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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, BeThere2Day, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.
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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.
This month, the prompts are being provided by Elephant's Child.
This week's prompts are:
- Memories
- Thanks
- Running
- Grave
- Collected
And/or
- Clover
- Regrets
- Marvelous
- Enchanted
- Clock
Charlotte (MotherOwl) has selected clay brown as the colour of the month.
The CLOCK is RUNNING toward the time of year most dreaded -- Tax Time.
Ah, Tax Time, a MARVELOUS, ENCHANTED time of year when we all get to collectively pull our hair out as they ask us to jog our MEMORIES and check with every institution we've ever done business with and tally up all our totals so they know how much we need to pay for our fair share of the money the government needs to have COLLECTED in order to keep running.
Running from what? Us, of course, but i digress to try to make a funny, a GRAVE mistake when it comes to taxes, where you want no mistakes and where there is no sense of humor involved.
Just REGRETS, over what you earned -- where in the world did it all go? Over how much you spent on things you didn't need -- that's where it went!
I spent a good chunk of my time yesterday totaling up our charitable giving for deductions. I'm in CLOVER, THANKS to keep a running tally in my Clay Brown notebook, along with the total of what i earned last year.
This means all i need to do now is wait for some summaries to come in the mail and get the nice lady at the office of the financial advisor to print up a page.
When the time comes for me to sit down and put it together for Grandpa's tax advisor, who does our stuff too, it shouldn't take long at all.
Remind me of that when the packet comes, somebody. Please, so i won't put it off but get it out of my hands as early as possible.
It doesn't take the sting out of the process, but does shorten the duration of the dread.
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Today is:
Feast of St. Geraint -- Wales (legendary Welsh hero who fought King Arthur)
Majority Rule Day -- Bahamas
National Bittersweet Chocolate Day
National Cut Your Energy Costs Day
Peculiar People Day -- an internet generated day to celebrate all the strange and peculiar people in your life, including me!;)
St. Peter Orseolo's Day
Sturdy Flat-Heeled Shoes Appreciation Day -- listed on many sites, and since i appreciate them, i included it
Vaudoun Day -- Benin (Traditional Religions Day, with a huge festival in the seaside town of Ouidah)
Where's The Beef? Day -- the Wendy's slogan premiered this day in 1984
Anniversaries Today:
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands weds Pieter van Vollenhoven, 1967
UN General Assembly first meeting, 1946
Uniform Penny Post (the reformed postal system) starts in the UK, 1840
Birthdays Today:
Pat Benatar, 1953
Bonnie Hellman, 1950
George Foreman, 1949
Rod Stewart, 1945
Jim Croce, 1943
Sal Mineo, 1939
Bill Toomey, 1939
Gisele MacKenzie, 1927
Johnnie Ray, 1927
Paul Henreid, 1908
Ray Bolger, 1904
Robinson Jeffers, 1887
Grigori Rasputin, 1869 (O.S.)
Mary Ingalls, 1865
George Washington Carver, 1864
Charles Ingalls, 1836
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"Masterpiece Theater"(TV), 1971
"That Was The Week That Was"(TV, US version), 1964
"Finian's Rainbow"(Musical), 1947
"Arsenic and Old Lace"(Play), 1941
"Pete the Tramp"(Comic strip), 1932
"Street Scene"(Play), 1929
"Rosalie"(Musical), 1928
Today in History:
Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, begins a civil war, BC46
"Common Sense" by Thomas Paine is published, 1776
Napoleon divorces Josephine, 1810
Poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning begin their correspondence, 1845
The first underground railway opens in London, 1863
John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil, 1870
The first great Texas oil gusher is discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas, 1901
The League of Nations is established, 1920
The United States Army Signal Corps successfully conducts Project Diana, bouncing radio waves off the moon and receiving the reflected signals, 1946
The United States and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations after 117 years, 1984
Torrential rain in the Lockyer Valley region of South East Queensland, Australia causes severe flash flooding, killing 9 people, 2011
Indonesia's Mount Sinabung erupts again, with pyroclastic flows streaming down the volcanic slope, causing the evacuation of about 22,000 people, 2014
Commercial space company SpaceX successfully launches its Falcon 9 rocket, which releases the Dragon cargo ship into orbit to the International Space Station and then returns to Earth with a rough landing, 2015
Jeff Bezos becomes the second man worth over $100 billion, 2018
Canadian astronomers at the CHIME observatory, British Columbia, report fast radio bursts (FRBs) of probable extragalactic origin, one repeating six times, 2019
The US Mint issues quarter coins commemorating poet Maya Angelou, making her the first black woman to be depicted on a US coin, 2022
Well done with the prompts. And yes the tax office and humour don't fit together at all well.
ReplyDeleteI no longer have to do my tax returns, thank goodnes, though it was never much of a burden and I always got a refund.
ReplyDeleteMardi Gras already?? Where does the time go?
What a lovely photo :-)
ReplyDeleteHave a carnivaltastic week 👍
Just look at all that beautiful purple green and gold. Good cheer for the rest of the winter. And to think that Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day are both on the same day this year. So we'll have to throw in some pink and red.
ReplyDeleteLovely tree.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Taxes are the most depressing time of year. To be an accountant would be a dreadful job in our opinion. We want to get them done and forget it all.
ReplyDeleteCool tree! Yes, tax time is a very taxing time!
ReplyDeleteOur taxes aren't complicated but it does require time and energy to get them done one evening. We like to get this job out of the way as quickly as possible but often it gets pushed off because other things pop up. I fear this is the way it'll be again this year. 2024 is starting off in a hurried way. Good job on your prompt! :)
ReplyDeleteLulu: "Tax time! Come on, refund! Doggies need new toys!"
ReplyDeleteA beautiful Christmas display. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLove your use of the prompts. You do these so very well.
Thank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. Hugs. ♥
Love your memory of Christmas for this year. It's a shame almost it's here and it's gone so quickly & all that's left is a memory. Your memory is beautiful. :)
ReplyDeletewow! What a great carnival time photo ~ I always enjoyed the parades and the King cake ~ hugs,
ReplyDeleteWishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Nice tree. Yes, it is that time again. XO
ReplyDeleteYour tax day story is great, mine basically involves making cookies, slipping in where Husband is working on it, and leaving quickly. Not quite as entertaining, I'm afraid...
ReplyDeleteCat
That looks like a pretty awesome carnival! :)
ReplyDeleteYou always do so well with the prompts. We enjoyed your story!
Great prompts even if it is about taxes :) Beautiful Christmas tree picture.
ReplyDeleteWow, tax tales like this are luckily a thing of the past here in tiny Denmark. We have "source taxes" which means that we get our wages with the tax already deduced. There's some small after-regulations, for charities, transport expenses and such, but this is all handled online. For the vast majority taxing is done automatically and with not a drop of ink or sweat required from us :)
ReplyDeleteFor me Mardi Gras/Carnival is in the future still, and mostly not celebrated here. We celebrate carnival Sunday/Monday not unlike Halloween with dressed up children begging for treats, beating at a candy filled barrel (piñata-like) and generally having fun.
Cranivals and Mardi Gras parades are not a thing here. Firstly it is seen as a Catholic thing (a small minority of app 3% Danes are Catholics), and secondly the Carnival traditions imoprted from Brazil and like places have to wait until it gets warmer outside, Mardi Gras parades and carnivals in Copenhagen are not pleasant in hail, wind and sleet.
But I love your colourfiul photos. And I personally would not oppose to Mardi Gras ornaments :) Maybe I should just hang one on our door.
Love your poem about puppy prairie dog love!
ReplyDeleteOops. Let me try to post that again...in the right place...
DeleteMardi Gras is big in Galveston. But I have never been to one of the celebrations!
Delete