we fought the tax man...

...and the women won!

Property taxes protested successfully: Check!

Phew. Is that a relief.

wrapping it up

Christmas was quiet. Pleasant but not particularly...festive. Still I appreciated the absence of family drama, love them as I do, and it wouldn't surprise me if the hiatus was welcome for them as well. Missed my kids more than I want to acknowledge, you know, but it's important to let them create their own traditions, yada, yada.

Learned how to glaze a window. It's like caulking only lasts longer. Messy to apply, somewhat tedious to smooth and the attention-to-detail process was tonic to my soul.

We also prepared the paperwork we'll need for our property tax protest. Our tax bill is SO out of hand, the shock moved me right past teeth gnashing and whining (okay, almost past whining) and right into survival mode. We have documentation to focus on.

Enough people know about or read this blog to put a significant damper on any scathing commentary I might have about, for instance, some of my holiday experiences. Dammit.

Okay, that's all for now. Will try and check back in between the DIY pile-ups ahead...

i wear my sunglasses at tax season

St. Barbara's halo is blinding in its brilliance. She thought I'd have to file an extension and figuring out the estimated payment was giving us both brain cramps (mine were more sympathy brain cramps as she was the one actually doing the ciphering). For a person with as small a "this is what's left after paying bills" buffer as I have each month, my taxes are way complicated. What with our vast land holdings and staggering investments...

Anyway, Barbara managed to trudge through pages and pages of the tax labyrinth and get them done. E-filed this very morning. Before vacation. With me paying $1,000 less than I did last year. Holy shit, give that woman a prize. She is going to get some serious stadium tchotchkes as we begin our national (+ Toronto) tour of Major League Baseball Stadiums.

Can I get a woohoooo?