By Jan Penton-Miller

On this beautiful sunshiny day I think I will take Missy, my faithful dachshund, on a nature walk on our property in the country. There is always something that needs attention, and I enjoy any time spent outdoors.

The lovely weather of the past few days has coaxed many of my neighbors to lace up their walking shoes. I’ve seen a lot more folks out and about with their children and pets enjoying the break from several rather gloomy days.

Mike is coming off the road and will be home for a few days so we plan to get a jump on something that we usually put off until the last minute. Tax time is not something we ever look forward to, and this year is no exception. I have made a conscious effort to work on my organization skills this year, and have actually found most of the receipts and things we need for our rentals.

Almost all of them were even filed in the appropriate place. Will wonders never cease? I admire my friend, Barbara, who is a CPA, but all that paperwork would be absolute torture to me! Thank goodness that we are all blessed with different skill sets.

Hopefully, all my efforts at keeping up with expenses a little better this year will lead to a lower tax bill or at least our tax preparer should be happy that she doesn’t have a mess to wade through! I went into the tax office to pay property taxes earlier so I could count them for 2022. I don’t know if it will make a lot of difference or not, but we shall see.

I’m sure that those people who are naturally gifted in organizing have a great way of keeping things in order, but I tend to procrastinate until I have a few things that need filing. I know I would be so much better off to file each item as it comes in because on occasion something will get misplaced before I get around to it.

I must admit that getting things ready this year has not been nearly as hard as in the past so that’s a plus. If things work out better this year I’m sure I’ll be encouraged to keep up with my paperwork even better next year. I like to Google things that I’m interested in, and I’ve noticed that there are several online options for assistance with keeping organized.

Just reading about all the different possibilities of setting things up online makes me want to get in my office and close the door tightly. My kids and grands flip through their ipads and computers with such ease it’s almost mind-boggling. My 12 year old often shows me a quick and easy way to do something online that I have worked on unsuccessfully for a while.

Maybe I’ll look into an online program for the future, but as for now I’ll file my things the old fashioned way.