Changing Seasons

I’ve not found time to write much this fall, as I’ve been focused on taking care of so many things around here. I’m happy to report that the great IRS Audit of 2012 is now over, and I did not find it as painful as I had initially thought. I felt pretty awful about the state of my books at the start of things, but after hiring an enrolled agent to guide me through the process, I’m seeing it wasn’t all that bad after all.

It turns out that the auditors were primarily looking for some things related to business in Texas. They didn’t find what they were looking for (at least not in my books!), so they’ve moved on to greener pastures.

The funniest part of the whole experience is that my expectations of what an IRS audit means drove much of my stress, created a mess that was more stressful. The actual process itself wasn’t so bad. In fact, it actually has been a REAL blessing, setting up a platform for future success.

I was actually lucky to work with both an enrolled agent and an IRS agent who were very understanding, very cool and helpful, and now I have processes and procedures to make my least favorite activity easier.

I told myself that if I had to go through an IRS audit, at least I got to do it from the comfort of a spectacular home in Mount Shasta. Being here made the experience bearable. I was able to do days of accounting (did I mention it is my least favorite activity?) while immersing myself in the beauty of this place as a respite.

Summer in Mount Shasta is the closest thing to heaven on earth that I’ve experienced. Fall is pretty spectacular, too. I spent most of my free time this summer and fall getting lost in forests (once, quite literally) and exploring with a dog or two.

This morning, however, I am drenched from doing so in the cold rain. It’s nearing winter, and that means the snows are coming.

Last week, we had a freak localized snowstorm thanks to a car commercial filmed on our street. I rounded the corner during my morning walk, only to find that the road was blocked. Not sure which car the advertisement was for, but if it is being filmed in Shasta with fake snow, I’m certain it has 4 wheel drive.

With the changing seasons, I’ll be spending more time indoors, probably a lot more time in front of the computer doing non-accounting related things. I’ve made a commitment to write another book, blog more, and share more of my experience here. It also means I’ll spend some more time traveling and sitting on beaches.