magid

I did the bulk of the shopping for Pesach this morning. I always forget between times how expensive it is, even without the seders. Though it can be argued that I buy too much, since I always have food left. Still, I'd rather have choices even at the end of the holiday...

The only things left to get are eggs and fresh produce. The only things I'd wanted and didn't get were eggplant spreads (the mock liver and so on), since the Butcherie was out of them (Already! It's still two weeks away!). Sigh. On the upside, I have many interesting proteins, the most interesting being a couple of kinds of French cheese I'd never heard of before (Mak' Tomi and Saint Paulin; anyone know of these?), and some ground buffalo. Plus I got some free-range organic kosher chicken; I'm curious to see if they taste different.

I've done some house stuff, getting dishes done, laundry started, and putting winter clothes away. I'm trying to convince myself that this will turn into the start of the Pesach cleaning. I should put on a timer for 15 minutes, and see what I can manage...

I finally finished the taxes. I started them back in February, but there was a nicely complicated piece that I didn't have all the information for. I finally stopped procrastinating about it, and took advantage of the free federal filing using TurboTax, which could import all the information that was so complicated, and sort it appropriately. *big sigh of relief and avoided frustration*. Actually, the filing will be tomorrow, when I have access to a printer, but all the stuff is done. Huzzah. I think the convenience will be worth paying for the state filing, too. As usual, the feds will be returning me a nice chunk of change, and I owe the state some.

other bits and pieces

Magnolias are out. So are daffodils.
Spring really points out the variations in available light, making micro-climates. One side of the street has daffodils flowering, and the other has the beginning leaves. Yards on the south side of the street move more slowly into spring, shaded by the houses, especially with the angle of the sun still not high.
The chives have already reappeared; I'd thought they'd died for good last year.
There are new white, blue, and green plastic decals on the curbs by street drains, reminding people that there's no dumping. I wonder when they were put affixed.
I rather like Strange Synergy and Gang of Four.
In my Shabbat reading, I found out that the red sculpture in Porter is only part of the original plan, which would've used the energy from the movement of the wings to make wind chimes sound on the token-buying level. It sounds neat, though I wonder whether the token-sellers would've liked it.