7QT: Blogs, Sex, and Taxes...Oh My!

Happy 2019!! Linking up with Kelly for Seven Quick Takes Friday....

1)

Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear blog, happy birthday to you!

 I hope to keep blogging through this year, as it will be 11 whole years this month that I've typed our family's memories in this little space.  Each year I make a book from this blog, and hopefully one day my kids will appreciate the yearly "scrapbooks" their mom took the time to create.  Or at least they can pull it out for the therapist to explain exactly how I ruined them ;)

2)

Speaking of ruining them, we had a funny/awkward Christmas incident this year.  A while back, Phil and I had bought this book to help us have "The Talk" with our kids when they were ready.  I read it when it arrived, and then put it on the top shelf in our closet to be able to pull out and discuss with each child who was of age.  Well, surprise to nobody, I forgot all about it.  

During the last few months, I was storing some Christmas presents up in our closet.  When the day came to wrap everything, Phil collected all the gifts and brought them to me whereupon I wrapped them all and then he transported them back to their hiding spots. In the pile of gifts for me to wrap was the book I had bought years ago.  I figured Phil wanted me to gift it to one of the kids, so I thought Maggie, who just turned 11, was the most likely candidate.  I had previously tried to start talking with her about how babies were made at our last vet appt (the question came up about spaying dogs) and she had loudly told me "I'M NOT READY TO KNOW THIS YET!!"  Thinking maybe enough time had passed since then, I included the book with her gifts and both Phil and Maggie were very surprised when she opened it.  He didn't realize he had given it to me to wrap and I didn't realize he didn't want me to give it to her without discussing the plan of attack for "The Talk".  

Oh well!  Maggie read the book on her own before the day was over and then came to tell me.  The following conversation took place:

Maggie:  I finished that book.  It was so awkward.

Me: Do you have any questions?  You can ask me anything.  Do you understand where babies come from?

Maggie:  Yes.  But do people really do that?  It's so disgusting!

Me:  Well, when you're married and in love, it's not disgusting.  It's actually beautiful!  It's God's design!  You'll understand when you're older.

Maggie: (face growing pale) Wait.  Wait.  Do you mean that you and Dad did that SEVEN TIMES?!?!

Me:  (trying not to laugh) Yup.

3)

Guys, can you believe we did *that* seven whole times?  Hahahaha!

4)

While we're talking about sex...

Andrew had his 14 year old physical last week and had to fill out a questionnaire.  I was in the other exam room with Maggie and Declan for their annual physicals, and Andrew came in to get me because he didn't understand a question on the form.

The question read:

Are you sexually attracted to BOYS or GIRLS?

He didn't understand the term "sexually attracted to" so I just said it meant did he "like" boys or girls, to which he responded "girls" and circled that answer.

I was a bit peeved that my 14 year old had to answer that question at all, but then I realized the form was the same one given to both boys and girls, which made me feel better, but also MYOB about my innocent 14 year old's non-existent sex life.  Ugh.

I guess my point here is that being a mom is like having constant sex/morals pop quizzes.  You wake up not knowing if you're going to be explaining puberty, sexual attraction, or where babies come from.  FUN!!

5)

I'm chomping at the bit to get our W-2s for 2018.  Doing taxes is like my favorite!!!  I just use TaxAct online, it's simple and cheap.  If you get Ebates, you can get an additional 10% off the cost too!  See?!  Taxes ARE fun! And this year, with the Standard Deduction for married couples at $24000 (almost doubled from 2017) and the Child Credit doubled to $2000 per kid under age 17 (all seven of mine qualify), our refund should be nice and fat.  

6)

Which is good because I have a house project list that's pretty long:

-  New carpet on the stairs

-  New family room couches

-  New rug in Maggie's room

-  White cabinets in kitchen

-  Wall mounted AC units

And some other big ticket items:

-  Third car for JP to drive

-  Braces for Eamon

But our 2 year goal is to have 50% of our yearly income in savings.  So that's probably where the refund will go (maybe I'll allow us to spend 10% of it on some of the list above?!?).  It's tough being the boring, reliable, accountant when I really want to be the fun, exciting, spender.

He gets me.

7)

And what would a 2019 post be without a little mention of New Year's Resolutions?  I tend to want to change all.the.things to make me a better person all at once, then burn out, then do nothing.  So I'm only committing to a couple of resolutions this year:

Run 1000 miles in 2019
Run a Half Marathon (signed up for one on St. Patrick's Day!)
Pray a Rosary in the car before any music goes on
Weekly Adoration hour
Eat more fruits and veggies (I'm good with veggies but barely touch fruits)
Floss regularly

What are you trying to do in 2019?

Have a wonderful football playoff watching weekend, and may any team that can beat the Patriots lose quickly :)