What a fun-filled weekend I just had...and it pumped me up for the busy weeks I have ahead!
I had my first volunteer session with the Center for Economic Progress doing tax preparation. I spent two hours on my first return and wasn't even able to finish it =( I was helping a taxi driver and we were trying to figure out the best way to record the expenses related to his new car. He also had a separate company on the side and although I was pretty sure we couldn't do that tax return, I brushed off the $17 loss his separate company had ($17 isn't material!) and went ahead with the personal return. What I didn't realize (until 2 hours later) was that the company's tax return had to be done first and then that $17 loss had to be shown on his personal return. I guess I need to get in a little different frame of mind from what I'm used to at work where not even a million dollars is material! Then I started the tax return for another guy who was insistent on filing using the married filing separately status - even though he and his wife were happily married. I tried to tell him that was not in his best interest, but he wanted me to do it anyway. When I input all the numbers and showed him that he was looking at a $1,500 refund vs. a $6,500 refund, he finally listened to me and said he'd come back later with his wife. That took about 30 minutes. Then, for my last return of the day, I told the intake person to give me an easy one! I finally was able to get a full tax return completed and filed for a couple that had a 19 year old daughter that was in college (the daughter's name was Jennifer!). It was fun, but more difficult than I thought it would be. Oh, and apparently Governor Quinn was there that day at 10:30 (while I was debating a depreciation schedule vs. mileage expense for the taxi driver's new car) for a press conference.
After the tax prep, I did a few loads of laundry and went to Target (with my new-found coupons in hand!). Then, I got ready to go out to dinner at Noodles in the Pot to celebrate (with 20 other people!) two friends' birthdays. After dinner, we went to Kingston Mines - - can't believe I've lived in Chicago for 10 years and never gone to a Blues club! The music was great and we had a fun time.
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| The Sax guy roamed around the audience for a while! |
On Saturday, I had also started putting some of my old clothes in piles to donate (like the ones I haven't even taken out of the box that I moved them in 5 1/2 years ago!). But, I started thinking that I should give them to somebody I know because they're pretty nice! So, after church on Sunday, my friend Ranae came over and she took some skirts from my skinnier days. I think I'll look into donating the rest ofmy nicer clothes to Dress for Success.
After a short nap, I headed to the Salvation Army's Harbor Light Center to volunteer for a sober Super Bowl party with a friend from church. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work! Mostly, we just served food to the 200 guests. It was a pretty yummy setup: Nachos in the 1st Quarter, Potato Skins in the 2nd Quarter, Pizza in the 3rd Quarter and Brownies/Cake in the 4th Quarter. In between, we passed out pop that Pepsi had donated and went around with trash bags to pick up empty plates. I'd definitely do it again next year!
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| Me and Suzanne Gotta love the hairnets and plastic aprons! |
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| Another picture I found from the Tribune. The event was held in an old gym. This pic was taken during the national anthem while we were way in the back getting the nachos ready! |
After the long weekend, I still managed to make it our Gospel Community game night on Monday after work. I learned a new game - Dutch Blitz (like Nertz...if you've heard of that, which I hadn't). I experienced some beginner's luck (partly because I didn't know the rules), but ended up in last place. Then we played a round of Taboo and surprisingly, Jonathan from South Africa did the best when it came to clues about American History! Good times =)
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