It's Getting Hot in Here....

Well, what do you expect? It's HOT in hell and Tax Hell is no exception. Monday and Tuesday were crazy busy but not in the usual way. We have a client that's being audited by International arm of the IRS. This has been in process for over a year and I can tell you it hasn't been pleasant for anyone. So, that's been taking up a good amount of my time. Personal tax clients with kids applying for financial aid need their returns immediately so they can complete the financial aid forms. The problem, not everyone has all their documents yet. That's the part I can't seem to make people understand. I would LOVE to get these returns done early and off my desk. I do need the information though. People don't get that. Not sure why. They want what they want, WHEN they want it.

My back is has been killing me since yesterday. Woke up yesterday with the pain in my lower back and radiating down both legs. I have a LONG history of back problems, going back to when I was 18 and had a spinal fusion. I was missing bone in the base of my spine and they took bone from my hip and fused it to my spine. This was supposed to protect the exposed nerves and I guess it did. However, now I'm left with so much scar tissue that a whole different problem has resulted. In any event, sitting is a problem. And for a tax preparer(hi matey!), that's a problem. I was going to stay home for most of the day today and just ice it and take muscle relaxers but even doing all that doesn't make that big a difference in the pain level. It's going to feel like this until it doesn't anymore. So, I could stay home and worry about the work piling up and still have the pain. Or, I come to work (which I did), and get stuff done. Truth be told, staying busy can take my mind off the pain.

And I know, when I get home there's a muscle relaxer with my name on it.
And The Girl(hi alison!). I always feel better when I'm with her.....she's an Elixir.

Monday...Monday......

Everything feels new on Monday mornings. A new week, a new chance to be productive, a clean slate in a way. On Monday mornings I organize and plan my week. What projects are due, what needs attention, what calls to make and usually a bunch of follow-ups from the previous week. I plot this out on my white board, all color coded (remember..big NERD here!), and I get ready to make a dent in all that needs doing. Then, it happens. One phone call and the whole colorful, carefully plotted plan turns to crap.

Today, the phone call was from a client with VERY PRESSING QUESTIONS! That's how he speaks....ALL CAP'S!!! The questions were complex and covered a lot of gray area's, tax-wise.
I won't go into details but suffice it to say, most of my day will be spent researching these questions and then trying to explain to this VERY CONCERNED client, that there is no ONE answer to his VERY IMPORTANT ISSUES.

The weekend was good...kind of low-key. On Friday night The Girl(hi alison!!) and I stayed in and watched tv(Matey, you sleeping yet?) Saturday we both worked and at night we met Alison, Darcy and Kristen for dinner at China Sky. This was a Chinese/Japanese place in Winchester, tucked away off the main drag, behind a corner. Without MapQuest, we'd still be driving around the bowels of Winchester! The food was good...we had shrimp tempura for an appetizer and sesame chix with veg. rice. The others had sushi and gave me some to try. While it was fresh and different, I think I'll stick to Sushi Island in Wakefield for my sushi needs. Can't be beat, in my opinion. It was great to see Kristen & Darcy. They are great company, fun to be around and a very cute couple. Sunday I food shopped, The Girl (hi alison!!) cleaned and then I baked a banana bread and made a pot roast for dinner. We watched a movie, did laundry and that was the weekend!
I should really post a warning on this blog.....CAUTION!!! YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ THINGS OF A VERY EXCITING NATURE. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.
I'm a nerd.
I know.
I want to start a Word of The Day.....and here's the first one:
Vertiginous.

Dinner....

I have no idea what to make for dinner tonight! This salmon looks very good but The Girl is not a fan of salmon. I could do sauce, pasta, sausage...that sounds good too. Though, the lemon in the pic is making me want something lemony (that's a word) I could do lemon chicken, with a light lemon sauce over noodles....Hmm....that's it. Lemon chicken.

As for work, we are getting slammed. Clients calling, coming in, work piling up. I'll be working tomorrow for sure. Today has been taken up with lots of calls and some admin. stuff to finish up before the end of the month. Everyone wants time and there is only so much to go around. Hopefully, tomorrow will be quiet and I'll be able to get through some of these corporations, trusts and partnerships.

The weekend plans so far are:

• Saturday work for The Girl and Me
• Early dinner out Saturday nite then The Girl is off to do her "thing" (maybe more on that in a later post, I need clearance first!)
• Sunday...not sure yet. Maybe a movie, shopping....we haven't made a plan

As always, I look forward to the weekends, regardless of what we do or where we go. It's when The Girl and I get to spend the most time together.

Game, Set, Match.....

I've mentioned The Girl in most, if not all of my posts thus far. A brief history of The Girl and Me:
We "met" on Match.com in September of 2006. We met IRL in October 2006. Our first date was a Friday night and we went to the Topsfield Fair. After we walked around, had some fair food, saw the very large pumpkin and watched the tractor pull, we left to go for pizza. I was incredibley nervous. I was not new to the blind-online dating thing but, I knew from our emails and long phone conversations that The Girl was special and I felt a real connection to her from the very begining. I've always heard that when you meet "the one" you just KNOW. Well, I KNEW! And my nerves were getting in the way. As a matter of fact, my nerves were making HER nervous. The Girl fondly remembers me tapping the knife against the bread in a way that made her excuse herself and rush off to the ladies room.

So, we ate our pizza and I tried to not make a total ass of myself. We drove to my house where she had left her car. I pulled up in front of my house and while what happened next is subject to some debate, MY memory is The Girl JUMPED out of the car before it came to a complete stop and hightailed it to her own car. I realize there is another contradictory memory for this but, since it's MY blog, I get to use MY memory.

That was our first date. There were Giant Pumpkins, roasted nuts, frazzled nerves,tractors, pizza, wine, knives and The Girl jumping out of the car.

In October of 2007, we made our second trip to The Topsfield Fair. There we again saw the giant pumpkin, ate the food and watched the tractors. There were no nerves, knives or jumping from moving vehicles.

There WAS going home together, going to sleep and waking up together.
Which, for me, is the best part of it all.

I Guess I Forgot.....

I don't think blogging during Tax Hell is going to be as easy as I thought. I seem to be slammed with work right now. I have corporate year ends to start, audit's that have been ongoing for over a year that are NOW starting to heat up and require more work & research, more than one client in the process of financing/refinancing some properties that require us to prepare financial statements and all the other administrative stuff I just LOVE. I sometimes have trouble finishing one job/task at a time. I try and start things and work as much as I can on them, then go to the next job and try to get a jump on that. In this business, you don't always have all the information you need to prepare something from start to finish. As a result, you end up with many jobs in progress but not really feeling like you've made ANY progress.

On the personal front, the Girl and I have decided to have Easter Dinner at our house and invite both our families. This will be the first meeting and I'm very happy/excited about this. Talk about a big bowl of "mixed nuts!" I'm kidding. I kid. I'm a kidder!

I might have to come up with something else to call the Girl. She's more than that. I'm not a big fan of "girlfriend" either.
She's also more than that.
Way more.

ShakeyField

We went to see Cloverfield yesterday. "See" is somewhat of a misnomer. We FELT it! It was shot with one hand-held video camera. Add to that lots of running, yelling, things exploding, jets screeching and a very unpleasant monster destroying Manhattan and you have 2 very nauseaus movie-goers. This was the herky-jerky philosophy of film. At one point I looked at the Girl and she had her eyes closed and her hands over her ears. To be honest, she had her eyes closed for about 90% of the movie. When we left the theatre we had to sit in the car and wait for our stomachs to settle.
I think I can speak for both of us when I say NO thumbs up.

The First of Many

Today is the first Saturday I'm working in this new tax season. I do enjoy Saturdays at home but, it seems like I am able to get more done on a Saturday than during the week. In a couple of weeks I'll start working Sundays too. That's really a drag. Thankfully, the season is short and it IS winter. If I had to work weekends during the summer months I don't think this would be the business for me. I have about 10 folders on my desk that are demanding my attention so I had better get to it. More W-2's to prepare, a couple of trusts and 3 years of a non-profit. I wish I had something amusing or insightful to write but I don't. I just have to get through this work then it's out for sushi tonight. After all that, the girl will come home.
That's always the best part, when the girl comes home.

50 Things

1. I'm 45


2. I am in love with a younger woman (37!)


3. Pizza is my favorite food. And Sushi. And eggplant.


4. I have 2 nephews and a niece who crack me up.


5. I think my Mini-Cooper looks like a cup-cake.


6. George W. Bush should be impeached and imprisoned.


7. I'm not holding my breath waiting for this to happen.


8. I love to cook.


9. I sometimes take pictures of the food I cook.


10. I'm a nerd.


11. A Tax Nerd, doesn't get much nerdier than that.


12. I had to put my dog, Harriet, to sleep last year.


13. On my birthday.... :(


14. I am very interested in photography and I plan on buying a new Nikon to pursue this.


15. I never wanted to seriously consider getting married. That has changed.


16. 2007 was the best year of my life. (see #2)


17. 2007 Was the one of the worst of my life. (see #'s 12 & 13)


18. I have one sister who is the center of my parents universe.


19. I don't mind. I'm the black sheep. The nerdy, gay, black sheep.


20. My favorite authors are Wally Lamb and Richard Russo


21. I should also include Jeffrey Eugenides (READ MIDDLESEX)


22. Maureen Dowd rocks...as does Arianna Huffington


23. Tax Hell is here and I just want to get through it as fast as possible


24. I would love to open a restaurant


25. I was able to say The Pledge of Allegiance at 18 months old.


26. I peaked early.


27. Half of my tongue is numb from wisdom tooth extraction.


28. It still works well.


29. If I get another dog, and it's a boy, I want to name it Dyson.


30. A girl I would name Zoe.


31. My favorite tv show of all time is a toss-up between Mary Tyler Moore and Seinfeld.


32. All In The Family rounds out the top 3


33. I love to read, almost more than anything else. ( I said "almost")


34. For many years I thought I had an allergy to alcoholic beverages.


35. Turns out I don't, thank GOD.


36. I have no use for organized religion.


37. I believe very strongly in Karma


38. My nephew is a bit of a math savant, for real.


39. I don't make good use of my ipod.


40. I'm a news junkie.


41. I miss The Office, I wish they'd settle that f'n strike already!


42. I love Kennebunkport Maine and hope to buy something there someday.


43. Nothing feels better than clean sheets and freshly shaved legs.


44. I wish more people cared about this atrocity of a war and less about Britney.


45. I will happily and confidently vote for Hillary.


46. I like gadgets.


47. I loathe the winter and LOVE the summer.


48. Tulips are my fave flowers.


49. I am finally happy.


50. I so in love that I can't believe how lucky I am to have her in my life.

Monkey Work

Today, tomorrow and probably for most of next week I'm preparing W-2 forms. This is not that intellectually taxing (i DO love those tax-puns!) As a matter of fact, it's most monkey work. I'm not trying to insult monkey's, god knows. I'm a BIG fan of the primates! I got a really cool monkey painting for Xmas. Can't really be desribed...must be seen to be appreciated. My girlfriend, she doesn't really appreciate it but, that's ok. She's young. Hasn't really developed an appreciation for art yet.

I have yet to mention the GF. She's 37, blonde, green-eyed and hot. And SMART....and funny!

And not a fan of monkey paintings.

And the fun begins....

This is probably not the type of thing most people are interested in. Hell, sometimes I'm not all that interested but it's what I do, so, I'm going to share the excitement. You have no idea how much fun it can be here....preparing tax returns, telling clients how much $$ they owe, dealing with IRS agents. Oh, yes. It's like Christmas everyday. As we head into the busy season, I have staff issues, clients not paying and just a general feeling of malaise. (Good word, huh?)
I will probably have to start working weekends this coming weekend. What I'm trying to decide is what I want this blog to be about. Do I want to whine and complain or do I want to offer helpful tax advice?
I think whining wins.
Hands down.
: )
No, not really. I think I might like to offer amusing client stories (no names!), record some personal info and give book recommendations/reviews.
I have experienced some MAJOR life changes this past year.....I have a lot to reflect on and much to be thankful for. As we go along, I'll pick a topic and get it all out.
You, lucky reader (maybe ONE will show up!), get to come along for the ride.
I'm thinking there will be bumps.