Hello, friends. It's been a few weeks since i last blogged. But while i may be blogging less frequently now, i'm still with you guys in spirit!

The job's still going. I guess it's been about 5 weeks now. (Is that all? Seems like a lot longer.) The work remains very, very interesting, and I am making friends with two other writers there, so i often have a lunchtime companion, which is nice. I like the job because I work very independently; basically, i get my writing assignments and as long as i complete them (according to various parameters, of courses) everyone seems happy.

One good thing about the job, with its associated commute, is that it keeps me from spending much during the week! I still manage to bring my own lunch in most days, though for a treat we went to Boston Market once and then a gourmet supermarket another time.

Even on the weekends, i've been relishing my R&R so much that i haven't gone out to do much spending. Though that will be changing soon. On my short list of things to do are cutting down 2 BIG trees on my property. One is a 150 foot black locust whose top branches sway back and forth with a good wind like grasses in a breeze. The tree doesn't threaten the house, but would definitely take down the electricla and phone lines going to the house from the road, and if it happened on a cold day while i was at work say, my pipes could freeze. The other tree is a single trunk evergreen with termite damage starting from the bottom up. It doesn't apapear to be in good health. I got what i thought was a pretty good price. $975 to take down the locust, which as i said is about 150 feet high with 3 main trunks, and $500 for the evergreen, a single trunk but also pretty high.

I'd gotten prices on the black locust a few years ago (it also has a crotch near the base that collects rainwater and has some rot) and as a recall the quote was in around $3,000. Probably becus that tree company was based in my hometown, which is higher priced than the town the other company is from. And also, this time year, tree companies don't get a lot of business, so i timed it right.

Anyway, i'm waiting for a callback from my sister to see if her boyfriend will take the locust tree as firewood. It's a very dense wood, and rot resistant, like cedar. I'm counting on that beccuse it saves me $$ not to have the tree company haul it away. (I don't have a fireplace.) If they had to do that, the cost would be $1400. She burns firewood all day long.

I'm proud to say I did both my state and federal taxes last weekend. I had to shgell out $1100 to the feds and $$600 to the state, due mainly to: some investments that did very well, like my International fund which threw off a huge amount in capital gains, and the fact that i don't pay taxes on my freelance income during the year.

I've done 4 freelance jobs this year, but when i finish up the last 2 i'm now working on, i'm going to tell them i can't do any more for now due to the demands of my new job. Otherwise, i'm gonna feel like i'm working round the clock, and R&R time (also known as replenish and rejuvenate) will be minimal. A big factor in that decision is how much i pay in taxes on my freelance work. I don't have any overhead so i don't claim any deductions for the office, etc. But i pay my reguarl taxes in 25% tax bracket PLUS (Moneky mama correct me if i'm wrong) another 15% in self-employment taxes). I only grossed $3500 in freelance work this past year but ended up paying so much in taxes the tradeoff in lost free time hardly seems worth it for the effort. So i will stop after these 4 jobs becus they will total $515; for freelance income under $600, the IRS won't require you to report, and the employer won't issue a 1099, so that money will be TAX FREE. But that's all i'm doing cus all work and no play makes me CRANKY!