Talking Stick:

One of your recent posts has my thoughts racing all over the crevices of my brain. The following are the ones that haven't gotten hopelessly lodged.

Taxes: Gah. I rely on my Quicken software to help me collate deductions etc. This whole process has a sickening affect on me, and it isn't because of the nominal amount I ordinarily owe. I have a first-born type personality. I generally play by the rules. I get knots in my brain and stomach as I try to inject integrity into my tax preparation.

The woman who prepares my taxes lives in a small cove town in Tennessee called Sherwood. I believe, as local legend would have me believe, that Sherwood was once featured on 60 minutes. But who the hell hasn't been featured on 60 minutes? I believe the dicey history of Sherwood has something to do with chopping up cars. Hmm, come to think of it, I might be confusing Tracy with Sherwood or maybe Shakerag. There are so many hollows in these hills and they all have harrowing tales.

Anyway, I adore my CPA. As a newlywed, she lived in Nashville and worked at a big accounting firm and that's where she acquired all her tax skills, which she's diligently updated throughout the years. She's quite brilliant and lives her life like a country western song with a happy ending. She's amazing! She juggles 3 children and her man and a gaggle of dogs and horses and cats and two jobs. The thing is... she waits until the morning of April 15th to get my tax preparation to me. ARGHHHHH. This simply does not work even during the best of times for this self-confessed neurotic woman. Now that I'm dealing with a serious illness and live 100+ miles from her... my stomach is already starting to knot ahead of schedule. We'll figure it out. We'll sharpen our pencils and our minds. We'll figure it out. I'm loyal. Besides, she usually has the best ever potluck recipes to share.

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Talking Stick, your post also reminded me that my youngest will be moving to Monteagle in July or August of this year. The slight edge I have to your situation is that I don't have to do anything. He'll be moving into the apartment I built for my mother. ZWHEEE! I'm so excited! He graduates from Washington & Lee School of Law in May, will take the Tennessee Bar in July and then plans to move in with me until he has to report at JAG military law school at UVA in Charlottesville, VA.

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Several years back I took a family cruise through the Caribbean. I invited my cousin to be my guest - actually, we were both guests of my father. We visited several islands and quite frankly, they all became a cloned blur. My bad. On one of the islands, though, the whole famn damily (6 of us) took a memorable unguided daytrip into a rainforest. Much to my surprise and greater delight, the rainforest daytrip became the highlight of the trip that my cousin and I still talk about it.

One moment we were walking in sweat-drenching sunlight. The next moment we were walking in rain-drenching rainforest. To this day, I don't know why any of us was so surprised. We got wet. Really, really wet. My cousin and I laughed ourselves silly as we slipped and slid our way upwards. The rest of the group was wet blankets. Party poopers.

I think our goal was a waterfall. Gah, I can't remember. But what I do remember was how much fun I had. I was in dire need of a second hip replacement, but during this daytrip I suddenly developed pain amnesia. There was a veryveryvery old mossy wooden rail that we all used. I can remember hollering out to everyone, "We're going to all end up in the hospital as a Dr. House episode." I thought I was hysterical. My cousin was the only one to laugh.

It was a great day. I didn't give a fig about the waterfall - I just remember the slimy handrail and how hard I laughed.



Reenie & Cousin Carroll