Maggie Mae Has Something To Say

Maggie Mae here! I decided to help my owner and tell my story for her. It is not a long one because I am not quite 10 weeks old. When two humans, called Steve and DJ and their doodle came to my home, I knew that they were the ones for me. They each had soft voices and loving hands when they picked me up. Their dog, Davis, just let me nuzzle up to him and his tail was wagging as if he were so happy to have me giving him doggie kisses.

The drive to my forever home was exciting. Davis sat in the back seat while I was wrapped in my special blanket that Kim, my human Mom, aka breeder, gave to me. It smelled of all my litter mates and parents. I felt so safe in my new owner's lap.

Once we were at our home, I got to explore the outside and learned fast that this was the place that I need to take care of my business, if you know what I mean? They all 3 showed me these jingle bells hanging on the doors to ring and they said in a sing-song voice, "Time to go to the potty." I think I can remember that. Well, most of the time I have been able to. The good news is that my forever people seem to know that a puppy my age sleeps, plays, eats and drinks and poops and pees a lot!

Especially when I sneak amounts of water and food from my brother's tall water and food bowls. I have my own but his is so much better. At least it seems that way to me.

Steve and DJ are writers. When they are not busy taking Davis and me out (especially me) they are playing with us, although we do a pretty good job of that ourselves. We let them join in for the fun now and then.

Davis is like a giant play toy to me. He lets me jump over him and we share everything. He does seem to understand the golden rule that says what is mine is mine and what is his is mine. Our humans give us each an Oinksie or a bully stick and we are happy for a few moments, then it is time for me to go after what he has. Of course, that means that he will go over and get what I dropped out of my mouth to take his. We can go on for an hour like this. It is just so much fun!

We do eventually wear ourselves out and our humans also. Davis goes upstairs with Steve, to his office. I stay with DJ in her study. Usually, this is nap time for me. Some days, DJ likes to take a nap with me. There are days I just am not quite in the mood for a nap and I try to show her through doggie body language that a nap is not in the picture. I ask you, does this face tell the story that I am not in the mood for a nap?

Sometimes, I get this look back from DJ:

I do learn a lot from my big brother. I overheard DJ talking to Steve that Davis did not learn to jump up on the ottoman and then to the sofa for a couple of weeks after they brought him home. Plus he was older than I was when they did bring him home. All I do is watch him and follow his lead. When he is upstairs with Steve, I take his place on the back of the sofa. Just guarding the house and making sure that everything is okay!

He shows me how to sit, come, go home (to our crates) and that following those commands we get rewarded with little treats. They are especially worth listening to DJ and Steve. My favorite one is the little round sweet potato treat in the Doggie Trail Mix. We do everything together.

We get Steve and DJ up early and they are definitely getting lots of steps in on these little things on their wrists that they keep checking by taking us out all the time. Since 5:50 A.M. today, they have taken me outside 9 times and Davis out 4 times. It seems that if we go out together, Steve figured out that we distract each other. Maybe that will change when I get a bit older. 

Today, we finally crashed for our morning nap at about 8:30. My favorite spot is just to the left of DJ's study chair. That way, if she gets up for any reason, I will know it and be alerted to help her. That will in turn get Davis up to help us. We actually love helping her to write. I believe that we give her inspiration.

Davis Speaking Here!

Just so we have this clear, I am perfectly fine to write DJ's blog in my own voice. I believe that I have earned that right based on what my last week has been like. It has had ups and downs. Mostly ups. I just need to talk about it and share it with others.

Everything started when my Lola and Smiley started talking about getting me a sister or brother. I listened to them and I thought that maybe this would be a good thing. First of all, I know how much they love on me and I love them to the moon and back. And I thought to myself, what about another doodle in this family? How would that work? I believe that we all three have enough love in us to share it together.

On the positive side, I would have a sibling to play with, even when Lola and Smiley are all played out. Another positive note is that when they decided to go and check out the possibility, they went to where I was born at Goldendoodles by Kim's Design. Kim does know her stuff, so I was very happy to see her again. She took very good care of me while I was there before I found my forever home. Lola and Smiley were the ones that I chose to be with, even though one little sister kept butting in on my time with them while they were making their choice. Lucky for me, they picked me. I made very sure of that.

It has been wonderful ever since. A beautiful home, a special yard, lots of toys and special treats. I also have a vet, Dr. Taylor and her assistants, who love me madly. (saying this modestly, of course) Plus unbelievable fun in WGAC Doggie Day Care with Chris, Chaney, Michelle and Jessica. They encourage me to jump high toward them, plus as the weather gets warmer they put out my favorite thing in the whole world. Doggie swimming pools! I love this place. There is also a groomer, Amber, who takes good care of me and treats me with such care and respect. Only once did I come out looking more like a poodle than a doodle.  I forgave her. My Lola and Smiley did not make it clear to her what I liked to look like. She has more than made up for that one time. Nothing against poodles, it is just that I prefer to have more of the doodle look. Definitely it fits my personality. 

Now, let's move forward to going to Kim's kennel. Lola and Smiley took me with them. Imagine that? They took me to help in making the decision if there was a goldendoodle that would make a good little sister. I heard them talking that some owners thought that a sister may be better than a brother, simply based on the alpha male syndrome. (Whatever that is.)

Let me tell you something. This little sister seems to think that she is in charge. And, bless her heart, I just let her think that. I know that I am almost 60 pounds more than she is now. Probably will still be 20 pounds more when she is fully grown. So just let her believe her size matters. I can tell you that she is brutal. That is not being harsh. Just look at her pulling on my tail. 

This picture is when we went to pick up Maggie Mae. It had been only two weeks yet she seems to think that it is okay for her to come up to me and pull on my tail, which by the way is a very distinctive question mark shape. I just let her play. She runs all around my legs when I am standing and makes figure 8's. When we do rest, she loves to cuddle in to me and I must admit, this little sister is very loving and I will do my best to show her the way and teach her all the tricks of the trade. She is one smart little cookie and has already learned several in just a week.

I am truly happy being the big brother of a beautiful little sister. I know that she looks up to me. She follows me everywhere and although this can be annoying, it is a special compliment, also.

This was once only my roost. Just for me. Until:

One day while I was away at Doggie Day Care, Maggie Mae found my spot. Aggghhhh. I will learn to share. She is too cute not to share some. I really do love her. I feel like I need to show her the ropes. How to get to Lola and Smiley's hearts. This is important and vital information.

We do share. We share everything. I know exactly how much larger and stronger that I am than she is. I will admit that she is a bit rough on me though. Even when I am resting and not bothering her, she will come and try her best to rile me up. All in the name of puppy play.

Look at those eyes. I am totally taken my little sister. We play well together and when Lola and Smiley have to administer slurry meds to her for a parasite that was found, she does not like it. I just want to be there for her. She is not happy getting those meds, even though Lola and Smiley do it gently. 

When it is time to go out, and oh boy, does she need to go out to pee and poop a lot, I just wait patiently for her. On the other hand, she is such a little babe, that she does not wait as quietly as I do. She barks and howls for me because she misses me. I think that she will learn. I am her teacher. It is my job to show her the way.

She is in a loving home, with two owners who adore both of us and take good care of us and she has an awesome big brother who will never let her down. 

I am now signing off and handing over to Lola (djmilestones.com). Back to my wonderful Lola who has the same hair color as Maggie Mae. (Who knew?)

Puppy Love X Two

Just to let you know that for sure getting our new puppy, Maggie Mae, for a little sister to our 2 1/2 year old was the right decision. She has already made her way into all of our hearts. She is a roly poly bouncing little bundle of joy, not only to Steve and me, but to Davis. Plus, as you can see, she believes that she is a writer also. Her thought bubble is saying, "Just let me get my paws on that keyboard and I will have a best seller."

The day before we picked her up, Steve told me that he wanted to ask me a serious question. He asked if I truly thought that we were doing the right thing by Davis. He had been number one and here we were bringing in another puppy. With all that I had read, two doodles are supposedly better than one. They entertain each other and give you twice the laughter with their entertaining antics. We discussed that we would always be very aware of keeping Davis as the number one older brother and he would continue to get all the love that he needed. As you can see from the picture on the first day we were home, they were inseparable. Davis seemed to be very protective of his little sister and Maggie Mae followed him everywhere. 

We had Davis involved from the get go. He went with us to his birthplace and to see his breeder and all of her new pups. We had one out at a time to see if we witnessed any bonding whatsoever. Maggie Mae immediately responded with a wagging tail, as did Davis. They even nestled their heads together. That cinched the deal. We had to wait almost two weeks before she would be old enough to come home with us.

On this occasion we had time to prepare. We were so not prepared for Davis when we picked him up. We had to stop off with him at Hollywood Feed to get some of the necessities for having a puppy. Like a water and food dish, a collar, a leash, and some little treats. Our daughter happened to be in the general area and brought our granddaughter into the store to meet Davis. Bailey Grace picked out a toy for him and it remains his favorite toy. All we had was the blankie that Kim gave us which had his parents and siblings scent on it and a small bag of the food that she had been feeding him. Since we had decided to crate train him, we had to take a wild guess at what size to get. Luckily, we did guess the right size. 

Now we were able to go into Hollywood and pick out the things that we would be able to have in place for when we went back to pick up Maggie Mae. Again, for the crate size we had to guess. We went one size down due to the fact that she is female and based on her mother's size, only time will tell. One of Davis' sisters surpassed not only their mother's weight, but the father's weight as well. She is a whopping 95 pounds, without an ounce of it fat. Davis is just 65. Our hopes are that this new pup will stay in the 40ish range. 

We ordered the chew-proof crate bed pad that was the only crate bed pad that our chewing Davis has not torn to shreds in 2 years now. So we do have experience and we knew that we would be ready to handle this. The hard days are in the very beginning. Some sleep deprivation, going outside with her every hour or sometimes even half hour. They tend to train their owners on when to get them out. It is "Puppy Owner: Beware."

New items for Maggie Mae were put out slowly to let Davis adjust to it all. The time had finally come to drive down the road and pick up our new bundle of joy. She and Davis continued their bonding. He was down on the floor and just let Maggie play with his long curly tail.

The drive home with Davis was so different than the drive home with Davis and Maggie Mae. Davis was of course, the only pup in the car and he slept all the way on his blankie in my lap. Maggie Mae, on the other hand, used me as a mountain to try to climb over to get to the back seat to see Davis. She really gave my arms a work out. Such an inquisitive little girl. Given her age, she did take a break and rest on the hour drive home ever so often.

She has only been with us starting on Day 4 and even through some trying times that we never expected, we know that we made the right decision. When you bring a puppy home, hopefully you know there will be some accidents now and then until totally house-trained. We were prepared. Trying to be vigilant on the timing to take her out, we avoided many accidents. After one night she slept through the night. In fact, Steve woke up at 5:30 to check on her. She had not had an accident and only woke when she saw and heard him. Smart man that he is...he got her out, along with Davis. Finally, the rain was not coming down in buckets like it was most of yesterday. 

Today, we can have a sense of humor about the major accident that took place yesterday. I will start just by saying that we RARELY take our eyes off Maggie and she is where we are. Somehow at one point she went into the kitchen and did a little puppy poo right at the gate that leads outside. Steve went up to do his workout time and passed by on the other side of the gate, never seeing it. I took advantage of no one in the kitchen and switched on our Roomba vacuum and kept the puppys with me in the Study. 

Steve came down and called me in while telling me that we had a problem. A problem!?!? We had poop tracked all over the floor. It was one of those moments that happen, and your mind is racing, what do you do first? 

• get dogs out of the area and safely crated 
• turn off the Roomba
• go out to get the Swifter wet mop with throw away cleanser pads
• in fact, get two boxes of them
• pick up the Roomba and turn it over to check it out
• wonder to yourself, "How in the hell will all of that poop clean off
• roll up your sleeves and get to work
• clean the floor first (and it did take two boxes)
• take one last mop around all of the places that Roomba could get to until I had a clean throw away pad and I then walked behind the mop skating on two tea towels
• start by wiping what I could off the bottom of the machine
• work on taking apart the brush guard, brush mechanisms, and the front wheel and running water over them and spraying and wiping disinfectanting everything
• having Steve take care of keeping the dogs was a huge help and he came in to take care of holding the bag to drop in all of the dirty paper towels and getting them out to the trash bin

Next step was to take the Roomba out to a neutral location to dry out. I would deal with trying to put it all back together tomorrow. 

The good news of this day was that our precious puppy rewarded us by sleeping through the night with no bathroom incidents. For now, our fingers are crossed that the Roomba, after me piecing all the parts back into their locations, will charge and work.

The deal is that we must remember those first few weeks of having Davis and to remain patient and keep our sense of humor. Really? Think about it...puppy poo and a Roomba. I am sure it is not the first time this has happened. We are just hoping that it will never occur again in this household.

To Instant Pot or Not, That Is the Question

 Want to get a hot debate going? Ask people how they feel about the Instant Pot. Most are not ambiguous about their feelings. It is either, "Yeah, this is the best thing since sliced bread," or "What's the deal?"

As many people did, they heard about the wonders of the Instant Pot and after a while you start to question why in the world don't I own one? That was me. Basically, which is really not like me, I did not do much research. Just put it on my Christmas wish list.

Sure enough. There it was for me to open on Christmas Day. After the holidays were over and we were sorting our gifts, I sat down and took the time to read about my wonderful Instant Pot that was going to put dinner on the table in record time. The more that I read, the more fearful that I became of using it.

One of the papers that came with it was neon yellow so that the potential user would not miss it. It read like this:

Please pay attention to all WARNING LABELS before removing them from the pressure cooker. Read IMPORTANT SAFEGUARDS in the manual before using the pressure cooker. DO NOT place hands, face or unprotected skin over the steam release handle while cooker is in operation. DO NO force the lip open when the float valve is still up.

Now, I feel like I an a half-way intelligent human being, it is now time for me to go to the User Manual and find the illustrations that will tell me what and where the steam release handle is and also what the hell is a float valve? 

Found it, only after reading 4 more pages about the safeguards in more detail, plus an overview of how to install the "anti-block shield." This was like a whole new language of how to cook for me. As I looked over the picture of the Control Panel and all of the cooking program keys I was even more confused. "Have patience," is what I continued to tell myself.

It was not until page 15 that the manual talked about positioning the steam release handle to Sealing, as well as talking about using a natural release or a quick release. Let me add that on this page there is a picture of a man leaning over the cooker to try to find the dang steam release button and his face his beet red. There is a box on this picture with a red line drawn through it and a hand held up to indicate STOP. Also, it states that the quick release valve should always be closely attended.

I continued to read and continued to become more and more aggravated with myself for jumping on the bandwagon of wanting one of these small appliances. I found a place in the cupboard to store it until...Really, I was not sure when it would get used. At least it was out of sight for now. I am one that does not like a lot of clutter on the counter tops. Only what is necessary and used daily. The Instant Pot did not fit in this category. 

It was closely thereafter that I decided to try the Low-Carb/High Fat Program and as I started looking on line I was finding lots of recipes and many of them were for the Instant Pot. The ones that appealed to me and my husband were placed in a folder labeled Instant Pot Recipes. 

Finally, in April I came across a recipe that was a Cajun Gumbo, one of my husband's favorites. It was low carb. PERFECT. It looked easy enough. We had all of the ingredients. It stated Prep Time 15 minutes, Cook Time 10 minutes for a Total Time of 25 minutes. A serving was 340 calories and it had a total of 8.5 net carbs.

We followed the recipe to the letter. Aha! After the 10 minutes is up, the cooker goes automatically to Keep Warm. Then the recipe said to manually release the pressure by turning the release knob to its venting position.  When finished we were to uncover and transfer the chicken to a large plate and shred the meat using 2 forks, then add back into the pot and let the meat soak up all of the sauce. If we wanted it thicker, we were to press saute for 5 - 10 minutes. The venting went on for 20 more minutes. 

Because of the fact that there was not much sauce to thicken we opted to not saute. However, the chicken did not shred. It was most definitely cooked but the texture was not one that was going to be shredded. Get a knife and cut it. It was like rubber. The andouille sausage was not much better. 

Bless Steve's heart, he ate it. I told him that he did not have to. I would make him a piece of zero carb bread toast to spread peanut butter on if he so desired, but he remained a trooper. 

Just for the heck of it, I put on my FaceBook page all of my frustrations with the Instant Pot and our meal. I had no idea that I would get so many comments. It pretty much came out 50/50. Fifty percent said they had one too and were terrified of it and had not used it yet or did not even go buy one. While the other fifty percent could have been in the sales department for the company. It was entertaining. Others told me that I needed to give it time and get used to it. If I spend time cooking, then I want to be able to eat the results. The texture of what I cooked was not edible in my opinion.

So I researched some and I found out some interesting facts. Things that no one, much less the manual tells you. 

• You must cook the meat longer than it tells you to or else the meat will turn out tough. In fact, one article said to double the time at the minimum.
• Let it depressurize itself.
• You need liquid, no matter what the recipe says. You can always use the saute button.
• This is not the same as steaming your food. (Although, for me, this is what it tasted like.)
• Never put milk or dairy products in because they will curdle. hmmmmm

Then I found a section on the pros and cons of using the Instant Pot.

PROS                                          CONS

saves you time, apparently     bubble buster: you will

is like a slow cooker on           not have dinner on the

steroids                                 table in 10 minutes

you can put frozen meat         using the microwave

straight in the Instant Pot       will work, just a few

                                            more minutes

                                          

you can make hard boiled       the pan or oven is so 

eggs in it                               easy to use instead 

There were many, many more. Why would I want to get my step stool out to drag out the Instant Pot to cook hard boiled eggs when I cook them so easily in the oven and the shells peel off like magic? 

In conclusion, we each have to cook the way that we are most comfortable with. My husband and I love to cook and love to try new recipes out. And, many we are walking into blindly, such as the tried and failed attempt at the Instant Pot. We know that we have great cookware and plan our meals to suit the time that we have available to cook.

The Instant Pot will be boxed up just in case our daughter or daughter in law needs to replace theirs. Or else, eventually it will go to Goodwill or a yard sale. Maybe, I am not being fair by not giving it another chance, but I know what we are comfortable with and the fact that we love to try new recipes. We will just keep on keeping on...

           

Setting My Own Goals

Sometimes, I must remind myself that setting a goal without a plan in place is just a wish. I am going to run with that thought for a moment. One of my wishes has been to have a second Goldendoodle, whether it be a rescue, or rehome or another precious puppy from Kim, who is where Davis, our current doodle, came from. Preference being that this second doodle would be a miniature because I thought that was all we could handle size wise. Davis is about 62 pounds and a gentle dog, just very large.

Knowing that even through my overwhelming optimism, I do have a streak of realism thrown in there somewhere. That should count for something. I knew that both with me still recovering from what the aftermath of breast cancer caused and also what Steve's afib issues were that he was dealing with would not allow us to have this second doodle of any size at the time the thought of another doodle came into my mind.

We were patient. We loved on Davis and he was such a wonderful spiritual healer for us. Just cuddling in to us and petting on him, which he is most definitely a touchy, feely kind of dog, reaches deep down to your soul. It is my belief that he has helped to heal us physically and emotionally.

There was a time that our energy levels were so low that there was no way that we could walk him daily as Steve used to. My joints were still weak and I was still recovering from an injury on my left knee from the bad joints.

Before we brought Davis into our lives, we researched and discovered that Goldendoodles are gentle and affectionate dogs with easy going temperaments. They do not like to be outside running around without their owners. In fact, after talking with other doodle owners, they are definitely not dogs to open the door and just let out to romp and run all alone. 

They are very social dogs, therefore we have found a wonderful Doggie Day Care where our vet is located called Walnut Grove Animal Clinic. Chris, Jessica and Chaney are the animal care takers and they all exude their love for every dog. Davis loves to go there for a day of play and socialization. We take him weekly, sometimes twice. He loves to go and we usually don't hear a peep out of him after all of his play with his buddies. 

Because Goldendoodles are highly intelligent, they are very easy to train in all aspects. We have chosen crate training and he uses this as his safe home to go to freely throughout the day when he chooses. At night, from the very first time he was home with us, he was crate trained and never had an accident in that crate. So this does not scare us with our newest addition.  She will have her crate, too. Our vet, Dr. Taylor, told us that you know that you are using the crate training method properly if the door is left open during the day and the dog goes in on his/her own for a nap or to chew a toy.

You may have guessed it by now, our health has continued to get better and stronger. We have much higher energy levels and were able to start with a plan in place to eventually get our second doodle. It was not in the cards for a miniature Goldendoodle, as there were none in our area. Kim posted pictures of her new litters of F2b Goldendoodles and they stole our hearts. 

We made an appointment to go with Davis to check them out. We were able to see the parents of these doodles. One little pup seemed to really bond with Davis and Davis did with her. Their tails were wagging and they were Eskimo kissing and cuddling. Yelp! This would be the one. We talked about the fact that there is no stated in stone guarantee that this doodle will remain around the 40 pound range like her momma. It is still the only thing we have to go by. Out of all the puppies, she seemed to look the most like her momma and she was one of the smaller pups. We named her Maggie Mae. 

These pups were still too young to take home, so we had some time to prepare ourselves and our home for our new family member. A quote from Stan Smith, "Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it."  Being the age that we are, we do count on our experience in life to make our decisions wisely. This does give us the confidence to make it happen when it is the right time; whether it is to get a second dog for a playmate to our current one, purchase a beach home, continuing to review and update our retirement portfolio with our financial planners, and the list goes on. It is called life. 

We even set goals for our lifestyle in eating and cooking. There are some good reasons to share goals with some close family and friends and I believe in them:

• it helps in accountability and clarity
• it helps in measuring progress
• it gives us motivation
• it is a connection with like minded people

There is also a reason to be careful in sharing your goals/dreams. If we reach our goal and follow our dreams by setting these goals we can be cheered OR there can be a backlash. There will always be those who don't quite understand. That in and of itself is okay, as long as we can move on past others' thoughts of what is right for us. 

I have found that if we break our goals into specific milestones that have purpose and meaning for us,  this is what will continue to inspire us.

It is one step at a time, and usually the writing is on the wall when your goal has been reached. For us, it has been months of feeling well and energized. New goals will continue to be set as we see fit. 

Two Doodles?

Am I crazy? Are we both crazy? That would be both myself and my husband. We are actually toying with the idea of having two golden doodles. Kim, the wonderful breeder that we worked with to get Davis, who is now two years old, has two new litters that will be ready to go to their forever homes in April. 

I saw them in a video on her page. She has a litter of black ones and cream colored ones of various shades.

Now I ask you...who can resist this face? We have a lot of talking to do to be sure that we are making the right decision. Everyone that I talk to (well, almost everyone with two golden doodles) say that two are better than one. They keep each other company, they even wear each other out. 

The plan that we have made so far is to at least go out to see the puppies with Davis to see how he reacts. After talking with Kim, she suggests getting a female this time, not only due to the alpha male syndrome, but the females for the most part do not go over 45 pounds. Davis is 60 pounds and to be honest we could not deal easily with another one that size. 

For one thing, Davis still believes that he is still a 22 pound puppy.

I rest my case. There is no room for another 60 pounder. Then there is also space in the car, another crate eventually, because at first they could cuddle in the same crate. It probably would be reassuring for the puppy and maybe Davis would feel like a big brother. That is what I am being told by those who have two doodles. We definitely are total believers in crate training and during the day Davis even goes in his crate on his own for a nap now and then. It is sort of his safe place and he seems to love his home. Our vet told us if dogs do this, then you know that you have crate trained them properly. All I can say is that even though Davis is two, he still can not be trusted to not eat tea towels, pillows or throws off the sofas, even will grab a book, a newspaper, a remote. It is a good thing that we are home with him so he does not destroy our home or harm himself. We have gates that give him freedom to our open space home yet keep him from trouble at the same time.

There also is the cost issue. We use Walnut Grove Animal Clinic Day Care for a once or twice a week outing. Now we would have two, once the puppy got all of her shots. And of course, there is the cost of the vet, which means add on another pet for insurance. Food and treats.........yes, it is a bit of an extra costs but all of those people out there that have two say that it is so worth it.

We even have named this yet to be "our" puppy. I had written some names down and Steve came up with a name when he saw the video. Believe it or not, I had Maggie Mae on my list of female names. Our minds think alike. What can I say? I am confident that we will make the right decision for us.

What will be the outcome? We are most definitely leaning one way over the other; still talking though.

What do you think? Keep just one or go with two. Time will tell.

Tax Time

My apologies in advance for the brief blog this week. There is a very good reason for this. Yesterday, I literally spent most of the day taking care of our taxes. Mind you, I don't actually do the taxes. We have a super competent CPA who takes care of this for us. However, I can't just dump everything in a box that may be tax related and turn it over to him. 

Now that we have used him over the years, I know what to expect and try my best to keep files organized so that when TAX TIME arrives, it will not be a nightmare for me to gather what he needs to help us. He does his part by providing an organizer that he sends in the mail right after January 1 of each year. It has information that he used from the previous year and a place where I can write in what changes there were for the past year. So, I do know some of the basics. Do I understand them all or the government vocabulary always? NO! All I can do is try my best. My best made my brain turn to mush by 4 p.m. yesterday.

Basically the reasons were that we had several major changes. One in that Steve's retirement was a half year into the previous year so this year he had his 401k pension, as did I. Then, because I had not reached the age for Medicare until December, Cobra insurance was 11 months for me and 1 month on Medicare, plus all the other things that go with it. It meant copies of this and copies of that. I just want to try to make it easy for this person who has the talented ability to crunch numbers to help us pay what we need to and yet nothing over.

When I think about people who make so much money that I can't wrap my head around their wealth, I know that they have so many loopholes and it is of my belief that they are not paying their fair share. I am sure that we are. It sure seems like there must be a much more equitable way to spread out what people owe based on their income. 

A person who becomes a CPA must have a passion about accounting and I already know that I am not a detailed oriented person. I am much more into the big picture which does not put in the category of an accountant. I would do better to become one of people that tax companies hire to dress up as The Statue of Liberty or Uncle Sam to walk up and down the sidewalk on a busy street advertising the Tax Company they work for.

There are so many items that one may qualify for itemized deductions that it is just mind boggling to me. There are new things added or deleted each year so that it is very important that you keep up to date with this information. There are costs that if they exceed a certain percentage of a person's adjusted gross income, then they are no longer eligible or maybe they then may increase eligibility. 

Because there are two writers in our household, not yet published but working on novels, blogs, attending workshops and needing to subscribe to Writers' magazines, this is something that must be added in as a business deduction. 

This is the last sign I want to see on our tax returns. But if it does come down to that, I want to have our trusted friend working with us to fix whatever needs to be fixed and finding whatever paperwork the IRS needs to be satisfied. Our taxes, I am sure are not the most complicated to a professional. To me it may as well be Greek. That is why I try my best to get what our CPA needs in some kind of order. To say the least for this particular year, my brain was taxed. The good news is that it won't be once I turn it over to his office tomorrow morning.