re: the government

The theme of this weekend is Jumping Through Hoops for the Government. That would include A) our taxes, which we are fearlessly wading through this weekend and B) our green card interview, which is scheduled for Monday in Charlotte.

As you know, we spent last year "free-lancing" (read: poor), which means we didn't have an employer splitting taxes with us and are crunching numbers this weekend to see how much we owe the IRS. Well, to be honest, Ben is doing the number crunching, while I read magazines and provide moral support from a nearby couch.

We are deducting everything under the sun to bring down our tax bill. And I mean everything. Cell phones. Printer cartridges. The rent on the guest room, which served as my office last year. (Did you know that you can deduct any decorative plants in your home office??) And if you have any ideas on other deductions we can take, kindly let us know. We are big fans of Turbo Tax at the moment.

We are also prepping for our green card interview on Monday morning. We have no idea what to expect, but we are taking anything and everything that proves we have a "shared life." We've even been told to bring photos documenting our life together. Which is a bit of a challenge since neither of us are very good about taking photos. The album I'm assembling for our interview consists mainly of our honeymoon and Daisy the Dog. Daisy sleeping. Daisy running. Daisy wreaking havoc. Nothing says legitimate marriage like a naughty little dog. Isn't that right?