That’s right, only two days remaining until the most dreaded day of the year is beyond us…April 15th! For me, this day can’t come too soon. The period from Jan 1st thru April 15th is absolutely the worst beginning with the preparation of W-2 forms and 1099’s, closing out the year for work as well as private clients, and finally preparation of numerous tax returns…as well as answering a multitude of tax related questions for everyone and anyone!

While I appreciate the confidence people place in me (and it’s kinda nice being the “expert”!), my stress level drops dramatically after April 15th! I don’t like letting down anyone and am glad I can help so many people every year. But it’s nice when it’s over.

I should get my refunds back from both the feds and the state in about 10 days–just in time for all the expenses I expect to be dealing with in Vegas related to Kevin and Soula’s wedding in May. Won’t be spending nearly as much $$$ as the two of them, but will still be enough that I’m glad I’ll have those refunds to cover the expense rather than putting it on MasterCard!

Finally went shopping last weekend for my “mother of the groom” dress. Had been putting it off. Just couldn’t get motivated to buy what I thought would be one of the most expensive dresses I had ever purchased. But I really wanted it to be nice. After all, this would be for my first son’s wedding! So I headed off to the mall on Sunday afternoon…

First stop was at Nordstroms where I expected to find some spectacular dresses that would be way out of my price range. Instead, I found nothing that was appealing, even though the prices weren’t all that bad. So, cross off Nordstroms.

Next stop was Robinsons-May. They had racks and racks of dresses and I found 5 or 6 and headed off to the dressing room. None were really what I wanted until the last one. It was absolutely perfect and exactly what I wanted! It is floor length, light beige in color with a “jacket” that is actually attached to the top rather than being a separate piece. The “jacket” is trimmed with white embroidery and beads. The dress is elegant and classy as well as being extremely comfortable! It is polyester, but feels like organza. What more could I ask for!

The more that I got was the price…the dress was on the clearance rack, plus Robinsons-May had a 15% off everything sale, plus I had a $25 gift card. The final cost to me was (are you sitting down?) $21! I am still amazed.

Still need to get shoes, a purse and some kind of jewelry. Will be watching the ads this week, but doubt I’ll find anything as spectacular as the deal I got on the dress. Will probably spend more on my shoes than what I spent on my dress!