And Finally!

At last, the last day before Winter Break has officially arrived!  I was up at 4:30 and headed downstairs for a somewhat leisurely morning.  Did most of the gift prep last night but have to put labels and bows on things.  I also promised (insisted, really) my team that I would be treating them to Starbucks this morning so will head in as early as I can and then head back out with their orders.  We have a fun day planned - lots of little events scattered throughout the day - and yes, wedging in plenty of work.

I feel a little cold hitting me this morning - stuffy head, headache off and on the past few days, sore throat off and on, too.  I pray it doesn't hit me hard 'cuz that's often what happens - plow through and keep on keeping on until I have some down time and then Ba Bam! - full force.  Here's hoping not this time.  I drank OJ this morning in the hopes that some Vitamin C will assist.

Funny story re: us.  Aging isn't for sissies.

I paid our property tax bill on December 1st.  I purposefully waited until the 1st 'cuz I want our money to stay in our account as long as possible - but the bill was paid.  It's a bright blue envelope that sticks out and J. vividly remembered taking it to the mailbox.  We were both sure of it.  But the 10th (due date) comes and goes and the county website still showed it as unpaid.  On the 11th, it flipped to 'past due' and added a 10% penalty - which is a not insignificant amount to add to an already pretty darn significant amount.  I was worried - check hadn't cleared; couldn't imagine what happened.

Earlier this week, my husband started to take things out to the mailbox and I noticed one of the envelopes didn't have stamps on it.  He insisted he would have known that and wouldn't have put it in the outgoing mail box without postage - but I wondered.  'Cuz neither of us are getting any younger and the list of weird things that happen around here keeps growing.

I didn't exactly blame him for the tax snafu - but I sure wondered.  Had he inadvertently dropped the envelope and it ended up going down the storm drain in one of the massive deluges we've had recently? Sure, pretty (very) unlikely - but could that be what happened?  The scenarios played out in my head - usually in the wee hours of the morning.

J. called the county office and humans actually answered!  And the guy said they had processed all the payments except any 'problem issues' - and suggested we wait a bit and see.  If I stopped payment on the check and reissued a new check, I'd be forced to pay the penalty - and that wouldn't be refunded in the event the payment was located.  So we waited a bit.

And sure enough, a letter arrived this week - with our payment coupon and the check attached.  The numeric amount was correct - but the written amount on the check was off by four hundred dollars - so they sent it all back to us.  We were in the 'problem' bin - and now we're not.  Check reissued and resent and while it hasn't cleared yet, it will soon.

That's what I get for writing a very large check in the wee hours of the morning when my brain is still waking up!

It's a good reminder to be patient with each other; kind to each other; assume the best.  I  know those are obvious things but as we get older and things start to happen that defy logic and reason, it's a good reminder.  Two really bright people muddling through the things that life hands us....one day at a time. Stuff happens, after all - and had we ended up never knowing what happened and paid the penalty and moved on, so what?  It's all fixable.  Always pretty darn fixable.

OK - it's really time to get moving now.  Must finish up Christmas gift prep and get showered and dressed.  I'm wearing jeans today and imagine most of the teachers and staff will be, too.  It's just that kind of day - the day I've been counting down to for weeks!

SIXTEEN CONSECUTIVE NO ALARM DAYS are about to commence!!