Thanks to all

Thanks to any person who has taken time out of their busy day to read this blog. I really do appreciate it.

Some of you out there in blogland have really been inspirations to me and to many others.
And I thank you for it.

I'm not sure when I will be blogging again. But it has been a really nice experience. I like having the picture records of places I've been to and a reminder of things that I've done.

Powhatan, VA

After reminiscing about my 4th of July memories, it dawned on me that while talking about places where I used to live, I had never mentioned Powhatan, VA. That's because for the two years that I lived in Powhatan County, I always felt as though I was still living in Richmond, VA. And that's probably because I was only about 5 miles from one of the Richmond area malls and I always drove into Richmond everyday to go to work. I hardly

ever drove into Powhatan. I think that for the two years that I lived there I maybe drove there once and that was because I wanted to see what it looked like. Actually, Powhatan could hardly be called a town. The one thing that I remember the most was the Courthouse. Most of Powhatan was the county. It was a pretty rural area.

I lived in an absolutely wonderful house! I used to say why would I ever need to go to a resort? Everything that would be at a resort was at the house! Let's see, we had a pool, set beneath a huge bay window with a view looking out to the woods behind us. It was GORGEOUS!!! And then there were the fields for the horses, so that when I stepped out onto the deck, I could see them grazing in the field. The Powhatan house was without a doubt the nicest house I have ever lived in! Tom and I had thought about buying it when our lease was up (we had a 4 year lease), but unfortunately, the owner was going through a divorce and his wife got the house in the settlement and since she wanted to move in there, we had to move after only being there for two years. The lease had a clause wherein either side could end it as long as 3 months notice was given. So....there you go!

But thank goodness I got to experience it! And Christmas.....wow.....I was finally able to decorate a house for Christmas the way I had always dreamed of doing. It just looked spectacular with the lights and the evergreen boughs and the ribbons and a HUGE Christmas tree in the family room. And there was a fireplace in the room that we called the winter room where Tom bought special embroidered stockings for everyone to put up on the mantel.

Tom did some really nice things around that house. He converted an old shed into what I used to call the "best doghouse in the world" and he added a door to the deck so that the dogs could lie out there without me having to worry that they'd go off roaming. Oh, it was just sooo pretty!

But things always seem to happen the way that they should.....although a big part of me was sad to leave the house in Powhatan, after two years, another part of me was also relieved. I was just getting so tired. I was working two jobs then and it would take me at least 45 minutes to get to the first job in Richmond, and then the second job was in Ashland which was another 20 minute drive and I would finish up the second job around midnight and then it would take me another hour to drive home, so I'd arrive home around 1 AM and then I'd have to get up at 6 AM.

Once we moved, I was able to walk to the first job....in fact it was practically out my front door, and the trip home from Ashland after I finished the second job was sooo much quicker and easier. Luckily the second job was very relaxing even though I did a lot of work. I was by myself in the office and could work at my own pace. The move also made it easier on Valerie when she wanted to visit her Dad or her friends. So there you go!

I also found out that as nice as it is to have one's very own swimming pool, it is also a lot of work to keep it clean. I actually didn't mind the work. In it's own way it was relaxing to skim the leaves out of the pool, but it was time-consuming. And taking care of the horses, as much as I loved the work, was also time-consuming. Every morning I would have to get up to feed them and make sure that they had enough water, and then in the winter, when the water would occasionally freeze, I would have to lug fresh water from the house. It would take me at least eight trips. And I'd always have to be rushing because I had to get to work.

So although I will always love the memories of that wonderful house....it was the first year that was the best. My Mom was still alive and my job was to take care of her, so I rarely had to leave the house, but after she died was when the real rat race began. So again, things always seem to work out.

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Hard to believe that another Independence Day is rolling around. I remember when I was looking forward to July 4, 1976, so that I could celebrate our nation's 200th year. The thing that I remember most about that day is watching the tall ships sail into the New York Harbor.

Independence Day also has another special meaning for me because it is also my half-birthday. When I was a kid I was always so excited about turning 8 1/2 or 10 1/2, etc. etc. My parents always did something special for me that day as well.

My favorite childhood memories of July 4th were going down to the Washington Monument and watching all of the fireworks.

I was always excited to see what pictures the fireworks would show. I used to love seeing the American Flag light up the sky. I still don't know how they manage to make pictures out of the explosions, but it was really cool! The pictures always occurred near the end of the fireworks display, which always made me sad realizing that the gorgeous display was almost over, but still, the pictures were soooo neat!

That is the one thing that I always think about whenever I see fireworks anywhere else. At the end, I always think, "But where are the pictures?" (sigh)

One of my favorite adult 4th of July memories occurred when I went with Valerie & Hans down to Fort Lee, VA and watched the fireworks there. That was just so interesting to see all of the soldiers milling about and hearing the cannons boom. And the food was pretty good too!

Another favorite memory was of us all going to Maymont Park with my friend Kim and her boyfriend, Rob. At the time, Rob worked at Maymont, so he was able to get us into the part that was set aside for just employees and family/friends. I felt so important! :) And Maymont itself is absolutely gorgeous!

And then there was the July 4th party that Tom and I hosted our first year of living in Powhatan, VA. The house where we were living had a pool and the scenery around it was just gorgeous! So anyway, we invited some friends over for a cookout and swim and then once it turned dark, we set off our own fireworks. They might not have been as fancy as the professional ones, but still, it was really fun!

Other favorite 4th of July memories were when we were in Oklahoma visiting my mother's family. We would gather at my Uncle Ernest's farm (and since his last name was McDonald, I always thought that it was neat going to Old McDonald's farm) . And what a feast we would have! My uncle had beef cattle and he would always have fresh steak and hamburgers cooking on the grill. All of the aunts would bring some delicious home-made dish and then for dessert, Uncle Ernest would always have watermelon picked fresh from the vine. He would always take the nieces and nephews for a drive around his farm (he had over 500 acres, so it was quite a nice drive). We would all pile in the back of his pick-up truck and laugh every time he went over a bump.

For this year, my 4th of July memory occurred last night. Valerie, Hans and I went to King's Dominion to watch the fireworks there. We arrived around 8 o'clock PM and walked down to one of the Pizza restaurants and had a nice dinner. I about choked when I saw what I had been charged for two bottles of water ($7.58). If my math is right, that is $3.79 per bottle! These are bottles that can be bought for about a $1.25 at regular stores. Well, Valerie and Hans pointed out to me that we had actually come away with THREE bottles of water, not two. However the receipt plainly showed that we had just been charged for two. Normally I would have gone to rectify the mistake, but not this time. I told them that the place had already committed highway robbery by charging me $7.58 for just two bottles, I wasn't about to let them do it to me again!

Anyway, at 10 PM we were sitting outside of the gates of King's Dominon, and the fireworks display began. It was pretty and since I always enjoy fireworks displays, I enjoyed this one too.

Sitting near us was a young family with small children sitting in their laps. I thought to myself that 20 years ago, Valerie had also been sitting in my lap, and look at her now! Now she is all grown up, married, and looking sooo pretty! Those 20 years just go by so fast!!!!

I hope that our nation enjoys many more centuries of celebrating July 4th!

IRS is NUTS!

I mean it....the IRS computers are losing their minds! I have been doing taxes for 30 years and I have come across a situation that I have never seen before.


I filed taxes for a couple......I filed them as married filing jointly....and I filed the return on a Form 1040. (long form) They each got a letter from IRS recently saying that per their request, their married filing separate return was being changed to married filing jointly and that the return filed was on a 1040A. (short form)


Luckily the refund amount shown matched what I had filed, BUT the letter made it sound as though IRS was going to send them a check! NO, NO, NO! I had given explicit instructions that the refund was supposed to be applied to their next year's taxes. What the heck is going on?
Anyway, I told them that if they got a check to please not cash it, but that we would send it back with instructions telling IRS AGAIN to apply it to the next year's taxes. If they cash the check then they would get hit with an underpayment of estimated tax penalty. GRRRR!

That being said, things like that sure keep life interesting! And speaking of interesting, for the past two days I have been working in the office of one of my earliest bookkeeping clients. I still do his payroll, which I can do from anywhere, but his wife now does the books. I just LOVE these people! They are the salt of the earth and I am really glad that I have a fairly large project to complete for them before I move.

One perk of working there is that it's only about 5 minutes from my daughter's new apartment so I have been having lunch with her everyday out on her balcony. It has been sooo nice! She has been able to come back there between appointments and we just really enjoy a quiet time and nice conversations.....and Cody really enjoys it too. He likes watching people walk in the parking lot.