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Thursday, January 29, 2015

Tax Time

What tax time feels like

Or at least---catching up on the book work you should have been doing all year so that you are ready for the accountant---- time.

Last year was depressing. Selling the cows was like losing a family member. Having to do days upon days of new and unfamiliar record keeping and creating of accounts and stuff to tell the tale so that the government can get their share was too painful to contemplate.

So I didn't.

Silly me. It didn't go away just because I avoided the office like a root canal.

So now I am in a full time crappy mood, running back and forth from the office to the kitchen...where I can visit the online banking site to try to figure out what the heck I was doing during those ugly times. 

Note to self...no matter how downed out you are, keep putting those notes in the checkbook. You know, the ones that explain exactly why you transferred five bucks from the boss's account to the farm account. Why you gave one of the kids $17 off the farm account. Where that extra $200 in that deposit came from.

Much as I have hated keeping the books, ever since the boss's mom handed me the bills, the check book, and the meager milk check, and signed off on the job in 2001, I have kept careful, faithful, books. Our beloved bookkeeper, who comes and fixes my mistakes and balances stuff for the accountant has always had kind things to say.

Last year I just didn't. I moped and grouched and hid my head in the sand. It was a lousy year and I was a lousy bookkeeper.

Talking to you all here helped and thanks....blogging is a lifeline for me sometimes, taking the place of keeping a journal, which helped me stay sane (or perhaps sane-ish at least) for many years before this.

However, going back through the months leading up to and right after selling the girls is awful. The story of every inch of disaster is laid right out in black and white....and red....lots of red. Who knew that a checkbook could have a plot and a story line?

It makes me sad to see that a reasonably prosperous 2014 for most who remained in the dairy industry looks like being followed by another bad year for dairy folks, one which may be as horrible as 2009...that awful year of disastrous prices that plowed many farmers under and pulled the rug out from under us in a big way.

Okay, there, thanks for giving me a minute to whine. I know that in real life I am downright stupid with good fortune, great family, good place to live, lots of land both wild and tame to enjoy, dogs, cats, a couple cows left in the barn, poultry, ponies, and plant projects for spring...heck I can talk to all my kids every day, ditto my mom and dad, lots of aunts and uncles too. Beautiful brothers with magnificent wives. Lovely granddaughters all over the place......I have nothing to complain about, and as soon as I get the checkbooks caught up I will do my best to rejoice and not whine.

Meanwhile, stay warm and have a great day!


8 comments:

Throwback at Trapper Creek said...

You're allowed to whine. Anyone reading here knows how hard you folks work every single day.

tryon1@frontiernet.net said...

I'm proud of you. You understand that it is the people you love who are important. You are indeed lucky to have so many people who love you, and to love.
Love Mom

jan said...

Thank you for sharing your days of whine and roses with us. We enjoy reading your blog and being part of your life.

Terry and Linda said...

Sometime we have to throw a fit..it's okay. Losing the girls was very hard...extremely so. Doing the records now is a huge reminder...so in reality you are not throwing a fit you are grieving. Grieving and getting angry are steps in healing.


Linda ❤⊱彡
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
https://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/sherlock-boomer

Cathy said...

Well, my friend . . . go ahead and whine and share it with your readers whose heartstrings are feeling a little tugged right now.

Even your whining is beautiful.

Jacqueline Donnelly said...

Such a huge life change you have been through, no wonder you might feel a bit cranky. I hope that this last task will free your spirit to enjoy the new way of life you so obviously know how to savor. And I sure love to savor it with you, through your vivid accounting.

threecollie said...

Nita, thank you. I try not to, but sometimes I get discouraged

Mom, thank you! And I am very, very lucky in that respect and always have been. We have such a wonderful family. Love you

Jan, thanks, that means a lot

Linda, I try to remain on an even and reasonably calm setting but bookwork is an anathema to me.

Cathy, thank you...you are a very sweet and kind person to say so.

Jacqueline, thanks, hoping next year will not be quite as tumultuous.

Anonymous said...

Tax time and booking keeping aren't my favorite either, but have discovered doing a little every quarter helps. Then I don't have to spend days sitting @ the table wondering why I can't read my own handwriting and what the heck did I mean.
I too own my own business. Mine is simple but still a challenge for a non business mindset.