I'm back

Needless to say John is home. I usually drop off of the face of the earth for a few weeks at least when he comes back. Since I last wrote I have quit working and started trying to get everything squared away for John and I to both go back to school. I figure it will be summer semester before everything falls totally into place.
The tax office where I worked is closing down this week. I don't know if the people who own the franchise intend to keep it or sell it. We just weren't that busy. I believe that ethics are important in all that you do and the business practices of that franchise were not ethical. On top of the tax prep fees which were insanely high they added bank fees and technology fees as well as an efile fee. Now I looked into buying software myself, all professional tax software has free unlimited efiling. No need to charge people that extra $70. All told we were charging people around $400 at least in fees. That was after I gave every possible discount I could and still have a job. Every time I did someones taxes I felt like I was ripping them off. I didn't argue when people decided not to file with us because the fees were too high. I actually told a lot of people to file on irs.gov through freefile and save their money. I think next year I'll prepare taxes at home and keep my rates reasonable. I want people to be able to pay out of pocket.
I'll try to update at least once a week from now on. I'm thinking about trying to run a half marathon in November this year. I'll keep you updated.

Hurry up and wait...

the story of the Army. John's flight has been delayed a day. It happens every deployment but it makes me crazy everytime. Once you get down to it and you are counting days it really sucks to add more instead of subtract. The house is almost completely clean. I have a little more work to do upstairs and I need to mop the kitchen again. I figure I'll do that on Tuesday night. It's all good. I know he'll just be happy to be home.
Random kids stuff for the day... Ty told Avery that baby animals come out of their mom's bums and baby humans come out of their mom's belly buttons. Silly I know. She didn't correct him so I'm sure I'll have to address the misinformation at some point.
Off to fold even more laundry.

3 days and I'm so not ready yet.

8 more days :)

I have been so busy lately I started a new job working a lot of hours. Avery started basketball and practices 2 nights a week. Before I knew it John was telling me he would be home in 2 weeks. I blinked and now I'll see him in about 8. Give or take for military plane issues. I don't think we have had a deployment yet where everything went as planned on the way home. I have so much to do and like no time to do it in. I'm looking into having a cleaning company come out and clean the house. That way on Sunday (my only day off between now an when he gets home) I can get the house picked up and they can come in and do the scrubbing for me. I want the house perfect when he gets here so it is easier to maintain. I also need to get someone to clean the carpets and the couch if I can. Yes I know the last little bit before they return from a deployment is like nesting before you have a baby. Nothing is ever right, nothing is ever clean enough, and the list of things you would like to have done before they arrive is long enough that even if you worked nonstop you couldn't finish it. Well, I'm off to try to accomplish at least one thing from my list before I go to sleep.

It's Cold Outside

Yesterday we finally got our first taste of snow since moving to Kentucky. There wasn't much but the kids were happy. Today, it is so cold out. The snow was still coming down this morning. Not heavy I want to say we may have 3 inches total. All of the county schools were closed today, but the ones on post are open. I put 2 frozen little boys on the bus this morning. I'll be armed with hot chocolate when they come home today. The high today is going to be around 20 and tonight the windchill will be -5. So my plan for the weekend... read and snuggle under blankets. The kids asked if they could stay home and do that today. I made them go to school so we can save days off for when John comes home. This cold weather looks like it is here to stay for a while. stay warm.

Facebook

Today I decided to spend sometime searching Facebook for friends that I have lost touch with over the years. I found quite a few. It's fun to see where everyone is today and what they have going on in their lives. Some people took a lot of work to find but it was totally worth it. Who knows I may feel the need to do it again sometime. With John in the Army Facebook is proving to be the best way for me to find and stay in touch with people all over. I'm terrible about making phone calls, writing email, or worse yet writing an actual letter. Facebook allows me to look at what everyone has going on and because I see their status I'm reminded to keep in touch. Avery keeps asking if she can have a Facebook account. I'm not sure but I think we'll let her soon because it will make being an Army Brat easier. I lost touch with a lot of my friends because it was a lot of work to write letters to everyone. I don't want that to happen to her. I found a friend from junior high that I haven't talked to in 15 years and another friend from my high school in Canada that I haven't talked to in around 12. It was so nice to talk to them again.
Gotta love technology. The world is getting smaller and that is a good thing for me.

My Wrecking Crew

When I had kids no one told me that I was creating my own wrecking crew. I spent yesterday cleaning my downstairs only to have it totally trashed again today. I sweep the floor over and over to no avail. Vaccuming is a constant here too. But my least facorites are the dishes and laundry. Ty still goes through several outfits a day and they all eat constantly.I thought that as they got older this would get easier but of course not. It is just differnt toys on the floor, bigger clothes to be washed, and the bathroom. Some days I'm not so sure that potty training is the sweet relief I was hoping it would be. Tinkle on the seat, floor, and anything else that happens to be too close. Well, back to it. Hopefully, I'll win by bedtime.