This year I decided to try filing my tax returns on my own, rather than pay someone to do them for me. My father’s friend has always done them for me, and while he didn’t charge much, I’d rather pay less. So, I gave TurboTax a shot. I started off working with the Basic Edition; my taxes are pretty simple, so I don’t need all of the fancy guidance features of the Deluxe Edition or Premier Edition. Paying attention to which credits and deductions I received, I filled everything out. I proceeded right up to the point of filing the return and paying the Basic Edition’s $15 fee—you don’t actually pay until you file the return. Then I went to the Free Edition, and filled everything out. The Free Edition did not lead me to all of the credits and deductions that the Basic Edition had. But, since I knew where to look, I was able to apply them in the Free Edition as well. In the end, my rebate amount for the Free Edition was exactly the same as it would have been with the Basic Edition. Naturally, I proceeded to file my return with TurboTax’s Free Edition, and the whole thing was totally free.

Filing the state tax return with TurboTax would have cost $28, but I did that on my own as well—through Ohio’s free online I-File system. It was very simple to do, and the return was the same amount as it would have been with TurboTax.

Stuck here in the frozen Midwest, I’ve been waiting to hear word on my proposal to the SITE 2010 conference, which is taking place in San Diego at the end of March. Last Friday I learned that my proposal had been accepted, and I am looking forward to the beautiful weather of sunny Southern California. Of course, I’m still looking at two months of Midwestern winter weather, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel. While I’m there, I’ll be staying with Isabel again, and I’m definitely looking forward to that. We’ve already got a growing list of things to do for times when I’m not at the conference, and it should be a great trip—both professionally and personally.

I found out a few days ago that I am a winner! The fictional Aztec Mortar unit, which I created to be used in the Civilization3 computer game, was voted Unit of the Year 2009 at the Civilization Fanatics website. The Unit of the Year competition is a showdown amongst the winners of the year’s Unit of the Month competitions; the Aztec Mortar was the February Unit of the Month winner. I was quite surprised when I received an e-mail notifying me of the honor; I hadn’t been visiting the forum for some time and was unaware that the Unit of the Year voting was underway. It was certainly a pleasant surprise. Now, should I dust off my unit-creation skills and attempt to defend my title? Hmm …

Aware that I haven’t updated my blog in a while now, I’ve been trying to think of a topic on which to write, which would bridge the gap since my last post and springboard me into more postings later. All I could come up with was a recap of what I had been up to—unoriginal to say the least. The highlight of the last month and a half was Isabel’s visit to Toledo. She came to stay for over three weeks, and it was a great time. It was certainly nice to celebrate Christmas together—on multiple occasions, no less. A little on Christmas Eve, a little on Christmas Day. The day after Christmas, we drove down to Washington, DC for a few days. We stayed primarily in the area of the National Mall, visiting the monuments and exploring the museums. Oh, it was a lot of museum time! We then drove northward to New Jersey to stay with Isabel’s relatives for a few days. We also spent New Year’s Eve in Times Square. That was definitely worth doing … once. Waiting nine hours in the cold with no food, drink, or bathroom isn’t that exciting. But, it was certainly cool being there in the minutes leading up to midnight.

Since then, Isabel has returned to sunny San Diego, and I remain in cold, wintery Toledo. The Spring 2010 semester at The University of Toledo is almost two weeks old already, and I’m working on a couple of research projects and my dissertation. My last semester at UT seems like it will be a busy one.

Last night ended the regular season of the Salad Bowl Fantasy Football League. At the end of the day, the Bugaboos, my team, finished the regular season in second place and will be heading to the playoffs! It was no sure thing either. I entered the week in fifth place, needing a win and a team above me to lose to grab a spot in the post season. It was a crazy week, and not only did one team ahead of me lose, but three teams ahead of me lost: the second, third, and fourth place teams. That included the second place team losing to the last place team and the third place team losing to a team tied for second to last. It cost them all, too, because all of those teams are now out of the playoffs. Taking their places are the teams who had entered the week fifth, sixth, and seventh. Now it’s on to the playoffs and a shot at my second title. Go Bugaboos!