Category Archives: General

It is a Hot Diggity Dog Day!

1. It is a brand new day the Lord has made!

2. My big sis is coming to visit.

3. Made it to work early…so I can leave early. 

For me there is nothing tastier than steel cut oats, chopped walnuts, dark chocolate chips, and frozen blueberries.  This morning extra special because as I was measuring out the choco chips extra accidentally fell in the bowl. Of course, I could not put them back into the bag….yummy!!! 🤗🤗😍

Nearly forgot….Chia seeds to make it extra healthy.

I was so excited. Emily invited me to exercise with her in the park. I’m excited to do this with her. I was sure this was going to be great Mom and Daughter time…..what a surprise. I only was invited to be the bag holder.

Overworked CPA needs a beach vacation.

April has started.  As of today only 16 days (I am taking Easter Sunday off) left to do tax returns.  Panic is setting in.  Will I get all the returns that clients are expecting to get finished.  I try to tell them they might get an extension but that is not what they want to hear.  They say things likeyou can do it. My return is easy.  I made it easy for you by recapping everything on this piece of paper.  I wonder should I be insulted when they say their return is easy.  Inside I want to say if it is so easy then why do you want me to do it. But instead I just say I will try my best to get it out.  Panic sets in.

During this time of year I hate interruptions.  Clients are calling me asking me where is my tax return.  I want to yell “Why didn’t you ask the receptionist.  She manages the returns after review.”  Or I say I have not gotten to it yet but I hope to start it in a couple of days. Inside I am thinking, well if you would stop calling my I could finish this return so as to get to your return faster.  I try not to let the feelings of irritation at the interruption come across but I know that I am failing miserably.  My family knows that I am grouchy at this time of year.  They know to make sure that any conversation is short because I start losing focus…I just have to get these returns done. I know this is not the correct way to be. I know that people are more important than doing tax returns.  But the panic is like a disease making me just want to complete as many tax returns as I can before the deadline.

This morning I wonder if God is trying to tell me something.  Here small inserts of what I found to read in my e-mail this morning.

Do every act of your life as though it is the last act of your life.

– Marcus Aurelius –

The feeling is: hurry, there are so many, there is so much to be done, and there’s more there, and there behind you, and over in that bush. Another feeling is also evoked: that there is suddenly so much to do, not enough time. I’ve got to get them picked and frozen, or cooked into jam, or laid out for eating later, or baked into something yummy or delivered to a neighbor. There’s a mild panic that comes with a task that evokes time pressure……“No, we don’t have to hurry. There is all the time we need. Just this act in just this moment is just the right thing. It will never be more worthwhile than right now, never more complete, never more meaningful than being present with what I am doing, in relationship with the blueberries, in remembrance and gratitude.”    Alanda Greene

Words to remember today — relationships, remembrance and gratitude.

 Nobody is too good for the lowest service. Those who worry about the loss of time entailed by such small, external acts of helpfulness are usually taking their own work too seriously. We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God, who will thwart our plans and frustrate our ways time and again, even daily, by sending people across our path with their demands and requests.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Those who worry about the loss of time are taking their own work too seriously. Okay, I am taking my work way too seriously.

Last night, Hubby and I went out to eat with my father-in-law and his companion.  My father-in-law is going to be 90 this summer and his companion 92 this fall.  As we were saying our good-byes, his companion said, “I sure wish you all came by more often. Every minute counts…”

As she sat in the kitchen drinking her coffee, she realized that the relationship she was in was really one of symbiosis. She wondered when did this happened. Had the busyness of life taken away those feelings of love?

Okay, I am kicking myself in the you-know what for putting off my red coat order.  I put off buying the coat because the last few days have not been the sunniest days. They were cool days…cool enough for a sweater or sweatshirt but not a coat. Today the expected high is 80 degrees.  Perfect for shorts and a T-shirt and definitely no coat.  But tomorrow…..expected high of 40 with high winds.  Certainly a day to hibernate under the covers because I do not have a red coat.  So here I am kicking myself for procrastinating again.

Okay…the weather has turned colder.  I know that in a few days the temperature will be back up in the 70’s.  But yesterday I pulled out my peacoat and something terrible has happened…the coat shrank over the summer.  Well, maybe I have expanded.  It does not matter though because it is very uncomfortable to wear.  I love the L.L. Bean catalog but have never ordered anything because I think the coats and clothes in the catalog are for really cold weather.  This year I am changing my mind.  The problem is that I have waited to long to get the dark blue or dark violet jacket.  The two colors in my size is a horrible pale blue and this red jacket.  From the two selections I like the red jacket best. I do like red.  I sometimes think that I should buy something red. But it is such a bright outstanding color. Is it me? The next problem is that I am a quiet, subdued sort of person…or at least I think I am.  Could I wear this coat and really like it on me?  I will contemplate about this for a day or two. Then if my size is sold out then it was not meant to be….and I will then spend the winter in my too small jacket….and start on my size reduction plan.

I have been working on changing up my morning routine some…..I am trying to make a concerted effort to do a little bit of bible study every morning.  It is something that I would plan to do but on most days it would get pushed to the side.

Well, this morning in my bible study I came across this statement.

I tend to turn into a tax-season accountant talling wrongs with both speed and accuracy.

Yikes….is that what I do….tallying wrongs with both speed and accuracy!!!  (For those you don’t know I am a tax-season accountant).

I need to think about this some….maybe I need to change professions.

It has been a great long weekend. This year is different because I actually took the day off. Labor Day is a firm holiday but usually I am so swamped with September 15 tax return deadlines that I have to work the whole weekend. I think I have worked on Labor Day for the last six years. This year I’m all caught up…or I should say I think I’m all caught up. This morning I did wake up at 5:30 am to talk to Emily. However, instead of scanning the paper I was able to read it and enjoy my cup of coffee. It was wonderful. I did come across this little tidbit from the paper.

Why was  Labor Day invented?
Labor Day came about because workers felt they were spending too many hours and days on the job. In the 1830s, on average, manufacturing workers were putting in 70-hour weeks. Sixty years later, in 1890, hours of work had dropped, although the average manufacturing worker still toiled in a factory 60 hours a week. 

As the U.S. economy expanded beyond farming and basic manufacturing in the late 1800s and early 1900s, it became important for businesses to find consumers interested in buying the products and services being produced in ever greater amounts. Shortening the workweek was one way of turning the working class into the consuming class.

The original holiday was meant to handle a problem of long working hours and no time off. Although the battle over these issues would seem to have been won long ago, this issue is starting to come back with a vengeance, not for manufacturing workers but for highly skilled white-collar workers, many of whom are constantly connected to work.

I found  two things to be of interest. 

1. The shorter workweek turned the working class into a consuming class. There is merit here. When I’m working long hours I do not have to spend money.  Today, I had to tell myself to delete all those emails regarding “Labor Day” sales. I did not need to buy more stuff even though it was tempting.
2. Sometimes I feel so tied to work. If I am not constantly staying in touch with the office that I will get so far behind. This is especially true during a busy tax season. That is what feels strange….I’m not behind for once. It is a great feeling to have the day off.

So I spent the day cleaning my office and catching up on bills and correspondence. I know I could have gone somewhere but it felt wonderful just to be home.

I discovered that Maximus thinks he is the man of the house when I am not home. He is already to spend the day relaxing on my  nightly TV spot.