Soccernomics

Just spent a hard day at youth soccer; those snack stand duties are never-ending. Guess it pales in comparison to the lousy days B1 and B2 had on the soccer field - both were on teams that lost badly, and both were goalies on the receiving end of the five goal rule. (This means that after the opposing team is more than five ahead, they have to stop scoring. Instead they pass the ball back and forth to each other in a mocking manner, while you, as goalie, are left to aimlessly ponder all those goals that sailed past you, landing you in this miserable state.)

Youth soccer around here is an elaborate behavior modification program, not just for the kids, but for the families as well. The newest twist this year is snack stand duty, a staple of little league (apparently) but new to those of us who only do soccer. So I'm out there first thing in the morning hawking overpriced root beer and Nerds candy to seven year olds (part of a balanced breakfast, I'm sure), so that our registration fees will only increase by five dollars next fall instead of ten. How about we all go home, feed our kids a frozen waffle or two, and save the money we would have spent on overpriced snacks for next fall's registration fees?

Kvetchy on the subject of fundraisers, because it is fundraising season at school as well. We give this one a miss, and just write a check directly to the PTA instead of buying overpriced candy and gift wrap. The kids don't quite understand why we pass this opportunity up, but they are resigned by now. SGH came up with a radical new fund-raiser idea: the adopt-an-elementary-student program. For the price of a Starbucks coffee a day, you can sponsor the education of an elementary student. You will receive a photo of your student, and weekly correspondence from your student. Periodically, you will be apprised of your student's academic progress. In fact, you will even be invited to meet with your student's teacher to discuss your student's unique situation.

Or maybe we'd all rather just do another jog-a-thon.

Messiesscorp Season

Everyone knows about tax season, but what sometimes escapes attention are the subtle rhythms that define our days the rest of the year: the mild bustle that accompanies the quarterly payroll tax deadlines, the 1099 activity in late January (or early February...or late February... or ...), even the eerie feeling along about August 10 that something needs to be taken care of sometime soon. After all, it's only been a year or two since the IRS dropped the "first extension" and "second extension" rigamorole for individual tax returns.

And if it's September...your tax preparer might be busy working on S-Corp returns for people who have only the vaguest idea when and how they became S-Corps in the first place. Happy Messy-S-Corp Season. (And woo hoo, since taxable income/loss flows through to the individual tax return, most likely no tax liability. And no tax liability equals no late filing penalty. So Messiesscorp season just may extend into mid-October.)

CPE

Clock's a-ticking, gotta get those hours. Wasted way too much time over the past six weeks shuffling between Boss A, who says "do it this way, it's cheaper, and better" and Boss B, who says the same. Last year I punted and went to the online CPE provider whose logo is the little paper airplane. I embarrassed even myself. This year, determined to actually acquire some knowledge in addition to the course hours, I buckled down this past Saturday and slogged through eight hours of home study (or in this case, office study, since I couldn't get access at home, even with legitimate passwords). I won't tell how many hours it took, but it wasn't eight. Only 22 more hours (or the relevant factor thereof) to go.

We're wilting here in the heat, a condition very unfamiliar to us. The whole family except me are laid up with a bug - I think it's the one the pediatrician, in her professional capacity, refers to as "school crud". Its symptoms are general logieness and irritability, punctuated by violent spells of coughing. We decided some videos were appropriate, but in retrospect maybe "Goldfinger" wasn't such a great choice for a nine year old. (Useful if you want to figure out how to kill a baddie quickly in a bathtub, though.)

Brings back memories of a sweltering Memorial Day weekend years ago, BK (before kids), when SGH and I spent the whole sweaty weekend watching Barry Lyndon. Boy did we know how to party.