I'm rich!!!!--briefly

The good news is that my company is going to deposit $53,252 into my checking account in a couple of days. Woo-hoo! The bad news is that I then have to turn around and write out checks for $57,076 to the IRS and the state of Minnesota. But I'm at least going to take a screen shot of that deposit just to remind myself of how it felt to have tens of thousands of dollars in my checking account, however briefly.

It's all a result of the crazy tax rules that apply to expatriates. Everything the company pays on our behalf counts as income as far as the IRS is concerned, so the company has to pay a huge tax bill for us on that income. The company pays me what they owe in taxes for me, and then I turn around and pay the taxes. Oh, well. Easy come, easy go, right?

In other news, here's how we think the Wood family travel schedule is shaping up before our move back to Minnesota next summer: October break, Barcelona; Christmas break, Utah; February break, Egypt; April break, Ireland or Germany; end of school in June, Stockholm and St. Petersburg; August, Lakeville. That's a pretty good list, but there's so much more that I want to see. I guess that will have to do for now.

Okay, let me get this confession out of the way right now: Remember how I said that we absolutely, positively weren't going on any more cruises after our cruise last October, and then we ended up going on a cruise in April, but then I said we for sure absolutely, positively weren't going on any more cruises after that, and I really, really, really meant it? Ahem. Well, we might do one more cruise. I've wanted to visit St. Petersburg but figured it wouldn't work out. As I was looking at a trip to Stockholm next June, though, I discovered that the timing works out perfectly for us to head to Stockholm as soon as school is out, spend four days running around Sweden, then take a five-day cruise that goes to St. Petersburg and back. That would be a convenient way for us to visit St. Petersburg, and the kids would be absolutely thrilled to do one more cruise, even if it is only a five-day cruise. We'll see what happens. Don't mention it to Tanner and Lindsey for now.