Archive for the 'Others' Category

We’ve filed our taxes. Have you? Although it is a once a year affair, we do not look forward to it in the least bit. It is quite a lot of paperwork. Recently we received a letter from the inland revenue informing us that our taxes is back to employment income classification. We had been asking to be reclassified for years. Previously they reclassified our joint income taxes because they deemed my stock broker’s income as business income. I have not been working since my babies came along. My elder girl is 9 years old now. Imagine how long it takes for a reclassification.

Anyway, as I said I hate it. I no longer have any income now, so I am spared. Actually, come to think of it, doing up taxes is not so bad after all. It means you have some income. We often put away doing the taxes right to the very last minute. We like to procrastinate when it comes to filing our income tax returns. I find that people often procrastinate when it comes to something that they do not enjoy doing. If you were living in the US, you can extend your tax filing deadline.

Here is the tax extension form 2010. That is really good. It will certainly gives one more time to prepare and complete your taxes so you don’t have to be penalised. You can even revise and resubmit your extension for free if it was rejected by the IRS the first time. I really like that. I also like the fact that everything, including the tax extensions, can be done online now. It really saves a lot of time.

This morning, when I checked my feed reader, it was full of Mother’s Day posts! There was Mother’s Day 2011, Mother’s Day wishes, 2011 Mother’s Day, Happy Mother’s Day 2011, Mother’s Day celebration. So I guess I shall join the masses and write a post about Mother’s Day. 

In the morning, both the kids woke up and promptly forgot about me as they rushed out to the study room to play computer games. During the rest of the day, I helped them get some revision done for their coming exams. Mother’s Day always falls in May just before the first semester school tests so I guess that this year and every other coming year will probably be spent like this.

However, husband was kind enough to take us out to lunch even though this Mother here claimed that she was on a weekend diet. Well, the dieter ended up eating succulent pork burgers that melt in the mouth with cheese followed by butter cake with ice-cream. Yum. Yum.

As my husband was rushing us out of the house for lunch, the little one said “Why is daddy rushing even on Mother’s Day?” Lol. I had to inform him that if daddy hadn’t rushed we would have to eat in or eat takeout instead. I don’t think he would have minded. He and his sister both are currently so mad about Plants vs Zombies that the would gladly stay home and play all day instead of go out with boring old mummy and daddy. Guarding their house from invading zombies is certainly more interesting to them, for now.

Lunch was a very rushed affair, we rushed out of the house, then did some errands before rushing back as there were some workers on our roof. No they weren’t installing the Infinity Dish, though I wish they were. They were merely fixing the leaks on the roof. I certainly hope they get it fixed, this time! I can’t count how many times workers have been up on my roof.

That reminds me, we had been promising the kids that we will be getting them more TV channels soon. HDTV channels, something like those being offered by Infinity Dish would be excellent. We had better wait till after their exams. Then they can watch and play all day. My daughter quipped “Whatever that we don’t have the time to do now, mummy and daddy will say, let’s do it during the school holidays.” Then school holidays would have come and gone and we would only have done half or less of all the things that we had planned to do. Oops!

So that was how we spent Mother’s Day this year, with workers up on the roof, a quick lunch, revising school work with the kids and no HDTV.

The weather has been erratic. It has been either raining cats and dogs or hot and humid. Yesterday I put my children’s school shoes out to dry because the sun was out and there were no dark clouds in sight. When I returned, the shoes were soaked in the pouring rain. At other times, I’d leave the wet shoes in the house to dry because it looks grey and about to pour but when I return, the sun is out with no sign of the earlier grey clouds. It is uncanny. This happens to me ALL the time.

It is the same when I am waiting for the children after school. Some of the mothers I see are all covered up with hats and gloves to protect their fair skin. I wonder how they can stand being in all that clothing in the hot sweltering sun and heat. It is so hot, I can feel the heat piercing right through my skin. Usually by the end of the school term, I am a shade or two darker because I prefer to wear sleeveless clothing.

At other times there will be a thunderstorm with lighting, a downpour and strong winds. Once, I got totally wet even with the umbrella. By the time we got home, I was soaked and we had to lay my daughter’s books out and dry them with a hairdryer.

At times like this, especially when it is so hot and humid, I would dream of family ski holidays for my family. It would be just so lovely to get away from this crazy weather to somewhere cool with great scenery to remind me of nature’s beauty. I am sure the children will love it. We would all have to attend ski school though but these are usually available for places which offer ski holidays for the entire family.

It is not too far fetch a dream because there are many cheap ski holidays available. Yes, a holiday right now to a cool, cool place, would be very nice indeed.

There are many terms used to describe the word “mom” these days. For example, I am a SAHM or the Stay At Home Mom. There is also the FTWM or the Full Time Working Mom. We’re on both sides of the coin. However, right there in the middle is a space where most people would like to be, a balance between both called the WAHM. That is the Work At Home Moms.

I know so many ladies who have managed to find that space to become a WAHM. Most of them are bloggers whom I have known since I started blogging in 2004. Some of them started selling clothing via the internet, some started sewing and selling handbags, some started online bookshops. Some made cakes and sold them through the web and others sold their beautiful crafts using their blogs. Incredible! So many opportunities. Freelance writing, photography, wedding planning, you name it. Staying at home no longer means being a boring old housewife.

Starting a home business is relatively easy. However, I think what differentiates a good home based business from another is professionalism. Like any other businesses, one must be professional about it. You should be able to market and promote yourself well through good copywriting and other useful promotional materials like good photographs, a website and a blog. You should also have business cards. It is a cheap but very effective and the most basic of all marketing tools. You can easily print a set of 100 custom business cards for less than $11. A business card adds credibility and professionalism to your business.

It is my dream to move away from being a SAHM to become a WAHM one day. I can’t bake or sew, do crafts of take photographs but I can write. I have always loved to write. I hope to become a freelance writer one day. What about you?

Time really does fly. Christmas is almost upon us. I haven’t done any Christmas shopping yet this year. With dad in the hospital and the children on school holidays, I can hardly find the time. In between that there are the normal don’t sweat the small stuff day to day problems we have to deal with like the roof that leaks whenever it rains, the light fittings that need to be replaced, the auto gate remote that stopped working and a host of other small stuff. I wonder how everyone else manages.

I have been shopping for school bags and school uniforms for the children. I suppose I will eventually get around to shopping for Christmas Presents. Oh, I do love to shop for Christmas Gifts. I love thinking about each receipient and thinking about what that person likes and imagining how that person will be delighted by the gift.  (or so I hope, and not have it returned or put aside. Once I had the experience of receiving the very same gift I had given to a family member at the next Christmas. Ouch! That hurt. I must do better at my choices.)

Anyway, there is nothing like Christmas gift shopping to pump up the adrenaline. I enjoy Christmas shopping or any other kind of shopping for that matter, whether for something for myself or others. I better get started soon. I hate jostling with crowds and the long queues. It kind of spoils the shopping mood a little.