Vacation Ends

I've been looking forward to this day for almost a year. On the one hand, I can't wait to do a better job now that I know what I'm doing. On the other hand, I'm pretty nervous about it. I have only two experienced tax pros returning--plus myself--and a bunch of lovely people fresh out of training. I have tried to make up a schedule that gives everyone some hours, but some of these people I have not even met yet! I am afraid I will be working lots of nights and weekends, but it will be fine. It's only for a few months.

There's so much to do, I woke up really early. We have to make sure everyone is on board to use the new software. There was lots of training, but we have to look at the latest update and do 10 or more case studies and see how it works when we have actual clients.

There are some major changes to the tax law, well, one, really. We have to ask every client if they have health insurance. If not, they may have to pay a penalty and they will have to fill out forms. Some clients are going to be very unhappy to lose their expected refund. Even if they do have health insurance, if they got it from the Marketplace (Exchanges), there is more paperwork and the possibility that their subsidy was too large (or too small), which might change their refund or amount due. Lots to learn and changes to anticipate. We have to call clients and get appointments made and do other marketing. So, I can't wait to get started, but I'm a little stressed.

Ray has been working really hard since New Year's to get in lots of walking. He is keeping track of what he eats and making sure he burns more calories than he takes in. I, of course, benefit as well, but we do spend a lot of time and energy discussing things like how much potato was in that soup I made (corn chowder with ham--very yummy).

We had a lovely lunch yesterday with John Z and Gini and John O and Deb--and Nathan. We tried to eat at the Vietnamese place -- closed. We tried the Sultan -- closed. We landed at Chonell's where we enjoyed Southern-style food that is a little less greasy than usual. We went to hear the Solstice Sisters at the library and they were great. We probably knew almost half the people there, mostly UU's.