A PARTY WHERE??

Last Friday I had the pleasure of babysitting my three little rug rats. We were playing ‘tent’ – you remember the game where a blanket is thrown over the back of the couch, you’re all hiding there in the dark, then a hand sneaks in from nowhere and tickles you? There was much laughter and giggling and squealing going on, so none of us realized we had a visitor until the voice called ‘Hello!’

It was a friend of mine, one I haven’t seen for ages. My son had met her earlier in the day, told her I’d be with the boys that evening, and she decided to drop in. We obviously hadn’t heard her knocking, so she came in and followed the noise, LOL! It started the weekend off with a nice surprise, and it wasn’t the only one to happen that night!

The children were in bed, my friend had gone on her way, and I logged into Facebook on my son’s computer. I was scrolling down the page, when my grandson’s status entry jumped out at me. ‘Party at my place tomorrow night!’ it said.
Ummm…his place? But…wasn’t that MY place too?

It was – and it happened. I had one eye on the hockey game and the other on the cars rolling in. I quit counting at one point. My grandson was out there making sure no-one blocked my exit; he is well aware that his great uncle’s condition could require that I leave quickly. Unbelievably, although the music was slightly louder than usual (but not louder than I play my own most of the time), the noise was perfectly tolerable. The next morning there were wall-to-wall young men crashed on his apartment floor; a wise move after a booze night!

I profited from the occasion. My daughter had returned a bedroom set that needed to be carried up two flights of stairs. No sooner requested than accomplished and with polite smiles too. I must say – it’s handy having strong, young arms around to do grunt work!

Now I have to run. The individual tax period is winding down but, because the majority of our business is corporate, we are in no way over the hump. I won’t be so involved in hockey now (I’m not even going to go into THAT!!!), and both Line and I are hoping that we’ll be able to catch our breath by the end of May.
Wishing you a great day, folks. In spite of my HABS loss (and because I’ve had the night to get over it), I’m SMILING!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec

SOME SLIGHT VENTING

Summer flashback, for those who are not fans of Winter.
We are head over heels in T-4’s and income tax now. I still cannot fathom how I ever got caught up in this kind of job. There is no exhilaration there; it just puts bread and butter on the table. Maybe it stems from math being one of my ‘easy’ subjects in school…but so was English composition...so how did the one I like best become my hobby, and the one I like the least my life-long work? Probably because I liked the immediate bread and butter, LOL.

It’s not the accounting part. I still enjoy putting numbers on paper and the satisfaction of balancing the columns. What is distasteful, and becoming more and more so, is the having to deal with various government ‘Gestapo’ dudes. More often than not, the ‘fontionnaire’, or in English, government office clerks, are rude, and into using all sorts of bullying tactics. Whoever leads their ‘motivation for collection’ rally was probably an enforcer for the Mafia at one time. Because I have very little patience with arrogance, more than once I have requested to speak to another agent and…you guessed it…ended up talking to one just as bad, if not worse. Often I can’t even pronounce their names, and/or have difficulty understanding their accents, which is neither English nor French, by the way. Remembering that some of MY tax dollars are paying their salaries makes my blood boil. My stress sledge hammer sends that little disc straight up to ring the bell at the top. Grrrr!

On a more positive note, Kilroy should be arriving home from the hospital today. He tells me he is walking quite well with a cane at present, and should be able to leave it aside in a short time. I’m looking forward to reading his Blog again; his absence screwed up my morning routine, LOL!

I have learned that my ex-partner is in more doo-doo than suspected, the traffic into and out of the city has increased enormously, and the rain is washing away all my beautiful snow!!! TGIF! Although even that isn’t much solace, seeing we also work weekends during this period of the year. Bah! Humbug!

The truth be told, I rather enjoy rain. I would like it even better if I could stay at home and curl up beside the fire with a good book...and Grump-puppy, of course. That’s not going to happen today. It’s off to the city I go, and I’d better get a move on if I want to make it to the office at a decent hour. I’m popping a few vitamins (took your advice for Vitamin D), promising a woeful-looking Grump that I’ll be back soon (he doesn’t believe me anymore), then hitting the road.

Have a great day, folks! In spite of my venting, I’m SMILING, and encourage you to do the same. It’s the best thing to warm a wet day!!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.