And I thought I was Awesome!

Early this morning I dragged myself upstairs and spent the majority of the day locked upstairs in the computer room surrounded by mountains of paperwork and receipts and more paperwork and more receipts. I have earnestly begun the dreaded taxes. Evidently - the notion that "I AM SO AWESOME" because I did my FAFSA paperwork immediately at the beginning of the year - is incorrect. I "AM" awesome because on January 2nd I completed my FAFSA paperwork so that my younger daughter could get a financial aid package from the college of her choice. I am NOT AT ALL AWESOME because in order for FAFSA to be valid - you have to have already completed AND FILED your 2010 taxes. So all this time I was under the impression that I was awesome and all done with financial aid paperwork and amazing for being so timely when in fact I might as well not have filled out the financial aid forms at all. I have received numerous letters from the various colleges letting me know that NO I am NOT awesome. *sigh*  I am a complete and total novice when it comes to navigating the financial aid waters and evidently I am failing in that regard.  I don't like doing taxes. I really don't like paying taxes and what's more - I don't like being forced to do my taxes early in order to PERHAPS get a decent financial aid package for a college that MIGHT accept my daughter. Grrrrr. It would be so much nicer if let's say - a huge bouquet of balloons arrived and attached to the gigantic balloon bouquet was a lovely hand-painted scroll that was hand delivered by a lovely thoughtful man in a tuxedo and when he reads the scroll aloud he says, "DEAREST COLLEGE BOUND STUDENT - YOU HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED TO THE COLLEGE OF YOUR DREAMS!!!!" and THEN at THAT moment he could hand me the very small print that says, "Please fill out the financial aid paperwork that is very long and very boring and ultimately tedious in length BUT in exchange we will promise you oodles of scholarship money and grants. Sincerely, The College of Your Dreams." But instead - I get the "We are NOT going to tell you whether you have been accepted to the College of Your Dreams yet. In addition, you must fill out ALL this paperwork and send triplicate copies of every piece of paper you own and sign them and notarize them and take a blood oath and then fax them and email them and snail mail them in just the right size envelope and then MAYBE just MAYBE in another month or so, we will let you know if you have been accepted. Sincerely, the Financial Aid,  Paper Loving, Number Crunching Offices."  UGH! So yes, of course, I am upstairs working diligently on the finances. Yes, of course, I WILL get this all done ASAP. And yes OF COURSE, I am still stalking my mail carrier for news of where my younger daughter will be heading this fall. Until then, please send band-aids. I feel mass quantities of paper cuts are in my near future.