A Busy Wednesday and A Look Ahead

Yesterday was a very busy one, and if you had walked into our computer room around noon, you wouldn't have been able to walk in very far. I had all of my under-desk materials pulled out and scattered across the room, the old carpet protection mat was pulled out and on the floor in the nearby den, and I was wrestling the new mat into place. After another three hours, some shaping of the sides with my heavy-duty cutters, and a serious re-arrange, my space now has a new carpet protector in place, a tilt platform for my feet installed in place, and a small back runner from the old plastic at the back end, extending the new sheet another foot and covering carpeting that's seriously worn. Job well done! 

I had asked for a new chair mat for a holiday gift. My old
one of more than a decade was cracking and not doing a
very good job of protecting any more. DH got me a low-end
one which probably won't last more than a year or two, but
it's a vast improvement. 

One of the best things about yesterday was finally getting a chance to talk with Aearwen once again. The holidays really poked holes into our normal "every Wednesday" schedule and we had managed a single week out of the past five! It was a relief to catch up with her life and the happenings she and her family members had experienced over the holidays. I'm hoping we're back onto a regular schedule once again because that long December gap was just TOO long. 

I hate dealing with the government, and the entity where we file
the W2 and W3 forms is not exactly small-business friendly. But
I manage every year, and I'm sure I'll manage this year too. Argh! 

DH and I are hip-deep in income tax preparation and forms. We have to have most of the shop stuff complete by the end of the month - the W2 and W3 forms have to be prepared, filed and distributed. It's always very stressful but I'm also pretty happy when we've got it done. It's more the "deal with governmental hoops - stand here, jump this high, and sacrifice to the right God" that makes filing the forms a bit tricky. If we were a large employer we would hire a firm to do our payroll and payroll taxes, but we're not. We're tiny and it makes no sense to hire out. So once again I'll learn how to speak Government - a totally different language than English. 

Cyndi Lauper has been a well-known musical artist for many
years, but last November she was presented the first
"High Note Global Prize" by the United Nations for her
work to prevent and end homelessness among LGBTQ youth. 

I'm looking forward to Project Runway tonight. We sent our youngest contestant, Alan Gonzalez, back home to Houston, Texas, a couple of weeks ago, and last week Tyler Nesloney went back to Jersey City, New Jersey. I'm making no guesses about who will be sent home tonight, but Cyndi Lauper will be the guest judge, and I adore her. It should be a fun episode. I have no idea what the design challenge is, but I'll be sharing with you tomorrow. 

Tyler Nesloney caught everyone off guard when
he asked this question of host Karlie Kloss last
week. It was a true open-mouth and insert foot
moment, but he turned it into something good
in the end. 

On a final note, after Tyler Nesloney's "shade" from last week's episode, he put together a limited run of T-shirts featuring the words that caught everyone off-guard. With a price of $35/each and half the proceeds going to the Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBTQIA youth, the shirts sold out within a day. At least something good came out of all of that shade. 

And, I'm out of here. Have a wonderful Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow with my Project Runway breakdown.