Thursday, March 25, 2010

The IRS

I have only had a couple disagreements with the IRS in my lifetime, and so far, they have all gone my way. Imagine my surprise this past week when I checked my bank balance (part of my weekly, anal, bookkeeping exercises) and found a significantly higher balance than I expected. OK... I was expecting the IRS refund to be automatically deposited, but in a smaller amount.
So, today I spent a good deal of time on the phone with the IRS. Most of it was spent waiting for them to answer when I first called, but I get a lot of practice at that every day with the insurance companies. So, I'm pretty good at being patient.
It paid off. I came to learn that I had completely missed a new credit that was available this year. And, what was so amazing about it was that I had circled it in the instruction booklet when I first scanned the new changes for 2009. But, then I got so involved with my standard routine of filing (and of course there was my annual irritation over being charged to e-file, which always results in my stubbornly filling out the papers manually, and mailing them in) that I never went back to calculate the credit.
Looks like the Hubs and I will be going shopping this weekend. Or, maybe we can just use it to pay some bills. Yeah, right!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Beautiful Weather

It sounds trite to talk about the weather, but OMG! Have we had such a beautiful March in recent memory? I'm having trouble keeping the staff in the office. Everyone wanted to go out for a walk today, it seems. When I got home, I strapped on the walking shoes and my ipod shuffle the kids gave me for Christmas. Once around the block in my neighborhood is about 1-1/2 miles. Just long enough to get in while the Hubs finishes dinner. I lead a good life!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Euchre Club


Last weekend we hosted the Euchre club. It was a last minute change, since one of our neighbors lost her Mom and had to go to England for the funeral. So, I volunteered to take over as the host house for her. It's always such fun to get together with the neighbors, especially when we have been locked away all winter. That's the Hubs behind the bar, making sure everyone has something to drink.
Since St. Patrick's Day is coming, I decided to make mini reuben sandwiches for snacks. They went over very well. Of course I have some chips and cookies left over, and that isn't working well with our diets. Maybe I will take them to work and get someone else to eat them.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Golf, Golf, and more Golf

I haven't posted in a while, partly because I have been battling a terrible cold, but also because I have been preparing for golf season. On March 6 we went to the golf show in Novi. That is always great fun. Hours of walking around looking at everything golf. Equiment, courses, driving ranges, putting greens, et al. It's a great way to get geeked up about the coming season.

I also decided to captain our girls league this season. That means getting in touch with all the league members to be sure all is in place and paid before we get started in April. Last week I joined several of the girls at the Minestrelli Heart Center at Beaumont to discuss the positive effects that exercise (including golf) can have on womens' hearts. And this coming weekend we have our annual Spring Kickoff. This year it is at Indianwood Country Club. They offered to let us play 9 holes if the weather continues to cooperate. I sure hope it does. I have always wanted to play that course.

Last but not least, the Hubs and I continue planning for our annual Myrtle Beach trip.

Oh yeah...and I'm going to work every day too. No wonder I caught a cold!