VOLATILE POLITICS

My voter pamphlet and ballot and black ink pen are carefully laid out on my desk.  I've read through our local issues (sorry, NO NEW TAXES for me) especially when they are worded in the most biased way.  I'm not inclined to "amend our Oregon constitution" for much of anything unless it is something the Supreme Court would endorse.  In addition, I carefully read who endorses and who is against.

The week our ballots arrived via mail, all four of our mail stations were vandalized and some mailboxes emptied.  Fortunately, the HOA had been planning to replace the 25 year old equipment and they are scheduled to be installed by the end of this week.  Our mailbox was spared but one neighbor had put their completed ballot in the outgoing slot as they left for Arizona for a month.

You probably get them too but I cannot WAIT until the robotexts stop!  I get over 10 every day.  And they call me Reagan, not JB.  So what do they know!  I don't get many phone calls but I don't answer numbers that don't have names I know attached.

Last but not least, the construction industry here are already stockpiling plywood, windows, paint and other major repair items due to concern about even more riots after the vote.  Maybe even tonight after the debate.

America!  Simmer down. 

COVID HAIR

I FINALLY got brave enough to go to the salon to get my hair cut.  Only 3 stylists, their clients and the receptionist were there ... it's a HUGE place.

My easy "go to" Covid look

The long stringy Covid hair look

At the shop

Modeling outside the salon

The back ... more grey.  The front, all white!  

I love it!  I just let it air dry and scrunch with my hands every once in a while.  Second day I use some molding paste.  Not TOOOOOOO old lady looking, is it?

I HAVE BEEN CURSED

I may have mentioned that I procrastinate and this year I have been doing this at an extreme level.  May even enter the Olympics ....

2019 taxes. My financial genius, Heidi, found a tax preparer willing to take me on.  After I filed for an extension.  Months later, I contacted him to say I was ready to work on getting them done.  He had retired the month before.  WHAT?  I would never have chosen to work with him knowing he would be retiring that soon.  I need my own personal NAG to get them done.

For some reason, I have always been the tax preparer for my family.  I use TurboTax and I don't have anything fancy going on in my life ... like renting, or foreign investments, or gambling winnings, or home office, or whatever.  We DID once hire a CPA when Mr. Ralph's mother died (1993) because I didn't know how to handle gifts and a small inheritance.  I found her through a friend and interviewed her over the phone and asked for a ball park price.  Great!

I got all my stuff together (which is really 75% of all the work, right???)  and personally took it to her.  The first part of February.  FINALLY,  towards the end of March, when I hadn't heard a word ... I called to see if she needed anything more from me.  "oh, I'm just getting started on your return". ?????  On April 10 I asked for a copy to review ... she did not have it done for review.  I went to her office on April 14 to review and discovered a GIANT mistake (and few small ones).  Oregon allows residents over 60 to claim ALL medical expenses and she apparently didn't notice Mr. Ralph's birthday.  Then she suggested we "just file an extension" to give us more time to review.  I was flabbergasted and said NO.

She did get them redone, correctly, and gave me a bill for THREE TIMES the amount she had quoted me.  For two days work?

I went back to Turbo Tax and procrastinated on my own.  Until Mr. Ralph died.  I would gather the info, input to determine if I owed and filed for extension because I don't keep files very well.  I know I have many more deductions but would need to comb through Mint.com to find them.  Never filed.  Have not filed until last year.  Finding a tax person willing to sort through five years of half finished returns was an embarrassing adventure.

Heidi helped find another (patient) preparer and we started work on 2019 taxes on the 5th of October.  He would email every day asking for paperwork or estimates until late last week.  I thought maybe he was on a long weekend for Columbus Day (yes, it will ALWAYS be Columbus day to me ... born and raised in Columbus, Ohio).  (I cannot keep up with being politically correct)

I emailed him Tuesday morning.  The return email was from a Partner at the firm ... he had died of a heart attack at work Monday afternoon.  Probably MY fault.

SUNDAY, SUNDAY

I prefer the tune Monday, Monday.  In fact, I almost changed my post day to Monday!

Nothing at all interesting happened in my week!  My Mom would have been 93 on Wednesday.  She sure loved Autumn!  Born in October and died in November.  

She enjoyed oil painting and most of her paintings were Fall landscapes and rainy days.  She was a productive crafter and sold her items at a Senior Center gift shop, The Golden Hobby Shop.  And she was an amazing cook!  I got the cooking gene but not the creative gene.

Fortunately we had sunny weather so the boys got in some outdoor time.  We are expecting rain for the next week.  Dad set up all the Halloween decorations and Family movie night features Halloween movies.  I think we are going to make a bigger deal of any celebration to help push the pandemic into the background of life.  Mr B turns 10 on October 28.  He's not a big cake fan so I am going to make an ice cream pie (they all love ice cream). A chocolate wafer crust, a layer of ice cream, freeze, a layer of hot fudge, freeze and another layer of ice cream.  Put some tiny Oreo cookies around the edge and VOILA!  He has chosen vanilla bean ice cream and oreo ice cream.

I keep myself busy with WLLO volunteer work although many of our leadership council seem to be getting burned out.  Most do NOT want to host an activity or be responsible for a new project.  Some are no longer doing much of anything.  Everyone is just getting weary.  We are FINALLY joining with other Portland villages to share our online activities ... seems like each Village has the same challenges.  So if we offer 5 events each month and the 10 other village share their 5 events, we'd all have a lot to choose from.  

Even I am getting cranky.  Others ask me to do an email FOR them (because "you are so good at it).  But sometimes I don't want to do it last minute!  Give me a few days notice!!  When I do send an email invite, people text me or email me a minute before the event wanting the link!  HELLO???? I just sent it to you last night at 5pm ... sort your mail.

My new project is to try to get instant closed captioning on our Zoom gatherings.  For FREE!

 

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?

This household is taking turns sharing our little lockdown bug.  How is this even possible?  We are not around anyone else.

Fever of 100.3, having saltines and ginger ale.

It's not just our conundrum, the NYT had a great article a few days ago (sent from my sister) "How Are My Kids Still Getting Sick in Lockdown (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/parenting/virus-kids-sick-quarantine-infection.html). It's a long article that explained many reasons.  Our own bodies harbor germs that normally live within our bodies and sometimes end up in the wrong place.  Adults can bring in a germ from going to the bank or the grocery.  Taking hikes has now caused a rise in Lyme disease.

We don't do as much online learning as we could, but they are both making rapid progress in many subjects.  They are both learning life skills as well.  Mr. 6.5 made chocolate chip cookies the other day.  Mom helped him get all of the ingredients and he got out all the measuring utensils.  He knows how to level things and is learning the KitchenAid mixer.  They were delish!  And they get lots of physical exercise as well.

I'm so glad I'm stuck WITH these creatures rather than on my own.   Every day is a new adventure.  One morning they took turns playing Fart Factory (one boy crawls inside a sleeping bag, head towards the foot of the bag, toots, and tries to back out of the bag before death ... all while the other boy is pulling the sleeping bag up and down the hall)

Mr. Almost Ten now knows how to create different games within Roblox.  The only problem is that he has to use my computer as their laptop is too old to update to accommodate most new things.

I do take myself on a drive most every day.  Yesterday the boys were both feeling well so off to Krispy Kreme!

THE DRIVING QUEEN

Yes, I'm finally driving again.  

My Zenni specs (and sunglasses) arrived and the next day I took myself to get a flu shot.  Interestingly, the pharmacist thinks the season will start late AND we may be able to get a second dose if necessary.  Sounds about right for 2020.  The rest of the family gets their flu shots next week ... boys still have to go to pediatrician.

Saturday I drove to the other side of town to view a house with huge yard that Tahlia is interested in.  Darling!  Safe neighborhood.  Her plan is to move her tiny home to the back corner of the back yard then rent the home out to cover her mortgage payment.  I may drive over again tomorrow, taking the outer belt to see if it's quicker ... then research some grocery stores and restaurants nearby.

I signed back up for WLLO driving again, although I am only accepting members who do NOT need my help getting in and out of my van.  Member must sit in back on the passenger side which will actually be much easier to get in and out.  The front passenger seat can be pushed WAY forward, so there will be so much more space for getting in and out, storing purse, water, etc.  First I will take it for an inside and outside car wash!

Halloween decor is going up this weekend.  Don't worry ... we can put up seasonal decorations a month prior to holiday and leave them up for a month after.  My current HOA drama is they claim I did not pay dues for September.  Even after I send them the front and back of the check!  They would prefer I use "ClickPay" but I'm happier having control of stopping payment and using my Credit Union.  Which I have been doing for ten years.  The Assistant Manager INSISTS their collection center did not get my check .. despite the "FOR DEPOSIT ONLY" and their account number (the same for past few years). "If we had gotten your check, accounting would have processed it and they do not have it".  After 2-3 email exchanges, I just didn't respond and we'll take it from there.

We also requested an in-person "hearing" about our landscape.  Now the Property Manager is recovering from some sort of surgery so who knows when that will be.  We just want an impartial person to visit ALL condos to be sure the RULES are applied fairly.  The ten pink flamingoes are still out ...

DEPRESSION

 I think six months of quarantine finally got to me.

Tuesday was a full blown, crying off and on kinda day for me.  Maybe it was part not feeling so hot and Monday would have been my 36th wedding anniversary.  Anyway, I just gave in, stayed mostly in my room and just missed my man.  Maybe it was the phase of the moon.  Maybe it's politics.  Maybe it's struggles keeping WLLO engaged.  

I'm feeling better (thankfully) and my cheerful self is back.  And I have a better understanding of depression.  Pollyanna will return on Sunday!