kidvisit

I got a registered letter from the CCRA yesterday, saying that I was negligent in paying a late filing fee for some form, and that if I didn't respond, then Bad Things would happen. I had a brief panicked interaction with my tax lawyer (panic on my part, not his). It's funny that after all the vaguely threatening letters I've been receiving over the past couple months, I'd have grown jaded by now.

Nope, not going to happen. The CCRA has the potential power to make my life pretty miserable if they wanted to.

Anyway, turns out that someone at the CCRA had accidentally recorded a U.S. cheque from Xlibris as a Canadian funds cheque. Though they DID cash the full amount, their computer records showed that the funds weren't sufficient. We've asked them to send me paper proof that they did receive the money they needed.

I am doing my best to cooperate with the CCRA, but I have to admit that it gets pretty frustrating when things like this happen (and they've been happening a lot in the past month).

Hope this all ends soon so I can get back to my own writing fulltime again.





I went to my sister's yesterday afternoon to hang out with my nieces. It's been a very long time since I've visited with Sara and Annie during the week, and without Jeff. Annie was delighted to have me to herself during the first part of the visit while Sara was still in school.

She dragged out every piece of artwork and writing she had done in class recently to show me, then asked me to play "pony family" with her using her pony figurines. I was the baby pony, and she played the older sister and the mother, who would take the baby pony for long swooping flights through the air (these ponies could fly) while I made gagging noises because I had motion sickness. Annie loved that.

Finally it was time to pick up Sara from school. Annie wanted to show Sara the German flag she had painted in her class, so took it on our walk. We got some curious looks from passersby on the way to the school.

Several mothers smiled and said hi to me when we arrived. The way they said hi made it clear that they thought I was Ruth (some people think Ruth and I look alike). This has happened before in other school pick-ups. I used to try explaining that I wasn't Ruth, that I was her sister, that haha yes I knew we resembled each other, but now I just smile and say hi back and then ignore them.

I resist the temptation to do something really uncharacteristic of Ruth, though the idea is fun. Ruth would kill me if she found out later, though.





Annie made us wait right in the middle of the main walkway in front of the entrance because she wanted to make sure that Sara could see us. I tried telling her that we were fifteen minutes early and suggested we play in the nearby park or go visit a nearby store with me. "No thanks," Annie said, keeping her eyes glued to the front doors of Sara's school, clutching her German flag.

One of the smiling mothers came up to me while we waited and asked if I was Ruth's sister. I said yes.

"Thank God," she said. "I was wondering how you managed to get long hair all of a sudden."

Finally Sara appeared! The girls are only let out of the school when their appointed guardian arrives to pick them up. I felt very proud to be Sara's appointed guardian that day. I saw Sara look around, and then give a huge smile when she spotted me. That grin made me melt inside, of course.

We went to a nearby convenience store to get a treat before we headed back home. I got a frozen fruit bar; Sara and Annie opted for ice cream sandwiches.

It was a wonderful and very relaxing afternoon, and helped remind me that there are things in life other than CCRA audits and bureaucratic hassles. It's hard to be stressed when a five-year-old is beaming at you with chocolate crumbs all over her face.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Annie took this photograph of herself with my camera.
	Annie with her German flag.
	Treat stop on the way home from school.
	Sara trying out my guitar.