End of Summer Approaches

We had a hail storm that woke me up from my after work slumber. Sounded like someone hammering on the roof and someone throwing rocks at the windows. Look outside to find the hail coming down. Tried to record it, but my smartphone took a minute to turn on. I got the tail end of the hail falling, but missed the heavy downpour that woke me up. It resembled snow falling. Such as life. Missed the family reunion at my brother's house sleeping at home most of the day. I arrived after most people had left. Aunt was celebrating her 80 Birthday. My niece recorded my great-nieces playing in the backyard and shared it with me to see how big they are getting. Had 2 online interviews with prospective employers. Both rejected me later. Had a phone interview with a 3rd company and received another rejection notice. Celebrated my Mom's birthday with siblings at a restaurant. Siblings wanted to go to a fancy restaurant they always wanted to experience. I replied that our mother grew up on a farm and would not enjoy the lobster or calimari they crave. We settled on Ruby Tuesday's and I enjoyed pulled pork and tator tots. We lost a maid and gained a front desk clerk. Front desk clerk worked here before and didn't like the old manager very much to quit as I was hired. Owners decided to give raises to the staff hoping to keep people and get more hired. Took them long enough. Boromir ferret made the Great Escape through the fence into the neighbor's yard, then went through their fence to end up in next neghbor's yard who didn't have a fence so I quickly grabbed him. There was a rabbit bigger than him that hopped away. Another day he made the great escape to take a tour of the front yard and ended up in the neighbor's yard where I coxed him back into our yard before grabbing him. Got 2 schedules that had me working 12 days in a row. After Day 8, I was backing out of my parking space when a coworker decided to park in the spot next to mine. Since I was looking behind me, I failed to view their car in front of me so our fenders bumped into each other. Naturally it was it was all my fault though it could have been both our fault, coworker didn't want to file a police report cause they don't speak English very well, and was told my coworker didn't have insurance. Had to write a claim and take photos for my insurance company on my smartphone while ready to collapse from exhaustion. After 9th work day my mental capacity diminished to the point I couldn't remember my coworkers' names. 10th day was babysitting a coworker doing their first night audit so that was a half day. Felt better after getting some sleep. When I left the 12th day, I told the manager to please don't ever do that again. I got one day off and went back to work again. I pray for another job, but no job ever appears. Then a week after my fender bender, I receive a phone call from my coworker's insurance company which was a surprise for me when they said they had none. I explained my insurance was fixing my car which made the insurance agent happy. It is taking a long time (2 weeks so far) to fix my car and driving the rental car that barely fits into my garage (it's a minivan). Opened the trunk lid and it hit the garage door. Watched the Olympics on TV. My guilty pleasure is the gymnastics. Discovered mosquito larvae in the bird bath. Water was tossed out and replaced so the larvae became lawn fertilizer. Glass storm door got stuck and after kicking the door to unstuck it, the whole glass door shattered. Had a ton of glass to sweep up and brother helped put up the new door I ordered. Celebrated my nephew's birthday at a restaurant and had ice cream cake at my sister's house. I paid for my brother's lunch for helping me with my door. Later, Nephew had to leave for his fast food job. He does the fries and chicken nuggets. He said all the grease in the air is making his acne worse. I offered a housekeeping job at my hotel that would be cleaner environment, and maids get tips. We got a new hotel manager assigned to us. A traveling manager who lives in town thought we were great work team and applied for permanent residency. She was accepted and I hardly ever see her working the overnight shift. Hope she gets to freezer in the marketplace section fixed or replaced so we can sell our ice cream. People seem to not like the idea of us grabbing ice cream from the kitchen for them.

What Part of I'm Broke did you not Understand?

Funny how people have trouble understanding what "I'm broke" really means. It means: I have debt not savings. I work 2 jobs, 6 days a week and barely have enough to pay my living expenses. I'm not lazy, I'm exhausted. I don't have money to spare to pay for repairs, vacations, TiVo, Disney+, Netflix, fast food, or hobbies. I won't be remodeling anything in the near future. I seriously don't care what Martha Stewart would have to say about my boring meals with foods that are all the same color or my lack of themes or color schemes in my decorating. In fact, I seriously don't care what a man would think of my dirty house covered in pet hair cause no man will see it. I can't afford a luxury apartment or posh mansion you wished I lived in so you can swim in a pool for free. I am not buying movies for you to borrow for free. I can't afford a housekeeper to keep my house perfectly clean to your satisfaction. And my yard will never resemble a manicured golf course.

I hate customer service jobs

I hate customer service jobs. Get someone who makes a reservation in the middle of night and demands their room at 2:30 AM. I am sold out tonight. The res they just made for today is good at 3PM, not 3AM when my guests are still sleeping (I am not yanking guests out of bed to give someone a room). Well had 2 reservations from the day before arriving and I checked them in. Now I am racist cause he's black and this is going on social media. I explained those people had reservations from the night before and I have to honor them past midnight. If their reservation was for yesterday, I would have gladly honored it at 2 AM. But it wasn't, it was made for today and the check in time is 3 PM. They explain they are from New York and unfamiliar with such things. Yeah, I'm sure hotels in New York have check in times too. They scream at me how heartless I am cause they have a little girl and I am throwing them out in the street (not exactly, I let them sleep in the lobby and let them use the public restroom I also let a homeless guy use while they're screaming at me). They were welcome to eat from continental breakfast when they were still waiting for the manager at 6 AM. I texted the manager to come early cause they were still here and not leaving until they spoke to a manager. I began doing my work from the back room to avoid them. The cook came in for breakfast and kept screaming my name at the front desk to tell me things. I explianed I am working from the backroom. Manager came in 15 minutes earlier than usual and I explained the situation. People were much calmer by then and asked for the uber number. Manager even made copies of their cancelations to prove they weren't being charged for them.

Short Staffed and Dollar Short

Always fun to get yelled at by guests comparing my hotel to other hotels in the chain. Can't tell them the maids are working 9-10 hours in a day preparing rooms for arriving guests so they don't have time to service the stay over guests with fresh towels and sheets every day. Manager is even blocking new reservations from being made so the maids can keep up. Can't tell them manager forgot to order sugar packets so we ran out yesterday. I did find a few in the break room and then they refused take them, but will gladly whine how we don't have coffee cause we are out of sugar. Equal is just not good enough. Can't tell them the cook works alone and too overwhelmed to open breakfast an hour early for a sports team. Their extra help is at the front desk, which makes guests complain there is nobody at the front desk when I go help her. Can't tell them since our top manager quit the maintenance guy cannot seem to get the ice machine fixed or anything else fixed, but they have plenty of time to hang around the maids all day. How's your day going.

Happy 4th of July

Working at a car rental I once wished a customer a Happy 4th and they asked the importance of the day. I explained to the Italian tourist that it is our Independence Day. I suggested attending our fireworks display at the Capitol Building that also has the Des Moines Symphony playing music. Days later he returned his car to thank me for the advice cause he enjoyed the concert and fireworks. Took Eowyn ferret to get her stitches removed from her eye removal surgery. I say she is now a pirate. She doesn't like being approached by her eyeless side and turns her to see through her other eye. I wonder if she is going blind cause she follows walls plus crashing into furniture. She poops everywhere so has trouble finding the corners where I place newspapers for the ferrets. Now that she is healed I have to give her a steroid pill crushed and mixed in salomon oil. At first she objected (shook her head), but still licked the salmon oil that tasted weird. After a while, she refused to lick the salmon oil period so had to give up. The water company had asked the public to conserve water due to the current drought and don't shoot of fireworks to prevent grass fires. Funny, I recently viewed mushrooms in my yard. I took my pets outside in the early morning hours when it is cool and they get wet fur from the dew. Had some rain fall enough to make my grass turn green again so I had to get out and mow it. Such as life. Hotel manager quit to go work for a dry cleaner. She was so tired from constantly covering shifts, gettign called at home, doing bookkeeping, going through resumes and interviewing people to have them not show up for their first day (or quit after a week), and had no time to plan her wedding next year (she got engaged on her birthday this year), and she had no time to ride her bike to practice for the upcoming RABRAI ride across the state. The owners sent us a traveling manager to fill in until they assign a new manager. Until they shpw up the Assistant Manager was acting manager. I felt so sorry for her and tried my best to do a good job so she had less to worry about. And now she is gone. I looked her up on social media and apparently she does not want to keep in touch. Alrighty then. Her last day, I had a job interview and had to change my resume to remove the work number of her reference to just list her home phone. Didn't get the job. In fact, I never heard a peep from them at all. With the manager gone, got to start working 6 days a week again. Lots of overtime for me. Good thing 4th of July is on a Sunday. That means parades are on Saturday. I got to view a parade in West Des Moines with my brother and niece at 6 PM before I had to arrive at work at 11 PM. Other parades were at 10 AM when I was sound asleep in bed. Got to sleep all day during the 4th after working the overnight, then stayed home watching TV. Once darkness came, the outside sounded like a war zone and I understood my pets' view when I would normally be out watching fireworks. They jumped and hid under furniture like during thunderstorms, then purred when I petted them. A few neighbors set off fireworks in their yards so I go to see those from my window. Then went to work once the fireworks were done. The streets weren't too busy with cars going home. Post later.

Finished the latest novel

I finsihed my latest novel so go chekc it out. https://southernbellenovel.blogspot.com/?fbclid=IwAR13Bpls3Cpsw3xcxm4Susjwd2HOTAWW0Yi82S-psyfaGC5L6j0GqgBckYI

Happy Father's Day

Had 2 maids quit and a laundry person left. Finally got my extra refund from IRS from the change in unemployment being taxed. As it so happened, the state return also changed due to the unemployment change so got extra refund from the state too. It all went to pay down the credit cards. Poor Eowyn ferret with the swollen eye had to have her eye removed. Vet said there was a tumor pushing her eye out. He got what he could. He sent the tumor for testing and poor Eowyn has lymphona. I could pay a fortune I don't have to take her out of state for chemotherapy cause vet was certain her cancer would have spread throughout her body. Given he age, she could be dead in a year or two from natural causes so I questioned if it would be worth it. Plus, I work 6 days of week so I don't have time to take her out of state. I elected to make her comfortable, give lots of treats, take her out for freash air, and prepare to let her go. She eats well so she is good so far, just getting accustomed to being blind without her eye and turns her head to see from her other eye still in her head. Vet gave me a steroid to improve her quality of life. A few times she took it mixed with her salmon oil supplement, then outright refused to take it. I finally gave up The city began experiencing a drought and asked the public to conserve water. Hotel apparently refused to shut the sprinklers off at night. Coworker arrived severly late for work stoking a fight in the back room and coworker walked out. New front desk person had their first night alone and it did not go well. They mixed up the rooms and I spent 2 hours rearranging them in the system. You have to kick out the original room assignment before putting someone else in that room. Manager said when they work with the new person, they do well but the second they are alone they can't figure out what to do. Attended a birthday party for my brother and family was happy to see me. Working on Father's Day so can't visit Dad at the cemetery this year. Have a great Father's Day.

Have a Good Memorial Day Weekend

Hire a new maid. The elevator broke down and guests were trapped inside for a couple hours until the fire department rescued them. Had to deliver towels to hotel guests walking the staris cause they didn't want to come down. Poor Eowyn ferret got a swollen eye and had I to go to work so couldn't deal with it right away. Requested a vet appointment sooner than the 2 weeks that were avaiable online. Sent a photo of her eye and got an appointment the next day. Received ointment and antibiotics to give her in hope that it is just an eye ulcer. Eowyn did not like the medication. One day she climbed my shirt and plopped on the floor to remain motionless. Once I tried to give her antibiotic and ointment, she pooped so I know that part works. She gave me a good scare and then I had to leave for work so left her in a pet bed. When I got home she was walking around like normal so glad she was okay. Returned to the vet a week later and her eye ulcer was healed, but the swelling failed to decrease so given a steroid to decrease the inflammation. Worst case scanario, I have to pay for eye surgery to remove her eye. Got my Covid shots completed and experienced no symptons. Hotel manager hired a new night auditor and they took another job. I was so happy to start working 5 days a week again. I am so tired working 6 days of week for the past several months. I miss holidays, can't spend time with my family. My niece and nephew are sad they never get to see me. Working all Memoiral Day weekend. Can't take Mom to cemetries and my sisters have to do it. My hotel doesn't give holiday pay for Memorial Day so it is just another day at work. Have a good three day weekend.

Happy Mother's Day

Boromir has been determined to dig in the flower pot grave of my first ferret Faramir. After 3 years, I'm sure he is all bones now. It was quite emotional viewing Faramir's red burial shroud peeking out of the dirt. I don't know what Boromir smells, but he was scratching the towel I buried Faramir with determination. Also discovered Boromir doesn't like the wind chimes hanging from the gutters. He has visited the neighbor's yard enough tmes to be fearful of his dogs. Good. Hotel manager had to resort to hiring maids through temp agencies to get rooms cleaned. We gained a maid and lost a maid. Crossing fingers for my more staff. I missed Mother's Day caused I had to work and slept most of the day. Heard from my siblings they had a good one taking my Mom out for dinner and a good chat. Post later.

Happy May Day

Had my last day at the tax office. Sink was clogged and printer was out of paper. Apparently the manager was not in any hurry to fix the issues. Oh well, not my problem anymore. Brushed the cats and had enough hair from the brush to make a new kitten. Rescued Eowyn ferret with a ponytail holder around her neck like a collar. Reminded me of the day she was scampering around with a toilet paper tube on her head. Ferret mom to the rescue. Had my heart attack for the day. Got home from work, open the garage door (the hard way by lifting it up), and rustling noise was heard by the garbage cans. All of a sudden, a fluffy brown rabbit with with powder puff white tail jumped out from behind the garbage cans to make a mad dash down the driveway and into the neighbor's yard. I guess I woke Mr. Bunny from his nap. Misty chased her first baby rabbit (relax, bunny escaped into the neighbors' yard). Luthien ferret discovered the dirt under the gate had been scratched away to create a hole she can fit under (I grabbed her tushy and pulled her back through the hole. Nephew got a new job at a fast food place and no longer available to mow my lawn. Have to do it myself. Learned to take my inhaler before going out to mow so don't have asthma attacks during my mowing. Had flurries on the April day I was going to plant seeds in my yard. Had wait to plant them. Had to look up the frost date for my area for some of the seed packets. Lost a hotel maid. Apparently they quit right after they started. Management is getting desperate for workers that they are begging us for referrals. They will pay us $25 if our referral gets hired and $100 if they work 90 days. Sorry, most people I know work in offices or construction sites. I got called into work on my 2 days off cause somebody can't show up for their damn job, again. At least manager was covering one night so I got one night off. My poor manager, a maid and the head housekeeper decided not to show up for work so 1 maid was cleaning 60 rooms. Coworkers are dropping like flies. Sent a text message to the manager asking to have the night auditor job cause I was getting tired of covering the current night auditor's butt, I've done it for months. Manager agreed so I got promoted to night auditor with a raise and stable schedule. It was very hard on my body bouncing from day to overnight hours. Now old night auditor was knocked down to 2 days a week and decided to stop coming to work. Their sob story was their baby mama got arrested for drug possession while their kid was her car so he had to go pick up his daughter. Then human services checked on the kid and he lost his daughter to foster care. He said he was working hard to get his daughter back and suddenly stopped coming to work. No idea what happened to him. Sheriff stopped by the hotel looking for him and I told the officier when he next worked. Then he didn't come to work that night and I had to go fill in on my night off. Don't think he will get his daughter back from foster care anytime soon. Hotel manager started purchasing new teas for our tea station next to the coffee station. We have mint tea, lemon black tea, greeen tea, Earl Grey tea, Chamomille Tea, black Tea, and orange pekoe Tea. I prefer the mint and green teas, don't need sugar. Black teas are a little harsh and need 2 packets of sugar to drink it.

Easter Bunny Trap Story 2021

Me Arriving Home From Work at 7:20 AM: Aaaa!!Thump!! Eowyn: Happy Easter Mom. You will never believe what happened with the Easter Bunnny last night. Me: I can't wait to hear why there is a cat pole string around my shoe. Luthien: Wait, I want to tell the Bunny Trap story. Boromir: Oh, hello Mom. I just enjoying the chocolate eggs we stole from The 🐰 Bunny. Mom: Go on Luthien. Luthien: Well, last night we couldn't find any carrots in the fridge so we used your carrot cake as bait. The plate was too big for a box or carrier so we placed the feather pole string on floor to ensnare The Bunny. Eowyn thought we should offer a napkin. Then The Bunny came inside and ate the cake. Boromir pulled the string to hold The Bunny while Eowyn and I hid chocolate eggs from his basket in the pantry. Next Bilbo and Misty got excited the pink feather was flying around and well, long story short: The Bunny escaped the string and left behind his basket. We got toys, chocolate eggs, and jelly beans. Mom: Very good story Luthien.

Happy Easter

Got my stimulus check from the IRS. It will go straight to pay off my creidt cards. A car that constantly breaks down and losing my good job a couple years ago really hurt my ceredit cards. Sure I worked my tax place last year, but was employed most of the year until I started my hotel job last September. Bills don't go away when unemployed. Sure the extra unemployment was nice and helped pay the credit cards down. IRS declared an extension to file taxes. Yeah, the tax place is not staying open longing and will shut down as usual and any late comers will have to use our year around locations. Got the news a new tax law removed some unemployment from being taxed. Great, I already got my refund. Had to wait to see if I needed to do an Amended Tax Return to claim my extra refund. Congress, please try to finish your tax laws in December! At least I don't have to do an Amended Return, but have to wait until after the extended tax season to get over with before I receive my extra refund. Took the cats for their annual shots. Bilbo is 20 lbs. and Misty is 13 lbs. If I ever got a chihuahua or yorkie, the cats would be bigger than the dog. Made 2 Easter cakes. One was an egg shaped carrot cake that I took to work and manager got the first piece. Good thing she did cause it was all gone the next day I visited the break room. The other vanilla cake was baked in a bread loaf pan and made into a bunny cake for the family to eat. I got off work at 7 AM so arrived at brother's house in the afternoon. Happy Easter Everyone!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

This month I met a new coworker for the tax office. I left when they arrived since we use the same computer (and I'm working 6 days a week due to my other job). Oh, they just worked 8 hours at their other job and working another 4 hours here to close the office. I would hate working 12 hour shifts so to each their own. Apparently someone quit last week without telling the manager and help was needed here. They usually work at another office. My hotel job began serving the hot breakfast again. Head honcho said Covid was over and everything was going back to normal. Ok, whatever you say. The unvaccinated lying in hospital beds would beg to differ that Covid is over. This is my first hotel job and only experienced their prepackaged Covid breakfast so this will be an experience. We even got a new pancake machine (I prefer waffles). My Verdict on My Hotel Hot Breakfast. It's food. Pancakes were a wee flat and hard to cut with side of my plastic fork. Cook said the new pancake machine wasn't making them very big (batter is in a plastic bag placed in the machine). Biscuits tasted like KFC Biscuits and explained to cook my "Summer of Hell" working for KFC between colleges. Eggs are that carton stuff of egg whites without yolks dyed yellow. It felt like eating hard boiled eggs without the yolks. Not restaurant quality, but it's a hot breakfast. Eventually, cook figured out how to do the pancakes so they are fluffy and gotten bigger. Their turkey patty is quite spicy and had to place it in a biscuit to cut some of the spice. Had a basketball team staying at our hotel, which usually means noise complaints from other guests after midnight. Sometimes I do wonder who is worse behaved, the students or the adults. Often the adults are drinking beer in the lobby being loud and obnoxious while teens run up and down the halls. Once a coworker found empty beer bottles floating in the pool. Seriously, who wants to swim in that. A few schools had pizza parties in the pool room where we don't allow food or drinks because we don't want garbage in the pool. Had to be the bad guy. Had several drunk people call in the middle of the night wanting to swim in our pool. Yeah, I prefer not to have to call 911 when your drunk buddy drowns, so no. They even asked if I would call the police if they snuck in the pool room. I replied that was a possibility. I hate drunk people. My Mom got her Covid vaccine shots so her senior living place was opening back up again. Her health has greatly deteriorated watching TV from her couch every day for months. She even developed the beginning of bed sores. She was happy to start exercising and playing cards with the others again. She finally allowed to grocery shop with my sister instead of dropping off her bags. During Covid, I asked family to call my Mom so she had someone to talk to. Some family think her mental state declined as well from not interacting with people. Had our first night of being sold out of the hotel. I don't think tht had happened for a while. Most people are those who are traveling by car cause can't fly on airplanes. They need a place to stop and rest. Worked the overnight shift during Daylight Savings Time. It was fun watching the clock on the computer tonight. 1:57, 1:58, 1:59, then poof, it's 3:00. Got another coworker at the tax place cause they were getting busy. Good thing my hotle coworker came back from his car wreck recovery. His leg was in a brace from being broken, but he was walking. Hotel had to demand a lot of my time away from the tax place, especially after a laundry person quit. Didn't have a St. Patrick's Day parade for my city again. Oh well, had to work anyway. Happy St. Patrick's Day Everybody!

Almost Spring

Had a battle with the tax office toilet and couldn't unclog it with the plunger no matter how hard I tried. Didn't want to get poopy water on my suede boots. Complained to the manager and they put in a ticket to have it checked. Two weeks later, brown sludge is still in the toilet. Complained to manager again (I have complained 2 different weeks about this) and they said parts have arrived to fix the toilet. They said they closed the office and I could go home for the rest of the day. I told friends on social media I'm ready to quit this job if this toilet problem never gets fixed.

Mom wrote a check for my new car. Family keeps saying I'm borrowing so much I won't inherit anything when Mom dies. What can I do? Employers who pay well refuse to interview me and jobs I can get don't pay the bills. What do people want me to do, start robbing banks? Stand on a street corner begging for change (I'll probably would make more money and not pay income tax on it cause it's charity). I'm doign the best I can here. Miracles don't happen to me.

Male Beta fish Ares died. Proably cause I'm so damned tired to clean the fish tank properly the water goes bad. I need to clean fish tanks again and too drained to do it. My poor fish. Celebrated ferret Luthien's 5th Birthday with cupcakes. Tried to earn a gift card by playing video games. That lasted an hour. Boring and so competitive they draiend the fun out. Then games get so hard I can't get past a certain level without spending money or joining some group of players. Gift card app will just have to keep their $5 gift card. I have better things to do than waste my time to get nothing.

Happy Valentine's Day

Had my first day at the tax office. Nobody was there so had to contact manager who told me to get a key at another location. Got inside and was told to finish tax classes to start preparing taxes for clients. Can't get into the programs on the computer. I need username and passwords. Manager can't seem to understand this and simply tells me the password to unlock the computer. Client who made a reservation in the parking lot (sign on door state Appointments Only). Manager told me there was coworker coming at 4:00 and they live a hour away. Explain to client I can't get into the computer (didn't mention I also need to finsih tax classes to do their forms and someone was coming any minute. No coworker arrives and get ahold of the manager who explains the coworker is new and working at another location. I hate it when managers flat out lie to me. Client walks out the door upset there is nobody who can service them. Mentioned this on social media and a hour later manager shows up at the location aware we just lost a client and can't understand why I can't get into the computer to complete the training to complete tax forms for clients. Finally after 5 hours of twiddling my fingers, manager resets my username and passowrds. Finish the training so I can service clients. By closing time, I am ready to service clients.

Heater went out in my car and then the car started overheating to the point I was scared it was going to break down while going home and freeze to death before help could arrive. My antifreeze container has a crack in it and a hose that overheated needed replaced. More money down the drain to fix this piece of junk.

Next big adventure was dealign with a noisy furnace so loud I couldn't sleep. Had it serviced. 10 days later it goes out and not running at all. House temperature is dropping and worrying about frozen pipes flodding the basement. Call company who serviced it and they blow me off. Called another company and they change the motor. More money spent and had to ask my Mom for money to pay my mortgage. I hate askign for more money, but it's either that or be homeless.

Won $50 in a game I played on the internet. Have to wait 3-5 weeks to receive in the mail. Coworker got into a car wreck that required surgery. I get to pick up the slack and work my tax office. Which I gladly do because I need money. Trained a coworker how to do the night audit. Not really heard, just time consuming. Drove through a snowstom to get to work. News was saying to stay home. Can't do that, I have to work or coworker works 16 hours. One work day I realized I forgot to put the clothes in the dryer so wore a moist work shirt to work. Coworker suggested puttign it in the hotel dryer. Did that and after 15 minutes got a dry shirt. Had a polar vortex so cold the animals refused to go outside. Plus the hotel's furance broke down so I brought a space heater form home to keep warm. And only during polar vortexes do ants come into my kitchen.

Made a cartoon figure of myself on social media. Never realized I ugly I looked until I saw myself as a cartoon. My dimpled chin wasn't even an option. I ordered a heart shaped pizza for my Mom to be delivered on Valentine's Day. Car refused to start again so had it towed. The mechanic reprogrammed it saying the ignition was the problem, not a dead battery becasue of the cold. My mechanic (whom I am paying to fix my car) informs me my manifolds are leaking, which will max out my credit cards and I'm better off getting a new car. I can't afford to get a new car. I have plenty of debt that I cannot handle a car loan on top of what I have. Celebrated ferret Boromir's 4th Birthday with cupcakes. For Valentine's Day, I worked the overnight shift and then went to bed when got home. After waking up, I went to my brother's house to help celebrate my sister's birthday (which is two days later). Had cake and orange juice. My family accepted me borrowing money to purchase a new car. Sent my brother to find a good deal. Will see what happens.

Happy New Year

Got a snowstorm right before New Year's Eve with 9.6 inches of snow. I came to work and got stuck in a snow drift at the entrance. I walked to the hotel and told my manager to call the snow plow people cause I won't be the last one getting stuck at the entrance (and 2 more cars did before they came). I got myself out of the snow drift thanks to the shovel in my trunk, drove down the street, and turned around to ram through the snow drift with a fury to make it through. Even though my ferrets love snow, they refused to go outside. I think one made it 20 seconds playing in the snow coming back inside. Baby it's cold outside. Stayed at my hotel until the streets were cleared along with 2 coworkers. Our beds are very comfortable and I enjoyed our hot bedtime chamomille tea. New Year's Eve I drive home from the overnight shift and stop at the grocery store. Leave grocery store to find my car has a flat tire. Drive slowly to the mechanic down the street and get a new tire. I swear I'm cursed. Worked the overnight shift New Year's Eve. I turned on the lobby TV to watch the Ball drop at Times Square (an hour ahead of my time zone midnight). I worked on inventory of our snack shop so at midnight I was either counting the Cheetos bags in the snack shop or in the storage closet. New Year's Day I slept at the hotel for 8 hours and then worked another shift. Then the next day I got called into work because a coworker got into a car accident. I explained that I had spent the past 24 hours at the hotel, I'm exhausted, and politely turned down the extra hours. Poor manager had to work a double shift. Later, I realized I didn't even have clean uniforms to wear if I had said yes. Happy New Year Everybody

Merry Christmas

Took my Mom shopping for Christmas presents and mailed her great-grandchildren gifts in the box I sent mine in. We had some warm temperatures at the beginning of the month, I saw people wearing shorts in December. Then it rained and overnight switched to winter snow. We got a few inches. Had to buy a couch cuase the springs in the old one broke to give me a bad back. Found out a coworker was getting laid off for 6 weeks so hurried up to finish my Christmas treats before their last day. Brought my homemade treats to work for coworkers to enjoy. I brought Almond Bark Pretzels, Fudge, Pink Champagne Cupckaes, Peanut Butter Cookies with a Hershey Kiss, Sugar Cookies, and Gingerbread People. 3 out of 5 containers I held the treats disappeared. Next year I will stop brining treats. I can't afford to keep buying new containers. Made my deliveries of a box of treats to my mechanic, chiropractor, postal carrier, and receptionist at my Mom's senior living center.The governor released soem of the Covid Restrictions so people were happy to eat in restaurants again. Discovered the taste of hot green tea at my hotel front desk job. I rather like this hot green tea, don't even need sugar added. My hotel job gave the Christmas Bonus of a turkey and gift card to a chain store. I got online and ordered myself a new comforter. I put the old one in the ferret room for them to cuddle in. It is a warm blanket, but the padding had crushed down so much I can't feel it. We had a blizzard with 50 mph winds and low temperatures to give us a White Christmas. Worked the overnight shift on Christmas Eve and opened the pet gifts from Santa when I got home. I went to bed for a goo 5 hours to wake up to go visit my brother's house. Spent quality time with brother, sister-in-law, sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, our Mom, and our Aunt. They enjoyed my treats. Then at bedtime, I returned to work to work the overnight shift. Merry Christmas Everyone.

Christmas Story 2020

Twas the night before Christmas and I could hardly bare it

Not a creature was stirring not even a ferret

The stockings were hung on the bookcase with care

In hopes that St. Nicholas would bring toys to share

The ferrets were nestled all snug in their bedspreads

While visions of red balls and feathers danced in their heads

I Bilbo was curled up on Mama’s pillow

With Misty on her feet like a fluffy marshmellow

When out on the lawn I heard a dog bark

I sprang from the bed after viewing a bright spark

Away to the window we pounced in a flurry

The ferrets jumped out of the sheets in a hurry

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow

Covered up the leaves where raccoons like to go

When what to my wandering cat eyes should appear

But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer

With a little old driver so bright red and quick

I so badly wanted to give that toy a lick

More rapid than ferret bites his coursers they came

And he whistled and shouted and called them by name

Now Sparkle, Now Snowball, Now Ivy and Holly

On Mittens, On Tinsel, On Jingles and Jolly

To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall

Now dash away, dash away, dash away all

As dry leaves that before the snowy hurricane whirl

We kitties danced and the ferrets twirled

The Santa trap had sprung when Misty drank the milk

And the ferrets licked the cookies in a shady bilk

Then, in a twinkling we heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof

As I drew in my head and jumped over a ball

St. Nicholas tripped over the light cord to fall

He crashed to release out a loud yell

And the decorations shook on the wall like a bell

I took the opportunity to explore his sack

And Santa got up to see Misty getting him an untouched snack

His eyes twinkled as Eowyn got more milk in a wag

Luthien gave him a napkin, then Boromir pulled me out of the bag

His droll little mouth shouted Ho, Ho, Ho

And the hair on his chin was as white as the snow

The stump of his pipe he held in his teeth like a charm

And the smoke encircled up to set off the smoke alarm

Away to remove the battery he swiftly rushed

Then looked at us and rightly blushed

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf

And I squeaked when he petted me in spite of myself

We rubbed our fur on his boots with a purr

Then we heard Mama beginning to stir

He finished his milk and cookies

Then filled all the stockings next to the ferret dookies

Then laying a finger on the side of his nose

And giving a nod, out the door he rose

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a holler

And away they all flew as we furbabies got taller

But I heard exclaim as he drove out of sight

Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night

2020 Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas to all my Friends and Family.

2020 started with me watching TV and kissing my cats at midnight. The next day I returned to work at the tax place. Killed my fish Achilles Jr while changing its water. I realized later his tank heater was turned off and holding tank water was too warm for him to handle. Heartbroken with a side of guilt. Soon after Leda Jr died. We had such cold temperatures outside that the ferrets and cats refused to go play in the snow. Soon, my lone Beta male fish Aeneas Jr started lying on the rocks. Thinking he was dying I got a male and female fish to put in my empty tanks named Perseus and Andromeda. Two days later, Aeneas Jr perked up watching a new female Beta next door. Amazing how one little fish can change another just by being there.

Ordered the traditional Heart Pizza and brownies to be delivered to Mom on Valentine's Day since I had to work all day. Celebrated ferret Boromir's 3rd Birthday. Sister celebrated her 51st birthday without me since I was working. Our Mom told me all about their restaurant dinner. Celebrated ferret Luthien's 4th Birthday. The Corona Virus arrived in my state and the governor shut down non-essential businesses, organizations, and medical procedures. Next, the St. Patrick's Day parade was cancelled in Des Moines. Mayor of Des Moines and Governor of Iowa declared State of Emergency: So, people were required to stay home, work from home, and only go out for necessities. Places everywhere closed and essential workers pertaining to manufacturing, food, and medical can be open. I did taxes, which is required by the government, so I was considered an essential worker. Mom got trapped in her senior living center not letting them leave so sister had to bring groceries to the receptionist at the entrance. Mom suffered with the center’s gym, pool, and hair salon closed, plus activities canceled and dinner was delivered to their apartments. I asked relatives to call her, so she had someone to talk to. We discovered when they finally let her leave how all the sitting alone in her apartment affected her health.

April 15 the tax sites closed except our year around locations. Sure, they could have kept them open until July 15, but most people had already filed their taxes to make the decision to close the other offices on schedule. I was suddenly unemployed and quarantined. For Easter, I delivered dinner to my Mom since she couldn’t visit us. Spent the holiday alone with my pets eating ham and bunny cake. Spent my quarantine months writing on my stories. Nearly finished another novel about the Civil War era. I got a job interview and received the rejection the next day. Sitting at home, I decided to share my recipes on social media and made various Youtube videos on various topics. Pruned my rose brushes and my only joy (besides my pets) was watching all my flowers grow this spring and summer.

Enjoyed looking at photos of my great-niece's 1st Birthday Party in their living room since they can't go anywhere. She was born on Star Wars Day, so they got a Baby Yoda cake. Mother's Day was traumatic for my Mom since we usually go out to eat. Senior living center finally let them leave the building and I drove up to the front door to have Mom sit in my car for a good half hour showing her photos off my smartphone while holding her gifted flowers and card. Visited my Dad and relatives on Memorial Day with Mom. Visited my Dad on Father’s Day. Lost my female Beta Andromeda. Got a new baby girl named Persephone. Spent the 4th of July at my sister's home cause everything but the fireworks show was canceled. Made smore's over a candle. My male Beta Aeneas Jr died and got a new male fish Ares. Celebrated Mom’s 81st Birthday at my sister’s house.

Visited the local amusement park with sister's family to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday. Celebrated my nephew's Sweet 16 at a restaurant with family and met their newly adopted dog. Visited the local living history museum with niece and sister. Left my phone on top of the car so lost the photos and videos I took that day. Next day we had a Derecho, which nobody but meteorologists knew such a term existed. Picture this: I came inside from feeding the birds. Cats had refused to come outside. Next thing I know the front yard pinwheel is spinning like crazy and boom, a huge gust of wind shook the trees. Then pow, the electricity went out and the sirens wailed. Garbage cans fell over with loud thud. Next came the downpour like a hurricane. Electricity flickered back on and off again. After a long wait, the rain moved on and I came outside to take photos with my camera since I left my smartphone on top of my car at the museum. Neighbors were all gazing at the tree that fell on the power line, thus knock out the electricity for the whole block. Plus, it blocked the entire dead-end street so nobody could get in or out. One neighbor wondered if we had a tornado. One house had a gutter come off while another had a tree fall on their garage. Luckily, no damage to my house. Spent the day without electricity and can't call anyone from cordless phones needing power. Ate my Popsicles and ice cream bars, drank the milk before spoiling. Played games alone and read a book when too dark to play games. One good thing was I could see the stars at night from all the neighborhood streetlights out.

Next morning a neighbor wanted to leave so he chain-sawed the tree blocking the street to make room for a car. I drove to the museum to collect my phone that shattered and bought a new one at the mall. Then went to Target for candles and a non-digital phone with a cord that doesn't need electricity (yes, they still make them) so I can call people. Grocery stores and gas stations were sold out of ice to keep food in fridge cool so stored my food at my sister's house who had electricity. 5 days without electricity was endured before the power came back to my block. Ate a lot of crackers and peanut butter sandwiches. Recharged the smartphone in the car at night. Retrieved my food from my sister's house and greeted my brother with his wife visiting my sister this week. On a good note, my marigolds were starting to bud, and miniature roses were still blooming.

After the derecho branches were carried away, I had family over to enjoy grilled food. Got a call for an interview at a hotel as a desk clerk and got hired right before my birthday. Celebrated my 45th Birthday with family at my sister’s house. Lost my Beta fish Perseus and got a new one named Poseidon. Had a phone interview for a payroll job. Got another interview at a car dealership registering license plates. After 3 years of planting morning glory seeds, I finally got one to bloom. Celebrated ferret Eowyn 6th Birthday. Halloween during Covid, I set out candy and stickers inside in a bowl outside. 16 packets disappeared with 4 groups of kids stopping by. No costumes allowed for my new job so wore cat ears with a black mask with embroidered cat face on it. Covered exposed skin with silver and black cream eyeshadow. After Election Day, celebrated cats Bilbo and Misty’s 2nd Birthday. Missed niece's 17th Birthday Party. I got off the overnight shift at 7 AM and slept through the party at home. Visited her the next day to give my gift to her. Spent Thanksgiving Day working to put up the hotel Christmas Tree in the lobby and brought dinner for the coworkers to eat since we can't have a potluck due to Covid. Coworkers enjoyed my homemade food. After work, went over to sister’s place. Took niece and nephew out Black Friday shopping. Intended to stop by my Mom's to put up her Christmas Decorations, but Covid halted those plans when the senior living center stopped allowing visitors. Great-niece celebrated her Fifth Birthday via livestream at home. Took Mom shopping for her grandchildren since we don’t like her driving anymore. Brother and his wife are hosting Christmas Day diner at their new house.

Have a Wonderful New Year. Praying 2021 is much better than 2020.

Jordan

Cats: Bilbo, Misty Ferrets: Eowyn, Luthien, Boromir Beta fish: Persephone, Ares, Poseidon

Deck the Halls

Great-niece celebrated her Fifth Birthday via livestream at home. Next fall she will start Kindergarten. How fast kids grow up. Had to buy new icicle lights for my roof and a couple new lawn ornaments to replaced the old stuff no longer working properly. Worked on my tax classes once got all my decorations aroudn the house up. My Mom says I have too many decorations. Gotta take Mom shopping (for my sister's kids) and perhaps since I can't come up to her apartment and she is too crippled to haul out the boxes, I'll give her some of my decoartions in a sack she could easily put out. Then have to write my Christmas letter, send out cards, bake treats, and deliver treats. I think for Chritmas Day, I'll set out treat bags for my coworkers to gather what treats they want and hopefully won't steal my containers this time.

Happy Thanksgiving

Election Day came and went to find a new president has been elected, even if the current president denies this declaring he is the only person allowed to win. Whatever. American people will not permit a dictatorship or a monarchy, we cherish our freedoms too much. Even more amazing, other countries were setting off fireworks celebrating who we elected president. I don't think that has ever happened before in history. Celebrated cat's Bilbo and Misty 2nd Birthday. Missed niece's 17th Birthday Party. I got off work at 7 AM and slept through the partyat home. Visited her the next day to give my gift to her. I gave her a journal with cats on the cover.

Spent Thanksgiving Day at work to put up the hotel Christmas Tree in the lobby and brought dinner for the coworkers to eat since we can't have a potluck due to Covid. People enjoyed my homemade food and took home my containers, thus denied other coworkers the pleasure of eating it. Yes, 4 food containers I just bought went missing. Next holiday will be more careful about being nice to these amazing people.

Took niece and newphew out Black Friday shopping. Mall had many stores with lines to get inside. We were browsing so skipped those stores. Eventually I said "Screw It" and went to Target. That place has everything. They bought gifts for their little cousins from their hard earned money. Intended to stop by my Mom's to put up her Christmas Decorations, but Covid halted those plans when the senior living place stopped allowing visitors.

Happy Halloween

Had a phone interview for a payroll job, but then they neever called back. Getting accustomed to an erratic schedule bouncing from morning, afternoo, and overnight shifts. One person works mornings, another afternoons, and another overnight. I work their days off. I hope that means I'm a valuable employee. Ceased putting the ferrets away in their room at night and let them run around the house while I'm not home. Got another interview at a car dealership registering license plates and they never contacted me again. Watched fashion shows on youtube. Just because I can't afford Chanel doesn't mean I don't like fashion. After 4 years of planting morning glory seeds, I finally got one to bloom. Won another instant win scratch card for $50. Went to pay bills. Celebrated ferret Eowyn 6th Birthday with cupcakes.

Sent in my absentee ballot. I voted a straight Democrat ticket and I have never done that before. I can't have respect for politicians who kiss a president's a**. Only people who want something in return give fake loyalty. If this upcoming election is rigged as the clown in the White House declares and every ballot for the opposing side is illegal, then all I can say is that is the definition of a dictatorship. My family has been in this country all the way back to 1630 and I lived in my house and pay property taxes for it the past 4 years, Do Not Try to Convince Me My Absentee Ballot is illegal because of my decision to make.

Shared spice cupcakes with coworkers to celebrate Halloween. Set out cnady and stickers inside in a bowl outside. 16 packets disappeared with 4 groups of kids stopping by. Hopefully they only took 1 package per child. We had snow fall overnight and then melted when the sun came out. Had guests at the hotel job say they never had seen snow before. Yep, it's not white sand. If they think it is cold outside now, just wait until December. Discovered a hawk sitting above my bird feeder. Not only do I feed birds, dquirrels, and chipmunks, I am feeding raptors too. No costumes allowed for my new job so wore cat ears with a black mask with embroidered cat face on it. Covered exposed skin with silver and black cream eyeshadow.

Happy Birthday to Me

I walked outside to view marigolds blooming that my sister planted last year. They came back and a wonderful birthday present. Got $5 from an instant win scratch off card, even better presnet. City truck came by to take away fallen branches from the derecho, then 2 days later my sister offers yard help. Sorry, branch pile is gone, but you can visit for teatime and chat. Had family over to enjoy grilled food. They had a good time chatting while I spent most of the time in the kitchen. Finally got to eat my hamburger and it was cold. Got a call for an interview at a hotel as a desk clerk and got hired right before my birthday. Hopefully my luck is changing. Celebrated my 45th Birthday with family. The bad part of turning 45 is your time of the month stops meaning you have reached menopause. No children for me in this lifetime. People tell me to adopt, but being broke and in debt, How would I take care of a kid on my own? That is depressing. I wanted to be a mother since childhood, but God said not for me. Lost my Beta fish Perseus and got a new one named Posidian. He is buried in the flower pot. Happy Birthday to Me!

End of Summer Approaches

One night had an interesting bedtime snack. Go into my cupboard for the last 3 chocolate chip cookies in the package. There are ants all over my cupboard and all over the cookies. Hold package under the kitchen sink to wash away the ants. Cookies dissolved until only the chocolate chips remained (which I tossed in the garbage can). Set out the ant traps before hosing it down in oily ant spray tomorrow. Rest of the cupboard food is on the stove in sealed packages. Discovered their trail to the nearby window. Have a great evening. Soon after ants were by the pet food so had to spray again and placed water on the pet food mats to help kill the ants. I don't mind ants crawling up trees outside, I just don't liek them in the house.

Visited the local amusement park with sister's family to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday. I overheated and feel sick from a migraine to go home early. I didn't want to be a party pooper. Migraine misery lasted a week. Celebrated my nephew's Sweet 16 at a restaurant with family who decided to visit my sister's new home and new dog they adopted. Let's just say I spent the visit with the dog and then asked nephew about his gifts since I was occupied. Nephew came over to mow the grass. I finsihed my house cleaning and it weird walking across a clean floor.

Noticed a red tail hawk perched on top of my bird feeder. Not only do I attract birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits, but birds of prey as well. Visited the local living history museum with neice and sister. They made a few changes due to the pandemic and added a few new exhibits. Left my phone on top of the car so lost the photos and videos I took that day. Had to buy a new phone, but first I had to wait for a tree to be removed that was blockign my dead end street.

We had a Derecho, which nobody but meteorologists knew such a term existed. Picure this: I came inside from feeding the birds. Next thing I know the front yard windmill is spinning like crazy and boom, a huge gust of wind shook the trees. Then pow, the electricity went out and the sirens wailed. Garbage cans fell over with loud thud. Next came the downpour like a hurricane. Electricity flickered back on and off again. After a long wait, the rain moved on and I came outside to take photos with my camera since I left my smartphone on top of my car at the museum. Neighbors were all gazing at the tree that fell on the power line, thus knock out the electricity for the whole block. Plus it blocked the entire street so nobody could get in or out. One neighbor wondered if we had a tornado. One house had a gutter come off, another lost their roof vent covers, another had a tree fall on their garage, and one more lost a few shingles. Spent the day without electricity and can't call anyone from cordless phones needing power. Ate my Popsicles and ice cream bars, drank the milk before spoiling. Played games alone and read a book when too dark to play games. One good thing was I could see the stars last night from the neighborhood streetlights out.

Next morning a neighbor wanted to leave so chainsawed the tree blocking the street to make room for a car. I picked up my yards. I drove to the musuem to collect my phone that shattered and bought a new one at the mall. Then went to Target for batteries for lights above my stove, candles, and a non-digital phone with a cord that doesn't need electricity (yes, they still make them) so I can call people. Grocery stores and gas stations were sold out of ice to keep food in fridge cool. Two days after derecho I had to store my food at my sister's house who didn't loose electricity. 5 days without electricity was endured before the power came back to my block. Retrieved my food from my sister's house and greeted my brother with hismwife visiting my sister this week. I never lost power for so long before, at most overnight. On a good note, my miniature roses bloomed and marigold buds are coming up. Now just waiting for this year to get over with and hopefully next year a vaccine will be approved for the masses so we can begin to return to normal.

Apple Salad

Last recipe to share: My Mom's Apple Salad 1 apple (she uses Red Delicious) 1 banana 1 bunch of red grapes (the purple kind and my Mom prefers the seedless kind) 1 container of Whipped Topping Cut fruit into bite size pieces and mix together in a bowl. Add whipped topping and stir around to your satisfaction. Viola! My Mom's Apple Salad my family loves to eat when we get together at holidays.

Chicken and Noodles Recipe

Today's Recipe: Chicken and Noodles (Not Chicken Noodle Soup) Mom's version feeds family of 6: Step 1: Place a whole chicken with skin (or several pieces of chicken with skin) in a pressure cooker and fill with water to cover chicken. Place on lid. Turn on stove top burner and boil chicken until cooked (stops being pink). Cooking time will depend on how much chicken you put in, but usually she boiled it for about an hour on medium heat. Checked the internet and a whole chicken take 90 minutes to boil and 6 chicken breasts take 30 minutes. Step 2: Remove chicken from water and place in a bowl. If any skin is left on chicken, remove it and put in the water (the fatty skin is needed for the broth otherwise you just have chicken water). Put in chicken flavor bouillon cubes that can be found at grocery stores in the water following directions on box. Chicken flavor cubes provide the onion, parsley, thyme, etc. to flavor the broth or it will be just chicken water. Step 3: Broth is complete when the cubes are dissolved and stirred into the water. Then, put in noodles and cook in the broth for about 20 minutes, or until cooked. Large noodles take longer to cook than Medium size noodles. Step 4: While noodles are cooking, cut or rip apart the meat off the bones into small bite-size pieces to your liking. Step 5: When noodles are done, put in chicken pieces, and stir around. Voila! You have my Mom's chicken and noodles.

My version about 3-4 servings depending on my appetite since the fad is skinless chicken at the grocery store. Step 1: Buy a box a broth (I like Swanson's Chicken Broth) and pour the whole thing into a large pot. Place in noodles 3/4 of the broth. Large noodles take longer to cook than medium size. Step 2: While noodles are cooking without the lid on pot, cut up pieces of chicken to bite size and place in the pot (I prefer tenders cause more flavor than breast meat). I use about 5 or 6 tenders, but you can use whatever you like. Step 3: When done cutting up chicken, put lid on pot and in about 20 minutes noodles and chicken should be done. And Voila! My version of Chicken and Noodles.

French Toast Recipe

Today's recipe: Jordan's French toast. It's been approved by niece and nephew when they used to spend weekend nights with me. Weekends I cook fancy breakfasts. Makes 3-4 slices 1 egg (size doesn't matter but I used a medium egg today and got 3 slices, large egg might stretch it to 4 slices) 1/2 cup milk (whatever milk you put on cereal) 1/4 teaspoon vanilla Ground Cinnamon Sliced bread (whatever kind you eat) Step 1: Put a skillet (size doesn't matter) on stove top and turn on burner. This is called Preheating. Step 2: In a dish that is wide and flat, I use sandwich storage container, crack the egg and drop the yolk/white in dish, toss the shell. Remove any egg shells that fell in the dish (now you know why I crack eggs first before adding ingredients). Sure people like my mom use a separate bowl for cracking eggs into, but I hate doing dishes so my way dirties less dishes. Step 3: Put in milk, vanilla, and 2 dashes of cinnamon. If your cinnamon container doesn't have the normal holes like a salt shaker, then 2 pinches will do. Step 4: Mix ingredients with a fork. If you never made scrambled eggs before, then beat eggs in a circular up and down motion that is quick and makes it bubble. I believe some cooks use a whisk instead of a fork to create more fluffy eggs. Use whatever suits your pleasure of air bubbles in your egg mixture. Step 5: Place a slice of bread in bowl and quickly flip it over with fork. Lift from center with fork and let excess drip off. Place bread on skillet. Don't leave bread in mixture very long or the bread will absorb the whole mixture. Also, wet bread is soft so don't stab it and pick it up cause it will likely fall apart. Step 6: Skillet should be hot by now so set the bread in the skillet and flip over when stops sizzling. If not hot, it won't sizzle and will take longer to cook. Remove from skillet when cooked (aka brown). Step 7: Continue with other slices until mixture fails to cover both sides. On last slice, put the slice covered in mixture on bottom of skillet and pour the rest of the mixture on the dry side, using fork to spread around on the bread. Step 8: Optional, sprinkle powdered sugar on slices you eat like you sprinkle regular sugar on cereal. I noticed a restaurant put powdered sugar on their waffles and French toast so I copied it. Enjoy!

Salmon Patties Recipe

Today's recipe: Salmon Patties (makes 4 small patties or 2/3 large patties) 1 egg (white or brown or size doesn't really matter) 1 can of salmon (most are 5 oz.) Saltine crackers Step 1: Turn on stove top burner on medium and place a skillet (any size will do) on it. This is called Preheating the Skillet. Step 2: Open can of salmon (can opener may be required unless you get the cans with the pull tab). Place lid on top of meat and squeeze out the water into a bowl to feed the cat or drain it in the sink. Step 2: Scoop out salmon from can with a spoon into a bowl, add the egg. Stir around. Step 3: Take a few saltines at time and crush between fingers to drop in bowl, then stir. Keep adding saltines until the yellow yoke isn't viewed and still moist (if add too many, the patties will be dry and not stick together). Step 4: Scoop out small balls and mold in your hands like a snowball, place on skillet outer edge, and squish flat with your hand or spoon. (Yes, your hands will get DIRTY). Keep placing patties on skillet not touching each other and stop when run out of room. Step 5: If skillet is hot by now, the patties will sizzle. Flip over patties to cook other side when one side stops sizzling. If skillet not very hot, these will take longer to cook. Also smaller patties cook faster than larger ones. Cook time is short so flip over every minute until done (aka brown). Step 6: Remove from skillet when cooked and Enjoy my Mom's salmon patties.

Tuna and Noodles Recipe

Since everybody is sharing cook at home recipes, I will share some of mine. Tuna and Noodles (Serves 2, though if hungry I'll eat the whole thing) 2 Tablespoons Margarine/Butter 2 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour 1 cup milk (whatever milk you put on your cereal) 1 can of tuna (most cans are 5 ounces) Several handfuls of Medium Egg Noodles (Large egg noodles take longer to cook but can use instead) Step 1: Fill medium size pot half full of water and add at least 3 dashes (shakes of a salt shaker) of salt (salt alters the boiling point to heat water faster). Set on stove top burner under medium heat. Put on lid crooked so steam can escape. Step 2: Either wait for water to boil (bubbles) and then add noodles to cook for 20 minutes, or put in noodles right away and cook for 25 minutes. Noodles will expand as they cook so fill pot with noodles 3/4 of the water. Step 3: In a small sauce pan (lid to the side), pour in milk and add 2 dashes of salt. Also turn on stove top burner to medium heat and set sauce pan on it. Watch the noodles so don't boil over and if water get lots of foam in pot then lift lid of pot and turn down the heat a little. Be sure to stir noodles occasionally so don't stick to bottom of pot. Step 4: Add margarine/butter and flour to the milk. Be sure to constantly stir (flour will burn and not dissolve well if just leave it sit floating on the milk). Be sure to squish the clumping flour against the sauce pan to help it dissolve. Step 5: While everything is cooking open the tuna can (this requires using a can opener) and use the can lid to squish the can water either into a bowl to feed the cat or into a sink. Step 6: When the milk sauce comes to a boil (bubbles), then add the tuna and stir around. Turn off the sauce pan burner and remove the sauce pan to cool down with the lid on. Step 6: Once milk sauce is finished, noodles should be ready. Drain noodles in a colander (aka large strainer made of plastic instead of metal) or hold the lid to drain the water out of pot (2nd way does take some skill not to let out the noodles to lose them going down the sink). Rinse noodles in cold water to cool down. Step 7: Mix noodles and milk sauce together and Viola!, You have my Mom's Tuna and Noodles. Enjoy.

Middle of Summer

Sorry it's been a while since I have posted. Not much happening job ended in April 15. We also got powdered sugar snow that day after that melted once the sun came up. Welcome to Spring in Iowa. No damage to my tulips. I planted 6 tulips plants last spring and only one sprouted this year. Sigh. Got daffodils, hyacinths, roses, irises, lilies, and peonies planted in my yard. Got my stimulus check and it went straight to the credit crads. I owe $17,000 to my 4 credit cards so $1200 didn't mean much. Then it snowed agin Aril 16. Ferrets had a good time playing in the snow (ferrets love snow and dig tunnels when it gets deep enough). Signed up for unemployment. When the warmed up, I started eating breakfast on the patio. Watch the bird feeder with the cats who insist on sitting on my lap as I eat. I love you furbabies, but I can't pet you all day. Put away the Easter decorations and got the summer decorations out. Teenage Nephew was eager to make money mowing my lawn. He has issues of other lawn chores like pulling weeds if he can't use the weed whacker. He loves machines so much I wonder if he will grow up to be a mechanic. My teen niece and nephew applied for jobs, but nobody has hired them. Guess there was just too many applicants for them to compete. I got tickets to see the Elton John concert, that was cancelled thanks to the Corona Virus. Have to wait until next summer to attend it. I received the message that all tickets will be honored. Tossed an old sweatshir with a stain on it (charities don't take stained items they can't resell) and put it in the ferret room. It is now the ferrets favorite sleeping spot.

I got a job interview last week and received the rejection. Oh, all you did as accounts payable clerk was sort out invoices and send them to their proper departments. What exactly did this person think Accounts Payable clerks do all day? It's the Accounts Payable Specialist that matches purchase orders with invoices to okay the payment and codes it into the general ledger. I believe the cash department cuts the actual checks and send them to the proper recipients. Since I've been sittign at home with no place to go during encouraged quarentines, I shared recipes on my social media. I can put them on here too. Pruned my rose brushes and watched them grow. At least those came up.

I joined Instagram and immediately had scame artists messaging me. The "My wife died in a terrible crash, single parent with kids in boarding school, born in one country, work in another country, but I'm in the US Military so a USA citizen" is good giveaway they conning me. They must read the same textbook on romance scams cause they all give the same script. Then their only conversation they are capable of is telling me I'm beautiful 20 times. That is not a conversation and from my 15 years of customer service I know I'm being conned. Nobody tells a stranger 20 times they are so beautiful unless they want something.

Next came the high adventure of receiving emails of newly opened online accounts and one already created online account requested to change my password. I didn't open any of these accounts and called the companies to close them as "unauthorized account" and then changed the password of my prior used account cause I had to get on it. Then my credit card messaged me to call them about strange activity. I called the credit card 800 number and stated something weird was going on with someone opening online accounts using my email address and requested a password change on one account I already had. I did figure out somebody reactiviated an online I had closed last year (free trial was over) and got my credit card number that was saved on that closed account. The credit card closed my account and issued a new card so had to redo the saved credit card on my utilities (like water, phone, internet, etc.). When I got my card statement, I had to dispute someone's shopping spree on my credit card days before they called me and received emails stating they determined the disputed charges were not me. Hopefully that adventure is over.

To continue the adventures of being me, I took lots of photos of my pets and flowers to share on social media. Even took some videos of the ferrets wrestling in the living room. Enjoyed looking at photos of my great-niece's 1st Birthday Party in the living room cause they can't go anywhere. She was born on Star Wars Day so they got a Baby Yoda cake. Mother's Day was traumatic for my Mom. For weeks the retirement community kept them locked inside and my sister had to deliver the groceries to the receptionist desk cause she wasn't allowed beyond that. Poor Mom went stir crazy without any activities and visited her friends' apartments to play cards. No swimming pool, no exercise room, no supper with other residents (meals are brought to their door), and no hair cuts. Around Mother's Day Day, the residents were allowed outside so my sister cut my Mom's hair for her at my sister's apartment. I drove up to the front door and Mom sat in my car for a good half hour for her Mother's Day visit. I gave her flowers and her card to then show her photos on my smartphone my niece posts of her children on social media. Mom loves photos of her great-grandchildren who live in another state.

Been spending much of my unemployed and broke days working on a story I started a while ago. It's about Antebellum South and the Civil War. I'm sure nobody will read it cause nobody likes history plus with all the Black Lives Matter marching in every city my novel will be criticized as glorifying racism. Whatever. Never judge a book it's cover. With all this tearing down statues of Confederates over slavery, it makes me wonder: Is it really slavery that upsets people when they don't demand the 12 presidents who owned slaves be demonized by tearing down their statues and rename places named after them, like our capital Washington, or is it the violence against freed slaves and the Jim Crow laws that followed the Civil War is what that upsets people. And By the way, segregation and Black Codes took place in the north and west too. Our founding fathers took away Native American lands and massacred them when they fought back and many owned slaves, and they also founded our country's independence from Great Britain. Everybody has a good and bad side. Are we going to demonize everybody in American History books now? Visited my Dad and relatives on Memorial Day with Mom. I visit Dad on Father's Day and play Taps on my smartphone for him (he was in the Air National Guard).

Then came the Black Lives Matter movement protesting in my city's streets rioting and looting retail stores in their peaceful protests. Some people getting on TV declared their message is being highjacked. Well then, maybe you should not conduct your protests right next to a shopping mall or a shopping district where opportunists smash and grab under the cover of a protest, then complained about being tear gassed. One store I shop at got hit, then another. I'm just glad I was home at the time or I might be on the news from being attacked while grocery shopping. Single white lady loading her groceries into a car trunk would make a perfect target for assault. The city put out a curfew for the residents and removed it when the riots ceased for a week. The governor was on TV asking, "What do you want?". Apparently your message is not getting through if the top state official is asking this question. Many older people are hearing young people whining, not solutions being suggested. The state congress passed legislation hoping the protests would end, but they did not. In, fact, the protests continued and attacked police officers. Then got angry the police officers fought back to arrest people. Seriously, you actually expect not be pepper sprayed and arrested when you jump on a police car and cheer setting it on fire, or when you attack police officers at the state capital you actualy expect to stop an arrest from happening and call it de-arresting (What fantasy world do you people live in where you think you are in charge of the justice system?). I'm sorry to say it, but racism will never disappear. You can't control what people think, feel, and experience. You can only control your reactions to others. That's all I have to say about that.

Had a submersible pump replaced when started makign a ton of noise that I had to unplug it to get any sleep. More money down the drain. Lost my female Beta Andromeda. Got a new baby girl named Persephone. Had someone service the A/C to find out why it was running. Turned out the switch on the furnace was on "Off" so didn't get charge for the repairman to flip a switch. Must have gotten bumped. Sister moved into a new place so had to mow my own lawn since nephew was tired from unpacking. Watched the neighbor fireworks shows even though they prohibited in my city to set off, but you can buy them. Scared the bejesus out of my cats and ferrets listening to nightly booms for weeks. Spent the 4th of July at my sister's new place cause everythign but the fireworks shows was canceled. Made smore's over a candle. Bought a mask from a charity raising funds and wear them to the grocery store. The retirement place allowed Mom to finally have visitors so wore it visiting her. Niece and nephew won't hug because of the corona virus. I explained sitting at each other's homes that we already have shared germs and give a hug good-bye. My male Beta Aeneas Jr died and got a new male fish Ares. Mom had her 81st Birthday and celebrated at my sister's place. Niece and nephew made a cake for her. Then stayed to have grilled pork ribs and watch movie "Once Upon Time in Hollywood". Left when movie finished.

Well, nothing else to report. Post later.

The master of weird dreams

I am the master of weird dreams. Sorry for burdening you, but I wonder if they stop recurring when I write them down. Tonight's dream I just had and can't fall asleep now is me walking in the middle of a street surrounded by parked cars on both sides of the street. License plates look European. Trees have been planted on the sidewalks on both sides. A black iron fence is to the left and concrete buildings to the right. A cloud of smoke comes towards me taking up the whole street. Can't smell it so don't know what it is. I hear people screaming in the smoke and see people running away from the smoke. Next hear, boom, boom, boom, and more screaming as people lie on the ground and ducking near the cars. Next a burst of fire explodes upwards in the middle of the street almost reaching.the street lights. Silence. The smoke surrounds me so I can't see a thing. I hear a few scattered coughs and people mumbling to each other asking if they are alright. A child cries for mama. The smoke clears and men in black suits, white shirts, and black ties are in the middle of the street talking to each other. One says, There's nothing we can do, he's gone. I notice another man in a black suit, white shirt, and red tie lying on the street on his back. His face is wrinkled and has light colored hair, but can't tell who it is. I hear a woman shout in hysterics, the president is dead! and people nearby start to whimper in horror. People start to get up from around the cars in shock staring at the dead president in the middle of the street. Hope it is just a bad dream

Tax Season finished and Corona Virus Quarantined

Sorry I have not kept up my blog the past 4 months. I've been busy being a tax preparer often working 45 hours a week, 6 days a week. Peak ended so hours went down to 40 hours, 5 days a week. Peak runs Jan-Feb when most people get their W-2's and people usually getting refunds come in. People who tend to owe or have a business wait until the last minute to file.

January

Killed a fish while changing water. Poor Achilles Jr was placed in dramatically warmer water than his tank and fluttered around. Not understanding the motions, I thought he was agitated by the male fish I set him next to. Then he sunk to the bottom and thought he was sleeping. He was boiling to death and I didn't realize it until I put him back in the clean fish tank and noticed he was dead. Even worse was his heater for his tank water had been turned off. Heartbroken with a side of guilt.

Worked at the tax preparation company that felt more like the free info desk. Can you renew my ITIN? What do I do if I get a letter from the IRS? How can I file taxes if my past employers won't send me my W-2's? Can you look up my refund status cause I can't figure out what the refund amount is? What's the phone number to the IRS? BTW, the IRS has their own website to find forms, instructions to forms, phone numbers, and addresses at www.irs.gov. That is where I get my answers I give others. Though the most popular question was "How much do you cost?" and "You actually do taxes here?". Sure people think I'm expensive, but I always say that if you want to do you taxes for free then do them yourself. However, I do answer questions for free.

Lost Beta female fish Leda Jr. Saw her swimming around before bed and wake up to her dead. I think I'm cursed. I keep loosing my fish and they live 3-5 years. Had such cold temperatures outside that the ferrets and cats refused to go play in the snow. Ferrets love to dig in the snow. Well then my lone Beta male fish Aeneas Jr. started lying on the rocks. Thinking he was dying, I got a girl and male fish to put in my empty tanks. Two days later, male Beta perked up and sleeping on the top of the tank instead on the bottom. I think looking at a new female Beta next door helped lift his spirits. Amazing how one little fish can change another just by being there. Names are Perseus and Andromeda.

After requesting the manager that I move to another location, I change locations to do taxes. As I told the manager, my lone coworker is driving me nuts. I have no problem covering them once in a while. but 3 times a week, every week, wears me out. I was driven to turn off my phone on my days off to not receive their calls and texts. My Mom asked me to take her somewhere and I couldn't commit to taking her because I was unsure if coworker will call to cover them that day (and they did). Got much relief and more training at the other location working with other people instead of by myself.

Had another freaky dream, I saw Joe Biden celebrating with Hillary Clinton at his side. Balloons in red, white, and blue falling from the ceiling, people cheering in a stadium, and Biden/Clinton were happy waving to the people. That would amusing if that dream came true. I am the master weird dreams.

Took Mom grocery shopping (she's old and should not drive). My sister and I take turns.

February

Indulged on Girl Scout Cookies from 2 coworkers. Total of 10 boxes. Then when the corona virus shut down the social gatherings, stores had them on the shelves. I bought 2 more boxes.

Took Mom to the grocery store again. Ordered our new traditional Heart Pizza and brownies to be delivered to Mom on Valentine's Day. I was working all day. Realized I forgot to put out the V-Day decorations after the holiday so brought them out until I got out the Easter decorations.

Celebrated ferret Boromir's 3rd Birthday with cupcakes and cocoa (ferrets love frosting and cocoa w/marshmellows).

Had the awkward experience of listening to my new coworkers answer the phone the exact same way I do instead of the their usual phone answer.

Sister celebrated her birthday without me since I was working. My Mom told me all about their restaurant dinner.

Had leaking utility sink so changed the washer hose, then the valve it was attached to, and then the pipe under the sink and stopper parts.

Receptionist at new tax site decided to change locations and I was moved to my old tax site. Schedule was different than before and coworker only works weekends. This led me to keep my phone off on weekends in case of a rerun of "Can you cover me?".

Had 2 store employees ask my number, I gave them my home number, they call the number, and then get mad it wasn't my cell number I gave them. I'm sorry, is this a new dating game I haven't heard of before. I haven't had a guy interested in me for years and usually it's someone who expects me to support and take care of them so I loose interest very fast.

Had someone offer employment, selling life insurance. I sold 1 life insurance policy in the 2 months working for a financial advisor company 7 years ago and I'm not going through that again.

Celebrated ferret Luthien's 4th Birthday with cupcakes.

March

My 2 suitors asked me out of dates. One guy sent me a photo of his car and asked me to have lunch at the restaurant in the background. I said no. I'm sorry, was I supposed to fall in love with his new car? The other guy, asked me to a dinner and movie 3 times and I said no 3 times. He explained he doesn't mind a strong woman to take charge. Now see, that is exactly why I turned him down 3 times. I am not strong, I'm exhausted. I have a house, yards, pets, and myself to take care of plus pay the bills so I don't need another chore, like babysitting him, to stress me out.

Took cats to the vet for their shots. Misty is 11.8 lbs. and Bilbo is 17.9 lbs. Had a dentist appointment and the day before had the dentist call stating they moved to another office so no teeth cleaning for me. Before finding out where this dentist is located or find or another one, Corona Virus arrive in my state and the governor shuts down non-essential businesses, organizations, and medical procedures. Teeth cleaning will have to wait until the pandemic is over.

Can't visit my Mom anymore cause the Senior Apartments she lives in has to protect their people from the virus. Sister took Mom shopping to discover this new rule. Soon after, Mom wasn't allowed to leave the place so sister has to deliver her groceries to receptionist to give to her. Next, the St.Patrick's Day parade was cancelled in Des Moines. Mayor of Des Moines and Governor of Iowa declared State of Emergency so people required to stay home, work from home, and go out for necessities. Places everywhere close and essential workers pertaining to manufacturing, food, and medical can be open. I did taxes, which is required by the government so I was an essential worker. That is until April 15 when the tax place closed the offices, except our year around office. Thanks to hoarding supplies, I was forced to stock up on food, pet food, and cat litter.

Flowers started to bloom at the end of March. Purple Dutch Iris and Purple/Pink/White Hyacinths came out to say hello.

April

Got blooms from Yellow Tulips and White Daffodils. For Easter, I delivered dinner for my Mom since she can't visit us. Spent the holiday alone with my pets eating ham and bunny cake. Sister had turkey with her family. Completed my Annual Bunny Trap story my niece and nephew love hearing. Since the Bunny was caught in a pet carrier and tackled by Boromir last year, Bunny left the Easter basket on the patio. Can't catch him every year. Sent the great-nieces Easter books and they loved them.

Tax job ended so unemployed and quarantined. Don't get unemployment cause didn't get fired from corona virus nor work for 6 months before loosing job. Got the stimulus so good for a few weeks. Pray for a miracle, but the miracle never happens.

Happy New Year

Year started with me watching TV and kissing my cats at midnight. The next day I returned to work at the tax place and had my Beta male Achilles Jr die while changing his tank water. Got the weekend off so enjoying it before working 2 weeks nonstop.

My Christmas was good watching the new Star Wars movie in the theater and spending time with family. Days later had the extended family Christmas and got to adore my great-nieces.

Worked for the tax place bouncing from site to site in preparation of Refund Advances. People seem to think we just give away money to whoever walks in the door. Not exactly. It is not like a bank loan where they check your income to see if you can pay back the loan. It is a cash advance on your potential refund so they guess your refund based on your pay stubs and determine if approved or not from that. I had people who were denied advances come into another location trying to reapply. Sorry, we use the same bank and if they say no advance then they don't get one. I also got plenty of people just wanting the money, without any intention of filing their taxes through us. Well, granted I can't force someone to file their taxes with us, but next year the bank will most likely deny them any advance since they didn't come back the year before. After the new year, plenty of people come in wanting tax refunds, right now. Well, sorry but the IRS and my state tax office haven't announced when they will be accepting tax returns and when they do, it will be about 21 days after that before the client would get their refund. If they need money so bad, they can get a personal loan off the internet, I did with a bank from NYC.

Immigrants often confuse the tax office with immigration office. Sorry, I can't help you with green cards, or apply for citizenship, or apply for ITINS. That is another government office, I just file income taxes and offer refund advances.

Tax Tips

Thought to give out tax tips before tax season is upon us again. I do tax preparation in addition to full time jobs to earn extra money. Here are some tips before getting our taxes done.

1. Know the difference between Independent Contractor and Employee.

Employees fill out W-4 forms upon being hired to declare how much taxes to take out of their paychecks. They get pay stubs along with their paychecks spelling out the deductions taken out. Employers are required to issue W-2s by Jan 31.

Independent contractors don't have taxes taken out of their paychecks and receive 1099-Misc forms if they made over $600, which means they must pay estimated taxes and/or self employment tax if they made over $400 income (meaning Sales minus Expenses equals Income). Independent contractors need to keep records of expenses, business miles driven, and separate car/home office expenses into personal and business uses (insurance, electricity, phone, etc.).

Then there is self-employment who usually hire accountants to deal with all this. If you are a professional whatever and charge your customers/clients for your services, rent out houses/offices to tenants, or own the business you work for then you are self-employed and must declare your business income and pay estimated taxes along with self-employment tax. And don't think your self-employment tax is a bad thing cause it means you can collect social security and medicare when you retire. I like these clients cause they keep good records.

And finally there is paid under the table, which means employer doesn't report your income nor pay taxes on your behalf to the government. There is a thing called Labor Laws employers have to follow so this is illegal (Unemployment taxes, Health Insurance requirements go by # of employees at the company, Minimum Wage requirements, Employer Social Security Taxes, etc.). If your payroll department doesn't have you listed as being employed by them or have records they had paid you for work, you are being paid under the table by your manager and you have to pay taxes cause payroll didn't pay them. You can report employers like this to the IRS. Check this webpage to contact IRS for anything...https://www.irs.gov/help/telephone-assistance

2. When going to a tax preparation site, remember it takes usually 1 hour to complete a tax form. If you come in asking to do 3 years of income tax forms, it will take 3 hours. Many tax places offer to drop off and pick up later if you don't wish to sit around and wait. There is also a statute of limitations on income tax forms so no tax site will do a tax form beyond 3 years old. Remember tax places are busy Jan and Feb so you might want to make an appointment cause they get served before walk-in clients. Also remember that a tax preparer will not start your return 15 minutes before closing and will ask you come back the next day.

3. Be prepared with your paperwork. I have spent 20 minutes looking up college tuition and requesting IRS transcripts online because the client wasn't prepared. Many companies do not mail paper tax forms to the employees, investors, or students and the tax payer must obtain these forms online. If you haven't received your W-2, 1099-Misc, 1099-R, 1098, 1098-E, 1098-T, etc. by Feb 6, ask your employer, bank, college, etc. for the forms and if all else fails contact the IRS since copies are sent to them. Contact info website is in last paragraph of #1. A tax preparer cannot pull these forms out of a magic hat and cannot contact the IRS for copies on your behalf (you have heard identity theft, right?).

4. To get a refund, you must pay income taxes in the first place. The 1040 form determines what taxes should have been paid and then compares the amount to what is already paid through the year (through payroll and estimated taxes). If you are retired and pull money out of an IRA, you can tell the company to take out taxes on the amount withdrawn, which is usually 10% of the amount being withdrawn. People with large refunds have lots of deductions or are poor with lots of children under age 17. Refunds are not free money from the government and it's not a contest to get a bigger refund each year (you can argue Earned Income Credit and Additional Child Tax Credits are free money, but only to people who make less than their standard deduction).

5. Audits are simply the IRS saying "You took these deductions now prove you deserve them". You won't get audited if all you have is W-2 info on your tax form. If you keep your receipts and records of your tax deductions, then you have nothing to worry about. And remember that the IRS is not the Supreme Court and their decisions can be challenged in Tax Court (to do this I recommend a Enrolled Agent, CPA, or Lawyer to defend you).

6. If your electronic 1040 form is rejected, you can send a paper return in the mail. This usually happens with new social security #s of children recently born or a parent who should not have claimed a child does before the rightful parent sends in their return. You can also complete Amended Returns (1040X) up to 3 years after the due date and these must be mailed in and cannot be electronically filed.

7.If you get a letter from the IRS, take it to your tax preparer to handle. IRS letters describe in vivid detail what their issue is and how much more you owe. IRS never calls demanding money and will not threaten to arrest you (believe me that if the District Attorney plans to arrest you for tax evasion you won't get a warning so you can flee the country). You have rights with the IRS: the right to appeal their decision, the right to representation, and they have 800 numbers you can call for assistance. IRS also will not demand you pay with your credit card number over the phone nor demand you purchase gift cards to pay your taxes due. Plus, they don't email you either demanding you wire them money.

8. All tax preparers who complete more than 5 returns must be registered with the IRS. A tax preparer must put their PTIN (Personal ID #) on the form. You can lodge complaints on tax preparers on...https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/make-a-complaint-about-a-tax-return-preparer. You can also find a directory of tax preparers on...https://irs.treasury.gov/rpo/rpo.jsf

9. State Income Taxes are not connected to the IRS. All 50 states have their own Tax Revenue Office that collects sales tax, liquor/tobacco/gas taxes, and income taxes. Some states don't tax income and usually have higher sales tax percentages. So if you move into another state during the year, state income taxes likely won't be exactly the same as each state has its own laws on deductions and income tax rates.

10. Make sure your college attending dependent knows they are your dependent because dependents cannot claim education credits on their form. I had many college students want a bigger refund by claiming the regular standard deduction and education credits and their parents get angry at the tax preparer for letting them do that cause their return gets rejected if dependent form is sent before theirs. As I said above, these cases can be handled by mailing paper returns and amended returns.

Christmas Letter 2019

Merry Christmas to my dear friends and family.

My New Year began with getting two kittens from a relative. Unsure if they were male or female so called them White Nose and Gray Nose until gender was established. Two days after picking them up, they had eye goo and vet diagnosed them with a respiratory infection. Vet affirmed their gender to name White Nose as Bilbo and Gray Nose as Misty. My ferrets were bigger than the 6-week-old kittens and would drag them under the sofa. Started tax preparation with an income tax preparation company. Lost female Beta fish Ananke that I got as a baby and was growing bigger every day. Took Mom to my Dad's cousins’ reunion at a pizza place. Lost male Beta fish Atlas Jr that I got full grown. My ferret Luthien was dubbed The Brave when she was the only ferret to go outside during the polar vortex, then I knew it was freezing when even SHE refused to go outside. Got new Beta fish Aeneas and Pandora, both full grown. Adopted 2 Bonded Buddy dogs from the shelter during one of their specials. I kept them a single day after they peed on my furniture and growled at the ferrets/kittens. Once a dog attacked a kitten, I had to take them back. I was not the right home for them.

Had freezing rain and thunder in February. I didn't know what was worse: the hills, the curves, or the potholes. Then it turned into snow to make it more fun to drive through. We finally got enough snow for ferret Boromir to experience his 1st snow tunnels. Eowyn and Luthien had to show him how to dig them first. Neighbor with a snowblower had been doing my driveway this year. Guess he got tired of watching me rest on my front stoop. I offered cocoa, but he won't accept it. Celebrated ferret Boromir's 2nd Birthday with Valentine cupcakes (ferrets love frosting) and a romp in the snow complete with cocoa (ferrets love cocoa w/marshmellows). Spent Valentine's Day working 2 jobs and dropping off candy package for my Mom in between. Sister reached the Big 5-0 to celebrate at an Italian restaurant where I tasted my first calamari (tasted like fish sticks). Lost red female beta Nyx I had a couple years and white female Beta Pandora I got a month ago. Got new female Beta adults Danae (blue) and Leda (white). My male blue Beta Erebus I got as a baby a while ago died and replaced with blue/white male Beta named Achilles. Celebrated ferret Luthien's 3rd Birthday with cupcakes.

Received my annual review from my manager to receive a raise. The Friday before my job raise was to start, I and 5 other coworkers were fired from work not coming in like they thought. I was told to gather my belongings that moment and leave. I emailed my manager apologizing for not completing my work that day. She gave me a hug good-bye. Tax manager was happy to give me extra hours since we have two weeks left of the season. Tax season ended to be completely unemployed. Had phone interviews and in-person interviews this year to receive rejection emails.

Kittens celebrated their 1st Easter catching The Bunny with help from the ferrets. The family celebrated my niece #1 giving birth to a girl named Piper Maeve. We celebrated my nephew’s confirmation. Nephew worked on my yard during his summer vacation. Then both niece #4 and nephew got jobs at the local amusement park games area so be less available. Nephew worked at the Iowa State Fair a few days skewering chickens for a vendor. Planned an 80th Birthday bash for Mom with help from my siblings and Mom's sister. Made my first gluten-free doll cake that everyone thought was beautiful. Got so much rain that I got mushrooms all over the front yard. Roses blossomed to make my heart sing. My male Beta fish Achilles and Aeneas died. New fish were named Achilles Jr and Aeneas Jr. Changed my first dimmer switch and managed not to get electrocuted (I flipped the breaker box switch). Kittens experienced their 1st fireworks. They looked out the window but couldn't see anything to cause all that noise. Kittens learned to climb the black walnut tree in back yard and climb back down. Celebrated 4th of July watching the Urbandale parade with Mom and sister’s family. Saw the fireworks half hour early when dark clouds moved in making it dark faster.

Finished the summer celebrating nephew's 15th Birthday, going to the amusement park, and Iowa State Fair with family. Had to fix the clothes washer hose connection with 5 trips to the hardware store. Sister planted marigolds near my house and those blossomed beautifully this fall. I got 2 pansies bloom, the only blooms in my flower pots this summer. My new female Beta fish Danae died, then got Danae Jr to have her die a few weeks later. My Mom wanting to thank me for her birthday party cooked a birthday dinner for me instead of going out to eat. Planted new iris bulbs and pray they bloom next year. Celebrated ferret Eowyn's 6th Birthday (ferrets live 5-8 years is she is an old lady). Received my last unemployment check and cancelled the cable TV. At least I went to the Joan Jett/Heart Concert before falling despair (I bought the tickets before losing my job). My female Beta Leda Jr died so I guess my life is just cursed.

After a hailstorm, had 2 roofing companies drive by asking to inspect my roof for damage. Sure, why not. One company I never heard from again. The 2nd had me call my insurance company to make a claim. The insurance guy came out to inspect the damage and guessed my roof was 12 years old. He must have called the roofer cause, they showed up at the same time (and I know I didn't set that up). Insurance guy agreed to a new roof so got a new roof. Bought concert tickets to see Elton John next summer with nephew. Had powdered sugar snow fall on the grass a few times, ferrets love the snow and cats not so much. Had one single Trick or Treater come to my door. Celebrated cats Bilbo and Misty's 1st Birthday. Fully grown cats now and kittens no more. Got them some new feather teasers they love chasing. Celebrated niece #4's 16th Birthday. We made a joke out of her professional made cake stating "Swee 16".

Spent Thanksgiving at my brother's house with our sister's family and Mom. Played games and looked at ads. Spent Black Friday shopping with sister’s family. Preparing to be a tax preparer next tax season. Decorated the house for Christmas and got up on my roof to put back the icicle lights that I had to take down so the roofers could replace the shingles. I hope next year is a lot better, as they say: “Everywhere from here is up”.

Have a Wonderful New Year,

Jordan

Bilbo (cat)

Misty (cat)

Eoywn (ferret)

Luthien (ferret)

Boromir (ferret)

Leda (fish)

Aeneas Jr (fish)

Achilles Jr (fish)

Happy Thanksgiving

After a hail storm, had 2 roofing companies drive by asking to inspect my roof for damage. Sure why not. One company I never heard from again. The second one had me call my insurance company to make a claim. The insurance guy came out to inspect the damage and guessed my roof was 12 years old. He must have called the roofer cause they showed up at the same time (and I know I didn't set that up). Insurance guy agreed to a new roof so got a new roof. Roofers broke my gutter guards so waiting them to be replaced. With all this snow and cold, I might have to wait a while for that. I informed the insurance guy of my plight and he agreed not to release any funds until I am satisfied.

Canceled the cable and sent back the box. It is weird watching antenna TV and some channels don't come through. I notice a lot of rerun channels that play reruns from 50's, 60's, 70's, etc. all day. Bought concert tickets to see Elton John with my nephew. Paid nephew a few times to rake leaves, mow the grass, and he winterized the mower. Put away the bird feeder and got suet cake holders out. Still toss peanuts on ground for squirrels. Took Mom to an appointment since we hate her driving alone (cataracts). My sister usually does those things, but she was busy.

Had powdered sugar snow fall on the grass a few times, ferrets love the snow and cats not so much. Had 1 Trick or Treater come to my door with plenty of decorations in the yard celebrating Halloween (which screams I have candy). Celebrated cats Bilbo and Misty's 1st Birthday. Fully grown cats now and kittens no more. Got them some new feather teasers they love chasing. After 2 years of searching, I finally found the furnace filter slot (it was covered up by a slat of metal) and replaced the filter. Old one was filthy. Celebrated niece's 16th Birthday at Cracker Barrel. We made a joke out of her cake that stated "Swee 16". Received 3 Rejections for job interviews (2 were with a temp agencies).

Spent Thanksgiving at my brother's house with our sister's family and Mom. Played games and looked at ads. Took niece and nephew Black Friday shopping and bought their Christmas gifts. Taking classes to be a tax preparer next tax season. Once home, started putting up the Christmas decorations. Finished up today. Got up on my roof to put back the icicle lights on the shingles and gutters that I had to take down so the roofers could replace the shingles.

Now watching my Christmas movies on DVD as I write out my Christmas cards.