Wednesday, April 16, 2025
It is Wednesday already! That means it’s time to link up with Joyce for Hodgepodge. Sorry for the salmon photo. It’s kind of gross!
1. Do you complete your own taxes? Besides actual taxes, what’s something you’ve found taxing lately?
Tom does our taxes using Turbo Tax. I guess if ours were more complicated we might have to hire someone. I am very appreciative to Tom for doing this. We always start at the end of January or whenever we have all of our documents. We don’t wait until the last minute.
Sometimes I forget how you can pay someone to do basically everything for you. We do most of our own stuff around here. It’s exhausting sometimes!
2. What are three values you treasure most in a friendship?
Communication – that you text me back when I text you, that you “check” on me from time to time, and that you can have a good conversation with me
Sense of humor – that you can laugh with me
Shared values/interests – I really don’t care who owns what or who knows who. I do have some friends that talk about this kind of stuff but it’s not the only thing we talk about
3. Do you meal plan or do you mostly wing it? Share your dinner menus for this week.
I try to meal plan but it’s a lot – I plan dinners, my two to three lunches that I do with my meal prep partner, and my own weekly breakfast. This week it was rotisserie chicken, baked beans, taters for one dinner, salmon, roasted broccoli, roasted potatoes for one meal, and sub in a tub for one lunch. The other dinners will be thrown together from what needs to be used up. A dinner or lunch will be a Cobb salad. I also have stuff to make the rotisserie chicken, cole slaw mix, Skinny Girl poppyseeed dressing, blue cheese, and apple mixture. Breakfasts this week are three Amylu chicken sausages and a couple of eggs scrambled each morning. I threw the plan together while out of town so we will go with it!
4. Thomas Sowell is credited as saying, ‘‘There are no solutions, only trade-offs.’ Agree or disagree? Discuss.
I do think life is about choices. Sometimes I have my work life together but my home life suffers. Is that what this means? Life is a series of trade-offs. I can stay up later to watch this silly show or I can go to bed and have a better morning. I can sleep an extra 30 minutes or use that 30 minutes to tidy my house in the morning. This week I am choosing to go to bed and the benefits I am getting are worth it. One morning I did two loads of laundry before work. One morning I decluttered a few areas of the kitchen.
5. What’s the best perk you’ve enjoyed at a job?
There are literally no perks in teaching! Ha! I guess I have gotten into sporting events for free? I’m lucky if they throw a bag of Cheez-its at me every few years.
Don’t come at me and say I get “summers offs” because I also don’t get paid. They spread out my pay to make it seem like teachers get paid in the summer.
When I worked at Pizza Hut I got a free personal pan on my break.
When I worked at Talbot’s Surplus store I got a discount on clothing and I got to unpack it and see the clothing first. Hi Jennie! Remember my little stints there?
You realize that I am being satirical with this question to some extent I hope!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
I want to start wearing dresses but my legs are so cold in the mornings and in my classroom. The AC is on full blast. I also think it’s time to say goodbye to some of the dresses I wouldn’t buy today. I also have some several years old palazzo pants that I would no longer buy. They seem dated to me. So, I am having a hard time figuring out what to wear this week.
I wore this one day:
Yes, I know the sneakers ruin it. My feet and legs are barking when I am teaching full sail standing up all day.
What about you?
Do you have any hodgepodge thoughts for me?
Amy
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 
Look at you with that morning productivity! I need to go through some more of my clothes that are probably dated too. I love your friendship characteristics and am so glad to call you friend! Jenn and I were saying last night how much we love you!
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Your statement of doing things yourselves resonated with me! I feel like that is us to a large degree. Our taxes aren’t complex and the idea of handing someone else documents with our income and other personal data sounds way worse than using tax software to do them ourselves. Your outfit is cute. Can teachers in your district wear jeans any day? In our district, staff can wear jeans on Wednesday and Friday. Some weeks, they can pay money (usually as part of a fundraiser) to wear jeans all week. I’m not on staff (officially) but I follow the attire norms. I wear jeans if I sub on Wednesday or Friday.
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My husband uses Turbo Tax too and he does our personal taxes as well as each of our side businesses – I am so grateful to him!
I’d have to say my job perk is working from home and we do have a good retirement plan – if the job doesn’t kill me first – ha!!!
xo,
Kellyann
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I don’t think the sneakers ruin it at all. I just got home from a trip to Amsterdam and EVERYONE wore sneakers with everything. Dresses, dress pants, etc. I loved it. They walk everywhere (or ride bikes) but I think it looked great.
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Our taxes are not simple for various reasons and I feel better having someone else handle them. I think if you’ve never been a teacher you don’t completely get how it is always on your mind…that kid, what you need to do, what you didn’t do, etc. It’s a heavy mental load. Excited for your retirement!! The sneaks don’t bother me at all. I have been looking at dresses but haven’t purchased any yet. I also have a wedding in June and I just ordered a dress online so fingers crossed. Have a great day!
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I loved reading about what you value in friendship; I wholeheartedly agree! I love it when people check in on me as well, and to me it’s one of the most endearing things about the people I love. I love it when my friends “stalk” me like I talked about yesterday, and that they make me feel loved by doing that. I hope you have a great day, my friend! You’re more than halfway there since Friday will be a holiday!
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Mike does ours with Turbo Tax, too. He starts working on them early in January and usually has them filed the first week of February. Your friendship list is a good one. No meal planning for me…I really should! Perks? Homemade cookies for holidays!
https://marshainthemiddle.com
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I do our taxes with Turbo Tax too, I actually kind of enjoy it but they are very basic so that helps. I had to laugh at your job perks for teaching so true, the “paid summers off” in particular! Also the added perk of paying a few thousand dollars a year (Kindergarten teacher) to supplement needed supplies not provided by the district!
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I don’t ever remember having a job with any sort of literal perks either! Our taxes are so ridiculously complicated that even with an accountant I feel like I have pretty much no clue what I’m looking at when I look them over before signing. But I still help my older two file their taxes so I remember some of the very basics from when I used to do my own.
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Taxes are the worst! The comment that you are lucky if they throw a bag of cheez its at you every few years cracked me up. In a funny not funny way. Love the pink and green together in your outfit!
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The tennis shoes look just fine with your outfit…in my humble opinion. From someone who is suffering from Plantar Fasciitis right now I’d advise you wear shoes with good support when you will be on your feet all day! 🙂 Great trade-offs you came up with!
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Ain’t no shame in the sneakers! 😉 I do agree about the teachers not getting paid for summer, but I definitely enjoyed the summers off!
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You’re right about not many teacher perks 🤣last year, our district finally said if we show our badge at any sporting event (not just at our school), we get in free. You’d have thought we’d won the jackpot. Haha
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A sense of humour is a must in friendship for me too, it’s so imporatnt to have a good laugh together.
I think your sneakers look good with your outfit, stylish but comfy at the same time.
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