Did you ever take on a task that you thought would take an hour at most and then spend the whole day working out kinks you didn't know were there? Last week I had the workers comp audit for the Company, but today I decided to spend an hour (at most) doing the self-audit for the Kennel. It was going to be easy, because I have been keeping kept strict track of all the time and money spent on each category that the insurance company covers. I did all this extra work all year long so that the self-audit would take an hour (or less, even).

Actually, it probably would have taken an hour (or two, at the most) if I had been a little more accurate with my records. But as I was reconciling my payroll records with the quarterly reports I'd faithfully filled out all year, I discovered that something was amiss. It took me more than an hour (but less than two) to find the error.

Way back in May, one of our Kennel employees had turned in a time sheet that was incorrect. I didn't know it at the time, so I wrote her paycheck based on the incorrect hours. She later sent me a corrected time sheet, and because I'm such a nice guy I rewrote her check. The only problem was that I'd entered the tax information (and paid the taxes) based on the earlier check, the one that had now been voided.

What to do, what to do? I thought about trying to change the records, but there are too many checks and balances that would have been affected. So the only thing to do, and the thing that took me an extra hour or two, was to find out how to file amended payroll tax returns (both state and federal) and pay the balance due (a total of less than $20.00).

By the time I'd exhausted my day with all this extra work I hadn't counted on doing, I discovered I'd also exhausted my body. Somehow, I was able to recuperate enough by sitting in the recliner for an hour or so that I could chop up all the ingredients for the butternut squash dressing that I'm taking to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. One of the most physically demanding things I do all year is peel and cube that squash, but it gets a little easier every year.

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One of the things I'm thankful for tonight is that this day is behind me. Another is that the family will gather tomorrow in a spirit of peace, love and understanding. I won't tell you how I know that will be the way the day will go. I just do.