Am I Alone

Please tell me I am not the only person in America who has this look this week. You know, that desk is piled so high in papers and receipts you can hardly make out the person who is sitting there look. I hate to admit it but I let it happen again, and I swore I wouldn't, I waited until the bitter end to do our taxes.

Normally I am the kind of person who gets the jump on things early, and has the taxes done by February. However this year it just seemed like other things took priority. Family visiting from out of the country, medical maladies with some of the furkids, auditions, working on music, life, stuff, and then all of the sudden it was spring break and tax time was just around the corner. Yikes!

The Mr. and I had a trip planned to visit family in Florida for Easter and as much as I wanted to get them done before we left, it just didn't happen. Why is it that sometimes as good as your intentions are when you set aside time to do something, it just seems like something always comes up last minute to interrupt the best laid plans? So here I am, the week they are due and now it's crunch time.

It wouldn't be so bad except that it's not just personal taxes for us; it's for an LLC, which can be a bit more complicated. Especially for those of us who are not you know rocket scientists by nature. So I'll be sitting here with a hot cup of happiness in my hands for the next few days organizing and adding up all the activities of the last year. Thank goodness for Dunkins' because I know one Greek Girl who will surely be "running on Dunkins'" for the next few days.

I will say it is always interesting for me to see where and how money was earned and spent. One thing I especially like to do is add up what we gave away. Some people don't necessarily give often or a lot because they think they can't make a difference. When you add it all up though, it does. I find that for me anyway, one of the best parts of the yearly taxes chore is seeing how we were able to impact the lives of others by giving in the previous year.

Back to reality, back to the job at hand. Makes me hope one of the candidates for President actually will eliminate the IRS and make it so we can file our taxes on a postcard. That would leave more time for other things we all would like to be doing instead of burning up the calculators. Oh well, one can only hope. In the meantime, if you have this crazed last minute doing your taxes look about you like I do, here's to all of us finishing on time. Happy Filing.

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com

Why I Want to Marry the IRS

Why I want to Marry the IRS

April 15th came so quickly this year. It just seems like yesterday I was standing in line at the post office after spending a week sorting through a mountain of receipts for my 2009 taxes. As the 2010 tax deadline looms, look for the newscasters to be standing out in front of the local post office doing a live report for the 6 o'clock news. In their yearly news report about the tax filing deadline the news stations always have that stern warning: "It may look clam right now but as the tax deadline approaches expect long lines and delays at your local post office." Hello, talking heads, it's a deadline, not a natural disaster. And of course there is a line with delays - if there was a line that was moving without the delays then  it would be called a parade.

Some people get all funky about the IRS. I love them. If I was an available Greek girl, and if I could marry a Governmental Agency I would marry the IRS. Why not? Talk about marrying up! They sure have buckets more money in their bank account than in this Greek girl's bank account. I would imagine, that the IRS' parents, the Department of the Treasury, are good parents and would spare no expense on the wedding, reception and on the honeymoon...just as long as they could get the receipts. Hmmm, maybe it could even be a destination wedding in Greece. Wow, maybe they would even give me my own sneaker store as a wedding present.

Yes, I expect the IRS would want me to sign a prenuptial agreement, although they would not call it that. They would want to call it by a form name and number - and then whisper in my ear something romantic like,  "Ava I need you to sign a Form 1010EZ."  -- Chills just thinking about it!

eHarmony or match.com couldn't make a better match than the Greek girl and the IRS. I am a list person and so is the IRS. I balance my check book every day, so do they. I don't like dishonesty or cheaters, neither do they. We are actually very compatible on many levels. I have read about the tax collector in the bible so I also know that we share the same religious faith. That's nice because I would insist on having a church wedding. Oh, and we both agree that we would get married on April 15th...it's such a special day for the IRS.

Another really cool thing about marrying the IRS is they would be able to track down any friends or acquaintances that I have lost touch with over the years, but that I would want to invite to the wedding. How cool is that?

We do differ on one thing though, I like a little color and they are more traditional, liking everything to be just black and white. I would just have to keep telling myself, compromise Ava, compromise. Every good relationship is made up of compromises.

I know after the honeymoon it would not be a total bed of roses. I mean, just like any married couple we would still have to divide our time between the two families for birthdays and holidays. I don't mind, in fact I like most of IRS' family, even their weird uncle, the Department of Corrections. They call them DOC. Doc is the family's dirty little secret that they don't really talk about. At the last family gathering DOC showed up and they had to sit in the basement, at the kid's table. I hate it down there, it seems like a prison, but Doc didn't mind. Over the years I have also had disagreements with their relatives in Washington, DC., but it's all family and we all have to get along, right?

So sigh, I am just a simple Greek girl in love with a Governmental Agency. Did I ever mention that I fell out of a tree onto my noggin when I was a little greek girl?  Maybe the effects are now finally showing up.

Blessings,

Ava

xox

Government Shut Down? Alright, Bring It On!

Gone Fishin'

Because our political leaders can't get their financial act together a government shut down is looming. What does this mean? How will you and your family be affected? Well leave it to me, the self-appointed Government Real Economic Expression Klutz (GREEK) Czar. I am here to give you the ins and the outs of what's going to happen financially and how to survive (if not even thrive) if there is a shut down of the U.S. Government.

First off this GREEK Czar recommends buying stock in Federal Express immediately.  As the Government shutdown happens forget trying to send or receive mail for 44¢. For those of you who listen to the GREEK Czar, you will become filthy rich off of your new investment in Fed Ex stock and will be able to retire before the next Kardashian reality series debuts.

The TSA employees will retreat back into their little caves, so boarding and flying on an airplane will become enjoyable once again. The GREEK Czar also must announce that the FAA will also be on temporary furlough so look for Southwest Airlines to bring back more pimped out versions of their recently unveiled Boeing 737's convertibles. E! Television will announce a new reality series starring Rob Kardashian called Pimp My Plane.

Because voting is such a huge part of the US political system and with the politicians inability to vote and agree on a budget, the GREEK Czar has decided that in a show of solidarity any TV series that requires a vote will be immediately shut down. This includes American Idol, Dancing With The Stars, The X factor, Survivor and the newly pitched ABC series called The Survivors of Dancing with the Ex-American Idols.

The GREEK Czar has some exciting news about those of you who have yet to file your 2010 Federal Taxes. Although your taxes will still be due by April 15th there won't be any post offices to mail in your 1040 tax forms, so you will have to spend a little bit more money by using Federal Express to ensure they are delivered by the deadline of midnight of April 15th. However, the IRS agents won't be reporting to their cubicles during the shutdown so all personal taxes can be filed in "waiter or waitress" mode. This means you do not need to report your actual total gross income for 2010, just report what amount you think will not raise any red flags like most waiters and waitresses do.

The offices of the FCC will also be shuttered during this time so as your friendly GREEK Czar I just want to warn you that you might want to keep your children and small pets away from the television and radio in case any insensitive or vulgar material slips out over the airwaves. Every precaution will be made to ensure this doesn't happen. This includes  a moratorium on how many episodes of Jersey Shore can air in a single 24-hour period and limits the number of Michael Bolton songs that can play on the radio during the hours of  8 am to 8 pm.

It won't be easy to get through this difficult time, but rest assured you have the GREEK Czar helping in any way I can.

Blessings,

Ava

xox