Angry. Angry. Angry.

I think I have a right to be angry. I think I have a right to be absolutely livid.

I finished our taxes last night. It's not good. It's bad, berry, berry bad.

And it's all because of our stupid, stupid company. I'm grateful to have had employment in this horrible economy. Don't get me wrong. But why did everything have to get screwed up?

For five months in 2008, we did not get paid. FIVE MONTHS. TWENTY PAYCHECKS (between Scott and I). It took more than a year to get that money, but we did indeed receive it. And believe you me, that was a happy, happy day in Delicious Land.

But here's the pisser, now that I've done the taxes. That money became income for 2009, even though it was earned in 2008. Now take a wild guess. What did that large sum of money do?

Yup. Put us right up into the next tax bracket.

And we get screwed again.

Not only did we have to pay a higher rate of tax, but we also did not get the full child credit. Normally it's $1000 per child. But because of our "higher income", we were only able to deduct a total of $320 for both kids together.

I should probably figure out exactly what our taxes would have been had we not received the large 2008 sum (and please understand there was no interest paid on that money). In an ideal world, I would expense the difference to the company. What's the point, though? That company, which sold all its assets and employees to the new company, has no money, so I wouldn't get paid back anyway.

Deep breathing. Deep breathing. Deep breathing. Deep breathing.