Progress

My niece is making progress, she is crawling backwards. We have to motivate her by placing toys away from her. I entertained the baby by playing with the cat. Every time the cat caught the fur ball I was swaying, the baby burst out laughing. Such a happy baby.
I went to my brother's house to do my taxes. I trust his math skills more than mine. I get a refund, enough to pay for my TV and add to my IRA account. I have not put money in that for over a year. Too poor. On the news the legislature is trying to persuade young people to our state by forgiving state income taxes for people under 30. That would be nice if I was not turning 30 this year. Though they are forgetting one thing, young people usually get tax refunds while they work away at 20% tax level. I guess job fairs and governor trips are not working as they hoped. Iowa may be a great place to settle down and raise children, but a lousy place to hold a job that pays enough to live off of.
I showed off my new shawl to my brother. I almost forgot it and drove back home for it. My brother's house is freezing. I also used up my McDonald's gift certificates I got for Christmas, my brother does not keep plenty food for company. His meals are down to an exact science. He makes plenty of money, but cheap like Dad. I closely follow my Mom and sisters' attitude with money, It sucks to be poor. My brother constantly criticizes that I spend too much money. He even had the audacity to tell me that I made plenty money, yeah right. If I lived like a hobbit in the ground, chopped wood for heat, shopped at the welfare grocery store, darned my own socks, wore filthy shoes with big holes, and never buy brand new things, I would have a huge savings account with my paychecks too.
I watched TV this morning eating store brand cereal. They had a piece about making your kids grades from C's to A's. The expert said parents need to diagnose the problem and motivate with bribes. I can't really pin down my problem with math and science while excelling in English and social studies. Maybe some kids are not meant to be straight A students in everything and excell in sports also. I can not think of a single person who could do everything. Maybe the solution is figuring out that kids are not robots. I always did my best in school, which was never good enough for Mom. I did get my best report card in college. I think that happened because I starting taking classes I actually did well in and was interested in. My second best report card happened in 8th grade. That occurred when I stopped caring what my parents thought of my report card and excelled for my own pride in earning it. But then, what do I know? I am not the expert.
It is almost time for me to hop over to work. Post later. Bye!