I’m feeling better today, both physically and emotionally. The first week of January, I calculated some rough estimates of what to expect come tax time, based on what I’d made in 2006. I was horrified to find that I was going to end up owing quite a bit of money to the IRS. When I finally got my W2, I put off actually doing my taxes because I didn’t want to see what the actual amount was. I cowered. I was afraid, and like an ostrich, I buried my head in the sand to avoid the reality of it. Of course, this added to my anxiety when I learned that I had lost my job – I’ve got some in savings, but it wouldn’t be enough to pay the IRS and afford the cost of living until I could find a new job.

This weekend, I decided that the only way to get through this was to just face it and deal with it, one thing at a time. The first step was to calculate exactly what I had, what I owed, and what my budget would be. Friday night I sat down and did my taxes. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was wrong (there’s a first time for everything, right?) – I didn’t owe the IRS anything. In fact, I’ve got a small refund coming my way. Things are still going to be tight unless I can find a job in the next week or two, but… It’s a huge weight off my mind to know that what I’ve got in the bank can go towards rent and bills, not back taxes.

Health-wise, I’m still feeling pretty under-the-weather, but not anywhere near what I was feeling before. I’ve had a lot of time to rest this past week, and while I’m still not 100%, I know I can get up and do the things that need to be done. And just that knowledge helps give me the strength to move forward.

While I was sick, though, I had a lot of down time where I couldn’t really do much of anything. Most of my time was either spent sleeping or watching TV. I’m sort of a TV junkie, you see. Especially when I’m in bed, and there’s not a whole lot else to do. A lot of TV out there is crap – I’ve never been one for reality TV shows. The shows that interest me are the ones that have real characters. I sometimes watch shows like CSI and its spin-offs when I’ve got nothing better to do, but they don’t really draw me in. The ones I get addicted to are the ones that have characters who aren’t two-dimensional – the ones where characters are interesting, where the show focuses more on character development than the episode-to-episode plots (not to say that plot isn’t important, of course).

So what did I watch this week? NCIS. It’s a crime show. A spin-off of Jag. I don’t care about the Navy or the crimes these people investigate, so why am I so drawn to this show? The characters. They’re all interesting, and every episode reveals a little bit more of the lives these people live and who they are. There’s Abby, the forensic scientist. Every crime show has one. But most aren’t cute, bubbly, black-lipstick-and-Doc-Marten-boot-wearing goth girls. Then there’s Tony, senior investigator on the team. A chauvinist pig who knows the plot of every movie ever made and hides the fact that he’s met the girl of his dreams and is actually a really decent guy from everyone he knows. And Tim – a computer geek with a cute-little-boy face who’s actually a best-seller novelist under a nom de plum that his co-workers only recently found out about. And Ziva – a hardcore, slightly bitchy and ruthless but kind-hearted and sexy Mossad agent from Israel working with the NCIS team. None of these characters are actually what they appear at first glance, and they’re all quite three-dimensional, which isn’t something you always see on TV.

Ok, so sorry about all the rambling about TV. What can I say? I’ve been bored and stuck in bed. I did start a new sock this weekend, though. I’m using the Sherbet I dyed up last month. I love it. I mean, I’ve loved every skein I’ve dyed up so far, but this one may be my favorite. The colors work together so well, and they’re mottled enough that I could do a semi-interesting pattern with it. The picture is actually of the first sock I tried and had to rip out because I’m stupid and didn’t make it large enough (and didn’t bother to try it on until I had already knit most of the leg). But I started over, casting on more stitches, worked it in the same pattern, and am about ready to turn the heel.

It’s really quite lovely. It’s amazing what you can create with some white yarn, some dye, and a couple of wooden sticks. I’m not working very quickly on this sock, only because I keep stroking it and staring at it. I just love it.

I do, however, have a slight dilemma. This week, I’m planning on dying up a bunch of yarn to sell to mom for her store. The intial plan was to skein up 4-oz hanks to dye and sell. The retail price on each would be about $24, which is pretty standard for hand-dyed sock yarn. However, in 4 ozs, there’s about 560 yards. The pair of socks I showed in my last post used less than 2 oz. Now, granted, they weren’t particularly tall socks, and ribbing doesn’t eat up nearly as much yarn as intricate cable patterns, but still… One 4-oz hank could plausibly yield two pairs of socks. Is it overkill to sell it in this amount? I’ve seen some dyers selling their finer fingering weight yarn (which this is) in 3 oz hanks instead of 4. Do I proceed with 4-oz hanks, or go with 3? I just don’t know. What I DO know is that I will likely make a 2-oz hank of each colorway to keep for myself. I’m greedy like that. :)