When you bring your used ink cartridges into Staples, they reward you with a $3 coupon. You used to get the coupon immediately; now you get it in the mail a month later. Still, $3 is $3, and I was able to get a 4-pack of these awesome little gel pens for only $0.49 after my coupon (they were on sale for $3.49)! Hooray for almost-free stuff!

Thank you, Mom and Lisa! Ilse loves my birthday present, and I think it looks very nice in our room.

I’m a happy birthday boy when I get my free bag of fresh tortillas from Disney’s California Adventure. This year I had a very happy birthday. I got my tortillas, and Disney bought me some t-shirts.

See, if you’re a normal person, Disneyland gives you a free ticket on your birthday. But if you’re an annual passholder like me, you already get in free on your birthday… so instead they give you a $69 Birthday Fun Card, which is just like a gift card but with TONS of terms and conditions (like, “no food” and “no discounts”). I used my Birthday Fun Card to buy a cool 80’s Mickey Mouse t-shirt and a Monorail t-shirt.

If you’re planning to get me a present for the big 2-9 on 2/9, here are some suggestions!

You can look at my whole wishlist on Amazon.com.

It’s tax time again. I yearn for the day when it’ll be simple… a year when we don’t move, for instance. This past year, we moved, we bought a house, we had a home office, Ash had more than one job… lots of things that make our taxes complicated.