Hibernation

I am in dire need of a snow storm or a bad cold --- metaphorically, at least. I don't want the power to go out & I don't want to feel miserable. I want an excuse... no, an absolutely unquestionable essential need to take a couple of days off and do nothing.

I want to go to the library and check out a stack of books that have no socially redeeming quality other than entertainment. Nothing thought-provoking, heart-breaking, or life-altering. Nothing with big words I don't already know. Maybe even something I've read before a few dozen times.

I want to go to the grocery store and buy canned soup, cheddar cheese, and artisan bread. Maybe some apples and oranges. And green tea bags, bottles of diet Coke, and LIMES.

I want to get my lavendar sugar scrub,vanilla shea butter lotion, and ginger bath salts.

Then I am going to make some tea and soak in the tub until the water will no longer run hot, my feet are pruned, and my children are banging on the door yelling that they have to pee and Dad just used the downstairs bathroom, so it will be a long long time before they will go in there.

Then I am going to put on my fluffy robe that my mother in law gave me for Christmas and my wooly socks that I crocheted for myself when I got cold and crawl into bed. I will drink tea and diet Coke with lime, eat cheese sandwiches, canned soup, and oranges, and read books with no redeeming social value.

Then I will get up and go back to work, to family, to play. And I will be smiling.

Tax Season

When my youngest son was little he thought there were five seasons: winter, spring, summer, fall and tax season. He still gets a sort of sad look when I say it's almost tax season. It means I won't be at his school every Friday. Every other Saturday morning is shot (although I never do much on Saturday anyway.)



But I get excited. I start planning for tax season in November. OK, sometimes I start planning in May. We have a pretty good system set up, but I like to tweak it. I think about the process, the checks & balances, the filing system. Every year, we get better.

But with the other things that continue to go on in life --- love, children, housework, tax season leaves very little time for creative activity. All energy goes into living and taxes. I guess that's metaphorically true of everyone, huh?

Happy New Year

The temperature outside is 25 degrees, which is quite warm for some folk, but really really cold for us in South Carolina. I get to see if my "light" L. L. Bean coat is ready for this. I think it is. After all, people in Maine wear light cotton sweaters in the summer.

It is time to get back to work. A real routine times 10, since it is TAX SEASON. Before filing begins, we will be closing books, preparing W-2s, and making sure we are caught up with all non-Tax stuff. Our fear that the tax season would be seriously delayed has been calmed. Only a few forms are affected by the delay. The IRS, monolithic bureaucracy that it is, has worked harder than Congress deserved to make sure the filing system will be in place. Although I'm glad we will be able to file most returns on time (mid-January), I am not sure the IRS isn't enabling Congress and encouraging them to continue to refuse to face tough issues. But for now, I don't care.

This holiday season has been nice, but not restful. I haven't had more than two days off in a row, and usually those days were so filled with obligations that they can't count as a vacation. I got some things done, but not close to everything. Maybe I have to be busy to get things done. Or not.