The End of A Long Week!

So, we finally got taxes straightened around on Monday. I love H&R because of how quick we get our refunds back. This time was no different, we had our refund by Tuesday morning. So, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent paying bills and getting things that the kids need. Got each of the kids 3 pr pants and 3 shirts, and James 4 pr pants. Got Gabe and Caleb each a new winter coat, and Mike got 2 new suits and 2 new dress shirts. Myself, well I got some new lotions and body sprays. Doesn't take much to make me happy lol. We did most of our shopping at the Outlet Mall in Johnson Creek. About an hour and a half-two hours away from us, but well worth the trip in my opinion. Almost everything there is 30-80% off the retail price.
A good example is Mike's suits. S&K was having a closeout, and the suits were normally $160, and he got them for $40 a pc. That's a great deal! Gabe's coat was supposed to be $88, and I paid 26. Another great deal. Caleb's was supposed to be $50, and I paid $10.
All in all, a lot of great fun shopping!

I'm tired, and sore. My back has been giving me a lot more trouble lately, and so have my hips. Walking up and down the stairs keeps me busy, but it also makes me want to soak in the tub for the rest of the night. I used to be able to chase kids all day and night without a problem, but it's catching up to me lately. My migraines are back worse than before as well, which makes sitting here in front of the computer pure hell some nights.
Any way, gotta go get kids ready for bed.

Grrrrrr....Taxes

So we went to get our taxes done yesterday. That was fun...NOT! We give the tax guy the W-2's, the paper from unemployment, and our 1099-A from the mortgage company. All is going well, until---the tax guy looks at it and says "where did you get this?". He apparently has never seen one before, and doesn't know what to do with it! So he calls his boss over, and she doesn't know what to do with it either! They told us to come back today, that we could finish our taxes up then. But when we call, they say that they haven't figured it out yet, and the person that knows what to do won't be in until tomorrow.
What it boils down to is that they may count the principal amount that we owed as a gain, and the amount between what we owed and what it sold for as a loss. Makes no sense to me, but I also found out that the amounts from the 1099-C (and A) are supposed to be forgiven for 2007, 2008, and 2009. So we might not have to worry. Or, on the other hand, we might. Hard to say right now. Should hear back sometime after 9am tomorrow, so prayers would be appreciated.

It's been another busy week.

Wow, we're only 1/2 way through and it's been so chaotic that I wish it was Friday already! Well, not really, because when you homeschool, you don't necessarily get weekends off.
Sunday I picked up Adrian, he'll be going home tomorrow.
Been getting things ready for filing taxes, just need to get his W-2 forms. The mortgage company sent us our dreaded 1099-A form, which we're hoping won't screw up our taxes, plus we got his form from unemployment (from work being closed from the floods this past summer), that's another one that can get us, because they didn't take taxes out of it.

On another subject, it's been brought to my attention that February 8th is "Autism Sunday" and that apparently the second Sunday of every February is every year. Ok thats news to me, lol, but now I know, and am sharing the news with you all. For more information, please go to http://autismsunday.tripod.com/
A wonderful lady from the parenting_autism group on Yahoo was kind enough to share the website address with the group! (Thanks Tuna!)

The kids are doing well, and this week has been dedicated to learning about the past presidents, and all the activities that go on around the inauguration. Busy Busy Busy! We even watched most of the inaugural happenings yesterday.

On a side note, I stumbled across this blog, ( http://clusterfook.com/ ), and I think it makes a great read, and makes you really appreciate life and living it to the fullest. She's a 3 time cancer survivor, and her life has really been turned upside down as of late, and she is home on hospice care right now. Please, if you're the praying type, keep her in your prayers. If you're not, positive thoughts will help too! Now, go read her blog! Or else, lol.

So My Credit Sucks...

And now I have to figure out how to get it decent enough to qualify for a loan thru FHA. Their requirements say at least 3 yrs after a foreclosure, or 5 yrs after a bankruptcy. The question is, 3 yrs from when they filed, or 3 yrs from when it was final lol. I'm guessing from when it was final, which puts us at June/July of 2011. A little over 2yrs from now. So that gives me 2 yrs to clean up our credit and put aside a minimum of 3.5% of the price of whatever house we plan on getting, plus closing costs, and whatever little incidentals. We dont plan on spending more than $100,000 on a house, which means at least $3500 for downpayment, plus at least 3,000 for closing and extras, probably closer to $4000. Can I do this? Yes, I think I can.
And if we wait til we get taxes back in 2012, we'll have a little extra besides what we have put aside between now and then. Now I just need to figure our budget and start setting money aside where we can't mess this up.