Believe it or not, I MADE IT! No, seriously -- I did. All by myself.
MawMaw Harrison would be so proud of me! She was a legend of crochet. She taught me a few stitches when I was about ten, back in the 70's, and I made a looooooong, thin white scarf. With fringe. That was the sum of my career in stitchery -- save one brief, sad attempt at learning to knit with Hope when she was home from college one summer -- until.......T-time 2011!!!
T-time?? You know, the T-word. That's what Hope calls taxes. She squinches up her whole face when she says it.
What on Earth do taxes have to do with crocheted baby beanies???
Well, it seems that I have this persistent pattern of approach-avoidance, or what I call my self-distraction mode. It goes like this: something BIG (usually something I don't want to do or think I can't do well -- ok, perfectly) is on the horizon. I know it's coming, and I know what needs to be done. I might procrastinate. Or knowing how nerve-wracking the tail-end of procrastination can be, I might actually get started on the initial stages of the BIG something. Then, shortly into it, I find something else that I really NEED to do, or really WANT to do, or ALWAYS meant to do, or would just LOVE to do....and I'm off!
I was famous for this in grad school. Big project due? Hey! I've just gotta read that thick novel that's been calling my name from the bedside table for months! Final Case Summaries need to be finalized? Omigosh! Look at all these winter clothes that really have to be sorted, sized, shipped, stored, or donated TODAY, quick, before something happens to them! And I'm gone in a cloud of dust....
Same thing happend Saturday. After my standing Saturday morning meeting with my "breakfast club" pals, Dewey and the kids leave for the LSU basketball game around noon. I'm determined to start the taxes in January this year. CPAs strongly encourage this. They'll also send you a bill for filing your extension in April. The best ones don't even roll their eyes.
My mom and dad call asking me to meet them for coffee about ten minutes later. Hey, they're only in town on Saturdays about once a month. What are you going to do, decline beignets and cafe au lait with your parents??
Couple hours later, I've managed to completely cover the dining room table with stacks of tax paperwork before Dewey and the kids return. Remember, I'm self-employed -- folks whose taxes are withheld from their paycheck simply cannot appreciate the depth and breadth of printed paper necessary to settle up with the IRS annually. All for the quarterly privilege of paying an extra 15% called "self-employment tax." How special.
First snag, mid-afternoon: June and July bank statements missing from all three of our checking accounts. Weren't those with the mortgage application? You know, for the house we planned to buy in August? The one that fell through -- twice? Thought that was in this file.....no luck. (sigh)
Might be time for a break......hmmmm......wish I knew how to make a rag rug for the keeping room; the tile floor gets cold, and I hate the color.....cool website......WHOOSH!
Next thing I know I'm halfway through an Adriana Trigiani novel and I'm watching YouTube videos on how to start a "magic circle" for crocheted flowers.
This might be a new record.
So now it's Thursday. I've got skeins of cotton yarn in several colors, I can whip out the sweetest crocheted leaves -- who knew?? -- AND I've tried a new recipe for potato leek soup (yum!) that we had to eat at the bar in the kitchen. The dining room table isn't available.
The taxes?
Hey, it's still January, and I have a plan: I'm going to see if Dewey can figure out how to print copies of bank statements from 2010 from his online banking program.
Thank goodness we're both off tomorrow. He's going to take my car for an oil change first thing in the morning, while I get back to the taxes. Oh, yeah, and I'm going to meet my Great Aunt Yvonne at Applebee's for lunch. She is just grand! We've been trying to do this since last January when an ice storm nixed our plans-- no kidding!
POOF!
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