posting, to make Laurie happy

It's amazing how time can slip by without really accomplishing anything. What all has happened since my last post of January 11th (which Laurie has tired of reading)?

• I applied for my first passport, since they will be required to drive into Canada this summer. We may be planning a trip to Canada's Wonderland.
  
• I attended a Cleveland Orchestra concert (courtesy of Allen and Cindi) and heard Dvorak's New World Symphony.
  
• I had a CAT scan and blood test for my 6-month checkup.
  
• I got results of said CAT scan and blood test, and everything looks good.
  
• I saw Avenue Q at Playhouse Square; not quite as sharp as when I saw it in New York, but still as funny as ever.
  
• Interspersed with that have been little things at home that gobble up time. Re-ripping my CDs to replace the mp3's I lost in the hard drive crash, updating my printed portfolio, reading a few books, watching a few movies, helping my parents pack up the Christmas stuff (yes, some of it is still out).

In other news, I finally was told at work that I will still be a full-time employee. Our company has merged with another publisher in Florida, and there had been talk that I might do pre-press work part-time at the print shop to keep my insurance, but freelance my graphics work. That would mean paying self-employment taxes on the vast majority of my income, filing taxes quarterly, and other fun accounting things.

I was not looking forward to that, but that threat was looming over me for several months, until this week when I was officially told to my face (rather than piecing it together through the grapevine). Instead, I will remain a full-time employee of the print shop -- which retains the same legal company name we had before -- and my graphics work will be built into the price we charge the new publisher for the printing of products. Anything that can't be tied to one specific product, such as marketing materials, can be billed out separately.

I generally avoid work topics on the blog, not so much because I'm worried about my current employer reading such things, but rather prospective employers being scared off by it. However, I do feel my employment status is significant, especially since I need to be part of a group health plan, so I figured this particular topic was fairly safe. It's frustrating to go on for months not knowing for certain what my employment status will be the next day, not knowing if I can plan for a vacation this summer, not knowing how much I will be making in 2008.

So that's what's going on with me. I swear I'll finish the Las Vegas photo journal eventually!

Edited to add: My passport arrived in the mail exactly two weeks after I applied at the post office. That's a pretty good turnaround. My picture didn't come out too bad either.