Sis getting tough

Thursday my half sis read me a text she sent her 4 stepbrothers regarding settling their dad's estate. She was firm and directly to the point. It was a great text. She also told them that if they have a question or comment about the estate/probate, to email to the group, as she will not be taking the time to answer private messages. In the text she said she consulted with the attorney about the personal belongings in their dad's home, that the one brother took (and said their dad just gave it all to him before he passed). She said they attorney advised since there were no witnesses to their dad doing this, nor anything in writing, that all of it should be returned to the estate. She sent this on Tuesday and nothing from any of the 4 brothers. The one good brother, was traveling back home when she sent it, but when he got home yesterday he ended up calling her about it. He told her the text was great and that he was proud of her. I told her the same thing :)

Turns out, when their dad first got sick and this good brother had come up to visit him, he took pictures and videos of all the belongings in their dad's condo! He also had taken a picture of the paperwork for that asset that was just discovered (the asset the co-executor brother wanted sis to hide from the others and just sell it and they split it). He told her he's making a list of it all, with the pictures and videos and it will go out to all of them, that it all needs to be returned, and if it already got sold, then he will have to pay the estate back for it, at fair market value. That's so awesome that now they have this proof of what the one brother and his wife took. (the other 2 step brothers did not take anything). It would not surprise me if the 3 brothers do not end up going to court to have this one brother removed as co-executor.

I have my Walmart order placed for pickup this afternoon at 3pm. It's a super nice sunny day. We'll stop at Staples first, as that's apparently the closest UPS drop off, so I can get these old phones returned before the 30 days is up for trade-in.  I did an online search to see what desk chairs this Staples has in stock and get an idea on the prices. Of course I have a budget in mind and of course dh will want the most expensive one LOL. All of the chairs, but one, they are showing in stock, are under my budget amount, so that is great. If he decides on the more expensive one (at $389) - rather than tell him No! I looked up the chair online to see if I can get order the same chair from someplace else for less.....Walmart sells the exact same chair (a LazyBoy desk chair) for $241, so if that is the chair he decides on, I'll just order it from Walmart to ship here, rather than buying it at Staples. Looks wise, it is the chair I like best (looks very classy) but comfort is also most important, so at least he'll be able to sit in a bunch of chairs there and see what he likes best. The chair he currently has has started looking very shabby, with the "leather" thinning down and peeling off.

I ended up getting off work at 2pm yesterday. After our quarterly company meeting, they said we could be done for the day. Except I still had to do a zoom meeting with my side job boss and their CPA an hour later, so I still had to do some work, darn. That call took about 40 minutes, so it was 3:40 before I was completely done working. But, that should pretty much be the last thing I need to do for that side job. It was a good run of almost 16 years! I never expected it to go that long. I thought maybe a couple of years at the most and then they'd likely hire some in-house accountant/bookkeeper. I'd have to go back to all my tax returns over the 16 years, but I'm guessing I earned around $200,000 from that part time job over the 16 years. It was a great side income, that's for sure.

I just went downstairs to get my breakfast and realized I forgot to put more of the ready to drink Carnation instant breakfast bottles in the fridge yesterday, so I don't have any cold. I tossed one in the freezer and hopefully it won't take too long to start getting cold. I do add some milk to it, which will help it be cold. But now I'm hungry LOL. Trying to keep myself distracted while I wait the half hour or so for it to at least get a little cold in the freezer.

No more pets for now

We had recently been giving thought to adopting a couple of rescue dogs (a bonded pair), but have managed to keep ourselves talked out of it, for many reasons. Then dh was talking to Mr. Neighbor yesterday - he said their recent vet bills and surgery for one of their dogs has totaled almost $7000. Nope. No thank you! We'll just stick with our crazy little cat as our only pet.

I need to get our old phones shipped back and the shipping label from Verizon is UPS. We literally used to have our UPS guy coming here several times a week. Now we rarely even see him since Amazon doesn't use UPS, so I don't have any packages on the way, so I can just give him the package to ship back to Verizon. Plus, the last couple of deliveries we have gotten, it's a different driver, so not sure what happened there. Our old driver (who we've had for years) would text dh when he was almost here, LOL. So, I thought Walgreens was a UPS drop off, but I guess not (just FedEx), but I see that Staples is and that is on the way to Walmart tomorrow, so I can drop it off there. Plus, dh really needs a new desk/office chair, so maybe we'll take a look at what they have and he can try sitting in them and see what he likes best. 

I have two work meetings this afternoon, so I only have the first half of the day to get work done. The second meeting is stupid, not even sure why it needs to be a Zoom type meeting, at all. I'm sure it could easily be taken care of with a phone call or even a couple of emails. I'll spend more time getting Zoom set up on my computer than the meeting will likely take. Annoying. I've already spent more time with my side job (the one that has basically ended) boss about it (it's with their CPA) than the meeting will probably take, LOL.

Back to sunshine today through Sunday. I'm guessing 3 days of sun and warmer temps is really going to turn the grass green and start growing again. Last evening we saw 4 deer (but only 3 in the picture) who were taking a rest on the lot next to us. This is as good as my phone could zoom in, but still much closer than my old phone could do.

 

This and that and a date remembered

Yesterday I decided to call Social Security AGAINNNNNNNNN. It was 12:30 and the recording said the wait time was about 2 hours so I pressed the option to have them call me back. Well, by the time I was done at my desk for the day at 4:30 they still had not called. They are only open until 5pm (7pm ET), so I go downstairs and wait until about 4:45 to get dinner started. Sure enough they call back at 4:55. Like someone was going to take the time to look into my question with 5 minutes left in their day and give me an accurate answer? (they don't even give me an accurate answer in the mornings). I didn't answer, as I was right in the middle of making dinner. I put in another call first thing when I got up to my desk this morning and it's supposed to be a 70 minute wait, of which 70 minutes has already passed. I'm sure it will be another 70 minutes.

Ok, got the call back from SS. Nope, the lady who told me last month the payment got processed was wrong (as I figured). I get a different answer every time I call. Plus, this lady said I'm going to be honest with you - the people giving you dates of like 30 or 45 days are wrong. Final payments after death are not a priority, especially if it's going to a non-spouse. She said it could take months and there's no time frame for them to process. Technically, if what I was told in February is true (most likely true and done purposely), it's only been since Feb that my form I sent it is actually in their processing queue now, because it had gotten filed in the wrong folder in her account. So, I guess I just keep on waiting, but at least I know now to not expect it anytime soon. GRRRR. Oh well.

I came across a clip of a tv show and thought that looks good, I should check into it. Turns out it's on Apple TV+ (called The Morning Show). Well dang. Yesterday was my last day of my free 3 mos subscription. I watched the first episode and half of the 2nd. I could have been watching this (3 seasons) the past few months. Now I might have to pay the $10 for a month, so I can watch this show ;) It's with Jennifer Aniston and Reece Witherspoon.

Today would have been my mom and step dad's 50th wedding anniversary. I hope they are celebrating up in heaven. Pretty sure they are golfing on a golf course in heaven's version of Hawaii :) I was 11 when the got married. Just a simple ceremony at the courthouse with me and my grandparents, in attendance. It wasn't too much after that, that he adopted me (they had been together since I was 6). 

Yucky job done

I've completed my half sis's U.S. Tax returns. Unfortunately, she didn't keep up with filing them, after I got her caught up back in 2021 (thru 2020), so I had 4 years to do. The first 3 years are fairly quick and easy, with only 3 forms needed, but I do have to convert her Canadian earnings to U.S. Dollars for each year. Then for 2024, since she earned U.S. income from working for the company I work for, her return is a bit more involved with added forms, since it's considered self employment income. She will owe some social security & medicare taxes on these earnings, but I'm guessing she will be able to then write those taxes paid, off, on her Canadian return.  The sad part is, she will never make enough to ever get any of these payments she will make to SS back. She would need to work 10 years and put into it each year. Maybe she will....I won't be working this job for 10 more years LOL.

My dd cracks me up. They are coming over here the first weekend in May and the 4 of us are going to a car show about 4 hours away and staying in an airbnb for the weekend. She just sent me their half of the lodging via Zelle and in the email I got from Zelle she added a message "for Antique shopping weekend...I mean car show weekend" LOL. The guys will be looking at 700-800 cars...we'll be shopping, haha.

I watched a funny movie last night I had never seen before. The Other Woman with Cameron Diaz, from 2014. I can't remember the other main actress's name in the movie, but she was very funny.  She was very good at the physical comedy aspect of the movie.

Prime scam?

Around noon yesterday we drove into town to go to the lumber store and the grocery store. I got just a few things: milk, bread, onion, tomato and a loaf of bread. I also noticed they also carry the circles of canadian bacon I use on dh's breakfast egg sandwich. The package was like $4.29 and for some reason I was thinking that's pretty close to the Walmart price I pay, so I grabbed one. Well, turns out I was wrong, Walmart's price for the package is only $2.86 LOL. I also got dh a maple bar, but the other few donuts left I don't like any of those kind, so I didn't get one. Oh, I also got some apples.

Dh continued to work on his 2 smaller drawers, the rest of the afternoon and for a bit after dinner. I think he's now at the painting stage, today. I just ordered the 2 slide mechanisms for those drawers, so that should be the last of the money going out for this project. And I think he's pretty well done spending on his auto maintenance projects he's been doing. Welp, I take that sentence back. He just now added some gauges to order...sigh.....

AND what the hell is the deal with Amazon Prime prices on items being higher priced than the same item on a non-Prime account? This is happening quite often now. I just had 2 items (out of 4) today. One was a $6 difference and the other was about $2 and, the prime delivery date was a week LONGER than the non-Prime! And it's not like I'm comparing items with different sellers. The seller is the same on each item. DH will message me a link to what he wants to buy. I click on it and it opens up to the item page in my non prime amazon account, which I am already logged into. Then staying on the page with the item, I click on Account/switch account and switch over to the Prime account I share with DD because if it's a Prime item it usually ships faster, but ...same item, same seller, and higher priced under Prime. We're already paying to have Prime and then we are supposed to pay higher prices on top of that?! 

Last day of March

I'm hating how fast the dang weekends are going lately. I think I need to review my vacation days again for work and throw a few more in there, LOL. I know I have a couple days coming up the first weekend in May, but that's still 4 1/2 weeks away. 

I got started on sis's tax returns yesterday morning. Then I had a question for her, then she called me and then we ended up chatting on the phone for a long time, so I didn't end up getting much more done with it.

Neither dh or I was very hungry for dinner last night, so we just had sandwiches. For some reason every time I go into the pantry and see the boxes of cornbread mix, it sounds good. I usually only make that with my taco soup or chili, but I haven't made that in a long time due to dh's stomach issues. So, I just made a pan of cornbread to have, just because. 

We ended up being stocked up on enough groceries (first time ever) that we've made it past our normal 3 weeks of needing to get more. Last Thurs was 3 weeks. We were kind of thinking of going in this afternoon or maybe Tues or Wed, but when I asked dh yesterday if he wanted to go in Monday (so I could get the order placed) he said not really....I said me either, LOL. He does want to run into town today to get those couple of boards he needs from the lumber store. I said if I just go with you, we can stop at the grocery store (a block away) and I can get a few things and we'd be good for another week of not having to go to the city ;) So, it sounds like that is what we will do. I just need a gallon of milk, some apples, tomato, onion, and might as well get an extra loaf or two of bread (I still have 3 in the freezer). 

DD and SIL did a fun thing yesterday with one of their cars (her Explorer ST) by doing an autocross thing where a small course was set up with cones and they'd get to drive it and get timed. I think they each got to do it several times. They have a gopro camera, so SIL set it up to show her driving the course and one time set it up inside to watch her while driving and sent us the videos. OMG! Her face in that helmet brought back memories! It was just like I was seeing her 9 year old face all over again. It was so cute! I was smiling the whole time I was watching the video and even got teary eyed. She did well (even beating SIL times) but that's not a surprise. She always was a very smooth racer.

The cute chipmunks are back. When we had our dogs, one of the dogs was just obsessed with watching them and we always called them "chippermonkees", so the name has stuck.

 

 

 

Weekend chores

I managed to get in a normal Saturday of chores and whatnot, without my back bothering me, so that was a relief. Did some laundry, vacuumed downstairs, took a walk to get the mail, paid my bills, etc. Off and on I watched a podcast interview - it was 4 hours long! Holy cow - who has 4 hours to watch one podcast? LOL. I looked at the other interviews and they are all like 3 hours, so not likely I will watch more of those anytime soon.

DH spent most of his day out in the shop - since had had purchased the rest of the lumber to do his second 2 (smaller) drawers, he got those built. It went a lot fast this time, since he know what he was doing. He does need to pick up a couple 2x2 boards from the lumber store now and they aren't open on Sunday's, so he'll have to wait until tomorrow.

My chicken has slowed down on her eggs, after 2 months of a pretty steady 2 days on, one day off. Now I'm only getting an egg every few days it seems. Darn, I was liking her schedule and it was keeping me fairly stocked in eggs. When I go out to give her a treat (either some bread or some scratch and a bit of meal worms) I have a few times found her sitting in the nest box, thinking oh good, she's laying an egg but when I check back later, there's nothing. I did get one on Friday.

I need to do my half-sis's U.S. tax returns for her. Ugh. LOL. She's supposed to file one every year, since she is a citizen. She used to have them done by a CPA in Canada, but it was so expensive for her and at the time she was working and living on her own and just didn't have the extra money. I mean here she was making like $40k a year and having to pay like $2k to an accountant to file her return. So, in 2020, I got her caught up with about 5 years worth......and then I told her it will be easy for me to do each year for you - just keep up on them...which of course she did not. And now that she has U.S. income and a 1099 for last year, she has to file, so now I have 4 years worth to do again. I told her to take a copy of the last one I did for her and write in those amounts for each year and then I'll get them input into current years tax forms for her to send it. She sent me those in an email yesterday, so I'll get started on them this morning. If it was only one year to do, I wouldn't mind, but I'm not looking forward to doing 4 years again. She's never had to pay any U.S. income tax, because she pays Canadian income tax on her CA earnings, but I'm not sure how it will work for 2024, where she now has income earned in the U.S. She may owe the U.S. some, but then I'm guessing she'll get to deduct that from her Canadian taxes owed.