Wow, I am in love with this photo. Anna rarely will let me take a picture of her. She bounces around, keeps her back to the camera. IF she turns in my direction, she is usually giving me a silly face. Don't get me wrong...I love her silly faces. It's so *her*. Plus, I can identify with it since my nickname on the playground was "Laughing Gas". Apparently, I made silly faces and laughed a lot too. But, every once in awhile it is nice to get a traditionally great shot of her. This one has already been ordered BIG for my walls. She's a good kid.
 

I was all set to do some nice photo post tonight. Promise. And then my tax accountant called to say my taxes were ready to be picked up. Tra la la...left to go pick them up. Not concerned about it really, since every year I plan my withholding to get about $5-6,000 back in refunds. In fact, April is usually a happy time for me since it feels like a governmental gift (yes, I know it was my money to begin with). But, I hate the idea of stressing about how much I might have to pay in April...so over-withholding is my coping mechanism.

The accountant's assistant handed me my folder and showed me the front page summary. She said something about estimated quarterly taxes next year and then said that $367 had been "applied to the first quarter 2009 tax payment". My mind blanked. It was as if I went instantly stupid. Why was she talking about some sum of money as small as $367? And why, for heaven's sake, did it sound like that small sum would be going to the government instead of me? Was this an April Fool's Day joke?

Yes, I knew I would have to pay a little more this year in taxes...but I had no idea that is would mean a nearly $6,000 difference to me! Being a small business owner, my estimates at taxes are a little difficult. A lot depends on how much I spend (invest) on my business. Some years my needs are less, so I have less deductions. Some years people buy more, so my taxes will go up. I guess this was a year with less deductions and more income. Perfect storm of tax-UGHHHH.

Which then brought me to the thought of my upcoming Sales Tax payments. Let me rant a little bit about that one. Do you know why I have to charge sales tax? Most people assume that a "service" or "labor" cost is non-taxable, since that is usually the case. LUCKY ME! Photographers in the State of California are *different*. I have to collect sales tax on ALL of my services if ONE SINGLE TANGIBLE GOOD results from that work. So I asked the State when I started my business "But what if all I delivered was a CD with digital files on it? Is the whole package taxable?" The State told me "The CD is a tangible good...whole thing is taxed." So I asked another way "What if I had a separate charge for the photography vs. deliverable goods? Can I only charge sales tax on the deliverable goods aka CD?" The State said "No...the service is also taxable if anything tangible is produced as a result of the service. It is all taxed." With a brilliant thought in my head, I asked a final question "Well, what if I posted the digital files online and the clients downloaded them electronically? Would that be considered taxable?" The State said "Nope. No tax on that. There is no tangible product since it is all electronic." I was so excited. I immediately started thinking about how I'd set up an electronic file transfer system for clients and in that way be able to save them a few hundred dollars. BUT...ugh. I was reminded by the State guy that if Aunt Betty bought one single 4x6 print, then the clients would be responsible for the entire sales tax amount still. And in parting, he warned me "We can do an audit on things like that. It would raise red flags if you had a large income and little sales tax burden as a photographer." I passive aggressively flipped him off on the phone and said sweetly "Thanks?".

So, with these tax-related angst thoughts all jumbled together, I was spinning. I told the lady at the accountant's place that they should have Voter Registration forms, too. So when people pick up their tax returns they can instantly switch their party affiliation to Republican. And, they should have some stickers from the blood bank that say "I gave today. Be kind to me." Possibly a barf bucket too?

I came home hopeful that my family would wash away the yucky feelings floating inside me. I heard Holly and Anna playing happily in the backyard together. I started a little smile and asked Jason how long they'd been out there. He said they'd been out there for at least an hour. WONDERFUL! I loved it...and then I heard Holly run up to the sliding glass door and announce "Mom, I accidentally pooped in my pants."

To be honest, I answered back "Yeah, honey so did I." Mine was just metaphorical. Her's...I had to clean up.

I have just finished the most unrelenting set of days ever. It all started with procrastination and unfortunately turned into the biggest work effort ever. The situation:

Beautiful, perfect day. Jason's sitting in the hammock, taking up the sunshine. I say "Wow, I have a lot of stuff to do." He responds incorrectly. Instead of saying the nice thing like "Oh, come sit in the hammock with me and let's enjoy this lovely day", he really says "Well, you could pick up your stuff off the dining room table."

Ouch. Where's the love?! So to procrastinate from doing what he suggested, I pull a weed at my feet and consoled myself that it was still "work" that I did by pulling that weed. Soon, I looked around and saw how many weeds needed pulling. Then, by noticing the weeds, I noticed the nearby plants which had died or needed pruning. Certainly, they also needed fertilizer. Oh, and that fence that surrounds our yard? Well, that needs staining. Oh, and while you're at it Katie...did you notice the mulch could use a fresh layer? Better check the drip irrigation before you put on the new mulch layer, Katie. Pretty soon, my head was full of things that needed doing RIGHT THAT DAY. The leaky hose. The potting plants. The staining of the swing set. The cleaning of the garage. Patio seats need replacing. Windows are dirty. The empty humming bird feeders.

Oh my. So, for the last three days...Jason and I have been working SOOOO hard. We accomplished all of the things listed above. ALL of it. My yard is now a showcase of anal retentive effort. In a few days, I will be able to sit joyously in the hammock with Jason and there will be nothing to do but enjoy the yard. But, it will take a couple days before I'll be able to stand up straight again...my muscles ache.

Anyways...the reason I bring this up? I seriously could not wait to get back to the blog. I miss posting here. I have taken advantage of my "off-season" to get so much done. This coming Saturday will bring the first official wedding of my busy season. To celebrate, I'm going to promise a full 30 days of blogging. Yup, each and every day will bring new photos, new stories. Maybe even multiple posts per day. First bit of sharing? The photos taken moments before my fateful step outside to see what Jason was doing in the backyard. Ok, now I must go clean off my things on the dining room table. They still haven't been touched yet. LOL!


So, just how long has she spent staring at the Tinkerbell poster thing above her bed? Well, this was the pose she gave me...almost identical to Tinkerbell's pose.
 

Jason and Anna were outside playing while I was inside the house preparing for our upcoming vacation. Anna rushed inside, crying. She claims that "Dad made me twist my ankle again". Absent-mindedly (doing that half-listening thing while I was cleaning), I answered her questions about how to spell "don't" and "you". She left me alone and went back outside. Moments later, Jason came in to show me what Anna had just given him.


for the record, he didn't make her twist her ankle. she twisted it all on her own while running, a good 20 feet from where Jason was. She just *hates* to admit when she's goofed on her own. We've all taken the blame at one time or another. LOL!

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Ok, FUNNY follow up. Just after I pushed "publish" on this blog post...I noticed the following stuck to the bottom of my computer screen. Anna is clearly one funny, clever kid.
 

As you might know, Anna goes to an elementary school where they teach using Spanish immersion. Meaning, the vast majority of her day is taught in Spanish. I think something like 30 minutes a day is in English. The obvious question most people ask us upon hearing this all is "So, do you speak Spanish in the house?" Sadly, no. Jason took a couple years of Spanish in high school which now equates to him being able to say those choice words like bathroom, beer, beach, girls, and water. I took some ridiculous amount of Spanish (12 years?!), worked in Mexico City for a time, worked nights in Tijuana (no, not like THAT...it was real work), traveled to Guatemala one summer with my Aunt Barbara (awesome!) and helped my Uncle John navigate Barcelona (super!). I took to Spanish like a sponge to water. Unfortunately, without constant use my Spanish skills are shriveling up. I am limited to Mexican restaurants and telenovelas. sad.

Since I loved what Spanish did for me in my life, I really felt it a gift to have Anna in this immersion program. She'll feel a little more free to travel the world. She'll appreciate new foods, new places, new faces. And hopefully be challenged to learn another language or two in her future.

This past Friday I tagged along on the first grade class trip to La Lecheria (the dairy) at Cal Poly. The kids got to see cows poop, talk about utters, and get licked by slobbery calves. Afterward they ate ice cream made from the Cal Poly dairy. By far my favorite part was seeing their expressions when we told them the ice cream was from those same cows that they just saw. Being that their strongest association to those cows was the pooping part they'd just witnessed...they all put down their spoons for a second and thought about their next bite pretty carefully. BAHAHAHA! a little blurry, but i love that the only photo anna would let me take of her all day was when she was surrounded by her friends.
  and finally the boy that anna had a crush on at the beginning of the year