Snow Day Part Deux

So the last snow day that hit Omaha was a bit of a bummer. For me, it was just like any other day, which meant I slept in until 11:30 and watched Netflix all day with my cat, feeling sorry for myself? Today was a new snow day.

First, I should point out that there was been way too much hype over this "Winter Storm Q". Naming winter storms is a trend that needs to end. Like now. But that's a whole separate blog. Due to all of the hype, and the Weather Channel's Jim Cantore being in town, many local schools canceled Wednesday night. So of course, this meant that there was zero snow on the ground this morning. Seriously.

My plan had been to e-mail my boss and tell him I was too scared to drive to work and was fearful for my life. However, the complete lack of snow eliminated this option. I'm glad I actually got to go to work for several reasons.
1. Being home all day at my apartment is terrible because of the children across the hall.
2. Getting paid and having a purpose for waking up in the morning.
3. Still parking on the 8th floor of the parking garage and having a bit of a snow frolic up there before going home.
4. The thrill of getting to go home early, while still feeling somewhat productive!
5. Getting to eat amazing Chinese food from The Summit (secret underground food place that I previously blogged about).

After working, I got to enjoy a special snow day meal of crock-pot turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy, that I prepared this morning and my cat supervised in my absence. The evening has been a productive blend of prepping for my class I'm teaching this weekend, and watching Thursday night TV on NBC. Not too shabby of a day.

Snow Day!

Overnight we had about 4 inches of snow fall, resulting in a snow day for most of Omaha. Me? Not impressed. Everyday is a snow day for me. Although I'm happy for all of my teacher friends and their excited Facebook statuses about sleeping in, I can't help thinking how old it is getting. Sometimes we need a reason to get out of bed and put pants on. Also, kids being off school means that all of the horrible children in my apartment complex are home all day and are being extra annoying.

The good news is that I now will have a reason to get up and put real pants on. I found some work! I'll be doing some project/contract work with a local consulting firm doing some compensation analysis. It is something I have never done before, so I am excited to learn something new and hopefully add to my professional development. The project is only expected to last 2-3 weeks, but it is better than nothing, and the extra money will be nice.

Speaking of money, I started on my tax return and it looks like for the first time in many years I will be getting a decent refund. In 2011, when I did my taxes I had five different W2s, resulting in my owning the government a pretty penny. A lot of this was due to small jobs where I made very little money and thus paid very little taxes. I also had some independent contract work where they don't take taxes out. It was awesome at the time, but it really hurt when tax season came around. This past year, for the first time in a while, I only had one W2, hence the nice refund. I wonder how many I will have in 2013? So far I have four lined up, maybe I can break my previous record. I'll just have to keep in mind to mentally prepare for the harshness of the contract work.

That's all I have for now. I'll keep you all posted when I start my contact work next Monday. I will be working downtown, which should be a fun new adventure. Very Mary Tyler Moore. I might need to buy a beret to throw into the air.

In honor of Omaha's snow day, check out these fun pictures of cats enjoying snow.