Where's Your Refund?

I found this great sheet that tells you exactly when you will receive your return - that is if you don't have any "red flags" AKA got the IRS' attention...
It is a PDF document at:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p2043.pdf

Enjoy! And I'll let you know if mine comes when they say - according to the sheet I should have mine by Friday. I did even check Where's My Refund on the IRS website and it said they are reviewing it and if there aren't any problems I should expect it by March 6. But I know that's a longer estimate just in case...

Happy Shopping America - now go stimulate that economy! I'll be paying off some credit cards.
Responsibility = no fun

Thursday Morning Funny

Cat Alerts Iowa Family to Fire Started by Goal

WARREN COUNTY, Iowa --

Firefighters believe a goat kick started a fire that destroyed a home in Warren County on Tuesday.
Three people were asleep when smoke began filling Jim and Kristi Giles' home in Warren County, between Norwalk and Indianola.
"My cat woke me up and I saw smoke coming out of my fan," said John Hadley. "My first concern was getting my mom out of the house. Because, like I said, my mom is real ill. And so that's what I did. I made sure I got her out and then I know she loves her animals, so I rounded all her animals up, and by that point, flames and smoke were everywhere."
The fire continued to rage and had nearly eaten the entire roof by the time firefighters made it to the home.
Three departments tried to fight the fire in temperatures below zero.
"It's hard on the men and it's hard on the equipment," said Kevin Dingman, Assistant Northern Warren County Fire Chief.
Firefighters had to use tanker trucks to haul in water from several miles away. They said their fight to save the house was a lost battle almost as soon as they arrived.
"Once it's fully involved like this, then it's not worth sending your fellow firefighters in for something like this. I mean the house was fully involved, and it's too dangerous to send anybody in," said Dingman.
Firefighters think the fire may have been started by one of two goats. The family kept the goats inside a shed that was attached to the rear of the house.
"They put a space heater in there for the goats to stay warm. The goats knocked it over, causing a fire," said Dingman.
The goats were rescued, and so was a family dog.
The cat that warned the family of the fire is still missing, but is believed to be safe. No one was hurt in the fire.
"The animals and the people were the most important thing," John Hadley said.
The fire department called in the Red Cross to help the family, which doesn't have insurance. A relative told KCCI-TV that a fund has been established through any Bank of the West branch to help Jim and Kristi Giles.

Hamster?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnCnRuoYMxE

I know it's not funny because of the story but hey it's a hamster people!!

Putin IS a Dancing Queen

Thanks to Sissy for providing this earth-shattering newsbreak:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02062009/news/worldnews/putins_45k_abba_obsession_153870.htm

TOO FUNNY! And I believe it - I don't care WHAT his reps say.

Dirty Jobs

Jason and I are GIANT fans of the show Dirty Jobs on Discovery. If you haven't heard of it - what rock are you living under and if you haven't watched you're missing out. So since Jason's job is filthy dirty and every night he comes home covered in paint, chemicals, glue, you name it - I decided to write in on the Dirty Jobs website that Mike and his crew should go to Jason's work. So hopefully they'll get through the other 20,000 suggestions and pick Jason's shop to go to. I would definitely miss a day of work to go watch Jason and Mike Rowe work together!!

Books I'm reading

Yes you read correctly - I am currently reading 2 books. Well, technically 3 since I just can't seem to commit to Fast Food Nation. After reading the very graphic chapter on how they "kill" the cows and string them up by their feet while they're still technically alive was just disturbing on so many levels.
But on a happier note - I am reading Cold Moutain which was part of the basket that was given to Jason and I when we checked into our hotel for Christine's wedding, thanks Christine! I started reading it and was hooked! I think I tried to watch the movie a few months ago and thought it was too slow but the book is fantastic. I can't wait for the 2 main characters to get together, which you know is inevitable when you have a story that focuses on a female character one chapter, then the next is on the male character.
But while I was in New Jersey visiting mom and dad I brought the book with me and I forgot it so I had to pick another book to read before bed. So I went to the bookshelf and found The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Turns out that this was his last book and he passed away before finishing the story. It was completed by Edmund Wilson and is a story about Hollywood and is said to be one of his best novels. One of my favorite books of all time is the Great Gatsby so I will let you all know once I've finished it. It's not a very long book but definitely interesting. I might finish it before Cold Mountain since it is a LOT shorter than Cold Moutain.