The tax man cameth

April 18. Ahhhhhh, we've been dreaming of and anticipating this day for a long time. Rest from taxing labors. Peace from ringing phones and paperwork. Blissful sleep.

Last night Tim and I met after our tax work. We went to Applebee's for dinner. Tim had filed our own personal extension already, along with a check with anticipated expenses for the federal. I guess we'll be getting a refund from the state, which will probably be applied to estimated taxes for this quarter or the next.

Anyway, it's nice to be done. It's fun to be home with my dog, and right now I'm sort of trapped here because there is a big truck blocking my driveway. The city is working on the pump station which sits adjacent to our lot. I know if I needed to move they would move for me--they've done it before. But I'm enjoying the hum of their truck and working on getting TiVo running again. Even though TiVo will be less "necessary" now that I'm home more often, it's still nice to have, and I guess we need to reload it or something. I'm trying to figure it out.


Easter was just wonderful. We spent the day up at Tim's aunt & uncle's house (Terry's parents). They live about 45 minutes north of here. I was told not to bring anything, and I ended up bringing my two cherry pies home, untouched. There was turkey and ham and mashed potatoes and corn and broccoli and broccoli salad and lemon type jello and glorified rice, and for dessert cherry cheesecake and bavarian cake etc. etc. Terry and his daughter Maria were there, and his brothers Kenny and John and sister Denise were there with their families as well. Before heading up, Tim & I went to the Well (our church) for a lovely service which was preceded by a delicious breakfast. All our kids joined us, which was a special treat because Luke hasn't been to our church with us in several months. Grandma and Grandpa Nelson came to the service too, and we got to sit with Dale and Beckie. A wonderful morning.

But back to Easter at the McBrides'. It was a gorgeous day--although the weather forecasters had been saying all week long that Easter would be gloomy, windy and rainy. They have a wonderful lot with several acres and two garages/pole barns. Some of the group took to shooting golf balls on the makeshift driving range. (I refrained. So did Tim, not wanting to aggravate his sciatic nerve which has been inactive for a long time.) Terry and Luke took out the dirt bike for a ride in the expansive field. I eventually went back in the house and sat on the back porch for awhile, where I witnessed Terry wiping out on the dirt bike. He seemed to go out gracefully, however, and hopped right back on. It was like deja vu--watching our former exchange student Marcelo on the soccer field. He'd go down, and seem to be hurt badly, but then he'd bounce right back up and start running again.

After awhile I headed to the piano. Pat (Tim's uncle) is really good on the piano and has a wonderful collection, including Neil Diamond hits. I picked out a couple of tunes and Pat came to join me and sang along and turned the pages. It was really fun.

All too soon it was time to head back. We had brought up a chair which Pat and Terry welded for us, so we crammed back into the Highlander as Terry was riding home with us. We stopped at Home Depot because Luke needed paint to finish his bedroom. Tim bought bungee cords and Tim and Terry strapped the chair on the roof so there was more room to sit in the car. That made Christina happy, because then she could drive the rest of the way home. (She's the littlest, so she was relegated to the back seat to make things a little less packed.)

Anyway, it was fun getting to know Tim's cousins and their families a little bit better, and relaxing before the final push of Tax Day.

The trees are really starting to leaf out now--I think by the end of the week they will be pretty full. The grass is green just about everywhere, and I'm looking forward to May and lilacs. And our anniversary. It will be 23 years on May 7. Time flies when you're havin' fun.

And today for sure, I'm havin' fun.

Till next time,


Suzi