Real Life vs Not - Taxes, Baking and Music

I set up our personal income tax appointment for Thursday night. We'll be finished before Project Runway starts, so no problems on that front. It does mean, however, that a large portion of my Wednesday will be spent with paperwork, getting everything together as best as possible. He always sends out an "organizer" beforehand, so I'll probably use that to make sure I have all of the correct information at hand. 

Pay $200? I'd do that in a flash if I could. It would be a
serious savings. But such things only exist in "Monopoly". 

The one thing I'm not sure about is whether we're received our property tax statements yet. We need those to file for that rebate, although we don't always qualify. Next year will be a bit crazy too with the new tax laws plus the fact that we paid off our house early this year. No sense crossing that bridge until we come to it, though. 

One of the donations I made in 2017 was to The
Trevor Project. I'm delighted with what they do to
support kids in crisis and will probably move
them to my permanent donation list within a year
or so. 

Going through tax documents, though, is never a treat. It's good to really see where the money is going, but the smaller receipts, like charitable donations and contributions, can be a pain. I'm hoping I can put my hands on each of those easily. I usually keep my records pretty much in order, but there are always the small things here and there that I either forget to pull aside or just can't find on an initial search. 

One of the really fun things in Lord of the Rings Online are
the impromptu performances by various player groups
at events or in pubs. Sometimes the performers have
similar clothing - matching in style or color, but sometimes
they are just a gathering of musicians. Some of the groups
are quite good. 

In LOTRO, the latest update finally has offered the fiddle as an instrument. There have always been a variety of instruments available for the characters, including lutes, theoboros and bagpipes (although the bagpiper don't really sound like a bagpipe), but they have never offered a fiddle. Needless to say (but of course I'll say it anyway), my High Elf immediately ran off to find a Bard and buy one. I'm looking forward to finding an isolated place and practicing. I want to play some Heavy Metal on my fiddle - LOL. 

Here are the bakers for the Spring Baking Championship Season 4. They
are already reduced by one after last night's episode. 

The Spring Baking Championship, Season 4, started last night. After the preheat challenge of a tie-dyed cheesecake, the main challenge was an ombre cake featuring a savory herb. I had never thought of an ombre cake before, always thinking of ombre in fashion where a gown or top would move through a color spectrum. These cakes were really lovely - those multi-colored layers really bright and cheerful. For me, it's better to watch the calories than indulge - LOL. 

So, I'm off to the pool. I'm almost finished with my current audio book and thinking about which book I want to start next. I'll have to return to the current series when books 3 and 4 have been put onto audio. I do have a long list of audio books to choose from (I've been buying them since 2002), so the choice will be fun. Have a happy Tuesday!