20 February 2007 -  Jacksonville, Florida USA                                        

Preparing US Tax Returns

Last Saturday was my first day to work as volunteer for AARP Tax-Aide Program preparing taxes for the seniors, low and middle income residents of Duval County. It was a pleasant experience to say the least and I felt so good being able to do something to make a difference in someone’s life.

Again, if you want to avail of this free tax service, click this link  Don’t worry folks, I took the vows of confidentially and professionalism so you can completely trust me not to disclose your tax information to anyone even to my husband.

However, if you want to do your own taxes,  you have two options:  You can either buy tax software in a box or opt for an online filing service.   I’ll suggest you check out these four reputable, established companies with strong histories of operating online tax processing for individuals, business establishments and/or government agencies.

H&R Block's TaxCut or H&R Block's Online
Intuit's Turbo Tax
CCH's Complete Tax
Petz Enterprises' TaxBrain

Here's a table comparing prices and services they offer:

 

	H&R Block Tax Cut	Intuit Turbo Tax	CCH Complete Tax	TaxBrain
Basic fee	$9.95	$14.95	$25.95	$19.95-39.95
Deluxe edition	n/a	$24.95	n/a	$49.95
Premium	$19.95; $39.95 includes state	$49.95	n/a	$69.95
State fee	$24.95	$25.95	$12.95	$19.95-29.95
Filing for extensions	$19.95	On paper	$9.95	Free
Phone support	Yes	Yes	n/a	Yes-toll free
Online chat	Yes	Yes	$4.95	Yes
E-mail support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Individual advice	Yes with premium	$39.95/topic	n/a	n/a
Audit support	Yes	Fee	n/a	Fee
Try it for free	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

All of them will let you try out their service without paying. I played with each one of them online and I personally recommend H&R Block’s TaxCut software for straightforwardness and user’s friendly feature. It's fun playing with their different options and tools so try them out even for just your learning experiences. Caution: If you do it for fun, do not ever type out your confidential information such as name, SSN, birthday and home address.

The main thing about using the boxed software vs. online filling is privacy. Using the boxed software, your personal information is saved only on your own computer rather than sitting in a tax company’s database online. Although their databases are encrypted and secured by user’s password; however who knows who got an access from the insiders.

The best thing about online filling is like having a safe deposit box where you can access your account any time to look things up and print out information if you need it quickly for a lender, school financial-aid applications or for immigration purposes.

The drawback about boxed software is, if you are like some of the people I knew who don’t give a damn about following a filing system, and you lost your data in your hard drive; no back-up whatsoever, then you’re screwed.

 

    15 February 2007 -  Jacksonville, Florida USA                                        

Valentines' Day

One of the topics we talked about when I was in Michigan were “What to do on Valentines Day”?   I was quick to respond by saying, “let the men of the house figured that out. That’s their job to figure something out to really get mushy with their spouses if they want to”.

For me and perhaps for most women too:  What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than by receiving VD card with sweet-nothings, bouquet of flowers and chocolates or maybe a surprise “date night” with your knight of shining armor? The date doesn’t have to be expensive or extravagant you know... "kahit saging lang basta labing" he he he

Anyway, here's what the delivery man brought to my desk at work yesterday.   I thought I wasn't going to get anything this year because for the past years, I kept reprimanding DH for ordering flowers and stuff from Kuhn Flowers and have them delivered to my desk at work for a ridiculously high price.   I always tell him that he can buy bouquet of flowers and stuff at the grocery store for a lot less than what he paid for at Kuhn but he did it again this year. So I figured maybe I should be more considerate of his spending habit this time and be more appreciative of his thoughtfulness instead of worrying on how to save money. So then with all emotion, I composed a mushy email and sent it to his inbox at work.

From: 'Rhebs'; Sent: Wed 2/14/2007 11:29 AM
To: 'Tony '; 'xxxx@xxxxxx.net
Subject: Thank you so much, My Darling

My Darling Sweet Love Tony,

Thank you so much for the beautiful bouquet of flowers, card with love notes, balloon and basket of Peterbrooke chocolates. You are so sweet and loving TSUP! TSUP! TSUP!

Everybody here at work is admiring the flowers and stuff you sent me and of course they are envious of me since they have not received anything from their husbands. They keep saying how so lucky I am for having a very sweet and thoughtful husband. They even read your “lovenotes” that came with it. hehehe. Of course I am so elated and proud wife. I can’t thank God enough for giving me the sweetest man in the world. I Love You So Very Much and Will Always Love You and Only You Forever. TSUP! TSUP! TSUP!

Don’t worry, Darling. I promise I won’t scold you nor cringe about how much you spent to Kuhn Flowers Shop today. To tell you the truth, even though I cringe every year, I also love the fact that you keep doing this sweet thing for me. You just don’t know how much this means to me---the special feeling that I felt today is priceless. Thank you so much, Darling for loving me and for everything you do for me.

I am and will always be your loving and faithful wife now and forever. Happy Valentines, Darling TSUP! TSUP! TSUP!
Rhebs
 

So there... that's how we keep our fire burning ;-)  I know sometimes with both spouses working let alone those couples with children there isn’t much time for romance anymore. But folks, listen up: Investing in romance is the most important thing you can do to keep your love alive. Those of you who have kids can line up a sitter, set up a date night and make time to reconnect with your spouse when kids are asleep. Or once a year maybe, leave the kids at home with your parents or in-laws and just the two of you; take off for some romantic getaway.  You might say, it is probably easier for me to say that because I don't have a kid but DH and I agreed that if ever we will have kids in the future, we still would like to take off somewhere without a kid in tow at least occasionally. 

 

    13 February 2007 -  Jacksonville, Florida USA                                        

Michigan Trip

I literally had a blast! The food, hospitality and the camaraderie are super to the max. It felt like I had been back from my native country visiting a very intimate long time family friends.

Lani and John are superb couples who heartily gave first-class accommodation and hospitality to their guests. Lani cooks non-stop and continually feeds us with mouth-watering foods all the way through. Much to my chagrin, I put on 8.8 lbs in just a matter of 6 days. There’s no one to be blamed but me because Lani didn not shove the food in my mouth. I did. I am such a pig, I am telling you :-P How could I not? I only get to eat all those stinky yet incredibly yummy Pinoy delicacies once in a blue moon. Even Ate G who is a big self-conscious and health buff as she is, gained 4 lbs total.

Lani, Ate G and I had tirelessly spent an incredible time to bond our friendship. Imagine the very first night we met, we chatted animatedly from 11:00 o'clock in the evening to 5:00 o'clock in the morning. Then all throughout the day and every night the earliest time we hit the sack was like 2:00 o'clock in the morning.   We practically just cooped inside the house because it’s freezing outside although we made few trips to the store to pick up some groceries and baby shower gifts but that’s about it. Then whenever we’re home and we either play with the kids or talk and eat or sing karaoke. Hey, did you know that Lani and Ate G have hidden talent in singing? Naku puede ng pang American Idol ha. Lani scored 96 in her favorite piece, “Rose” and Ate G made a remarkable record when she first sung the song “Over the Rainbow” with a score of 98. clap clap clap

Wednesday, Feb 7 was Lani’s birthday and about 10 Pinays showed up to join us to commemorate this special day. The blooming birthday girl doesn't look like she actually has 3 beautiful kids.  I am amazed at how she managed to stay slim with all the cooking and partying she does in her house.

Then, Saturday the baby shower party for In-in was a big hit due to a combined efforts of different troops of Pinays from Michigan, Ohio, Chicago, Texas and Florida.

Lani, Ate G, Darl, In-in, Kim and I capped off the party by sharing hilarious tale of our life’s experiences until 2:00 o’clock in the morning.  Darl from Texas who has a thousand words per minute is the star of the show. Imagine, she beat the most known garrulous bisdak among the bunch. LOL I became a big fan of Darl’s tagalog accent.. super landi ang dating ng lola… grabe utot-utot ako sa kakatawa. LOL

My new best friend. Jonathan (Lani’s 3.5 year old boy) and I hit it off instantly and in just a matter of two days he made a resolute pronouncement by saying “You are my best friend!” Oh boy, he was all over me and the day he publicly said I am his best friend, he even won’t get off the car unless I hold him myself. He would follow me everywhere even when I go to the bathroom and he would bang the door and continuously screamed, “Let me in! Let me in! Let me in!” until I get out.   There were times Ate G asked him, “Jonathan, who is your best friend?” He automatically points his finger on me but when Ate G asked, “what about me?” he would respond, “you too” but point both fingers on me and Ate G. What a clever kid!   One of the fondest memories I had with him was, Friday afternoon, I was on the phone with DH and while I was telling DH, “I love you and miss you too, Darling. I’ll be home in two days”.  Jonathan perked up like a dog and said, “What? home? don’t go home! don’t go home!" God, I miss that kid… it broke my heart seeing him crying profusely when we left last Sunday as he screamed “I go with you! I go with you! I go with you!” Up until I boarded the plane, I feel bad for leaving him behind. Wish I can take him with me ;-)

Anyway, of all the things I forgot to take with me, camera pa talaga.  So  I asked Lani to give me copies of all the photos from her camera so I have something to back-up my story ;-)  Photos are here:  Lani's Birthday Party and Baby shower for In~in. 

To Lani and John, thank you so very much for the gift of your friendship. You are now my friends for life ;-)

 

    1 February 2007 -  Jacksonville, Florida USA                                        

Tomorrow is the Day

Kuya Allen is going to get hitched tomorrow.  To Kuya Allen and Mary: May you both have the good fortune to spend the rest of your lives together deepening the love that binds you today and tomorrow. We wish you all the happiness in the world!

The wedding will be held in Presbyterian Church and is pretty much just a private family affair. Five people from our side of the family (Mom, Aunt Judy, Delphi, DH and I) plus the bride, Mary has four grown children and nine grandchildren. I am not sure how many from their close friends are coming over to attend the wedding though.

My DH is the best man of course and the maid-of-honor is one of Mary’s daughters. Delphi and I are the official photographers and I will be filming the wedding as well. The church service is expected to last approximately 10-15 minutes as it is not going to be as ceremonious like the one we have in the Catholic Church which normally lasted for an hour or so.

Piskot!!! I am in a tight spot right now as the size 6 petite dress I bought from David’s bridal two weeks ago  is still a little snug. After getting on a grapefruit diet for nearly two weeks now, I still didn’t feel like I shed a good chunk of the bulges in my abs.  I am so desperate to lose at least two inches from tummy and up yet it is not happening! Darn it! I know this is not going to get any better in the next few days because DH and I will be hosting a family get-together on Sunday and then I am set to fly out to Michigan on Tuesday and will be back on Sunday. Somebody needs to chastise me from pigging-out! Lani, Ate G and In-in, please feel free to kick me out from kitchen if I ever over indulge myself during mealtime.

Here's the photo of my lilac dress with matching sandal. Just so you know 97% of my wardrobe is a blending of red, white and black colors but my mother-in-law says I can't wear red, black, white and cream. The bride and groom don't have any motif for the wedding so I had a hard time finding the color that suits me.   Anyway, I think lilac is a pretty color too and it looks good on me according to DH ;-)