Pre-Valentine's Dinner

Tonight we attended what is affectionately known as the Wyco Valentine's Dinner at the dining hall. We tried to dress up a little, with resulting non-coordinated shades of red. But with the lights down low, table cloths, and good friends around, it wasn't half bad. We enjoyed some classical guitar and then some fun songs by our colleague Brian. Some were serious, some were silly. Try to decide which this was:

Final Proof

No, I don't mean final proof that there is a God or that we have monkey ancestors or that washing machines do eat single socks.

I mean final proof, as in, the last round of copy editing is done on the next Ethnologue. I just saw those words on a tiny post-it note written by our chief editor slapped on the top page of a giant pile of dog-eared pages.

It may go to the printer next week, and then in 6-8 weeks we'll have the 16th edition. It seems like just yesterday we went through this process, but, thanks to my blogging memory/history, it was indeed four years ago.

Reviewing Receipts

It is that time of year when I have to go through all the financial records from the previous calendar year and get ready to do the taxes. I fastidiously save every receipt and check carbon, but sometimes I wonder why.

Today I took all those credit/debit card receipts and put them into a tidy pile so I can pack them away. One thing I observed was that receipts printed on that thermal paper fade within a year. It was an interesting experience to quickly review how I spent my money last year.

• We went out to eat quite a bit (I blame Andrew and Laura for that :-)
• Walmart and Taco Bueno are my favorite places.
• I had forgotten I loaned someone $1000!
• I had hired someone to do some yardwork and I still notice their work every day when I walk to work.
• I bought a lot of stuff to celebrate David and Sarah's wedding--money well spent.

Now I have a big confession to make. Even though I keep all my receipts, I've fallen off the wagon when it comes to balancing my checkbook. For years I hassled my kids for not balancing theirs, but now I've given in to their slovenly ways. I don't write anything in my paper check register any more, and I just frequently look on line to make sure everything basically looks right. This step into laziness happened in November when I tried and tried and tried but could not find a 10 cent error in my checkbook. So, I gave up. Then I decided if my kids don't need to balance their checkbooks, why should I???