Anticipation…

Monday, June 28, 2010 at 4:45 pm (Writing by Ear)
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Anticipa-a-a-tion…  We’ve been wai-ai-ai-ting, and today the waiting ended, with a ho-hum instead of a hurrah.

We were due for a large tax refund this year because of the curious situation of my having my best year ever in business in 2008 and my worst ever in 2009. We were happily surprised at the news, and mailed our return in early March.

The date the IRS Web site told us we could expect our refund came and went. April 15 came and went. At some point, the IRS site changed to a message advising us to call for more information. I can’t remember the outcome of that call, but I remember I wasn’t happy — something like, “If you haven’t heard from us in a few weeks, call back.”

Somewhere around May 7, we got an official letter saying we (by we I mean our well-paid accountant) had failed to file a required form for the Health Savings Account I opened last year. I called said accountant in a panic, and he was nice enough to answer from his month-long vacation in Florida (sigh).

His partner filled out the required 2-page form, which consisted of filling in these amounts on lines 2 through 13, in this order:

2. $1500
3. $3000 (I love the instructions for this line: If you were under age 55 at the end of 2009, and on the first day of every month during 2009, you were, or were considered, an eligible individual with the same coverage, enter $3000 ($5950 for family coverage). All others, see page 4 of  the instructions for the amount to enter. What the…?)
4.
5. $3000
6. $3000
7.
8. $3000
9.
10.
11.
12. $3000
13. $1500

and which changed our tax situation not one iota. I faxed it to the IRS per the letter’s instructions.

I panicked again a week later upon learning that, in order to refinance our mortgage, the bank needed an IRS-verified copy of our 2009 tax returns, which the IRS wouldn’t supply because of the un-filed form. I called the IRS again, talking to an exceedingly, exasperatingly business-like woman who couldn’t verify they’d received my fax, couldn’t give me the number of the service center to call to verify it (they have no number, apparently), and who informed me in no uncertain terms that I was the negligent one for not filing the required form, and by law the IRS had 60 days after receiving said form to act on it and supply our refund.

Fortunately, the bank accepted copies of the IRS letter and my faxed-in form as proof we had filed our taxes, and we were able to refinance on schedule. After yet another call to the IRS and finally receiving verification that it had, in fact, received our fax and was again “processing our return,” we hunkered down to wait the 60 days for our refund. But guess what, it only took 52 days. Score!

I’m told the IRS puts all returns not electronically filed on the back burner, so that’s why ours took so long to resolve. Seems they really want to force taxpayers to e-file. Not sure what we’ll do next year, as our accountant does not e-file (obviously) and likely will not.

So the check’s here, the anticipation is over, and reality is a big fat letdown.

It’s still a big check. But we need to put a hefty chunk of it in the bank to cover September’s real estate taxes and December’s whopping combined homeowner’s-auto insurance bill. (Typically we put away so much a month in a special savings account to cover this, but my business sucks again, and we’re behind in that.)

What’s left of the refund covers the amount we took from savings to pay the closing costs to refinance our mortgage.

Whoopee.

Plus, we’ll likely OWE taxes this year, so should also be saving up to pay that bill next April.

So, not the windfall it seemed to be, and any dancing sugarplums we’d been dreaming about — like contributing to our retirement fund or maybe even funding a vacation — have fallen by the wayside. On the bright side, though, we did also get our $5.00 rebate check today from the deck stain we bought at Home Depot. That, at least, is not earmarked for anything. So you know what that means: Dairy Queen, here we come!

Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it.
~ Jane Wagner

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Hot, tired, sweaty…and so sweet

Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 3:07 pm (Heavy Clay)
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“June has been more like August,” she writes, as the air conditioner kicks on for the 15th time this morning and the thermometer heads toward 87 with 11,000% humidity.

Sounds like the makings of a great story, huh?

Better than: “We’ve mulched our brains out the past few weeks — first a truckload of smelly, magical mushroom manure and then 4 truckloads of dark, delicious, wonderfully woodsy mulch.”

Both are true. I hope I burned a lot of calories, at least, because there wasn’t much time for regular walks or other workouts. (There was, however, plenty of time for burgers, wings, beer at the bar, and DQ Blizzards.)

It’s probably the most fun we have working all year. We love working outside and transforming the garden — the biggest project we’ve done with no “before” pictures to show our progress. But we know, and that’s all that matters.

Have a look — 5 years, 70 shrubs, and at least 150 perennials after we started, it’s starting to look like a real garden.

A few add-ons and highlights this year…

Mike created this holder for my upside-down tomato buckets from leftover wood from the swingset we dismantled a few years back (it still needs a coat of stain).  Wouldn’t you know, though, all the tomatoes (yours too) are in peril from the tomato blight again this year. Our neighbor reported that while she was off work last week (she’s a garden center manager at Wal-Mart), the store had to destroy all of its tomato plants because they had blight. She sprayed her plants yesterday (that’s her awesome veggie garden in the background of the driveway border, 3 pix up). I”m still trying to decide what to do. I’d hate to lose all this hard work.

We also went a little crazy at the concrete statuary store — nice items at nice prices.

I love Gregory, our new gargoyle, and his new pedestal, which is filling the gap between the mountain laurel and the azalea where the burning bush up and died a couple years ago. (Mike thinks the pedestal needs something bigger. I think the pedestal is fine, but maybe Gregory should sit sideways to show off his cute little butt!)

I also really liked The Frog Prince…so regal.

And I just couldn’t resist the Tweedles (Dee and Dum). (My sister said they looked like Jiminy Cricket or grasshoppers or something…sheesh.)

We’ve even had some pleasant surprises. I moved this hydrangea from the shade garden last fall after years of nothingness, and look…actual blooms! I’ve heard people say it’s been a great year for hydrangeas — guess they love all the rain and heat.

I can believe it, because this hydrangea appeared in back of our shed out of nowhere! I’m always thrilled with any volunteers, but we’ve never had anything like this.

Also, after having admired succulents in living wreaths and living walls for years, I tried my hand at planting some in our concrete planters. Very different from colorful annuals, and no telling how/if they’ll survive over the winter, but I really like them.

Finally, I always like a little “before and after.” Remember back in April when we worked hard to banish the heavy clay that turns the area next to the garage into the Dead Zone?

That was then…

This is now…

It’s amazing what 2 months — and Mother Nature — can do…plants and gardens are truly miracles.

Now (yawn!) we are feeling like resting on our laurels for a while — all we want to do is hang out, drink lattes and wine and margaritas and beer and… enjoy the (blurry) view. Of course, that doesn’t bode well for the REST of the house and projects in need of the same level of attention and TLC.

But those’ll have to wait. At least until the current bumper crop of blossoms goes by and the wilty summer doldrums set in. For now, I’m enjoying what has always been this chintz-lovin’-flower-fanatic-cottage-dwelling-wannabe’s biggest motivation to garden: being able to walk outside my door, wander around the yard a bit, and come back with this…for free!

I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.
~ Emma Goldman

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10 years sooner

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 at 10:05 am (Cottage Industry, Writing by Ear)
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May marked our 5th year in fixer-upperhood. We smiled to recall how, 5 years ago, we moved in one day and went on vacation for a week the next. It was chaotic. Coming home to a houseful of boxes and junk is not something I recommend.

But we’ve come a long way baby, I think. Too many home projects finished and in the works to recount. Too many dollars spent. Too much darn hard work. But to celebrate, we decided to make all this (raise hands and twirl around) all ours 10 years sooner.

We’d been watching interest rates for a while, and finally jumped on a 15-year refi at 4.25% from the same lender who holds our current mortgage. Our 5.5% 10/1 ARM wasn’t bad, but would need to be refinanced in 5 years anyway (unless we were willing to put up with annual adjustments). So, we’ve done the “smart thing” and cut 10 years and more than $60,000 off our mortgage (and paid $2800 in closing costs and $111.76 more a month for the privilege). Whoopee. The worst part: enduring, again, the blood-sucking crock that is the home-buying biz — all those fees we just paid 5 years ago had to be paid again (Flood certification — HA! An appraisal — HA! [don’t get me started on appraisals] Title insurance — HA! An extra 1/4 pt. because we don’t want to escrow — HA!)

Oh, and did I mention our smalltown lender would immediately sell the mortgage? To Wells Fargo — a Fannie Mae thing. The same Fannie Mae already bailed out at taxpayers’ expense. Is this my payback? Maybe.

But hey, at least we’re paying our mortgage. At least we didn’t buy more house than we could afford. At least, God willing, in 15 years, this will all be ours (except for those pesky taxes every year).

I’ve never been this close to owning my home. I’m praying for good luck and good health in the next 15 years…and beyond, of course.

Home is a shelter from storms — all sorts of storms.
~ William J. Bennett

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