Death and taxes

I suppose Good Friday is not the day to talk about money ...

I got a happy surprise in the mail yesterday: my state income tax refund. It's not that much, but it is still nice to get it back. It went right into the Money Market. I did not take all the refund back, because -- now that I am considered self-employed as far as the books and the teaching go -- I am supposed to pay quarterly based on my estimated income. There is no way to estimate it, so I just leave some on deposit with the state to cover what might be due. The federal government situation is the same, and I let them keep several hundred dollars on my account to protect me for next year's taxes. So no refund from them at all this year.

John, Judi and Matt came up from Illinois for the long holiday weekend, and they came over for pizza last night. Today Matt will help me put the price tags on all the stuff at the store while his parents and Tom do track work or something.

On a sadder note, I saw that Mena, Arkansas was hit by a tornado. The Carmelites at Marylake used to say Mass there sometimes, and I remember driving through Mena back in 1973 when the novices were on a trip to visit the friars and nuns in Oklahoma.