Best news this year

I've been a horrible blogger - there are reasons, but I would have to blog to explain....

But I've finally been shaken from my apathy. This news is worth sharing, especially as I am working my way through a stash of dark chocolate Hershey Kisses to keep me going during tax season.

March 27, 2012 9:18 AM

 

Eating lots of chocolate helps people stay thin, study finds

By

Ryan Jaslow

 

(Credit: istockphoto)

(CBS News) What's the best way to stay thin? A new study finds it's exercising and eating a healthy diet full of - chocolate?

The study found that people who frequently ate chocolate had a lower body mass index (BMI) than people who didn't.
Is it time to ditch fat-free for fudge?
For the study, published in the March 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers examined more than 1,000 healthy men and women who were free of heart disease, diabetes and cholesterol problems. They were all enrolled in another study that measured the effects of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, but for this study researchers assigned them questionnaires that gauged how often participants chowed down on chocolate.
The researchers found that the participants - who were an average age of 57 - ate chocolate for an average of twice of week and exercised roughly 3.5 times per week. But the more frequent chocolate-eaters had smaller BMIs, a ratio of height and weight that's used to measure obesity.
What explains the effect? Even though chocolate can be loaded with calories, it's full of antioxidants and other ingredients that may promote weight loss, the researchers said.
"I was pretty happy with this news myself," study author Dr. Beatrice Golomb, associate professor of medicine at the University of California-San Diego, told USA Today. "Findings show the composition of calories, not just the number of them, matters for determining ultimate weight."
Does that mean all diet regimens should include a daily chocolate bar? The researchers say it's too soon to tell.
"Our findings - that more frequent chocolate intake is linked to lower BMI - are intriguing," the authors wrote. However, "It is not a siren call to go out and eat 20 pounds of chocolate a day," Golomb told HealthDay.
This isn't the first study to suggest a daily dose of chocolate can do the body good. Last summer, a study of more than 100,000 people found those who ate the most chocolate were 39 percent less likely to get heart disease and 29 percent less likely to have a stroke, HealthPop reported. Months later a 10-year study of 33,000 women found a 30 percent reduced risk of stroke among chocaholics.
But experts warn not all chocolate is created equal, and some could contain lots of sugar and calories, which could lead to other health issues if consumed daily.
"I would not want people reading this to think that all [they] need to do to lose weight is eat more chocolate," Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center in New Haven, Conn., told WebMD. "That would be a huge mistake." Katz suggests dark chocolate, because of its bitter flavor, may suppress appetite whereas sweet chocolate may stimulate it.

Doing something right

My office is in a front room of the house, between the kitchen and the front door. During the day, while working, I check the mail, let the dogs out, let the dogs in, investigate the odd noises, refill my coffee, bring in deliveries (the UPS guy is here often enough I can just leave my outgoing on the front porch), move laundry along, get files from the garage, change long sleeves for short sleeves, grab a coke out of the back fridge, switch from glasses to contacts at the sink......actually I don't need an excuse to walk away from my desk.

I'm already planning, in my dream office of my dream house, to get one of those desks that elevate, allowing you to stand when you like. It doesn't take much for my chair to make me twitchy.

A just released study has "found that among post-menopausal women, taking frequent breaks from sitting was associated with smaller waist circumference and lower levels of C-reactive proteins, both biomarkers associated with elevated risk of some cancers."

Fortunately, the article didn't mention short trips to the pantry for a handful of chocolate chips or to the freezer for a fudgicle. I'm taking the attitude any break is a good break. Gotta' stay healthy!

Couldn't have said it better

Today is it, done, finished, kaput, the final tax filing day of the 2010 filing season. I actually completed my own return last night. For the last few years I've been filing my own return between 11:30 and midnight, barely making the deadline. This year' I'm 24 hours ahead. Woo hoo!

I only have one return left to go, which I'm about to start now, and it will probably get done on time, too.

So I traded blogging for sleeping this past month. I wouldn't have had to do that if I could only force myself to work a little more consistently between April and September. Every year I have the best of intentions, but.......  Oh, well. This year I actually got more down before April 15, thanks to adding a regular assistant.

But while I've been dormant on the web, my husband has not. His post today is perfect.

I work hard and pay taxes. My friends and family work hard, too. "We are the 53%."

I'll write more later, but right now I have to work for a living. Sure wish everyone did.

When the going gets desperate

The desperate eat ice cream and potato chips.

I have a family size bag of Wavy Lays. I have packages of individual Blue Bell ice cream cups in the vanilla, chocolate and sundae flavors.

At the end of the day, when I have confirmation of the last e-filed tax return on this final due date for most 2010 tax returns, how full (empty) will the chip bag be and how many empty ice cream cups will be in my office trash can?

That's a rhetorical question, of course, because I'm not telling.

Happy Tax Day!

A ways past fifty something

I had a conversation with my dad today, in between all the fast and furious e-filing I am doing. Actually, I called him to make sure he had looked over his and mom's return so that I could go ahead and push the button to file it.

I told him that Wiley and I are probably going to a soccer tournament in Colorado in the middle of July. Had he and Mom decided yet whether they are spending their motor home summer in Alaska or Colorado? I have been hoping for Colorado, as I'm longing for a cheap way to spend a few days doing as little as possible. If they are in Colorado, maybe they'll catch a soccer game or two and then Wiley and I can hang out for a few extra days.

Anyway......

Me: Looks like Wiley and I are going to be in Colorado the middle of July, at Colorado Springs doing a Pike's Pike soccer tournament. Are you going to be in Colorado then? Tell Mom so you guys factor that in when deciding where to go.

Dad: We're leaning toward Colorado, I think. So, end of July?

Me: No, the middle of July

Dad: I bet we could be in Boulder.

Me: No, we're going to Colorado Springs, so southern Colorado.

Dad: Okay, Colorado Springs, first of July.

Me: MIDDLE of July, Dad. I'm calling Mom.

And I did.

Wardrobe (mal)function

Two days ago I worked in my pajamas 'till after 3:00. Yesterday I spent the day wearing Adidas comfy clothes.

Today I dressed to go to a client's office first thing, expecting to get a call that I needed to be there and not expecting to have time to do a wardrobe change.

A few minutes ago I got the call that I don't need to go until tomorrow.

That's a good thing as I've just noticed that both my nice shirt AND my pants are coated with chocolate drippings from the ice cream cone I ate for lunch.

Working at home....gotta' love it.

Elvis has left the building

Every year I treat myself to some new business toy - a new printer or computer or fancy shelving or pricey wall decor. Three years ago I replaced my five year old Dell computer with another Dell. The machine bought in 2003 was having compatibility problems with some of the newer hardware components and software programs and face it, five years is a long time to ride one computer.

Unfortunately, I picked the window of time (early 2008) during which computers only came with the Vista operating system. Blissfully ignorant of the trouble ahead, Ricky assembled my new computer and began moving software and data from old to new. After about fifteen hours of trial and effort, nearly everything worked. We had come "this close" to giving up and paying the restocking fee. But like many things in life, the more time spent getting the computer to work, the harder it was to cut our losses.

There were some programs and a printer that absolutely would not work with Vista. But my tax season was already fast and furious, so I made do. There were constant issues and a steady stream of Vista updates that fixed some problems while creating more.

We were miserable - the "we" being me constantly tearing my hair out over computer induced work stoppages and Ricky having to listen to my wails and be my IT guy while I hovered. I'm not a patient hoverer.

As the year progressed, Microsoft, admitting to its Vista disaster, began re-offering the XP operating system for new computers as they worked on a replacement for Vista. Fat lot of good it did me.

In surrender, I bought another new computer in early 2009 - an Apple laptop I used along with a desktop monitor. It has been much more stable on our home network and with the Intel chip, I could run my Windows based business software successfully.........for a while.

Approaching a critical deadline, the Apple hard drive crashed last summer and had to be replaced. Fortunately, I had my data backed up, but the Windows stuff never worked quite as well from then on. Meanwhile, Windows 7 released with good reviews. I put Windows 7 on the stupid Vista computer and got it back in business.

For the past six months, I've run all my tax software on the Windows 7 computer and my email and Office programs (Word, Excel) on the Apple. The two are networked, so that's all good.

It's kinda' like having two monitors with one computer. However...........my eyes are tired of the small laptop screen. I'm constantly shuffling keyboards and mice and could use more space on my desk. And good grief, keeping up with the cords is a job itself.

My little corner of the world

I have decided to put everything I use at work back on the Dell computer, including email and Office so that I will have one computer and one keyboard and will use two desktop size monitors.

Anticipating the laborious process of converting email, loading programs and getting everything working efficiently, I started thinking about this now three year old Dell computer. That's like fifty something human years.

Bottom line - I ordered a new computer, with the features I need and speed I can count on. And in this world of strange marketing, it was actually cheaper to customize a package deal they were offering with a monitor than to buy the same system without a monitor. So I will have two (nearly) new large monitors instead of one large and one medium. (Pizza, anyone?)

Ordered a few days ago, today it shipped!

The strange things that delight me - I can't wait for Elvis to arrive.

The Department of Redundancy Department

I'm trying to work this morning, but concrete saws have been going for hours just outside my office window. I feel like I'm two hours in to a dentist appointment of non-stop drilling. My ears are ringing.

Our house is on a corner. Workers are shaving off the curbs recently installed along the intersecting sidewalks.

A month ago we had neighborhood sidewalks which sloped to the street at every intersection, allowing easy movement for pedestrians, strollers, bikes, skates and the rarely seen wheelchair. Several years earlier, most offending sidewalks, those that required a step-off, had been replaced. So we have had politically correct, ADA approved sidewalks for some time.

A couple of months ago city crews began going through the neighborhood, tearing out corner sidewalks and replacing the concrete, rebar and slope with new concrete, rebar and slope. They added a doormat sized textured section near the street and added about two feet of curbing in each direction. Today they're lowering the curbing.

Essentially our city is spending months of man hours digging holes and filling holes.

Stimulus dollars at work.

My head is about to explode.

Rolling, rolling, rolling

It's the second day of the ice storm of 2011, the storm that left 2-3 inches of solid ice on all driving surfaces and temperatures in the single digits. It's still not as bad as the Oklahoma blizzard of 2009, the difference being this time I am comfortably at home (except for needing Bob Cratchit gloves.)

And now I have to admit to the downside of working at home. Everybody else had a "snow day" yesterday. For Ricky, Kelly, Brian and Wiley there was no school, no jobs, just pajamas (although Kelly had to dress twice as her delayed start became a more delayed start and finally no start at all). Meanwhile, I completed several tax returns and two loads of laundry and even made it to the local close-out store for its 8:00 am opening (Hunter ceiling fans at half price!) Ricky and I made it to the hockey game last night in downtown Dallas. The highways were fairly clear, unlike all the side streets and parking lots. The friends we went with drove us in their big, comfy, 4-wheel drive SUV. We had our choice of seating in the arena.

Today more businesses are open, but no schools. The temperature is hovering around 10 degrees, with scheduled power outages to keep up with demand. The electric company doesn't like the term "rolling blackout." We've had two outages so far this morning, a little tough on computers and internet, so I'm now getting a bit of a snow day.

I always wonder, in a weather event like this, if the world can get by with delayed starts and temporary closings every now and then, why don't we schedule them more often?

At my daughter's new job, she usually finishes the day's assignment in about three quarters of the allotted time. Most jobs and activities are replete with scheduled breaks and time off and cushions for delays and allowances for the lowest common denominator.

Instead, I suggest we all protest and demand a 30 or 35 hour work week.

Work hard, play hard! My favorite motto.

Twenty five years ago

I spent the day in Shreveport, part of an audit team doing a final review of our utility client's  financial statement workpapers.

During the morning a rumor buzzed through the office - something had happened to the space shuttle. The rumor ebbed and flowed throughout the day.

There was no You-tube, no cell phones, no internet. Someone in the building had access to a television, but  essentially there was an information blackout, with newscasters as puzzled as we were.

Was it the shuttle or the booster rocket that had problems? Did the mission continue? Was there a splashdown? Were there survivors? School rooms across the country had been tuned in to watch the "first teacher" blast off to space. Space flights were still a big deal.

It is hard to describe the void of information. The shock was similar to the events of September 11, 2001, of course on a smaller scale. But in 2001 we all knew, instantly, what had happened, just not why. In 1986 it was hours before we even knew the "what."

Our group finished up and in the evening flew from Shreveport to Corpus Christi, the location of the next day's assignment. For some reason I thought people at the airports would know something more about the shuttle. Nope.

Watching the evening news in my Corpus Christi hotel room, it was finally confirmed that the shuttle had exploded and all had perished.

What a day. What pioneers our astronauts are.

Cinderella!

I'm going to the Ball - the 2011 Inaugural Ball celebrating the swearing in of a good man who has been my friend and client for more than twenty years. How cool is that?

This time my carriage will be driven by American Airlines, a nice break from the recent weekend trips. Starting at Halloween I have gone to Oklahoma twice, San Antonio twice, Indianapolis and Memphis. This weekend we are headed to Houston for a wedding and then one more trip to Oklahoma before the end of the year. So that's one plane trip (Indy) and 4,000 miles of driving.

The invitation to the ball could not have come at a better time, though. This holiday season started a little flat. I've had mild feelings of doom and gloom, feelings I couldn't shake off. Do I only have a few holidays left? Will my body ever return to "normal?" (There's nothing particularly painful, just annoying, lingering side effects from my colon dissection in June.) Am I fated to be that brave, stoic cancer survivor who eventually succumbs gracefully to a recurrence?

All stupid stuff.

Now the Christmas shopping is mostly done and even wrapped, the decorations are up and the first seventeen batches of fudge are finished and delivered. My oldest, after a year and a half of constant searches and interviews, just landed a full time job! My older son, a joy to have back in the house, has a renewed sense of purpose and optimism and is making serious plans for the future, determined to follow through. My married kids just received bonuses and good reviews at their jobs. My youngest has excelled at band (San Antonio & Indy) and soccer (Memphis), all while keeping up with his school work.

And right after the holidays, which are and will be awesome, I get to go to a ball with my own Prince Charming. Seriously cool!

Whew!

What I've done since September 8........

Helped my daughter celebrate her 25th birthday, with a trip to the jewelry store to pick out charms to replace those she lost along with a bracelet her friends gave her when she finished chemotherapy nine years ago. That makes for a great celebration, along with (Ricky) making her a traditional Balthrop birthday cake - a yellow cake with cooked fudge icing. We sent her home with the cake intact, much to Wiley's complaint.

Garrett, Wiley & Lindsay (Garrett helped give the original charm bracelet.)

Open house at the high school - checking on Wiley's teachers, grades and behavior. His history teacher returned to me the toy airplane confiscated earlier in the day. Sigh. Boys.

Met my 6th grade boyfriend, my first kiss, for coffee during his two hour layover at DFW airport. We only knew each other for that one school year. I found out he really liked me when he gave me a fancy Valentine's Day card signed "Love, Robert." We corresponded - with snail mail - through college. He spent the night in our Chicago apartment one time when he was passing through. (On a cross country motorcycle trip, he stopped in the south side of Chicago to call us and ask for directions. It's a wonder he's still alive.) Bottom line - hadn't seen him in about thirty years. That was fun. I am old.

Attended two high school football games - we won both games and the band did great.

Kept up with America's Got Talent. I only missed voting on one episode. I'll defer further discussion until I've been to the AGT Live Show on October 13. I can't wait - singers, dancers, magicians, illusionists, daredevils and acrobats, oh, my!

Watched Wiley play soccer.

Started our symphony season ticket series. We used to do that, pre-kids. It's been a while.

Finished my September 15th work. September 15 is a big deadline - the final deadline for corporate, partnership and trust returns. I'm averaging 70 hours a week September through October 15, the final deadline for individual tax returns.

Had my first official colon follow up. Not much to it - I just needed advice on how to deal with the rumbling and grumbling. We're trying some different things, but the bottom line is that recovery takes TIME.

GOT A HAIRCUT!

Closed on our house refinance, dropping from 5.375% to 3.75%. That will help us be done with the whole thing in just a few more years.

Worked around the clock the last six days finishing up (an hour ago) the tax returns for an individual client who is running for Governor. So sometime in the next couple of days his tax returns are going on a public website.....with my name on them. Talk about pressure! He is someone I really admire, but unfortunately can't vote for, as he does not live here in God's country.

About God's country - went to the high school homecoming parade.

Met as part of a newly organized financial management team that is going to work with high net worth clients. It required some preparation, but all in all went well. I wondered what I could possibly add, but when you live long enough, you just end up knowing stuff that other people don't know. And I've also learned that if you speak clearly, others assume you know what you are talking about! I am used to high profile work, but it's usually done anonymously from the comfort of my home office. I actually had to bring the suit out of the closet this time.

Went to my daughter's in-laws' anniversary dinner across town.

Had a CT scan with contrast dye to make sure there are no cooties. And I thought I'd already had every test run. I knew I was in trouble when, at scheduling, they started asking me if I liked apples or bananas or berries. Try none of the above. They found a mocha flavored barium cocktail that I drank the night before, then again the morning of the scan. $650 later, I'm waiting on the test results.

The worst part, besides lack of sleep, is being on a reading kick with Ricky. We're reading through the same series of futuristic murder mysteries - crime solving by a sexy, rich and talented married couple. He's one book ahead. So lots of justification going on between us. The house is a wreck, meals are spotty, work is on the edge - but we're living it up vicariously.

And no, this is not me and Ricky.

Working for a living

I am a CPA, but as the cobbler's family has no shoes, I neglect our family's financial planning. That is starting to change, start being the operative word.

We have recently changed our primary bank, gaining some flexibility and better interest rates on car loans, but Ricky has had to do it dragging me along. The new structure involves personal checking and savings accounts, business checking and savings accounts, debit cards and new credit cards with different "reward" programs. It is more than my tiny mind can manage.

For twenty-five years we have run our family with one checking account. We don't have to consult the other before using it, either. And it has worked. All we've done over the years is raise the unspoken limit of how much one of us could spend without consulting the other. It started with $10, living as students, but of course has increased over the years. Long ago we reached the point at which one of us could buy a car without "checking in" first. That's kinda' where we've left it......at least I think so.

We both hate "budgets." Instead, we have developed our own system. I usually make the deposits and keep the operating funds divided between checking and savings. Ricky pays all the bills. Our tasks are so divided, I have never used a debit card.

I assume he will spend everything we have and so I keep as much as possible tucked away. He pretends not to know whether we have enough and spends what he thinks he can justify (knowing that I input all our expenses into Quicken after the fact.) He only knows how much we "have" by checking the balance when he makes a cash withdrawal.

Our system has worked, probably because we're both competitive. Neither of us wants to disappoint the other. With new banking procedures, though, and some other changes Ricky has made in monitoring our long term savings and retirement accounts, we each need to be more involved with both the ins and outs of our finances.

I guess that means we get to be on the same team. I'm rather looking forward to it.

Tomorrow we - Ricky, Kelly, Brian, Wiley (when he can) and I - are starting Dave Ramsey's course on Financial Peace. Lindsay and Eddie are doing the class at a different location. I hope each of us will get some benefit.

I usually dislike structure, i.e. having a plan. But I have never turned down a shoe shopping trip, and that's all this is, right?

A normal day

Like a bear coming out of hibernation, I have to adjust to the real world after the end of the spring tax season. I worked 367 hours in March and 223 hours the first half of April. After April 15, it actually takes me a few days to taper off work, catch up on some rest and remember how to take it easy.

This morning I got another tax return out the door, then headed out to pick up my friend and go tour the U.S. Mint, located in Fort Worth, about ten minutes from her house. We got to the mint about 9:30. The parking lot was fairly empty, a couple of moms with their young children were hanging around. There were four armed guards just inside the door of the welcome center. We put our purses in the X-ray machine and, after a body scan, entered the building. My friend took a little longer, having to remove all her jewelry and finally her shoes with the steel plates hidden inside. Once inside, we were escorted to a shuttle bus which took us to the main building.

We were welcomed inside like royalty. I think there were about twenty employees in the lobby, a combination of guards and hostesses. I didn't see any other visitors. We asked the lady who seemed to be in charge when the next tour started. She answered in awed tones that we had picked the perfect day, as they would be unveiling the new $100 bill at 11:00, and they were making that the first tour of the day, and we could be a part of it.

My friend and I looked at each other. We're both busy ladies, with things to do and places to be. Hang around for an extra hour and a half? I don't think so. We were quickly back on the shuttle bus, making our escape. I'll probably read in the paper tomorrow about the fabulous party I missed out on.

Instead, we enjoyed a lovely walk through her neighborhood. The morning was still cool and I particularly appreciated seeing the variety of landscapes, as I'm planning a complete face lift of my house's exterior in the next few weeks.

Next I had a business lunch with someone I've known for twenty-five years, and still occasionally work with. After lunch I had just enough time to bag up clothes for the school district's "clothes closet" before meeting with another friend and finishing the current round of volunteer accounting work I do for our high school band, punctuated as usual by my afternoon delivery of Wiley between schools for his afternoon class.

After school, Ricky cleaned the living room (wow!) and then it was supper time. What to eat?

My main motivation in picking meals these days is accommodating Wiley, who most of his life has been a light eater. A year ago he was five inches shorter than me. Some time in the last few weeks, when I wasn't looking, he passed me in height. It's rather glorious, just as it was six years ago when his brother did the same thing.

Lately, Wiley has been much more interested in food. Sunday he had eight or ten or twelve homemade tacos. We lost count, we just know he ate the rest. Tuesday night was an all you can eat pizza night.

Tonight I had the inspiration to go to the cafeteria. My kids grew up eating regularly in the Luby's Cafeteria just down the road from us. Certain nights of the week were "kids eat free," and when you have four of them, that is a pretty sweet deal. We gradually outgrew the free ride, though, and our family attendance tapered off, finally stopping when the Luby's closed a couple of years ago.

Tonight we headed out to Furr's, a one price all-you-can-eat cafeteria. I got a spinach salad, tilapia, pinto beans, turnip greens (with pepper sauce) and a roll. Ricky got chicken fried steak, gravy, corn, new potatos and some fried shrimp. Wiley got a banana (a banana?), hamburger steak, french fries and a roll. I reminded Wiley that he could get whatever he wanted. But that was indeed what he wanted. We ate our meals. Then Wiley went back and got a fish filet and some mashed potatoes. We finished up. Then Wiley went back and got another hamburger steak. Then he had ice cream. Then, not quite satisfied, he went back and got another banana. (Another banana?)

In our family, eating is now officially a spectator sport. We checked and made sure he didn't need to stop and get a snack on the way home.

Back at the house, I've spent the evening in the recliner, reading on a Harry Potter book, watching basketball, not fretting over any deadlines. Now it's time to hit the hay.

A normal day off kind of day.

Why I'm working past midnight (again and again...)

If you have 5 minutes, this is a great video

on the horrors of our country's tax compliance system.

(And my older son will like that it's easy on the eyes.)

Told you so

Study: Chocolate could reduce heart risk

The Easter Bunny might lower your chances of having a heart problem. According to a new study, small doses of chocolate every day could decrease your risk of having a heart attack or stroke by nearly 40 percent.

Add bacon and peanut butter and that grows to 60 percent.

Since I'm living on Reese's Peanut Butter Cups right now (thank you, Ricky, for sharing and restocking your secret stash) this gives me some comfort. Add microwave bacon, for the fastest made sandwich in the west, and I'm set until April 15.

Life in a bubble

It's 7:15 on a Sunday morning and I've been at work for almost two hours.

That pretty much sums up my life every March and first half of April. It's the price tag for being my own boss, able to set my own hours, and having an easy schedule at the end of the year during the holidays.

Of course being able to set my own hours is a joke for this six week period. I am a slave to my clients and the arbitrary March and April 15 deadlines for having tax returns filed or extended with the proper payments.

This time of year is when I most feel like I'm still in college, although college finals didn't extend for six weeks at a time. It's a challenge each year, knowing that it will all get done, but never sure of the path.

Each year has its own priorities. One year it was a new baby sleeping in my lap as I worked. Another year was full of wedding planning that could not be deferred. A few years ago I took my daughter and her friends to San Antonio the weekend before April 15 to watch the women's NCAA Final Four basketball games. Sometimes it's client issues that make a tax season challenging. A couple of years, including this year, IRS audits of my corporate clients have demanded hours I have to pull out of a hat.

The most stressful tax season I had was the first one after my CPA friend died. I added several of her clients into my mix and there was a steep learning curve. Sally had a twenty year history with these new friends of mine and I had to catch up. And every file was full of her notes in her handwriting, a daily reminder of my loss. That was the year I started work at 4:00 am every day. There were days I wasn't sure I would make it.

But I did, as I always do, with family support and the faith that it is not the end of the world if I screw up. I do my best, it will either be enough or it won't.

In many ways, life is simpler during tax season. I get up, work for a while, get dressed, work for a long time, take Wiley from one school to another in mid-afternoon, work for a while, eat supper, then work for a long time. There comes a time in the evening, sometime between 10:30 and 1:30 that my eyes glaze over, and then I'm done for the day. If it's late, and my clothes are comfy, I don't even change before getting into bed. (Pretty romantic, huh?)

Some days I get dressed up for a project I work on at a client's office each year. Every now and then a client stops by. That can be kind of dicey, though, since it usually looks like a paper bomb has gone off around here and I have to allow time to straighten up. Weekends are a little easier, since the phone doesn't ring.

My friends play along with my schedule, for which I'm grateful. They aren't offended if I can't meet for lunch or have a long phone call. My book club is on hold. Church attendance is spotty. I ration out my participation in family activities. Wiley has a soccer tournament next weekend. My goal is to make one of the three games. My daughter is hosting Easter lunch. Last year the boys went, but I worked instead. This year I hope to be there. The family events have the highest priority, even over sleep, but I still can't make them all.

And now I know I can't, physically or mentally, keep up any kind of regular posting on my blog during this time of year. So I'll continue with brief comments and pictures and flits of fancy. I've had several things come up I would write about in a normal month, basketball and politics and aging and teenagers and dogs........but they can wait. They have to wait. I've started several posts when the muse called, but then I laugh at myself. I am so tired I can't finish a sentence, much less a coherent paragraph. If I stop moving to take time to think, my thoughts quickly turn from words on a page to dreams. I even fell asleep in my car waiting five minutes to pick up Wiley one afternoon.

But today, I'm optimistic. I got up early and got stuff done. I have allowed myself the luxury of thirty minutes of posting. Now a quick shower, another hour of work, then off to church. Then back at work for the rest of the day.

It will all get done.

Takin' Life Easy

Nine days old, but who's counting?

Me, of course!

Counting, I do that for a living, so it needs to be fun. I'll be counting to 56 this time. (And I even did that without a calculator.......an inside joke for us CPAs.)

Not yet back to a regularly scheduled program

It's March 12th, with a weekend left to meet the corporate tax filing deadline on Monday.

It's still way too cold for Texas in March. And there may be another arctic blast on its way late next week.

The time change is this weekend - that spring forward widget that makes me give up another hour of sleep.

I'd rather play with my dog, but if I can't do that, at least I can hear her "sing" when Wiley plays with her.

Who says chromatic scales can't be fun? You just need the right harmony.

Breaking with tradition

A long standing tradition for me is to have the Oscars on while I work on tax returns, it being March and all.

This year I just can't do it. Of the ten Best Picture nominees, I've seen exactly........ two. Can you guess which two?

The drum roll please - and the nominees are "Up" and "Up In The Air." I would give Best Picture to "Up." The first twenty minutes of that movie, if you are married, have ever been married, or ever want to be married, will take your heart and turn it inside out.

The best marriage will be full of dreams deferred and dreams remembered, because living and loving gets in the way of dreams sometime. In the best marriage, you can share your dreams, always part of who you are, and be content with both the realized dreams and the fantasies that are there to flirt with.

Good night, sweet dreams.