The Tax Nightmare

I'm not sure what caused taxes to become so complicated for us this year. Buying a house, a company buyout, a new job, and a new baby are only a few things we have to add into our files. Once again we decided to go to H&R Block to make it easier. I'm not sure at which point we decided not to file through them. Was it when the lady said: "I'm not sure what goes in this box - I'll just put 0" or "Let's just try it this way." or was it when my husband repeatedly told her what to enter? After our time well wasted there we returned home pleased with the amount of money they'd calculated for our refund (very unexpected) but not at all confident that it was correct. Not to mention they wanted to charge us nearly $300 for their efforts. So we bought Turbo-Tax for $50. After several hours of what seemed like misery in front of the computer my husband had completed the Turbo-Tax forms. Could it be true that H&R Block had significantly under-calculated? And I mean SIGNIFICANTLY! We'll find out on Tuesday when we go to an accountant for them to review it all. We just want to be sure.
So for all of you wondering how to do your taxes this year - I can't say I know myself what to do. But I can say this: if you don't feel confident with the person preparing your taxes it might be worth your while to go buy a tax program and run through it on your own to verify.

Sew Much Fun!

Yesterday I attended the Sew Expo in Puyallup - reported to be one of the largest sewing fairs in the nation. 4 hours of sewing delight. (That was how long it took us to walk through the vendors.) Fabrics, patterns, notions, tools, machines and everything else you can imagine. By the time I came home my mind was reeling with all the projects I wish I had time to do. Why do I never have enough time?

Dissapointments:

• Where were the people my age? I mean, I may not be that young anymore, but most of the women there had at least a decade on me, most of them more like 2-3 decades. I mean, at the scrapbooking fair I went to a few months ago (where all these hip young woman with cool scrapbooking tees ran around in a craft-induced frenzy) I felt I belonged. Alright, maybe not the hip and cool part, but really - sewing is not just for old ladies.
• Another thing was the lack of awesome fabrics. For all the 200+ vendors - I really have to admit I only found two booths with fabric I wanted. (Actually 3 - but I was not going to pay $18.95/yd for Amy Butler's fabric.)

Highlights:

• I managed to purchase some new fabrics and I am excited to try sewing with them. Just one problem - I like the fabric so much and have so many ideas of what I could do with it that I'm worried if that whatever I end up making will be a huge dissapointment. I suppose I'm just going to have to take a deep breath, close my eyes and cut.
• Laminated cotton. Yup, I'm not kidding. (Michael Miller Laminated Cotton) It's machine washable, it's cute patterns, and best of all, it's going to make me an awesome diaper bag! Anyhow, I'm not sure how it works, what it's all about or anything, but I love it. I'll have to post a picture once I actually do something with it.
• Aside from all the ideas generated, and purchases made, the best part of my day was leaving the toddler at home with Dad and having my sister-in-law and one of my friends from church come with me. It's always so much more fun when the people going with you are as interested as you are! Thanks for coming with me! And thanks Handsome for watching our son. You rock!