It's nicer to be on the winning side

After we vote here, we get a small oval sticker that says "I Voted" with a flag underneath. I noticed that many people were wearing them as we shopped the bargains early Tuesday morning. They are a kind of badge of honor.

Yet, they look a lot like those stickers that say "I Gave Blood." During the last several years, voting has seemed somewhat like giving blood, putting your hopes and principles into a small black circle with all the pain and dismal frustration that goes into such a decision. Especially when you realize that you'll probably loose. I got queasy every time I looked at the sticker, as I faint around blood easily. (obviously I never had a future in medicine)

But yesterday the voters in my school district passed both a referendum and a .1 tax increase to improve the schools, build new ones, and improve security. I worked a little on promoting a Yes vote. So I feel pretty good that both parts passed. My son is in one of the test classrooms and is thrilled about the Smart Board connected to a computer. The kids seem to respond to it extremely well. The complete overhaul of the classroom has contributed tremendously to a better learning environment.

I hate that taxes have to go up, but I think that investing in the future through children and schools is necessary.

Barack Obama also won my state. Yeah! I worked on helping get on the vote for him, too.

I am thrilled that for once my hopes and beliefs aligned with the greater community.

Taxes

Doing taxes involves mostly organizing. Even though I spent several months following the Fly Lady lifestyle, I am still not very organized. So the initial part of gathering everything together for taxes is hard. This year I'm back with TurboTax, which makes the math part and the forms issues much easier. Also, for the first time there's a program that calculates cost basis for stocks. Yeah! (my enthusiasm probably qualifies me for a finance geek...now I just need to make lots of money) Also, every time I open another one of the Important Tax Documents I am struck that the envelope has a direction on how to open it. Taxes are hard enough, so why do so many companies put extremely important information into oddly shaped envelopes which require a three-step process just to open them? I realize that these things save money and trees and are easier for printers. But who cares about the people who use the information? I am always terrified that I am going to tear a W-2 and have to send it in with lots of tape. Not red tape. Just tape, kind of like a Frankenstein W-2 with lots of seams that are fixed.

So I pull here, tear there, and then run my finger under another seam. Sometimes, then I cut myself and have to find a bandage. Who writes these directions? Who opens these things?