Positive developments? #2

[jon2911]

Interesting interaction last night.

After reading Lola and Michelle's thoughts and talking to my recovery sponsor, I decided to call W and make it clear this is not what I want. I called at 10:15, and she sounded tired and headache-y. That is usually a good time to call, had worked a couple times this week, and it's much better than in the morning.

I asked if I'd woken her up, or if she had time to talk, and she said she'd had a bad day and mumbled something about 5 minutes. She's hard to understand when she has a migraine. I softened my voice and said I'd like to talk to her, and she said sharply "I've only got 5 minutes, what do you want?". I told her quickly, she said "I hear you". Then she asked about the taxes in a cold way, and I told her I'll have some answers today.

Afterwards I felt like I was walking on eggshells all over again. I go into that mode too quickly, especially when she isn't feeling well.

W then called at midnight and said "I'm sorry I was short with you. I wasn't feeling well." She was much nicer and I could tell she felt bad. I thanked her for the apology, said I'd had trouble understanding her and should have gotten to the point quicker.

She said "I was asking if it was important, and that was important, but I already know where you stand. E-mail is better for things like that."

So, my sponsor thought phone was definitely better for something like that, but I'll listen to my girls here next time

Working hard on the taxes today, comparing the difference between filing married joint and separate, and finishing her Louisiana taxes for '07 and '08. She hasn't paid the last two years on a gas well there that is her main source of income. It's always made our taxes complicated. I have three different Turbotax years open here!

I'm finding that we'd pay quite a bit more filing Married Separate because none of my education expenses or student loan interest is deductible:
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#en_US_publink100041771

However, breaking it down she'd pay $3,800 and I'd get a $1,200 return. That's because all the withholding was from my job, there was no withholding on her gas royalties.

This is why taxes have taken so long and been so aggravating for me. I've tried to be nice and not think about how much more I've paid, but I'm done with that. If we do file Married Joint I'll need her to make up that difference. If not, it might be worth it to me to file Married Separate.