First of all, thank you Lawyer Mom for the Kreative Blogger award. However, instead of nominating other blogs (since I recently did two rounds of nominations) I recommend you check out the people who follow this blog. They all have great blogs of their own, not to mention excellent taste.I'll write about things I love in a separate post (such as Republican bashing, so fun now that it's not a threat to national security any more) because I want to close the loop on a few open items today:
1) My mouth - All better now. The dental surgeon was very pleased when he removed the stiches and patted me on the shoulder because I did such a good job healing. He also said there was no sign of necrosis, a possibility I am glad he kept to himself until after the procedure. The roof of my mouth is still a bit numb but that's normal. So if anyone ever wants to know about gum grafts and the Maven for some reason isn't available, I'm your girl.
2) K's promise to sleep in - She did keep her promise but since then L's been getting up with me every morning so my days have been off to an earlier than usual start. I'm not complaining, however, because they've been really good this week while Ralf's been away.
3) Ralf - He's coming back tonight but then flying to Ireland for two more days tomorrow morning. Then we're all done with travel for a while.
4) My US residence and tax status - Technically we are no longer California residents although we left a lot of our money in California to tide them over thanks to AMT. We will also be paying 2008 taxes in the US and California since we didn't move back to Munich until September. Sadly, California does not yet (to my knowledge) have a tax treaty with Germany so there will be some double taxation as well.
Therefore I still reserve the right to rant as a California tax payer.
Oh, and I paid California property tax on a house until 2002 and income tax when I sold the house.
Anyway, I think I've paid back my modest childhood medical expenses by now, with interest. But regardless of my situation, which is somewhat unusual, a forward-thinking country invests in its children. A country that is run by people who think it's OK to get huge bonuses for poor results doesn't.
SO glad Ralf is heading home! Be a good idea to immediately immerse him in family tasks (laundry, meal preparation, kids baths, etc) to shorten his readjustment period. He'll love you for it!
ReplyDeleteTAX TIME! Yep, My husband made a mess of the living room with ALL our paperwork. ... what a pain! ...glad he's dealing with it!
ReplyDeleteI was confused though because we didn't earn any US income last year, but we do have two California houses that we are trying to deduct taxes from... but how do you deduct if you didn't pay anything? Oh, not my problem to figure out! :)
Well, that is so sadly true about how the country invests its money. We are in a terrible mess here.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about a country who pays those who screw up - that sucks!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your mouth is OK.
Sounds like your all set now
ReplyDeleteBefore we leap before we look, this eye-opening NYT op-ed on the AIG bonuses is worth a read:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/opinion/25desantis.html?_r=1&em
Good article. THis person seems to be thinking straight and I agree it's better to not give the money than to try to take it back after the fact. I'd be mad too. Still, there's a difference between performing and non-performing, even if no one is at fault. I really like this letter: http://www.knowhr.com/blog/2009/03/18/if-i-were-the-ceo-of-aig-my-letter-about-bonuses/
ReplyDelete