Is it me, or is paperwork getting more and more ridiculous? This week I've had to:

* Get my taxes done, which has required about 3 phone calls and discussions with the accountant to try and figure out my mess of a life, what with daycare expenses, support payments et al. (And speaking of which, wanna hear something retarded? Support payments are deductible federally if mandated by a court, but not when paid voluntarily. The reverse is true provincially. Who makes *up* these rules??)

* Fill out the *twelve* forms required to get onto my company's retirement-savings plan -- and that's just so I can meet with the investment counselor.

* Fill out 10 pages of documents to sign up with E-trade so I can manage my stock-purchase plan.

It's hard to find time to actually get any work done.

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So the Expos are setting new records for ineptness in scoring runs this season, matched only by some obscure team from the 1910's... and we saw 'em play Friday night. Surprisingly, they scored 4 whole runs in one inning once to tie the game, but then fell behind again and never recovered. The kids had a good time though. In fact, they wanted to stay all the way to the end, even when *I* was ready to call it a night before the end of the 8th inning. The evening cost us a fair bit, too: Tickets, $60, food, $50, merchandise, $25, parking, $12, you get the picture. Not sure I'll go back this year, unless the 'Spos get in the hunt for a pennant, which seems pretty damned unlikely.

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Saturday we went to my niece's birthday party -- picture 12 screaming 9-year-old girls in a pool. We brought her a CD of burned tunes that we thought she'd like, with Eldest designing the front cover. It was kinda cool. The kids all danced around at the party to the likes of Britney, Hillary, Michelle Branch, Pink, etc. (hey at least we managed to sneak in a Great Big Sea tune)... I'm starting to see the future these days, what with the girls all being pre-pubescent individuals wanting less to do with their parents and more to do with the latest pop-culture idols; yikes.

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