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Today my BRILLIANT husband found out that he was accepted to his top choice in business schools! WOOHOOOO! I expected nothing less, but it is nice to get reinforcement from those outside beings who have control over our lives. We have both spent most of today emailing each other pitifully cute emails telling each other that he has been accepted to his top choice in business schools.
They go a lot like this:
husband- I was accepted to b-school! tee hee!
me- I know! We DO have a future! Tee hee!
husband- hee hee hee.... ha ha... giggle giggle...
And then I got a phone call from my mother-in-law who wanted to call and rejoice over the phone about her son's acceptance to b-school! And then she reminded me that now I could commence supporting him for two years.
Oh right. Still excited, not dampened too much.
Hurray for my BRILLIANT husband!
Monday, January 31, 2005
Friday, January 28, 2005
no taxes on boobs
an example from today's emails from my dear law school pals... one of the girls emailed around the article below. ummmm, wait, there's no tax on cosmetic surgery? How did I not know this? I have to pay tax on bread and cookies, but not a boob job? What is this world coming to?
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Nip, tuck and ... tax? Lawmakers trying to plump up the bottom line are considering a "vanity tax" on cosmetic surgery and Botox injections in Washington, Illinois and other states.
Plastic surgeons and their patients say the idea is just plain ugly. "It makes no sense. Where does it stop — massages, facials, teeth cleanings?" asked Karen Wakefield, 51, who has had a nose job, dermabrasion, liposuction, tummy tuck and breast lift — plus a little Botox here and there.
"Even having a baby is elective surgery," added Wakefield, an event planner in Woodinville. "Why not tax that, too?" The Washington state senator who proposed the tax said she has never gone under the knife for beauty, but wouldn't rule it out.
"I, too, look in the mirror and see my mother," said Seattle Democrat Karen Keiser, 57. But she thinks cosmetic surgery patients can afford the state's 6.5 percent sales tax. She wants to earmark the money for poor children's health insurance.
"We could do Botox-for-babies parties. It might be the new thing," Keiser said. "Anyone who can afford the money for cosmetic procedures, I don't think they would be deterred by a little sales tax. You pay it on your lipstick."
The tax would not apply to reconstructive surgery for, say, burn victims or women who have undergone mastectomies. In September, New Jersey became the first and so far the only state to tax plastic surgery, at 6 percent. The tax is projected to bring in $25 million a year.
In Illinois, the state comptroller has proposed a 6 percent tax on cosmetic surgery to create a stem cell research institute. If the Legislature approves, the question could be put to the voters in 2006.
In California, the very capital of cosmetic surgery, such procedures are tax-free. The cosmetic surgery tax is a cousin to the "sin taxes" many states slap on drinking, smoking and gambling during tough budget times.
"In this anti-tax climate, these user-based, selective tax proposals are more palatable than broader ones," said Bert Waisaner, tax policy analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons frowns on this new wrinkle, calling New Jersey's law a "dangerous precedent." Seattle surgeon Dr. Phil Haeck noted that 86 percent of cosmetic surgery patients are women. "This is an unfair tax on women," said Haeck, editor of Plastic Surgery News. "The bulk of the people who have procedures are not financially upper-class women. They've saved hard, and this is about restoring their self-esteem."
Wakefield, for one, wants people to know she paid for her own nips and tucks. "I'm not married to some rich guy," she said. "I worked my butt off for this."
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Nip, tuck and ... tax? Lawmakers trying to plump up the bottom line are considering a "vanity tax" on cosmetic surgery and Botox injections in Washington, Illinois and other states.
Plastic surgeons and their patients say the idea is just plain ugly. "It makes no sense. Where does it stop — massages, facials, teeth cleanings?" asked Karen Wakefield, 51, who has had a nose job, dermabrasion, liposuction, tummy tuck and breast lift — plus a little Botox here and there.
"Even having a baby is elective surgery," added Wakefield, an event planner in Woodinville. "Why not tax that, too?" The Washington state senator who proposed the tax said she has never gone under the knife for beauty, but wouldn't rule it out.
"I, too, look in the mirror and see my mother," said Seattle Democrat Karen Keiser, 57. But she thinks cosmetic surgery patients can afford the state's 6.5 percent sales tax. She wants to earmark the money for poor children's health insurance.
"We could do Botox-for-babies parties. It might be the new thing," Keiser said. "Anyone who can afford the money for cosmetic procedures, I don't think they would be deterred by a little sales tax. You pay it on your lipstick."
The tax would not apply to reconstructive surgery for, say, burn victims or women who have undergone mastectomies. In September, New Jersey became the first and so far the only state to tax plastic surgery, at 6 percent. The tax is projected to bring in $25 million a year.
In Illinois, the state comptroller has proposed a 6 percent tax on cosmetic surgery to create a stem cell research institute. If the Legislature approves, the question could be put to the voters in 2006.
In California, the very capital of cosmetic surgery, such procedures are tax-free. The cosmetic surgery tax is a cousin to the "sin taxes" many states slap on drinking, smoking and gambling during tough budget times.
"In this anti-tax climate, these user-based, selective tax proposals are more palatable than broader ones," said Bert Waisaner, tax policy analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons frowns on this new wrinkle, calling New Jersey's law a "dangerous precedent." Seattle surgeon Dr. Phil Haeck noted that 86 percent of cosmetic surgery patients are women. "This is an unfair tax on women," said Haeck, editor of Plastic Surgery News. "The bulk of the people who have procedures are not financially upper-class women. They've saved hard, and this is about restoring their self-esteem."
Wakefield, for one, wants people to know she paid for her own nips and tucks. "I'm not married to some rich guy," she said. "I worked my butt off for this."
Griffs
the two little monsters, Tango on the left and Murray on the right.
See? Cutest dogs in the whole world.
why I loved law school
I have a group of fabulous friends from law school, 4 women who scattered to all parts of the country after graduation, and we try to get together a couple of times a year even though scheduling is hard. I am not exaggerating when I say these girls are truly awe-inspiring. They are each talented beyond words, funnier than anyone I know, really beautiful and extraordinarily brilliant.
I know that part of the reason I loved law school was because of these girls. I also loved my classes and many of the rest of my classmates and our pass/fail grading and the extra time that being in school gives you, but man, these girls crack me up.
I have to tell you about them because lots of what I write about will inevitably come from them. They are just too funny and insightful not to share with the rest of the world!
I know that part of the reason I loved law school was because of these girls. I also loved my classes and many of the rest of my classmates and our pass/fail grading and the extra time that being in school gives you, but man, these girls crack me up.
I have to tell you about them because lots of what I write about will inevitably come from them. They are just too funny and insightful not to share with the rest of the world!
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Moving
My husband, two dogs and I lived in New York last year and after lots of discussing decided to move to Boston (where we went to school, where he's from) this past summer. Since we were already making the move from the Big City, we decided why not take the leap and move to the suburbs. It made perfect sense at the time, we could afford a house, we'd have a yard for our two pups, we could get a car, invest money, blah blah blah. We kind of didn't think about whether it would be a shock to go from Manhattan and our beautiful but massive doorman building with the grocery store and dry cleaning in the basement and the subway half a block away, to a quiet little colonial in a quiet little neighborhood with very quiet neighbors.
I do love our house and our neighbors and our town and our life, but lately I have felt a need to chat away in a journal type form. I spend all day using my brain, so this is more of a venting forum, and a place to post nonsense.
So here we go!
I do love our house and our neighbors and our town and our life, but lately I have felt a need to chat away in a journal type form. I spend all day using my brain, so this is more of a venting forum, and a place to post nonsense.
So here we go!
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
my lovely husband
We live outside of Boston, and if you've seen the weather reports this past week or so, you've seen that we've broken records for the most snow in one month in the last 113 years. I am super excited that we moved back for this event, of course. I know that what is adding to my trauma over all this snow is that we have moved into a house as opposed to an apartment and now we have to shovel. Or I should say that my lovely husband shovels when he is home and when he is gone I have to do it. During our blizzard of last weekend he shoveled and used the snowblower several times and I was immensely grateful. But his thoughtfulness doesn't end there.
This Monday morning, at 4:30 am, when the taxi driver arrived to pick him up and take him to the airport, he realized that after our record snowfall and his snow-clearing job, the plow had pushed snow into our driveway again and when I woke up later that morning I was going to have to shovel. So what did he do? In a suit, in the dark, with his work shoes on, in single digit temperatures and the taxi waiting, at 4:30 AM, he grabbed the shovel and cleared the driveway for me again so that I could sleep for 20 minutes longer.
That, my friends, is true love.
This Monday morning, at 4:30 am, when the taxi driver arrived to pick him up and take him to the airport, he realized that after our record snowfall and his snow-clearing job, the plow had pushed snow into our driveway again and when I woke up later that morning I was going to have to shovel. So what did he do? In a suit, in the dark, with his work shoes on, in single digit temperatures and the taxi waiting, at 4:30 AM, he grabbed the shovel and cleared the driveway for me again so that I could sleep for 20 minutes longer.
That, my friends, is true love.
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