Tutu's and Houseshoes

I was heading over to see the Chicklets this morning and called Jerri to make sure they were awake. She told me everyone was up and the girls were playing dress-up already. Jillian was wearing a purple tutu, had a santa tied around her waist, and was wearing pink houseshoes. The Chick was wearing a Tigger suit and Strawberry Shortcake houseshoes. Things are just about back to normal over there.
No puppies at our house yet. Under threat, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about the dingy thing that hubby did about 7 days after T (our German Shorthair pointer) was bred with the chosen father of her pups-to-be, (although I did tell a few folks because it was just too good not to!) He'd staked his two dogs, T and Willie (who's a Britiney Spaniel) out on a chain one afternoon to get them used to it because there was no kennel where they'd be staying in S.D. After he'd done this, I looked out the kitchen window and asked him if he was sure they were far enough apart because they might decide to fight, or something, since they'd always been in a kennel separated by a wire fence. He told me, "Oh yeah, they're far enough apart, they can't reach each other". I mentioned again that those chains looked pretty long,,and he told me he knew what he was doing. Oh well,,,,

About 45 mins to an hour later, after he'd had a refreshing nap in his recliner, I heard him raising 9 kinds of hell and went to see what was up. He was looking out the window, at T and Willie, who'd become "romantically inclined". I know he was upset, they had big plans for T's pups, but I couldn't help laughing about it, although I did have the good sense to do it out of sight. I live with a man who never does wrong, Ha!

Anyway, at first it was, Is She, or Isn't She, then it was, Yes, She Is, but I hope it's the first doggy friend. She should have whelped on the 23rd,,, she didn't, so I reckon Willie is going to be a daddy! Both dogs come from excellent pedigree but definately different breeds. I bet the puppies are going to be the cutest little doggies in the county!


The other day I had tax clients in my office, a couple, who almost made me lose my manners.
The husband had about the worse case of BO of anyone I've ever come across, so I was dizzy from lack of oxygen from trying to hold my breath as much as possible while they were in there.
The wife, a nurse, who'd become disabled last summer, had a little, round, pixie face, her hair pulled tight and in a top-knot atop her head, and crossed eyes. Because I generally look into a person's eyes when I'm talking to them, but by trying to do this, I was getting a headache. Lord help me, I didn't know where to look and it was becoming painful with trying! I was sure glad to be done with their returns!

Then, today I did one of the ditziest things I've probably ever done. (although if I really give it some thought, I might come up with something worse). I was in Wal Mart, and ya'll know how I love going to that place, and was checking out, when I noticed one of my brother-in-laws sitting in the pharmacy waiting area across from the check-out. After checking out, I stopped outside the pharmacy and spoke to him and asked him how he was doing. He told me he was doing just fine and was waiting for a prescription. I then noticed the crutches sitting beside him and asked him, "What's up with the crutches?" He gave me a puzzled look and said, "Well, I need them to walk," while at the same time, turning a little in his chair to show me that he only had one leg.

I nearly shit my pants! At that exact moment in time, I realized the guy wasn't my brother-in-law! I don't know WHO he was but I just kept on like I'd known him all his life and said, "Well, you sure are getting around good these days and you look great!" as I was pushing my buggy on out of the store.

I though I only needed my glasses to see to drive!

I think I'll just stay in the house all day tomorrow and give the world a rest.

Baby Beans is Home!

Jerri got to come home with her Thursday morning and she's been making up for lost time with the groceries! Poor baby sure was sick for a while there though.

Nanaw has been busy at the tax office and her tail is draggin!

Hump Day!

Jerri called a bit ago and the doc is going to keep Jilly in the hospital for one more night so they can push the fluids and meds by IV to be on the safe side.

Last Wed. Jerri took her to the doctor because she felt bad and had a fever and he gave her antibiotics. When she woke up Thursday morning the whole inside of her mouth was covered in little blisters and one big one on her tongue. Jerri pushed and pushed her to drink so she was taking fluids pretty well but the baby wouldn't eat anything and every time she tried, her mouth would bleed and she'd just cry and cry. She had her back to the doctor every day the rest of the week and again on Monday. She'd lost 2 lbs from Friday until Monday and it worried him so much that he insisted she go into the hospital last night.

Jerri did everything but stand on her head to get Jillian to eat bites of anything and she did eat a little, just not enough to keep her from losing weight so fast so Jerri was worried sick too. She's eating a little more today and is resting pretty good but she sure doesn't like that IV, I think because it's like a teather to her. Jerri is exhausted but maybe after tonight JillyBeans will be on the mend and she can get some much needed rest. The Chick just wants her Momma and baby sister to come home!

Quickie

Our JillyBeans had to spend the night in the hospital last night with IVs in her little arm. We're hoping they'll let her come home today. She's really been a sick baby.

The Chick is stressing cause she misses her baby sister and Momma. She stayed with her daddy last night cause she just wanted to be home.

Repeat

Thought I'd better post something so ya'll would know I ain't "daid" yet. This here's a repeat from my first year of blogging.

Famous Last Words

"Bet you can't do this."

"Dammit, Lizzie, get off your fat lazy ass and cut me some firewood!" -- Mr. Borden

"Hey ya'll, watch this!"

All you have to do is connect these two wires.

Are you sure the power is off?

Awright, let's see, how do we work this thing?

C'mon! This CAN'T be the self-destruct button. If it was, they wouldn't leave it lying around like this where anyone could push it!

You Know What?

It's a blessing and a miracle that the kidnapped Missouri boys, Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck, were found and returned to their families, but I get this feeling that the parents of Shawn and Ben are contributing to a continuation of their explotation by appearing, with them in tow, on national television.

How could they?

I refused to watch the interviews but caught a glimpse of Shawn's face on one of the news programs. It broke my heart.

Don't even get me started on the media and televisions hosts, Oprah needs her skinny ass kicked!

My heart aches for those boys and I can't think of one single punishment that would be harsh enough for that evil excuse of a man who took them. As for the parents,,,I just don't know what else to say,,,those poor boys.

Wednesday This and That

The other morning, as we were getting ready to walk out the door to go to work and to go hunting, (I'll let you guess who was going where), I told James to leave the TVon Discover, or AMT, or some similiar channel for the bird. He gave me this questioning look that said, "WTH"?

When I got the bird, Ya-Ya, a couple and a half years ago, I started leaving the tv on for stimulation and to keep him from getting lonely. James thought that was pretty stupid, but has complied with my wishes. So, this time I had to explain to him the reason for the channel choices.

I don't want Ya-Ya to watch Soap Operas. They're not educational and I'd rather he watch commercials than one of those "who's doing who with what and how" serials. If that squawking, feathery, fiend ever learns to talk, I want him to make a little sense at least.

It's cold down here! Jerri called today to tell me that little Jillian has respiratory and sinus infections. Poor baby doesn't even feel like running her Momma ragged so we know she's sick. Zach and I have bad coughs, he had his first and thinks he has to share that sort of thing with me. We've been chugging down the cough syrup like two old bums with a liquor stash. I was in bed and on my way to dreamland by 8pm last evening, that stuff messes with my head.

Sweet T, for sure, appears to be with pups. From the looks of her the past week or so, it shouldn't be too much longer before she becomes a momma. I sure hope she's gonna be a good one.

Zach is 10 today! Happy Birthday Zach!

Chick with a Flair

This child has her own style and she's lucky to have a Momma who let's her flaunt it.
Move over Christian Dior!

They'll come home, dragging their tails behind them.

And my tail is draggin fer sure.

I've been up since 6 cause I had to work today, got off at 2:00 and waited for one of the kiddies who was going with us to McD's and the movie, filled up the truck with gas, picked up kiddie 2 and 3 on the way home, Zach and the Chick were sitting on ready when I got home, visited with Jerri and the littlest Chicklett for a bit, James went to pick up the last kiddie, then I got them all situated in the truck with seat belts and MC Hammer tape, and off we went, 6 kiddies and Nanaw, for the outing.

McD's was the usual,,,,there's not much you can do with that stuff but douse it with honey mustard or ketchup to kill the adult tastes buds. The movie is really funny and was a good choice for keeping the natives entertained and out of mischief. It was Alexis's first so we walked in and she said, "Boy Nanaw, that's ONE BIG TV up there!"

My ears are still ringing from the sing-along with MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice on the first half of the trip home and the kids are still skitterish from the scarey stories they told each other the last half. I couldn't wait to get home to a nice, hot, cup of strong coffee. Now it's time for this old broad to put her feet up with a book for a bit. I'm gonna sleep late tomorrow, I betcha!

5 Kids, McDonalds, and a Movie

Zach has a birthday coming up on Wednesday and he asked several weeks ago if he could invite some friends to go to McDonalds and to see a movie for his birthday so I've been busy this week trying to get a list of scheduled movies for the theatre in Forrest City (the closest theatre to us).
I finally had to call a bookkeeping client who lives there to check it out for me because the automated information I could get by phone was mostly useless.

Anyway, there were only 2 rated PG movies, no GE, so I didn't have much to chose from, but have decided to take them to see Night at the Museum. Ben Stiller and Robin Williams are in the film, as well as several other actors I like, so I think I'll enjoy seeing it as much as the kids.

Except I don't much like movie theatres.

It's been showing all week so maybe it won't be crowded because the reason I don't much like movie theatres is they're usually crowded. It's not as much fun to see a movie in a dark place crowded with strangers. Makes me antsy.

My plans are to fill the tykes up at McDonalds before going to see the movie so maybe they won't break the bank at the concession. Ha!

I'll remember to take my tranxene.

Sure wish they had a bar in that theatre.

Is it bedtime yet?

I'm thinking that I'll be rolling into bed soon after Zach's bed time tonight. I'm just way tired but it's not because I did anything physical or anything today. I just didn't sleep well last night and I believe it was nigh on to 1:30 a.m. before the sandman finally did his sprinkling around my tossing form. After that, morning arrived much too early.

I reckon I was still a mite peeved at the service we received at the doctor's office yesterday. Has anyone in other parts of the country noticed how automated and inconsiderate the medical professionals, and their staff, seem to be of late?

When I called to make the appointment for Tuesday, I was given several choices of appointment times, so call me bitchy if you will, but having to wait for 1 hr and 15 minutes past the appointment time didn't do much for my having a charming attitude about the situation. Add to that the new office clerk who called me to inquire, in a voice loud enough to be heard in both waiting rooms, if she could collect for my office visit now since she noticed I was self-pay. In a voice loud enough, back to her, I replied that I surely would be paying for the visit, with a check, IF and when I had seen the doctor. Golly, gee, I don't even pay a repairman before he's actually done the repairs.

After taking my seat again I began to wonder what would have happened if I hadn't had the funds to pay for an office visit? Would they have told me to leave? Refused to let me see the doctor? Then I wondered if I owed them for something from a previous visit, although I've always stopped at the desk and paid them on the way out, maybe they'd forgotten to add something.

So, after Zach and I saw the doctor for our alloted 5.5 minutes, I stopped at the desk to pay for the visit and I asked the lady if I owed anything from another visit. When she told me no, I told her I didn't appreciate being asked for payment for services that I hadn't even received yet and wasn't sure I would be receiving after the wait we'd had.

Ok, so maybe I was a tad bitchy, but dang.

Hush and put on yer Shades

So? What'da'ya'll think? Looking over the blinding font color,, I needed something that would show up against the blue background and that hexcode color appeared to be much calmer on the chart,, what do you think of the banner I made out of some drawings the kids did for me? I gave the talented artists credit over on my sidebar.

I had a day off at the tax office today and I got a little done this morning around the house. This afternoon, Zach and I had doctors appointments, and that took a lot longer than it should have, but we finally made it home with Sonic in a sack for supper. The doc gave me some different meds to take during the day for these cranky muscles and joints I've got from old Arthur visiting me most every day now. He's a wicked old cuss and something's gotta tame him if I'm going to continue to walk upright. He's even been messin with my sleep time and I can't be having that!

Zach's leveling out with his meds now too and made a C in Math for the 2nd 9 weeks. His teacher even put a little "yea!" on his report. I'm hoping he'll continue to do well and get rid of that D he had in conduct! His other grades were excellent, I couldn't even fuss about the C he had in reading because it was only 2/3 of a percent from a B, the rest of his grades were A's and B's.

MeriKate, Krysten, Abby, and Jordan are all making the honor roll with A's across the board!

Soony (Danielle) called from Holland today to tell me how their holiday was and how her family was. I love for her to tell me all about Jesse, her handsome baby boy. I remembered to ask her today if it was ok for me to post his photos on my blog and she gave me permission so here he is! Isn't he just precious? I was going to post a photo of him with his mommy too but blogger isn't cooperating tonight.

Well folks, it's past bed time and I have to be up early tomorrow. I hope everyone had a great Tuesday!

Blogger is giving me a HEADACHE!

I noticed a few days ago that my archive links don't work. If I click on them, all I get is a 404 error message "url not found". I've studied and studied my template, compared it to previous templates where the archive links did work and it all looks the same there. Next I went to a friend's blog and "viewed source" so I could see how blogger had their archive links set up, compared that by "veiwing source" with my blog open and FINALLY discovered that my blogspot hosted, blogspot default, links are broken!

Now what in the hell am I supposed to do I fix their default? I've sent an email to blogger on two occasions in the past 5 days about the problem but they must have their head up their butts about the NEW blogger and aren't taking time to reply with a fix for the old blogs.

When I view the source of my blog, this is what one of the archive links looks like:

/rchives/2003_02_01_whatsupdownsouth_archive.html">02/03

You can see, where I've highlighted, that archives is spelled rchives. I think this is what is causing the broken links. Does anyone know how to fix this with it being a blogger error?

The answers to yesterday's little quiz:

1. Boxing.

2. Niagara Falls. The rim is worn down about two and a half feet each
year because of the millions of gallons of water that rush over it
every minute.

3. Asparagus and rhubarb.

4. Baseball.

5. Strawberry.

6. The pear grew inside the bottle. The bottles are placed over pear
buds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The
bottle is left in place for the whole growing season. When the pears
are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.

7. Dwarf, dwell, and dwindle.

8. Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question
mark, exclamation point, quotation marks, brackets, parenthesis,
braces, and ellipses.

9. In Minnesota. The team was originally known as the Minneapolis
Lakers and kept the name when they moved west.

10. Batter hit by a pitch; passed ball; catcher interference; catcher
drops third strike; fielder's choice; and being designated as a pinch
runner.

11. Lettuce.

12. Shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, snowshoes, stockings.

Now, I've got a few minutes to surf around and see what ya'll have been up to today.

"A Quiz For People Who Know Most Everything"

(1) There's one "sport" in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends. What is it?

(2) What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?

(3) Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?

(4) Name the only sport in which the ball is always in possession of the team on defense, and the offensive team can score without touching the ball?

(5) What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

(6) In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?

(7) Only three words in standard English begin with the letters "dw." They are all common. Name two of them.

(8) There are fourteen punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name half of them?

(9) Where are the lakes that are referred to in the "Los Angeles Lakers?"

(10) There are seven ways a baseball player can legally reach first base without getting a hit. Taking a base on balls-a walk-is one way. Name the other six.

(11) It's the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form but fresh. What is it?

(12) Name six or more things that you can wear on your feet that begin with the letter "S."

I'll provide the answers tomorrow if anyone's interested.

Haven't been too busy yet at the tax office so I've been getting home early every day but still haven't done much in the way of housework. I seem to be spending most of my time cooking or cleaning up after a meal. It still feels like a holiday routine around here but that'll change soon, I'm sure.

I did one of my dunce acts yesterday by letting the door close on my foot, so I've been moaning and groaning about the aches and pains from that. Jordan and Jaylen have survived the week with us although Jaylen got bored with us pretty quick and decided to stay with Alexis since Wednesday. We've missed her but I know for a fact that the Chick is a lot more fun to play with.

I hope everyone had a great week and a fantastic Friday!

2006 Basic Tax Changes

The basic standard deduction amounts for tax payers who do not itemize deductions for 2006 are:

Head of household — $7,550
Married taxpayers filing jointly and qualifying widow(er)s — $10,300
Married taxpayers filing separately — $5,150
Single — $5,150

The standard deduction amount for an individual who may be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer may not exceed the greater of $850 or the sum of $300 and the individual's earned income.

The amount you can deduct for each exemption (yourself and each dependent) has increased from $3,200 in 2005 to $3,300 in 2006.
You may lose part of the benefit of your exemptions if your adjusted gross income is above a certain amount. The amount at which the phaseout begins depends on your filing status. For 2006, the phaseout begins at:

$112,875 for married persons filing separately,
$150,500 for single individuals,
$188,150 for heads of household, and
$225,750 for married persons filing jointly or qualifying widow(er)s.

For tax years beginning in 2006, the allowable deductions for the standard mileage rate, if you do not use actual vehicle expenses, are as follows:

Business miles. The standard mileage rate for the cost of operating your car changes to 44.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven.

Charitable services. The standard mileage rate allowed for use of your car when you use your car to provide charitable services to a charitable organization is 14 cents a mile.

Charitable services — Hurricane Katrina relief services. If you used your vehicle in giving services to a charitable organization to provide relief related to Hurricane Katrina, the standard mileage rate allowed for use of your car is 32 cents a mile.

Medical reasons. The standard mileage rate allowed for use of your car for medical reasons is 18 cents a mile.

Moving. The standard mileage rate for determining moving expenses is 18 cents a mile.



Traditional IRA contribution and deduction limit. If you will be age 50 or older in 2006, the most that can be contributed to your traditional IRA for 2006 will be the smaller of:

$5,000, or
Your taxable compensation for the year.

Roth IRA contribution limit. If you will be age 50 or older in 2006 and contributions on your behalf are made only to Roth IRAs, your contribution limit for 2006 will generally be the smaller of:

$5,000, or
Your taxable compensation for the year.

However, if your modified AGI is above a certain amount, your contribution limit may be reduced.


Earned income Credit amount.
The maximum amount of income you can earn and still get the credit is higher for 2006 than it is for 2005. You may be able to take the credit for 2006 if:

You have more than one qualifying child and you earn less than $36,348 ($38,348 if married filing jointly),
You have one qualifying child and you earn less than $32,001 ($34,001 if married filing jointly), or
You do not have a qualifying child and you earn less than $12,120 ($14,120 if married filing jointly).

The maximum amount of adjusted gross income (AGI) you can have and still get the credit has also increased. You may be able to take the credit if your AGI is less than the amount in the above list that applies to you.
Investment income amount.

The maximum amount of investment income you can have in 2006 and still get the credit increases to $2,800.

Child Tax Credit

This credit is for people who have a qualifying child. It is in addition to the credit for child and dependent care expenses (on Form 1040, line 48; Form 1040A, line 29; or Form 1040NR, line 45) and the earned income credit (on Form 1040, line 66a; or Form 1040A, line 40a).

The maximum amount you can claim for the credit is $1,000 for each qualifying child.

Qualifying Child

A qualifying child for purposes of the child tax credit is a child who:

Is your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them (for example, your grandchild),
Was under age 17 at the end of 2006,

Did not provide over half of his or her own support for 2006,
Lived with you for more than half of 2006. Was a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national, or a resident of the United States. If the child was adopted, see Adopted child below.

Additional Child Tax Credit

This credit is for certain individuals who get less than the full amount of the child tax credit. The additional child tax credit may give you a refund even if you do not owe any tax.


Tax Change to look for in 2007

Restrictions on Charitable Contributions

Cash contributions.

All cash contributions made in tax years beginning after August 17, 2006, to any qualified charity must be supported by a dated bank record or a dated receipt. The tax year for most individual taxpayers begins on January 1.

Clothing and household items.

Beginning with contributions made after August 17, 2006, no deduction is allowed for most contributions of clothing and household items unless the donated property is in good used condition or better.

Down South doins

Busy morning at the tax office with those refund anticipation loan clients banging through the door by 8 a.m., then a enough of a lull that I was able to get off a little early and spend the afternoon with the younguns.

Jami, Jerri, and I were sitting in the dining room playing a game of Phase 10, Jillian wandered out of the room, we thought she was going to play in Zach's room.
A minute or so later we hear this awful racket, like the kids are throwing someone through the wall or something, Jerri says, "It's got to be Jillian" and jumps up at a run to go see. The little Miss had the freezer in the utility room open and was tossing pheasants and chicken parts over her shoulder while she searched for popcicles.

Ya'll remember this child is not quite 18 months old.

Shortly before that, Jordan went in search of her, after she'd been out of sight for 2 whole mintues, and found her in my bathroom, she'd stopped up the toilet with paper, emptied the trash, mopped the toilet bowl with 2 towels, and sprayed cleaner on the toilet seat.

She is her father's child for sure!

According to many religions, a miracle, derived from the old Latin word miraculum meaning 'something wonderful', is a striking interposition of divine intervention by God in the universe by which the ordinary course and operation of Nature is overruled, suspended, or modified. Although many texts and people confirm witnessing or prophecize various events which they refer to as 'miraculous', there are no scientifically confirmed occurrences of miracles. People in different faiths have substantially different definitions of the word miracle. Even within a specific religion there is often more than one usage of the term.

Today I feel as though I've witnessed a miracle, one that I've prayed and prayed for. The beginning of the year 2007 couldn't have been more perfect!