Thing the first: My kidneys continue to hate me. I drank glass after glass of water to flush out a stabbity pain last night. Which means I didn't sleep particularly well, as I kept having to get up for the bathroom. I feel better this morning, though. After I warm myself up with some herbal tea, I'm going to continue waterpalooza, just in case.

Thing the second: I am getting a much needed haircut on Thursday. I've started attacking my own split ends with scissors and rather than end up with a Dumb and Dumber haircut, I am seeing a pro. I am also resolving to treat my hair better-- sticking with one color and only dyeing the roots for half a year has really helped a lot, but the ends are still a little dry and paintbrush-y. I'm gonna cut off about 2 1/2" to get that gone, then do a weekly deep condition. NightBlooming makes some hair salve that's popular with peeps from long hair forums, and they're fanatical about their hair. I say that's a good place to start. I will review.

Thing the third: Zzzzzzt, for real. I have gotten crappy sleep all week. I do not like this, Sam I am.

Taxes are done. Surprised in that I get a return this year, albeit a small one. I'd expected to owe, but the deductions I had for start-up costs combined with student loan interest just eeked me past the "owed" border. I filed through Turbo Tax and it probably cost more than going to H&R Block or somesuch, but that's the price you pay for convenience. While I'd paid about $50 to file in years past, I had to upgrade to the personal business model this year. Even so, when my return is deposited, I'll still see a meager net gain.

I feel so responsible.

Now, to set up quarterly payments, as self-employment will be my primary income in 2009.

Dream #1 - The dream within a dream. I dreamt that I'd just found out I was pregnant. The news made me nervous, but I was fine with it. Anyhow, in the dream, I "woke up" and reached over to shake Jason awake to tell him the news. He was all, "mmmhmmm, that's nice, honey," then went back to bed. And that was the end of that. But then I woke up for REAL worried that I had in fact woken my boyfriend up to announce my pregnancy. Upon inquiring in the morning, I had not. On the plus side-- while there's a slim to none chance I am currently pregnant, dream!me was dealing just fine. I think this bodes well for the future. Also, I blame this dream on the approximate 15% of my friendslist who are either currently up the spout or recently had a child.

Dream #2 - A stress dream that I have from time to time. While my reaction upon waking was "really? I am still having this goddamn dream?" I realized that I'd made a lot of progress in the dream and was taking the upper hand. There was of course residual emotional ickiness, but overall-- I made the decision that was right for me and I made it far before I had no other option. I was no longer the victim; I was in full control and setting my own terms. It was theraputic and reassuring. Go team subconsious.