Accountants, Dough and Brunch.

 We had an accountant that we were quite happy with for a few years. He suddenly went into business with another accounting firm a couple years ago. Other than that, nothing really changed until we got a letter saying that he was retiring and turning over all of his accounts to his new business associates. 

We didn't like that much. It seemed like a bit of a flamboozle, but there is not a lot of choice in this town, and so we went with the flow. 

Tax day here is April 15th. Taxes need to be filed by then. Ours were not, but we were assured that a letter had been sent for an extension and we would be okay. We've never filed our taxes late, not ever, so this was another thing that we did not like very much but at that point, we felt that there was not a lot we could do. 

Tim called to ask when they thought they would finish up with our taxes, and they indicated it would not take long. He told them they needed to change their phone numbers on file because we had dropped our landline. He provided both our cell phone numbers and they said that they would call us when the taxes were ready.

Tim checked in with them a few times over the next few months, but the taxes were not done. Finally, in July, he went in person to see just what was going on. They said they'd been trying to get hold of us for a very long time. We don't quite believe that, because Tim was touching base with them fairly regularly. Also, we live about five blocks away from them. But, it seems the problem was that they were calling our landline. 

We really were not happy about this. 

Our taxes are quite complicated. We break our expenditures down and tot them all up on the computers, and print everything out to make it easier, but still...I can't do our taxes. I wouldn't even try. Neither would Tim. We discussed changing everything over to a new accountant, but we do not know anyone else. 

Today, we got a bill from them, which surprised us. They had been paid. The final $200 payment had been made on December 5th. Our balance should have been zero. The new bill did not reflect the final payment. Tim took the bill along with our bank information. They had been given the check on December 5th and cashed that check on December 7th. 

"Hmmmmm...." they said. But the billing person was not working today, and so they took copies of everything and promised to look into it.

I really think we need to look for a new accountant. 

On another note, I got a message from a friend wanting to know if we could do lunch. Our 'third' was not able to make it, due to a work situation that required her to stay in office, but when my friend asked if we could do it the following day, I kind of had an idea that she might be struggling too. 

"Cabin fever? Sure. Let's do tomorrow." 

We are kind of in the same boat. About the same time that Tim had surgery, her husband had a bad fall. We both got through weeks of restrictions and therapy, and taking care of our fellas. Understand that neither one of us are complaining. It's just a bit of a thankless job sometimes when you are dealing with a grumpy patient, and you're trying to be patient.

We had our meals and talked quietly. She said, "I try so hard to be sweet..." and I said, "and unfortunately, you don't get any credit at all for being sweet when you don't feel sweet at all..." and we laughed together, understanding perfectly. 

I said, "The thing that I know for a fact is that I need to step back from it a bit. I feel sometimes that I've slipped into a 'mother' role with Tim. I know he gets tired of it, and I try not to, but..." 

I shared the story about Tasker's post on the Pythagorean theorem, and the proof of it, and how I'd spent the previous evening playing around with that, just fascinated with the simple logic of it. How on earth had I gone 66 years without seeing what 'a squared + b squared = c squared' actually represented? All I knew is that it worked. 

I puzzled along with that like a hungry dog gnawing on a bone, captivated with the logic of the proof, and I realized that I needed something for my mind to chew on and digest on a more regular basis. I also needed interaction with other people.  When I went to bed that night, I'd made up my mind to ask Beth if she still went to her monthly book club.

Turns out she did, and while she didn't understand the Pythagorean Theorem, she did understand the need to keep a brain occupied and the need to escape the house every now and again.

I said, "Well, maybe you could go to the next meeting and bring my name up and see if they would mind me joining the group." 

She was a bit surprised by that and suggested that I just show up. "Nobody will care."

I said that I thought it would be a courtesy to ask first, because I know that one person can really change up a group dynamic, and since this was a successful group, I didn't want to offend.

Long story short. Who should walk in but the unofficial leader of the group! She was meeting another group of people. 

They're meeting February 15th and the book is Independence Square by Martin Cruz Smith. While it does not look like the sort of book that I'd normally be interested in, I'll sit down and get it read. After all, that is the point of a book club...to stretch yourself a bit. 

When we were paying our bill to leave, I saw a display of chai cookies. I love chai tea. I commented to the cashier, "Chai makes those cookies sound healthy. I'm a big believer in eating healthy, and so I'm going to take two of those cookies, one for me, and one for my friend." 

Turns out she tells herself the same lie.

She turned to get two styrofoam boxes and I said, "Oh, no. Don't do that. Just wrap them in a napkin. I think that healthy food needs to be eaten on the drive home," and Beth agreed immediately. 

The cashier laughed. "Man, I love you guys!" 

The cookies tasted as good as the giggling felt.

I found an amazing pizza dough recipe today. I made a pan pizza using my trusty cast iron fry pan. I'd never done it that way before. I topped it with the spaghetti sauce left over from last night's supper, which was thick with sausage, peppers and onions. I added a layer of pepperoni and topped it with the obligatory mozzarella. It turned out great.  I even have a ball of dough and enough of that spaghetti sauce in the freezer to do another pizza later on.