099-DIV) came in the mail today. I ran it out to the tax-prep place, planning on leaving it, but the preparer told me that she'd only be about 10 more minutes with the people ahead of me if I wanted to wait.

So I did. I wish I hadn't, except that my taxes are finally done. That "ten minutes" stretched out to at least 45 because the people kept. coming. up. with. more. questions. (it is an open plan office, not the best for privacy, but whatever). FINALLY they got done and she wanted to do the rest of my taxes, which was time consuming because it's all the schedule B stuff. But at least it's done.

And I'm getting a refund, "thanks" in part to the fact that I'm probably more generous to charities than is good for me, and also "thanks" to a couple of big capital losses in the past year. And it's a decent-sized refund; will make up for the pay cut I am taking these next couple of months.

So I decided.....ONE more G1 pony for my tiny collection won't break me. One of my favorite Etsy shops (PoniesInTheSun), which I have ordered from before, had a Star Hopper - one of the glittered ponies. I had looked at her SEVERAL times over the past few days and said, "I really want a Glitter Unicorn." But told myself No, You Must Economize!

Well, driving home today, I told myself the $15 or so (pony plus shipping) will NOT break me given the refund I'm getting.....so I said "If she's still available, you can get her."

Yup, she was. So she's now on her way to me. And maybe, just maybe? Having to economize will make me enjoy the rare frivolous purchases more? Like when I was a kid, and I had to save up for eight or ten weeks (which doesn't seem like long NOW, but it was forEVER when I was 9) to get a Kermit the Frog doll that I had wanted so badly.

this is a photo grabbed from a random Pinterest account of Star Hopper. I think she's a pretty common pony but I still like her and the one PoniesInTheSun had was in good condition:

Yeah, I know I said I wasn't going to buy any more older-gen Ponies after Posey and Bubbles, but I really like this one. (And yes, this is the "store issue" one - like the one I'm getting. Apparently there was a later mail-issue version with a white mane and tail)

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Edited to add:

Have decided to say "forget it" to my original plans of going in tomorrow morning and working. Partly because my inner 11-year-old is stamping her feet and declaring that "THIS IS SPRING BREAK AND YOU SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO HAVE FUN" but also because there were a couple mystery-people (did not see them but heard them: had the office door closed) in the building yesterday. I stopped off at the campus "cop shop" on the way home and reported it, campus cop said he'd go check it out. (I checked several of the doors and they were still locked, but there is a sinking suspicion that maybe a second key has gone walkabout). And I don't want to surprise J. Random Misdemeanor in the building tomorrow.

It was pretty miserable here today - big storms much of the morning (my sewing room roof leaked again, blast it. Not sure what I'm going to do.....I might get some of that black-tack stuff and climb up on the roof and try pasting it on over the spot on the fascia I suspect of letting water in) and it was just YUCK most of the day. Generally rain doesn't get to me but it's been so rainy for so long that it's starting to.

(What do I plan to do tomorrow? Stay home, figure something out to watch - maybe I need to use a little of my Amazon Prime subscription, I see Song of the Sea is available and it's supposed to be good  but quite sad - and work on one of my ongoing projects. Either push to finish Sylvie or maybe cast on for the second sleeve of Hagrid....)

I also got a $50 "gift card" (which is in the form of a barcoded e-mail) for Wal-Mart from my tax preparer. I don't NEED to go shopping tomorrow morning so I might save it. Though I don't know, part of me says that I should use it to stock up on "non perishables" like tp and light bulbs and maybe some canned goods against possible FURTHER budget cuts. Part of me wants to figure out if there are a couple dvds I want to own (like maybe "Brave") and buy those. Do the responsible thing, or the fun thing? I need to think about it more.

(Third option: buy $50 worth of canned chicken or peanut butter and show up with it to the local food bank some day next week. Not sure what they need most currently, though, and honestly, I think at this point, with the state budget what it is, buying tp for myself might make more sense)