Car Crash

Okay, it isn't like I don't have tons to write about...it is just that I keep putting my writing on the back burner because other things jump to the front and need immediate attention. So I guess I will be putting together a few posts and scheduling some of them to be published later this week.

Anyhow, first off, I was in a traffic accident last week. A speeding moped driver tboned my car in the driver's side door while I was on my way to geocache on Sunday. I haven't been in an accident like that before, and it really rattled me. I found myself thinking about it the next two days all the time.

I was only cut up a bit and the moped driver broke his leg. It could have been a million times worse in so many ways so we are both pretty lucky, but it still is an unnerving experience. I was shaking so bad, I couldn't dial my phone when it first happened.

More than likely, the driver's side door will have to be replaced. I have to go through our safety inspection required here every two years, in April so I need to get this fixed as soon as possible.

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Two Years Ago on In My Words...Nekid as a Jaybird

Good Wishes for a New Year

I just wanted to wish everyone out there, a very Happy New Year!!! This year will see lots of changes and I am looking forward to seeing what comes of all of it. 2008 has been a good year for us (minus the current economic turn down) and I am excited to see what 2009 has in store.

We wish we could be with all our friends and family to help ring this New Year in, but we know that you all will have safe and happy holidays and we'll all keep each other in our hearts and thoughts.

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Two Years Ago on In My Words...Saddam is Dead

AWWA Donation Site Tour and Thankful Thursday

This past Monday I was invited to go along on a tour of two of the facilities that funds from the gifts store help to support. Since I have been spending a fair amount of time at one of the gift stores volunteering, I was excited to get the invite.

The first place we visited was in Naha and located in an renovated firehouse. It is a day facility for mentally and physically disabled children and adults. They have about 70 clients overall, some are school-aged kids that come after school, some are adults that come all day, and some are school-aged kids that can't go to regular schools because of their disabilities.

We met some of the clients that were there while we were touring and it was such a great experience. One of the boys, pictured here, is a great artist and a very happy person. He approached each of us with his shark pictures and smiled and told us that the little stick figure in the picture was us and the shark was going to get us. He had an alligator shapped out of newspaper that he would grab our arms with and growl and we would pretend we were scared and that the alligator was "getting" us.

There were some clients there that were working on handicrafts that the center sells at tourist shops to make money for the center to function. Our organization had given them some money a few years ago to do the major renovation from firehouse to the current facility as well as money for vehicles to transport the clients that needed it from home and school. This was the first tour of the facility since the construction was completed.

The second place we went to was similar to a hospital. It was a rehab facility for the economically challenged. We met many people there that were recovering from strokes or other ailments that reduce their mobility. Some of the exercise equipment was purchased from funds our organization provided. We were entertained for a portion of the visit with music in the musical therapy room. Everyone was singing or playing an instrument and it was a really fun experience.

Overall, I had a great time, and it really gave me some perspective. Sometimes I let the small petty BS get in the way of the big things and weigh me down. No matter what is going on in my life, I have my health, friends and family that love me, a roof over my head and food in my belly, so I really don't have much to complain or worry about. I was really thankful to get this opportunity for perspective and I am looking forward to the next site tour we can go on.

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One Year Ago on In My Words...Packing Tape Monster

Starbucks

I know I mentioned this in passing once.....there is a new Starbucks within a mile of my house. This is both good and bad. The good is that sometimes you just need it, and it is within walking distance so I rarely ever drive there....it motivates me to walk there even if I am meeting friends (which we do almost every Friday). It is also good because I have stock in Starbucks so seeing the company do well is reassuring to me....(I only have a few shares through TD Ameritrade so I am not a huge stock holder...haha).

The bad is that it is so close the temptation is always there. It also (along with the gazillion other stores that opened in the same area this month) causes a bit of traffic on the intersection we have to deal with on a daily basis. Good news on that front is that I am discovering work arounds....

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One Year Ago on In My Words...Back In The Land Of The Living

New Art

I went to an art auction the other night where some of the proceeds were for charity. It was being hosted by a local organization but the art was all being provided by the same gallery that I bought my Norikane etching from a while ago. They were donating 10% of the profits to the organization along with all the proceeds from a few pieces that were labeled "special donation".

I had gone through all the items up for bid and circled on the ones I might want to bid on. I also went through the pre-sale items just to get an idea of what things were worth so I wouldn't go too crazy during the bidding process. Some friends and I went there together so we got some food and then settled in for the auction.

One of the pieces (I don't have a photo of quite yet) that I had my eye on came up right away in the bidding. I held off until the bidding slowed down but was still under what I thought it was worth. Then I made my move and I ended up getting it for about 60 dollars less than I thought it was worth originally.

Now it turns out that because it is an artist's proof, it is possibly one of a kind and worth quite a bit more than I first thought....this of course works for me. It is a Norikane print like the one I purchased from Kanda's before but this one is called Spring. It has a thatch roofed house in it and it has some of the artist proof items still in the printing, like the title and artist's name in writing in the corner but in reverse. I'll have to take a picture of it soon since I couldn't find an image of it anywhere on the internet. I don't think it is quite as well known as some of his other prints.

The second print that I bid on was much later in the evening. It was a special donation which meant that all the proceeds went to charity. I had thought someone had told me it was worth about 200 dollars so when the bidding got near there, I slowed down but then I was then told it was much higher than so I started to bid quite a bit and managed to get that one for about 185 dollars less than what it is sold for at the same gallery. I was very excited. This too, was a Norikane print and it is called Engawa-6. It has the shoji screens on it and I just love it.

Overall, I feel like I made two great deals. Now I have the Engawa-6 hanging in the living room, the Miyajima-2 in my office near my computer, and the Spring in my bedroom so I can see one of my prints no matter where I am in the house...haha.

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One Year Ago on In My Words...Freedom Writers

I Found Them

I guess I never blogged about this before because I did several searches and couldn't find this one...but ever since we got here, I have not been able to find a pile of giftcards that I had. I knew I put them somewhere safe but in my organizing way, I couldn't find them any where. I mean it was to the point that I started a Word doc on my computer to keep track of the places I already looked for them just so I would stop looking for them repeatedly in the same spots (which all seemed like logical spots). This reminds of me of when I "lost" all our foreign bills when we moved back to the States last time because I stashed them someplace safe. It took me months to find them too and I just happened upon them one day.

Same thing today. I was putting some coupons away and found all the giftcards in my coupon organizer (you had to know I had one of those, right?). When I think of it now, I am not sure why I put them there and not one of the logical places I already looked but I am happy to have found them...J will get a laugh out of this one when I tell him.

Finished Taxes

Okay, I finally sat down and finished up our taxes today. I had started them a few weeks ago but couldn't finish them until I got info from our rental company. I talked to a tax professional and because of the depreciation issue on the house we sold in WA, I also had to do amended returns for 2004 and 2005. So I guess knowing that I had so much to do still on it, I kind of stalled.

Well, we had workers here at the house all day so while I was waiting around, I decided to tackle the taxes and see what I came up with. I was able to get the two amended returns out of the way pretty quickly although since I no longer had the software for the 2004 ones, I had to fill out forms from the Internet and print them based on my PDF file for the tax pages I filed in 2004. It wasn't that hard once I found the forms.

When I had those two done, I could do the final stuff on our current year and while I am not getting as much back as I had hoped, I think we fared better than we could have. We were able to get a capital gains exception on both houses we sold last year rather than on only one. I did have to pay gains on the depreciation but if we had had to count one of the houses too, we would really have paid.

So that is my exciting day....aren't you all glad you checked in?

I Won!!!

It didn't actually change what I pay in taxes but at least I made my point...they lowered the value down to what we paid for the property instead of their inflated figure they had....whoooeee!!! So nice to be vindicated.

Taxes

Well, I started our taxes on Thursday around 2 in the afternoon and pretty much finished them up around 8pm....I had a question to ask a tax person today so I had to wait to get that done this morning. I have to file two ammended returns for depreciation I didn't take for our rental (I can only do 2004 and 2005) because we are going to have to pay capital gains on the depreciation even if I didn't get it so I might as well get some of it...

I also don't have the final paperwork from our current rental company for the house so I just estimated for now and will wait to print it and get it done completely when their stuff gets here...got to have those numbers match.

I am thrilled though with all the massive amounts of things we did this year that they aren't going to be completely impossible for me to do and we should come out getting some back...not as much as I would have liked, but at least some.

Filing Is Done

and the sun is out...if only for a second....the sun, not the filing...haha. I even went through the pile of instructions and paperwork from our new house. It feels so good to have a cleaned out system and know that it is not done half-assed this time.

I can now officially get started on our taxes (although I am waiting for paperwork from our rental company still).

In the meantime, I have some yardwork, shopping, and cleaning to do tomorrow because I am having friends over for Thai soup on Friday. Tomorrow also involves some errand running so hopefully, I will get it all in....

I still have stitching to finish up on my quilt squares before I can post pictures of them and I also want to get some movie watching in since I have several on loan from a friend and two Netflix ones that I need to get to...oh well, the list never gets smaller...haha.

Getting It Done

I started tackling the huge filing and tax project the other day after I got the livingroom cleaned up from the quilting and pillow cover project. I decided to separate everything first and then tackle the little parts instead of getting overwhelmed in the bigness of it all.

I got a lot of the filing done yesterday before I had a few friends over for lunch. I even got most of the year end pulled out and separated into what gets shredded and what just goes in the trash. I am determined this year to do a thorough job of it and really get rid of stuff that we don't need and so far, I am doing well.

Today, I tackled the banking/investments pile. I had to go through the prior year stuff on the investments and retirement accounts because I was keeping everything, and I really don't need to do that. I managed to trim it down quite a bit. Then I started organizing the bank statements. I have been very bad and have not reconciled our main bank statements since the end of February 2007. So I had almost a year of statements to go through and check. Now, probably for most this would be a quick thing to do but I have a method and my method is a bit time consuming.

First, I have to take the statements and check off things in the checkbook as they show up in the statements and then add to the checkbook any dividends that I might not have known about. After I do that, I take the checkbook into the office and input everything from the checkbook into the MSMoney program we use. After I do that from the checkbook, I take the statements and reconcile the MSMoney against it. This is a way for me to triple check the numbers against each other and it keeps me straight on the money.

Needless to say, I managed to reconcile the checking, savings and market saver at our main bank. Tomorrow, I have to do the investments and the small savings accounts we have at two other banks. I am proud of myself for getting this huge hurdle out of the way, even though it was there because I was not doing it all year long like I should have been. I am one step closer to being able to do my taxes soon. I still don't have all my documents in the mail yet but I am sure they are on the way now that January is over and by the time they get here, I will be ready to start.

Getting Motivated

Well I made a dent in my to do list today and that always makes me feel better. I have to run shortly so I can get up to the post office before they close and mail all the stuff I just packaged up. I still am hobbling around a bit with the back thing but I am not going to let it completely deter me.

My friend really did a lot at her house to get some stuff taken care of and it has motivated me to do the same. I am hoping to do the flea market this weekend (weather permitting) and greatly reducing the amount of stuff that is in our laundry room so then I can declutter a bit around the house and overall feel better.

I plan to start working on the year end, filing and tax situation this week. I know I won't finish it all in one sitting but I need to get started or I will be scrambling before long to get it done and I hate that.

Sitting for long periods still hurts some so I am thinking that I just need to space out my sitting projects and go for some that require moving around or laying on my back...not hard to do, just have to make some adjustments.

Well, that is it for now, gotta run to the PO so I can get these things out and check that off my list....whooeeee!!!

Property Taxes

I am in the midst of a bit of a property tax issue with the county our new house is located in. They have my house valued at 70,000 dollars over what I just paid for it, which I think is blatantly wrong.

They didn't send me my tax bill on time (which you need to have the house re-appraised), so I was late in getting my taxes paid (which I did, even though I don't agree with the amount). I don't want to be in the rears even though I am displeased.

Anyhow, the clerks at the county office have been very helpful, it is the appraisers who need an attitude adjustment. I requested another appraisal as I just had the house appraised myself when I bought it and know exactly how much it is worth. It doesn't make sense to me that I am paying taxes on a value that even the bank would not agree too.

So they did an appraisal sometime last week. The new appraiser agreed with the old one, so I am filing an appeal. I got notice that the appeal had to be done before the end of the year (this year). Fortunately the forms are online, I filled them out and printed them. I had to include a copy of my tax bill and the appraisal I had done (both of which I was thankfully able to find considering my filing mess right now) and I express mailed the entire thing. I found out after the fact that it could be postmarked before the 31st and still be okay but I am glad to know it is on its way and will be there before the end of the month with no reason for it not to be addressed this year.

I realized based on the way our county does taxes (not on the real market value but on this other number they have made up) that I might not see much change in my bill itself but it is the principle of the thing for me. I should not have anywhere on my tax paperwork that my house is worth more than I am paying for it (at least not in the same year I have purchased it in). The housing market is not still going up where the house is....it is in a lull so there shouldn't be much change this year at all from last year (but the bill reflects a 40,000 dollar change in real market value). Would be nice to have that much equity but who is fooling who here?

I think our county is just looking for a way to get more money out of people that mostly don't have any extra to give in hopes that none of us will notice. I did notice that a large portion of my tax bill goes to the local community college and school district when both should be supported from our EDUCATION lottery....not sure how that works either but it is interesting to ponder*.

*Please do not misunderstand, I am all for paying for our schools, and I think that teachers should make much more than they do, but I question where our lottery funds are going if they aren't going to the school as intended when the lottery was voted in a million years ago. I am sure I don't know all the ins and outs but I do know that a lot of it was supposed to be earmarked for schools.

Money In The Bank

Whew....the house is done and we have the money in the bank...although it won't be there for long since we are going to pay down the loan on the house we just purchased this summer...but it is done, and that is nice to know, even if sentimental me is a bit sad about it.

Taxes Are Coming

Well, the season is upon us again. I have not actually started dealing with it full scale but it is on the back of my mind. I have purchased my software, mostly I am waiting for tax paperwork to come in the mail and for the motivation to the year end filing to locate all the necessary components.....haha.

I am usually a Turbotax user but in the last few years have gotten very irritated with their new methods. The basic version (which is the only version I have ever used) has progressively started to offer less and less for those that need to do more than a 1040EZ. Since we own a house that we live in and own one we rent one out in another state, our taxes can be slightly confusing (not as confusing as they would be if we had a business or something). I have recently found that Turbotax has not been helping me as much as it should and that pisses me off. I mean to offer something for a price and then to slowly reduce what you are offering but not lowering the price any is just plain deceitful.

So I looked into my options and decided to go with Taxcut this year. Their prices differences are not based on what they offer me regarding my federal taxes but based on whether you want to e-file (which I don't) or if you have state taxes to do (which I don't). I read a review/comparison on the two and Taxcut won out. I am hoping that I will get all questions asked that I need to do my taxes correctly this year and will feel justified in my decision to dump Turbotax.

Catch Up

I feel like I am playing catch up. I have things to write about but not time to write them. Some of them are fiction, some of them are memories, and some of them are just me venting...

I finally ordered prints from my digital pics last week. I had not ordered prints (with the exception of my trip to the west coast in May) since Christmas....so needless to say, I got a huge order of prints and I am actually getting them in the photo album today (amazingly enough). I am putting the ones from the NY part of the trip in a different "travel" photo album because that is just what I do. Anyhow, that is taking up part of my livingroom floor right now.

Earlier, I had reconciled another bank statement that came in the mail and I just need to do the computer part of it and then file all the stuff I have gotten this week that needs to be filed. I am trying to do my filing as it comes so that it is not so much later on.

Since J left on Sunday, I have also managed to get a movie in each night that I know he wouldn't want to see. I tend to move "my movies" to the top of the Netflix list when I know he is going on a trip so I can knock a few of them out while he is gone....so I am making progress on that for sure.

I went up in the attic this afternoon (oh my gosh is it hot up there in the middle of the day) and checked the mouse traps....no new mice to report, thankfully because if there were, they would have been from a few days ago and I imagine it would have been very gross.

I made couple of cards yesterday but just am not feeling inspired in that department right now. Need to get on it really because I have a few birthdays that are looming over me, once I get started, I usually start getting lots of ideas. I have been wanting to bead again more, which is nice since I have tons of beading stuff that I haven't touched in ages.

I am getting things done, and that feels good. I just wish I could get motivated to work on some of the other "works in progress" I have hovering in the background.

To Do List

I am checking them off as fast as I can and it feels great. I balanced the checkbook for the last 4 months today, got up to date on our investment info, and finally organized and filed instructions and warranties for stuff that has been hanging over my head for ages....whooeeee!!!! Usually I am pretty good about the checkbook every month but the last few months, I have let the filing and organizing slide....bad me. Oh well, I am out from under the pile now, we'll see how long it lasts before something new has to be filed.

Now I just need to get on the 7 million other things on my list...exercise being one of them before I turn into a pile of goo.

Things To Do

Well, for some reason, our power went out this morning for about 2 hours. It was right after J left but before I had gotten anything hot to drink...I was on the computer in fact, when it happened. After I called it in (automated service) I went to get some coffee. The closest coffee shop wasn't open (I guess they don't open until 9am)....weird since they serve the one thing people want in the morning...so I ended up just getting regular joe at the convenience store.

I ended up flipping the breaker on the hottub (the only thing in the house not on a surge protector) so it wouldn't get surged when the power came back on (which is good because it flicked on and off a few times before it came on for good). It was down to 100 degrees in just that amount of time, but that is partially because we are back into one of our cold swings. It was 70 degrees yesterday and today it is 54 with a very chilly wind. I had to put all the faucet covers back on since it is supposed to freeze tonight. I got some maintenance done onthe tub, but I still need to call about the stereo that is not functioning...

While the power was out, I had to find something to amuse myself with that didn't require electricity. I had to hang out at the house in case they needed to call back and since my answering machine needs electricity, there was no one else to answer the phone. Anyhow, I set to working on the birthday cards that I plan to send out in February. I try to do the month's worth near the end of the prior month so I am not trying to pull one off at the drop of a hat. I think I got 5 of them done before the power was back up, so I was able to check that mark off my "task list" on Outlook.

Last night, I was able to get all the receipts for the entire year added up for the sales tax deduction on our tax return (while watching 24 and then Medium). I am trying to determine if it is better for us to keep all the receipts or to just use the automated amount from Turbo Tax. This will be the test year. I am kind of hoping that Turbo Tax is better because keeping and then adding all those receipts up was a bit of a pain the rear. So anyhow, I am pretty much ready to do our taxes...just have to sit down and do them. I am still waiting for the official form from my college for that credit but I know the amount already so I could realistically do them. I am kind of excited to see how much we are going to get from the write-offs on both houses...

Anyhow, we just got paid today, so I need to go so I can get some bills paid and my account balanced before I do anything else. Then it might be tax time...depends on how much time I have left in the day. Might make fried rice with some egg rolls tonight for dinner....that is a hard one to keep in portion control but I'll see if I can do it.

Humane Society of the United States

Please give to the Humane Society of the United States to help save the animals/pets that have been left behind during the evacuation of the Gulf Coast. These animals did not have a choice to leave or not to leave, and they have not been looting or shooting at anyone. They deserve a chance. Thanks!!!!!

There is a link to their page in the title of this post and I have also added a link to my sidebar to directly connect to their donation page.

Out of Control

You know when things are getting out of control when you will pay more (it was only a 6 dollar difference) for a plane ticket to avoid connecting in an airport named after someone you don't like. I know it is silly but I just couldn't make myself connect there.

Ends up, I didn't have to pay more. After Travelocity, Expedia and Hotwire couldn't give me the flights I was looking for, I went directly to the airline, and ended up with the flight and seats that I wanted and 5 bucks cheaper because I didn't go through a "travel agent"...I might have to try this again sometime.