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We decided to have like 3 appointments on the day we did the taxes. May as well do it ALL when we leave town. That's not always the most peaceful and relaxing choice to make with the whole family stuffed in the cab. Unfortunately, we got there about an hour before any of the appointments started. This leaves 3 restless girls on the backseat ready to bounce out the door.
We made the slick decision to go to the playground. It was about 20 degrees. The kids lasted about 10 minutes. Their parents were sitting in the heated cab of the pickup after about 4!
Aha, another good decision! Two spicy Italian footlongs from Subway. Back to the picnic tables for the explosion of food.
After I leave the house is when I really take in what my kids are wearing. Especially the middle child. I looked now as we ate our sandwiches and she gave us a tap dancing routine in her pink cowgirl boots on top of the table. Her tall Peruvian goat herding hat flopping on top of her head. I just started to laugh! She flailed around like a sugared up country girl. Kids just want to have fun. Parent just want a tax refund! Dang adults anyway.
I guess I just don't understand money yet. It's the sweet ticket. It's food, shelter, gas, and fun stuff. It takes a lot of time to make it, generally. Where is the money tree? I've heard money is evil. If this is true then so is food. You can do "evil" things with any good thing. Money is lovely! When we have it we go to motels and we buy the good drinks and we put lots of diesel in the truck and drive, drive, drive. We get gidgets and gadgets that make this 'ole life a little easier. I personally like spending too much on music and movies. Shoes! Yah, shoes for sure! When we have money we have more time to just BE together and not worry so much about work. What a funny little circle we run.
I have big ideas though. I don't give up too easy. I've got a plan to trick this old money circle. Its a form of positive denial. I am going to practice feeling rich! I am going to say, "Boy, we are living the best of the best right now." And, I plan to say it A LOT. Then pretty soon I will believe it is easy and then it will be. Because, really, we are! We are healthy, strong, beautiful people.
I learned this trick from the kids. They make believe everything. Hannah, my 9 year old, was walking around the house with the play phone, laptop and wallet full of money. She sounded very serious in her business. She was busy "blogging" she told me. And she apparently wasn't hurting financially! She had a good 15 minute telephone conference with some agent. I remember being a kid and doing stuff like this...with 80's technology, mind you. I remember playing "adult" all the time. Oh, man, if only we knew how long adult hood was going to be...we might have played "kid" more.
So the tax man turned out to be a woman and we went in and split jobs and kids and appointments and made it without disaster, for the most part. We bought suckers and went on little outside walks and IRS stuff is done again for another year. And of course my thought is all organization for 2011. No more keeping things I don't need and tossing things I'm 'spose to keep. I will do it perfectly this year...until about July. Then I'll look in the box and say things like, "Why is the March bill in the May slot?" and "Where did that hot water heater receipt go?"
I'm not the only one. I could start a little club of good intentioned mis-prioritizers like myself and we would all share our stories over coffee with kids playing and tap dancing in the background. We would laugh because the government must have the same problem...minus the kids.
I've grown up in low income areas all of my life. What does this mean? Well, there's the politically correct way to describe it, and the red neck way. I'll just skip the first one. "Low income" means that you know what's on sale at the discount store because it's what you and all of your neighbors are having for dinner. You drive around in the back of your Dad's Toyota Corolla wondering if it's going to break down. It means you have a sack lunch and so does everyone else. In fact, it could mean Mama shows up behind the school with a huge pot of soup. A low income community means that we are all cutting firewood and filling the freezer in October.
This is good. This is the rich way of life, even though it doesn't show up in the numbers. Because, guess what else the country has to offer? Camping and beach parties with cheap soda, beer and hot dogs. We have the stars without city lights and fresh air. We have friendly faces that we recognize from childhood on up. We have football games under the big lights and drives into the woods. We know about invention and winging it. We know how to raise chickens, grind elk sausage, make bread, sew, unclog drains, fix sewer hookups, and cut down trees. We know how to clip coupons and count change. We look each other in the eye and shake on things. So that's the red neck way to tell the income status of your geographical location. If you are invited in for a keystone light or box wine, and if your stereo is in your pick up instead of an entertainment center, then it's pretty likely you live in a small town. And if small town means small income, I'm not scared! Bring on the spring and we'll work when we can and bbq some steelhead!
