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.

Things that rock about being unemployed...

I caught a little bit of depression yesterday while watching the inauguration coverage on TV yesterday. I found myself wonder how I would respond to the question "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" I'm still not sure what the answer is, but rather dwelling on negative things, I thought I would write about a more positive topic.

One thing that rocks about being unemployed is the incredible amount of support you receive from the people around you. I'm in awe over the number of people who have sent me messages of encouragement, job postings, taken me out to eat, listen to me vent, bought me drinks to drown my sorrows, it's just amazing. If you're reading this, odds are that you are one of these amazing people. Thank you.

In other news, it snowed last night and according to local news, people have once again forgotten how to drive cars. Instead, I am holed up in my apartment with a blanket, drinking coffee, and watching the 25th Anniversary Special of Les Mis. A girl could get used to this lifestyle...

In case you were wondering, my cat is in the other room. She hates musicals about French revolutions and resents me.

Check out these awesome Les Mis memes!

My cat hates that I am unemployed...

One of my favorite things about having a job was coming home and seeing how excited my cat was to see me after being away for eight long hours. She would come running to greet me at the door and purr like crazy.

This joy has been taken away from me.

In fact, my cat seems to be openly resentful about my new unemployed status.

Now that I am home almost all day, there is no opportunity for her to miss me. In addition, I seem to be encroaching on her space and daily routine. I haven't been sleeping in much, mainly because if I sleep past eight, she gets angry because I am not up feeding her. If I stay in bed, she will jump on me and try to bite me until I get up to feed her. I guess she is doing her part to keep me from falling into a deep depressive state and sleeping all day.

Whenever I am in my living room working at my computer, she either leaves the room to go sleep on my bed, or insists on getting all up in my business. For example, she has tried pushing my laptop off the table, eating my flashdrive while it is plugged in, and knocking over everything in my apartment. Does she want me to play with her? No. If I make any attempt, she loses interest and leaves the room. I can only assume she is communicating her displeasure with my being home all day and is essentially telling me to quit being a deadbeat and to go get a job.

Hopefully things get better soon, otherwise I will be looking for a therapist for us...
At least she hasn't written me a harsh letter, like this one.

IMMA EAT YOUR FLASHDRIVE!