I woke up this morning with a pit of dread in my stomach.

Never before in my life had January 31st held such foreboding.  But January 31, for those of you not “in the know” (which included me until last year) is the deadline for issuing 1099 forms.  As I run a small company’s business office, it falls on my shoulders to undertake such a task, and if I am being honest, I have been procrastinating like a high school senior working on a thesis.

I mean, I have been panicking about this project.

And instead of just diving in and tackling it (at which point I would have realized it was nothing to get myself all worked up about) I kept staring at the stack of papers and the online QB account with complete and utter fear.

Silly girl.

On the up side of the whole thing, it taught me (once again) that the unknown isn’t really that bad.  It’s just unfamiliar.

But the other thing, is that it feels as though it was just yesterday that the man and I were plane-hopping back from Indianapolis, and now, it’s practically February.  And the man is far, far away on business and won’t be home until  … well, not that long actually, but to me, it feels like forever.

When did time start to slip by like this?  And ~ on that note ~ if time goes by so fast, why doesn’t my savings account balance grow exponentially every time I check it? (A little voice in my head is saying, “A watched pot never boils …” but must I listen to it now?)

I popped the 1099 forms and the missive to the Federal Government (aptly given another number, because clearly, it must be distinguishable from all the other forms that exist) into the mailbox before 5pm and headed over to Parc, Steven Starr’s french bistro on Rittenhouse, to meet up with my boss and our restaurant’s GM and Exec Chef to try out some Pork Milanese.

I took a moment, as I sipped Sancerre and noshed on the truly delish pork, and thought that unknown obstacles were bound to challenge me periodically.  The man being gone, a new puppy, chewed sunglasses (grr Lucy!!), tax forms, new restaurant development, schedule changes, unexpected expenses, a dead truck in the driveway, a baby gate that the dog systematically knocks down every.day. … the list goes on.

But really, it’s not that bad. I have a man who loves me no matter what, one of the cutest pupsters in the whole world, great landlords and neighbors who come to the rescue when needed, a boss and co-workers who make work a lot of fun most of the time, and the best friends and family in the world.  Thank you Ikir, for reminding me.