The tax man cometh. Or not.

Knowing beyond any reasonable doubt that we had procrastinated long enough, Ben and I went to see our accountant Monday night. Ben paced and fretted. I handed over every piece of paper pertaining to our financial life for the last year, one by one, as it was asked for. You know, even when you pay someone else to do your taxes, it's still a lot of work. The organizing. The REMEMBERING - God, help me - the remembering is worse than the fifty-two worksheets to see if you qualify for a deduction on the cost of your liver pills. We have to remember every measly job Ben did, how many trips he made, organize the receipts, did he pay a kid labor, everything but how many times he blew his nose. But since I've done this a time or 25, I have a system for keeping track of the totally useless information the accountant wants every year, so I don't sweat it. Ben was sure we would owe this year, but I knew differently. Every month I see what comes in and what goes out. And most importantly, what DOESN'T come in. That rental house that my daughter and son-in-law are living in for almost nothing? It really helps come tax time. We show a huge loss and the IRS feels sorry for us. Well, maybe not, but at least they don't make us pay for owning it.

So while we were sitting across the desk from Ms. Tax-lady, we were having a conversation about where to claim the tuition expenses on the return. And believe me, with three in college, the tuition expenses are a BIG DEAL. Ms. Tax-lady informed us that, if we lived in Georgia, our kids would go to college for free. FOR FREE. ALL OF THEM.

I feel the urge to move coming on.

Be thankful ~

Karen