Couch 252: Kitties and Hawks

I got my first paycheck from my new job today. It was definitely a significant bump in pay and a big difference. Now I’m worried they didn’t take enough taxes out as the pay increase should have put me into a much higher tax bracket and the calculations do not add up that way. I contacted the person who does my taxes and asked her if she would be willing to take a look at my paystub stub to see if I have to make any changes to the W4 I submitted. She said she would and told me to email it to her and she would look at it tomorrow. Good grief. I’m not trying to go to jail for fraud. Okay that’s a little over the top but I’m not trying to owe the IRS anything.

If you owe them too much at the end of the year, there's an underpayment penalty. Don't want to pay more than you have to.

Yeah. With the big raise I got it should have raised my tax bracket up 2 more tax brackets but the taxes taken out of my pay only add up to about .5% more being taken out. It has to be wrong.

Well… the neurologist thinks I have drug-induced Parkinsonism. I guess I have multiple traits (memory, tremors, soft voice, and other ones with big words). She thinks it’s the antipsychotics. She’s going to put me on a med. If it helps, it’s my meds. If it doesn’t, well, I guess more testing. I’m more looking forward to the new treatments now that my meds could really be hurting me. I want off as many as possible.

I'm so sorry, Scarlet.

That is a lot to deal with, on top of everything you're already going through.
I hope the new med helps - it seems strange to me that nobody would investigate the interactions between medications that you're taking.

Hugs if wanted,

Lost

Out of curiosity, did you claim 0 or 1 when listing dependents? It will say to include yourself, but they take more out if you claim 0. I'm not sure I'm using the correct wording, as it's been a long time since I've filled out one of those forms, but it's something like that. Also, if you have state income tax, make sure that's all filled out, too.

Source: My mom has expertise in this area, as she used to do people's taxes as a part-time job, though she's not a CPA. So she'd always have me claim 0 when I was filing (before marriage--and before I worked freelance, which is its own nightmare in terms of taxes, as I have to pay quarterly estimated taxes).

I'm really sorry, Scarlet. Is it something that could go away (or at least improve) if you stopped the medications that were causing it? I hope the other treatments will work out for you.

I claim 0. And married filing joint. I also made sure I checked the only 2 jobs box as well which means they are supposed to pull more out. Definitely filled out the state W4 as well. Hopefully my tax person can look at it today so I can make changes for next pay period.

Right, forgot about the marriage thing for a second there, sorry!

Hopefully, your tax person can take a look and figure it out. There's also an option to get more taken out--I think you can specify an amount per check (my husband recently did this to help offset my freelance income, but his company messed it up initially, and he was somehow getting *less* taken out than before!).

My last people screwed up initially and didn’t submit my state W4 to the payroll company so it took a couple pay cycles to get that straightened out. There are definitely all the proper deductions listed on my paystub just a lot smaller amounts than it seems.

I think the symptoms can go away if we figure out what med(s) are causing it. She didn’t seem to be leaning towards permanent. She really believes the new med will help with every symptom I have with this. Now, she doesn’t want me on this new med forever. She wants me off as many of my meds as I can. I guess I’m taking 3 that can cause this.

Conversation I had with a 4 year old last night before bed:

Her: Jersey when it’s my 5th birthday soon can you give me money instead of toys?
Me: Most 5 year olds want toys. Why do you want money?
Her: I want to buy a car.
Me: Oh, a car? Like a real one?
Her: Yes.
Me: (lost for words). Goodnight.

That child is going places!

She sure is! Smart kid.

Ha! Maybe she's worried about tariffs...

I don't know what to do. I had a consultation with a potential new therapist Friday. She would probably be a good fit. She seemed nice enough. But she is a she and I do have a preference for working with a male therapist for reasons that aren't 100% conscious. She's also the only person I've spoken with. I don't feel 100% capable of opening up and being vulnerable, but that may not be just this person, but more of a general feeling.

I'm feeling a lot of pressure to make a decision. I've only emailed one other person because it was overwhelming just to contact two people. That person hasn't responded. P gave me a recommendation for someone he supervised at one point, but do I want to see someone that knows who he is? I don't want to just go with the one person I spoke to as a default, but that's what I did with P and it worked out really well.

NP, you can always just do a few sessions with the one you met and get a feel for her. I think no matter what therapist you chose it’s going to be difficult to trust and be open with someone new. You don't have to commit to anyone just yet. Maybe if you just try out one at a time for a few sessions it will make it feel less overwhelming.

This would be my suggestion, too, NP: to just try out the one, see how it goes, and if it doesn't feel right, check into someone else. That's how I've generally done it (including the time I temporarily terminated with Dr. T years ago and a couple times when i was considering it).

I agree that it will likely be difficult to trust and feel at ease with someone at first. I wouldn't expect an instant connection. But if you feel an instant aversion, that's something to listen to (something beyond "She isn't P," as I imagine you'll feel that no matter who you meet with at first, NP).

I feel for you, NP. It’s so hard when you’ve been used to someone for so long to allow someone else in the same role. It’s also hard to know someone still exists, but you don’t have access to them. My only advice is be gentle with yourself, and trust yourself.

Hi Couch,

I've been waiting for my colleague to confirm dates for the next block of adult writing workshops.

She emailed today - the next series starts on my birthday, which is fine...but it encompasses the June edition of Hell Week.

That's going to be fun...

I'm not good at hiding how I'm feeling these days.

Lost

Hugs, Lost...

Thanks LT,

I'm always surprised that I am still taking this one day at a time.
How's D feeling now? Hope you had no symptoms!

Hugs,

Lost

Is everyone still sleeping off their St Patricks’s Day bender?

I was today years old when I learned that if you forget to put the peanut butter in the cookie dough before rolling them into balls and putting them on the cookie sheet, don’t then add the peanut butter. It got messy.

Crazy how quiet things get around here. The stretches of no couch activity are getting longer.

That’s fine, no one to see me put my shoes on the couch.

I have a former student making a career change. He told me he was going into psychology. I asked why.

Stopdog will appreciate this—he said, “No math.”