My Life
I’m sure you have no desire to read about the minutiae of my everyday life, but surely interesting things happen on occasion. And if they don’t well, perhaps I have intriguing stories to tell that simply don’t fall into the other categories on my site. Inside, you might find stories on personal finance and being a Midwestern transplant in CNY.
Sartorial Stitchery Becomes raevenfea: Simply Stitchery
Just a heads up out there: Sartorial Stitchery has moved to its own domain. raevenfea.com For those of you who don’t follow my stitchery adventures, nothing has changed in your world. For those of you who subscribe to the Omnibus RSS feed and do like reading about my sewing stuff, unfortunately you’re going to have … Continue reading … Continue reading TurboTax Free vs. Freedom, 2010 edition
Last year, I posted “Don’t Let TurboTax Free Edition Fool You—You Probably Want FREEDOM Edition,” and it is one of the most often viewed posts on this site. Here’s the update for 2010. In short, before you try the Federal Free Edition, make sure you don’t qualify for Freedom Edition, which will allow you to … Continue reading … Continue reading 2011
Re-
solve
I’m not a resolution-maker. In the past, I’ve never made resolutions that lasted beyond 00:01 on January 1. But, as I approach the quarter-century mark in June, I’ve realized I have a problem I need to solve. Or re-solve, as it’s only been problematic in the past few years. So, I don’t think of these as resolutions so much as problem-solving strategies. … Continue reading You just got a 2% pay increase! Use it wisely.
…well, kind of, sort of. On Dec. 17, Congress agreed to extend many of the Bush-era tax cuts, which is generally pretty awesome in the more-money-in-my-pocket way but not so much in the holy-staggering-national-debt-increase-Batman! way. In addition to the extensions is what I’ll call Making Work Pay 2.0 (officially the Tax Relief Act)—a employee payroll … Continue reading … Continue reading Gilding the Glass Ceiling
Recently, I’ve been working on a project that deals with a lot of statistics. Many of the statistics I’ve come across in my research have lacked reference to any supporting data. Others had data that were—at best—questionable. I suspect that some of these statistics were blatantly untrue, but that seems to be a trend in modern “reporting.” At the same time, I’ve seen an abundance of stories harping on the glass ceiling for women. Stories about the injustice of vast pay differences between women and men in the workplace. Every story I’ve read is promoting fallacy. … Continue reading Shakespeare in OP
I’m not really a theatre nerd, but I am a bit of a history and language nerd even if I have very little background in either. And like any liberal arts-studied girl, I do have an appreciation for The Bard. So, I am totally in nerd lust with the University of Kansas right now*. Why? They’re putting on a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the original pronunciation (or as near as we can glean it sounded based on research of dialects and rhyming schemes). … Continue reading Saving “Special” For a Rainy Day…
…that is exactly 74ºF at noon with partial sun from 1 pm–2:05:47 pm and a temperature drop to 72º after 4:16 pm. Do you save things that are “special,” planning to use them when just the right opportunity comes along? Especially things that have “unspecial” versions that you use more often? I do. Or, did. No, still do. But, it’s one of those things that I’m working on as part of the decluttering process, because when it comes down to it, those things are both physical and mental clutter. … Continue reading Apple Festival 2010 Photos
Last Saturday, we made the 2.5 hour drive down south to Montrose, PA for the Apple Festival Bike Races. The day couldn’t have been more beautiful; it was in the 70s and sunny. Carl raced the short, 13 mi. Cat 5/Citizen race because he has yet to register for a USCF license. There was also a longer course for the categorized racers. See the photos. … Continue reading Rebuilding My Closet
Two weeks ago, I talked about the beginning of my journey to clean out and revitalize my wardrobe. The purging has been done, but now the task of rebuilding it has begun. It all started with the concept that life will be better if I have less stuff. Compared to some people, I didn’t have a lot of clothes, but I had more than I need and far too many that didn’t fit right or that I never wore. So, those items are gone. But, now I have fewer clothes than I need, thanks to the not fitting right bit. Or, I should say, I don’t have the right clothes that I need. … Continue reading Remembering my Grandparents
This year has been a difficult one. I lost two of my grandparents in the first half of it. It seemed like every time I visited my family, I had to turn around and fly home two weeks later for a funeral. They’re both greatly missed, as are all of my other grandparents that have passed away. With all the renovations I’ve been doing on this site and the content I’ve been putting out, I’ve been reminded how much they taught me—much of which is vital to the topics I write about here. So, here’s a post in memory of my grandparents, and a little more about the lessons they instilled in me. … Continue reading
