2-1-25 TAX SEASON

 Retired Life. Sunday.

Happy Sabbath! Here's a Jesus Picture for you.

We drove a lot today. In to town for Stake Conference. Back home. (eat lunch, read a bit, take a nap). Back on the road to Elk to have a yummy taco dinner with Del and Ella. (I got pictures of the pets...) Then back home.

We met the Mission Office Couple at Stake Conference. They were excited to meet us and have us coming to their mission. It's getting real and really fast.

Retired Life. Monday.

It was nice to be home and go back to our usual routine. And since I rarely mention the routine, I will now. Each day begins with prayer, reading from a church magazine, come follow me lesson, scriptures, and a fun book (I'm reading 2 books right now, a US History book in which I'm in the late 1980s, and an End of the World Apocolyse Fiction book), write some on my book, stretches to keep my back from hurting, walk with Frivvy, do some training with Frivvy (trying to get him to go sit on his bed any time someone knocks on the front door), take my meds, shower (some days).

With food prep and eating and subsequent clean up, this usually eats up the morning.

This afternoon I spent a bunch of time paying bills and reconciling medical statements. That stuff just piles up if we leave town.

In the evening we watched a prerecorded football game, Arizona St vs Texas, which gets my vote for best CFP game.

I also received a 1099 in the mail today. Trying hard to remember what I'm supposed to do with it.........

And since there was nothing interesting to take a picture of today, I had AI draw a picture of me pulling my hair out while paying stupid bills. Enjoy.

Retired Life. Tuesday.

Old people need food day.

We meticulously planned out our week. Made up yummy menus. Prepared a detailed shopping list. Drove to Plummer. (It was a great day to be out, lots of sun...) Walked on the Trail of the CDAs with Frivvy. (He was really excited when we pulled up to the trailhead.) Ate salads at Gateway Cafe. (I also had pie. And we played Uno.) Picked up the groceries. Drove home. Brought them in. Put them away.

I then had time to go over some more messed up medical bills. And then we watched the BYU vs Baylor OT game.

Got another 1099 today. Still not remembering what these forms are for...

Retired Life. Wednesday.

Last year, I wrote an outline of what going to work on January 29th used to be like. Here is what I wrote:

One of the busiest days of the year. Clients are starting to bring their stuff in for tax preparation, claiming that they have all their W-2s, which may or may not (usually not) be accurate. They want to know what our fees will be, what their refund will be (yes, I can magically peer at a pile of documents and spew out the exact amount of the refund) and they would like to pick it up tomorrow. Payroll clients are questioning where their W-2s are at, but we can’t process them yet because they have yet to provide us the Social Security Numbers of those few employees they hired and now no longer work for them. New clients are walking in the font door saying “guess what? I hired employees this year! But now I can’t figure out those pesky payroll taxes. I heard you guys could do it for me.” It’s due in 72 hours. And it is the first day of work for our new interns and tax receptionist. For a couple, it is usually their first day of work ever in their lives. Lots of training going on. And usually one of them quits before the day is over. Plus, add to that it is usually blizzarding out. Can you say 14 – 16 hour day?

What actually happened today:

I cooked up ham omelettes for breakfast.

Hanna found Moose tracks in the yard. (A moose has been hanging around Fairfield the last while.)

A big dude came over and trimmed Frivvy's nails.

We had a Zoom meeting with a Senior Missionary Couple who gave us an orientation.

I cooked Old People Steak for dinner.

And that was it.

Retirement is blissful.

I got yet another 1099 today. Confused why I am getting these...just information I guess. Threw it out...

Retired Life. Thursday.

A very simple retired day. No tax returns. No phones blaring. No Email piling up. No new tax laws to worry about. A very simple retired day.

We drove to Post Falls for Hanna's monthly cancer infusion. In the stomach. Yikes. But whatever it takes to keep her healthy. Then to lunch at Red Robin where we had fries and salad. (Yes! Healthy!) They have Gluten Free Fries there that Hanna can eat. She even made her own fry sauce! Then to a paint store to buy....well...paint. Dropped off some stuff at Goodwill. Topped off the truck with cheap Idaho Gas, and then drove home. After a nap, we watched a prerecorded football game. Bison vs Jack Rabbits. They do football right in the Dakotas.

Got another pesky 1099 today. Amazing! I do know how much interest my bank paid me because I keep meticulous financial records. So I'm not sure why they think they have to mail me this form telling me the amount. Into the trash it went.......such a waste of paper.

Retired Life. Friday.

Old Folks go out to breakfast day! Always a good thing to take a break from cooking and gather with other old retired folks at a local Cafe for some egg scrambles. We went to Gateway Cafe in Plummer. The road over was a bit snowy, but we drive JEEPs, so no big deal. In fact, it's fun.

After breakfast, we went for the usual hike on the Trail of the CDAs, but it was a bit wet and rainy.

Back at home, I took down the Christmas tree (finally) and found a present still under it for our youngest grandson. Thankfully, he is not old enough to feel left out and we'll get it to him later.

Frivvy could sense that company was coming and posted himself by the front door in anticipation. And yes! He was right! The Sister Missionaries came over for dinner and a message. Since we were just in Chile, we cooked up some Chilean Pork Chops (see the picture, how'd we do? Does that look like what we were fed in Chile?)

The sisters seemed to enjoy the dinner and we really enjoyed their spiritual message. If you would like them to visit your home and provide a message (dinner optional), just let me know. I have connections.

Finally, in my mail box was another couple of 1099s. Mysterious stuff. I don't remember if I'm supposed to do anything with these. I do feel important now though. Lots of mail. But, since I threw all the others out, I threw these ones out too. I had one concerned friend mention audits and IRS and other stuff that I don't understand these days. Am I going to get in trouble or something? Sound frightening!

Retired Life. Saturday.

The big event of today was worshipping in the temple along with our grown kids and spouses, Del & Ella and Luigi & Brooklyn. We went out for tacos afterwards.

Back at home, I took a nice long nap. Always a must during retirement. Naps in February were nonexistent in my CPA life.

I know I play stupid when it comes to tax law on here. One reason I do that is so folks won't ask me for tax advice or ask me to do their tax returns. We're retired. We're done with that. Plus we signed a do not compete agreement and an agreement to refer all such requests to the firm that bought us out. But it doesn't mean we still don't enjoy it. And in very rare occasions we prepare a tax return. Like our own. And Hanna's elderly mom's tax return. And right now I'm working on my Dad's estate's tax return. So, Hanna and I still do have tax and accounting law and practice discussions. It was those discussions that attracted us to each other 14 years ago. And so it was today. We discussed the pros and cons of filing an Idaho State Estate Tax Return with beneficiaries from three different states as a Composite Return vs a Flow Thru Return. It set the tone for a great date night! And may have saved the Estate $30 in taxes. Fun, romantic times...