The handwriting is on the wall, and my children are old enough now that it's no longer just that they got into the Sharpie markers again.
By some weird coincidence and alignment of the stars -- that's all i can guess did it -- i actually have no paid work today. That's not going to happen again ever, most likely, without me asking for days off, so i have to take advantage of it.
Unfortunately, at this time of year, taking advantage of it means it's my only day to get our taxes ready to send to the CPA. The handwriting on the wall/calendar says it's about time, anyway, unless i want to wear bracelets that connect. After all, failing to pay taxes is not a jail-able offense, they will just set you up on an impossible payment plan, but failure to file is.
Isn't that how everyone spends the one day off they get in the month of March? Getting the tax papers ready?
Yes, i have to add up all i earned cleaning houses, add up all the deductions, and reassure the CPA that no, i don't have foreign trusts or money i'm hiding. (Trust me, if i had hidden money, the kids found it already and it got spent when they needed new clothes and double the amount of groceries i already had in the house and their cars were out of gas again.)
Along the way i will wonder, as i always do, how we made it through another year. Right now i am wondering how to make it through the month, also, as all 3 cars need attention of some kind Right Now, there's a medical bill from Bigger Girl's trips to the after hours clinic when her wisdom tooth removal ended in infections on days when the oral surgeon was out of the office (of course, it can't happen when he's in, that's against the universal law of Murphy), and there are several end of the month bills that might see me robbing the grocery money again.
By the end of the day, however, i want to have the tax stuff ready to mail out when we go to church for the noon Lent service on Wednesday, since the main post office is across the street from the church.
Pray my calculator doesn't explode.
Today is:
1848 Revolution Day -- Hungary
Ann Arbor Film Festival -- Ann Arbor, MI, US (independent digital, 16mm and 35mm films, including experimental film; through Sunday)
Brutus Day -- for obvious reasons; watch for backstabbers today, because they are as numerous now as they were in ancient Rome
Cheltenham Hunt Festival -- Cheltenham Racecourse, Prestbury, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England (a four day Festival, with the big race on that final day)
Constitution Day -- Belarus
Dumbstruck Day -- Fairy Calendar
Everything You Think is Wrong Day -- begun by someone who wants you to keep an open mind, apparently
Fallas de Valencia -- Valencia, Spain (a five day carnival/fiesta of partying that ends with turning off all the city lights and setting fire to hundreds of massive papier-mache statues stuffed with fireworks to celebrate St. Joseph's Day; sometimes called Fallas de San Jose)
Honen Matsuri -- Tagata-jinja Shrine, Inuyama, Japan (festival for a good harvest and fertility)
Ides of March -- Ancient Roman Calendar; other observances
Day Sacred to Anna Parenna and River Nymphs -- goddess of the returning year
Day You Don't Want to Go Out if Your Name is Julius Caesar
Festival of Attis and Cybele
Guild Festival -- for guilds practicing the arts of Minerva, with weapons purified at her temple on this day
International Day Against Police Brutality
Joseph Jenkins Roberts' Birthday -- Liberia
Kashiram Jayanti -- UP, India (birth anniversary of politician Kashi Ram)
National Agriculture Day -- US (agday.org; if you eat, thank a farmer!)
National Pears Helene with Chocolate Sauce and Brandy Day
Offerings to Ra, Osiris, Horus, Ptah, Sokar, and Atum -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)
Organize Your Home Office Day -- Lisa Kanarek wants everyone to organize their home office on the second Tuesday in March; my response is: in one day! is she out of her mind!
St. Clement Mary Hofbauer's Day (Patron of Vienna, Austria)
St. Louise de Marillac's Day (Patron of disappointing children, loss of parents, people rejected by religious orders, sick people, social workers, widows; Vincentian Service Corps)
Tagata Honen-Sai/Honen Matsuri -- Inuyama, Japan (fertility festival)
True Confessions Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, because confession is good for the soul; if you are afraid to confess to the world, there's always your mirror
Turkey Buzzards Day -- Hinckley, OH, US (Two theories about why the turkey buzzards return on this date each year have to do with either witchcraft of a hunting story; festival in honor of them will be held this coming Sunday)
World Consumer Rights Day -- International
Youth Day -- Palau
Anniversaries Today:
Richard Burton marries Elizabeth Taylor, 1964
The University of Toronto is chartered, 1827
Maine becomes the 23rd US state, 1820
Birthdays Today:
Kellan Lutz, 1985
Sean Biggerstaff, 1983
Eva Longoria, 1975
Kim Raver, 1969
Mark McGrath, 1968
Bret Michaels, 1963
Fabio, 1961
Mary Carillo, 1957
Park Overall, 1957
Dee Snyder, 1955
Craig Wilson, 1954
Sly Stone, 1944
Mike Love, 1941
Phil Lesh, 1940
Judd Hirsch, 1935
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 1933
Alan Bean, 1932
Norm Van Brocklin, 1926
Harry James, 1916
Joe E. Ross, 1914
Macdonald Carey, 1913
Samuel "Lightnin" Hopkins, 1912
Andrew Jackson, 1767
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"The Wonder Years"(TV), 1988
"Eight is Enough"(TV), 1977
"Three's Company"(TV), 1977
The Godfather(Film), 1972
"Purlie"(Musical), 1970
"Lady Madonna"(Music single), 1968
"My Fair Lady"(Musical), 1956
"Rapsodie Espagnole"(Ravel's Orchestral rapsody), 1908
"Caesar and Cleopatra,"(Play), 1899
"She Stoops to Conquer"(Comedy), 1773
Today in History:
Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March, BC44
Liu Bei, a Chinese warlord and member of the Han royal house, declares himself emperor of Shu-Han and claims his legitimate succession to the Han Dynasty, 221
A Jew hating Monk in Seville, Spain stirs up people in that city to attack Jews, 1391
Christopher Columbus arrives back in Spain after his first trip to the New World, 1493
The first meeting of the Council of Trent, 1545
South Carolina becomes the first American colony to declare its independence from Great Britain and set up its own government, 1776
In an emotional speech in Newburgh, New York, George Washington asks his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy; the plea is successful and the threatened coup d'état never takes place, 1783
A revolution breaks out in Hungary, and the Habsburg rulers are compelled to meet the demands of the Reform party, 1848
Jesse W. Reno patents an "inclined elevator" (escalator), 1892*
Rolls-Royce Limited is incorporated, 1906
Czar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the Russian throne and his brother the Grand Duke becomes Tsar, 1917
Symbolics.com registers the very first Internet domain name, 1985
Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first President of the Soviet Union, 1990
French President Jacques Chirac signs the law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools, commonly known as the "headscarf ban", 2004
Lazarus Project scientists reveal that they successfully recovered frozen tissue from the 1970's and rejuvenated the cells of Rheobatrachus silus, a species of frog that has been extinct since 1983, 2013
*The first actual working model, at Coney Island, was built four years later.
Sorry you have to pay taxes on your day off...not fair. But maybe you will be getting a refund...that would be more than fair.
ReplyDeleteHubby was working on our taxes yesterday. He thinks he's done and I too think he's done. We owe like always, but at least the taxes are done.
ReplyDeleteI hope you can find more good about today than just taxes. It's hard to make a living and raise a family. I so remember.
Have a fabulous day. ☺
That certainly isn't a fun way to spend your well-deserved day off.
ReplyDeleteThere is no rest for the weary. Here's hoping for a large refund.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awful way to spend your day off. For years, yes the blog entries show it all in excrutiating detail, this was the worst time of the year for me. It drove me crazy.
ReplyDeleteWe always had a CPA, but when we hired a bookkeeper it finally freed me from the anxiety of collating everything for the accountant. I can finally enjoy this time of year without the tax anxiety. It's worth every penny... and it's deductible ;)
By the time you've finished I hope you have a huge feeling of accomplishment that an idle day would not have given you. Not that I can imagine you ever being idle!
ReplyDeleteIt's the right thing to do but a shame it has to be on your day off. I think it would take me more than a day though, my brain seems to work in the wrong way and I spend so much tiresome time reworking my sums, trying to work out what the terminology they are using means, etc.
ReplyDeleteI hope that when filling in the forms you noticed an extra allowance due to you. Here in England they do have sneaky little things like that which are sometimes picked up if you are using one of the automatic tax calculation programs!
It's the right thing to do but a shame it has to be on your day off. I think it would take me more than a day though, my brain seems to work in the wrong way and I spend so much tiresome time reworking my sums, trying to work out what the terminology they are using means, etc.
ReplyDeleteI hope that when filling in the forms you noticed an extra allowance due to you. Here in England they do have sneaky little things like that which are sometimes picked up if you are using one of the automatic tax calculation programs!