October 15th, Tax Deadline

I am glad it’s over. Actually, today was not a busy day after all. I had a few semi-exciting moments and that was it. No surprises. Nobody ran into my office. Nobody flew in to see me. So I started to miss the tax season stress! Afterwards, I went out to eat at Sushi Ken with my daughter and we went to JoAnne’s fabric store to search for fabric for her new condo. I almost forgot where JoAnne was, as I have not stepped foot in the store since our children were involved in local theatre productions. It was fun for a change. Another tax season is finally over and the holiday season is near: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Then another tax season starts all over again…

A SCORPION IN BROOKLYN?

I am sorry about the title, Kay, but I could not resist it....

OK. So, the story. I was in Brooklyn, NY last month to attend my niece Kay's wedding. While I was unpacking my suitcase in my hotel room, I saw a light brown creature crawling around on the floor just a foot away from me. I instantly screamed, "Scorpion!" My sister stretched her neck my way and said, calmly, no.... So I thought I was just paranoid and saw a scorpion on some lame insect. I stepped on it just in case... Then, a few hours later, it dawned on me as I went about meeting my daughter in Manhattan. It was a scropion. It must've been a scorpion. What else could it be? My sister had never seen a scorpion in her life. I was stung by a scorpion twice and literally had to be carreid by my daughter to urgent care! I am an expert. But then, why was it there? A scorpion in Brooklyn? How is that possible? It can't be! After a few moments of coufusion, I concluded that the littel insect must have accompanied me in my bag from Phoenix to Philadelphia to my sister's place in Merion, PA to NYC to Brooklyn, completely undetected! Amazing. I realized how extremely lucky I was this time that the scorpion left me alone while I was pushing the books in and out of the bag, folding and unfolding to fit it in my other carryon bag, sticking my hands in to get tissues and the pens, and much more! That night I went back to my hotel room, picked up the dead scorpion and put it in a Ziplock bag. This was to bring the victim back to the original soil for a proper burial. :-) Well, it's still sitting on my bathroom counter in Phoenix and I am still staring at it with amazement....

By the way, the wedding was beautiful and touching! I was a very happy anunt. Congratulations, Kay and Dean!!!

NSA Convention in San Diego, CA

This was my third trip to San Diego in one year. I attended National Society of Accountants Annual Conference on August 12-16. I did not know may people there, but I was immediately greeted with friendly smiles everywhere! The IRS Forum I attended in July was at the same Town & Country Resort, but the same resort looked so different when you had such a totally pleasant experience with a wonderful bunch of people (AKA, accountants). Participating in the business meetings on by-law changes and the officer elections was a great learning experience. I liked that we had ample time for networking and also meeting with the vendors at Expo. We also had 12 hours worth of professional seminars during the convention. Most of the meals were included in the convention, so we ate & ate & ate while we enjoyed our company. Early morning walk in the compound with the fellow accountants for "Walk for Scholars" was a lot of fun. But the real highlight of the convention was to witness Jo Ann, Nina, Chris and Mary accepting Affiliated State Organization of the Year Award (we are ASPA - Arizona Society of Practicing Accountatns)!!! I was so proud to be a prt of the organization.

Sumiko in Philadelphia

IRS Tax Forum in San Diego, CA.

My highlight in July was attending the IRS Tax Forum in San Diego, California. This was my first tax forum and I stayed in a lovely courtyard cottage surrounded by rose bushes at Town & Country Resort & Convention Center. For three days, there were non-stop tax seminars going on from 8 AM and I earned 18 CPE credit hours after so much fun learning the tax laws! I love out of town conferences because I have the time to exercise and time to think without distractions. I walked half an hour every morning and exercised every night. We had a long lunch break in Expo room so we could visit exhibitors and have networking opportunities with 1500 other tax professionals. On the second night, I became gutsy and took a train near the convention center to Old Town. I strolled around the town and accidentally bumped into a Sushi bar!!! And you guessed what happened. I changed my plan and ate there. San Diego is my husband’s favorite city and I actually missed Japan when I felt nice sea breeze on my cheek. The whole convention was such a great learning experience for me but I didn’t even have enough time to experience all that they offered. I would love to attend one of the IRS focus groups, where they discuss various tax issues, and would love to go to the IRS Resolution Room, where they challenge that they will solve our toughest tax case for us. Well, there is always the next year!

http://www.epltax.com/

PHILADELPHIA

Our family trip to Philadelphia was not quite what we all expected… It was June 25th - I was in a cab from Brooklyn to NYC with my sister Kaz and niece Kay, when all the news coming down at once! First, the news about Farrah Fawcett, then Michael Jackson, a message from my doctor’s office about mammogram, and later on, Kimiko’s injury. I was shaken… This chaotic moment was sandwiched by some calm and wonderful times such as a nice walk at Coney Island with my sister and niece earlier that day and a great dinner meeting with Kay’s fiancé, Dean, at Momofuku restaurant afterwards. I was just thinking… so many things could change in life so quickly! We originally planned our family trip to Philadelphia to see Kimiko perform in “Spring Awakening” at Academy of Music and to celebrate her 20th birthday. But she had a stress fracture in her right foot, and when we saw her, she was in this huge black boot and with the crutches. No way, she could dance on stage! So we ended up cancelling our tickets and all of us spent most of the weekend doing what we do best, just “eating”, to celebrate Kimiko's birthday! A month later, my mammogram result was cleared with repeated X-rays. But I went over my life plans in my head during my trip to Philadelphia…

On A Positive Note

“There is nothing on earth that you cannot have – once you have mentally accepted the fact that you can have it.” – Robert Collier, author of “The Secret of the Ages”

“You are a thoroughly good person. You deserve a wonderful life full of success, happiness, joy, and excitement. You are entitled to have happy relationships, excellent health, meaningful work, and financial independence. These are your birthright. This is what your life is meant to include.

You are engineered for success and designed to have high levels of self-esteem, self-respect, and personal pride. You are extraordinary; there has never been anyone exactly like you in all the history of mankind. You have absolutely amazing untapped talents that, when properly unleashed and applied, can bring you everything you could ever want in life.

You are living at the greatest time in all of human history. You are surrounded by abundant opportunities that you can take advantage of to realize your dreams. The only real limits on what you can be, do, or have are the limits you place on yourself by your own thinking. Your thoughts and the actions that they trigger, determine your whole life. And the best news of all is that they are completely under your own control. Your future is virtually unlimited!”

– Brian Tracy from “Change Your Thinking Change Your Life”

…Well, I guess I have nothing more to add… When you go to bed tonight, just imagine some great things to be, to do or to have, and keep that image around, and forever. You will be surprised to meet your own dreams some day, unexpectedly. J With lots of love, Mom.

I e-mailed this note to my daughters when they left home at tender ages of 18 and 17 as a von-voyage gift. It still applies to me and to everyone. Having a faith in ourselves and keeping a positive outlook should have the first place in my Blog entry.