Yes!

To continue on my Doctor Who-themed birthday, I went through and deleted some of the other things I had on DVR that I've now seen and a couple of the things like the End of Time now that I have it on DVD, and then checked ahead on the guide for the cable, where I have Doctor Who set up as a series recording. On the 17th BBCAmerica is having a marathon that included 'Journey's End', which I really want to see and didn't manage to get on DVR. There's also a special on Doctor Who mythology already set to record...and, the fifth series premiere with the 11th Doctor called the 'Eleventh Hour'. Yay!!!

I must say, Doctor Who saved my birthday. I can barely walk on my knee (and don't know why; I just woke up like that yesterday). I won't be able to see my doctor till Monday or Tuesday, and I have to work tomorrow, so Angelica is going to take me to Walgreens to get a knee brace and crutches so I can at least make it around. I can walk if I keep my leg very, very stiff, and it feels like the back of the calf is exceedingly tight. I really haven't even been able to pick up around here because of the pain.

Then there was the discovery that--and yes, this is my fault for procrastinating so long--the Kentucky State Department for Revenue decided to take $488--which had been earmarked for my rent--out of my account today without warning, leaving me about $30 to my name. The good news is they're paid in full plus any fees...but I'll be late on my rent for the first time in a good long while, and so whereas I was looking at having some extra money next week I'll now be putting it to my rent, plus the late fee, and really have nothing left, as I'm only getting 14 1/2 hours of work at the store lately. I think I'll be okay overall. I get paid at both jobs again the 22nd and my bills will come mostly out of that. Of course I'm the one who didn't pay my taxes. But a little warning would have been appreciated, and if it had been any other day than my birthday, I'd have felt better. They are much more aggressive than the IRS, I've found.

I think I'll do my taxes tomorrow night. I probably will have to pay the state (again) this year, as my W-4s were off, but I got the federal fixed. I still owe them from last year, too, but I'm hoping that I can offset that with my refund rather than their doing the same. I can absorb one. I can't absorb two. I was just getting to the point where I could send them $75 a month each, but I guess that's moot now.

At least this has been a better year than last...but if I don't start getting some hours back at the store, I may have issues again. That stability was hard-won and even then I was still in arrears on the tax front. Nothing else is pressing. But still...there's a difference between working 28 hours a week and 14. And where I had a little cushion, I don't now. I so should have paid my rent a couple of days ago. Now it will be $55 extra since it won't be until the 8th. On the other hand, they didn't overdraught my account. So there's some small favours there.

Oh, well, it's almost the end of my birthday. It was kind of sucky. I spent it alone (although five people called, texted, or posted birthday wishes to me at least, and that was nice). I was in a lot of pain if I moved. I didn't really get anything accomplished, and I still have notes and cleaning to do. But...it was okay, all in all. And it's not the end of the world. I'll celebrate a bit with my family and I'll get together with friends at a better time, and money won't always be a problem, and in the meantime there's Doctor Who. I'll work on the notes tomorrow morning and clean sometime before Monday and I don't know, I'll survive. It's not like it's a special birthday, really, I'm turning 43. I've had better, I've had worse. But this is rather in the lower third as birthdays go. :)

You know what my best birthday present ever was, though? A divorce. Isn't that both sad and in my case wonderful at the same time? That was 1992, right before I turned 25. It seems ages ago, now. I remember I burned the handfasting cords and finally felt free. I'd have burned the marriage certificate, but it's a legal document. And right before I turned 30 I got my job at the hospital, so that was a nice one, although my friends nearly faxed a poster to the the workplace saying 'this librarian's ovaries are withering--date her'. Thank the Gods that they didn't know the fax number. It could have been worse. There was talk of my face on a bus.

It's so strange that that much time has gone by. I'm middle-aged now, older than my parents were when they divorced, when I thought they were pretty old (but hey, I was 15; they were 35; we were worlds' apart in how we thought). My mom's almost a senior citizen now.

Remember when you were a kid, and time seemed to flow so slowly, especially during summer vacations? Now it seems to zip by. I don't know if that's a factor of getting older, or if our society is just getting faster and faster, too. Do kids today find time to read six books a day? I used to. Do they spend dawn to dusk playing outside? Not anymore, I bet. I watched TV on Saturday mornings and a little during the week. Kids today play video games, watch TV, and surf the net. Do kids go outside anymore? Are they glued to their technology? Are their parents afraid to let them play except on scheduled, chaperoned play-dates? Things are so different than when I was a kid. I don't know if it's for better or worse.

Oh, well, it's 12:01 and I don't have the answers. End of birthday. But here's to a great year, even if it didn't start out the best. Good night.