Money or crap?

My work is the awesomest. I was the first one here at 7:30 this morning and found a beautiful vase and flowers on my desk with a card that said To Cali From A Plus Benefits. And our department manager had left a small box of chocolates on everyone's desk as well. I just think it's pretty awesome that they even make an effort period, when it's just another work day for most employers.

It is only 12:30 p.m., but Geoff and I have already celebrated the morning by having our taxes done. The very happy news is that we broke even. In the past couple of years the self-employment tax has had us coughing up the dough, but now that we have sort of moved away from that we are happy to not be stuck with a bill. And I got to see my baby during daylight hours.... awwwwwww. (I love my baby!)

We seem to have a lack of celebration this last year - no Christmas presents, no valentines presents, no birthday presents (actually I think Collective Soul was my birthday present, but still)... and you know, I'm not the least bit bothered, surprisingly. I guess my sweet loving husband is present enough for me! (hee hee, I'm so corny but it's Valentines Day so you can cut me a break, right?) Plus it feels kind of good to not spend a bunch of money on a bunch of crap. Because what would you rather have if it were you, money or crap? I'd take the money. ;)

So if you watched the news last night (and you live in Utah), you would have seen the story about I-15 in Utah County... it was pretty much a parking lot, a weather-related mess. People were abandoning their cars on the highway, pulling off the exits to sleep in their cars, and the frontage roads were all blocked up or closed off completely. There were people camped out at the Maverik gas station off the Highland/Alpine exit. My co-worker got caught in the mess last night - she had been in her car for about two hours (and gone the distance of only about 10 miles), when the urge to go to the bathroom hit, hard. She was near the Lehi Main Street exit, so she exited hoping to find a gas station in which she could use the commode. She is not familiar with Lehi, and was unable to see the surroundings because of the blinding wind/snow combination, so she just got behind a truck and followed it. Eventually she passed a church, and pulled into the parking lot. According to her, "there comes a time in a person's life where you just have to make the choice between peeing in your pants or going in the parking lot." So... she wrapped a big coat around herself and went in the parking lot. When she told the story, another co-worker added that she, too, had done the same thing last night, because they closed down the road that she was on while she was on it. I wonder how many people had to resort to such tactics... because really people were stuck there for hours.

Then, we had a power outage here at work just a couple of hours ago. It only lasted about 30 minutes, but I don't think there won't be a person here that won't be happy when winter is over. BUT, not to get on complaining, it's been a really great day, really. Have a happy V-day!