You can tell when our lives become kind of ho-hum by the lack of blogs from me.  It’s been a while since I wrote, so I’ll update you on what we’re up to.  Hopefully, you will find something of interest!

Mark has been in school for almost a month now, and he’s doing well.  He has taken apart and put back together every brand of toilet they have at the school, and he also got to use a plastic soldering gun or something.  I don’t claim to understand it, but I know he thought it was cool and whatever it is, he’d like to add it to his tools.  This week he was working on water heaters and next week he’ll be working on refrigerators, which should be interesting since ours isn’t working.  He has passed every test he has taken.  Go, Mark!

I am getting more familiar with my job as a receptionist for H&R Block, although I will say that I never seem to choose easy jobs.  All through January I was wondering what the fuss was about, but this week, all hell broke loose!  Today all our tax pros were booked solid and our boss brought in a first year tax pro to help us out for the day.  This morning I’m sure she was wondering what she was doing there because our tax pros seemed to have everything pretty much in hand, but this afternoon people started walking in asking if they could have an appointment and the sub got to work on a couple tax returns.  The phones were ringing off the hook and our waiting room was full.  When my replacement came in, I was more than happy to turn the reigns over to her.

This is kind of what my day looks like…  I come in and get myself clocked in and put my stuff away, get the coffee going if someone hasn’t already started it, print out the daily stats and post them in the staff room, and finally settle in at my computer at the front desk.  I pull up the day’s appointments, but also the week’s appointments, and call ahead to try to confirm the appointments that are several days out.  As people come in, I greet them, get them checked in, and see if their tax pro is ready for them.  If not, I offer them coffee, or for children who come in, I show them where the coloring books and crayons are kept.  On Mondays I clean the bathroom.  (I can’t seem to get away from housekeeping!)  If there are quiet times, I call the folks who came in last year to see if they are ready to set an appointment yet this year.  I am up to the folks who came in last April.  It’s a long list, believe me!  It’s getting to the point where there aren’t all that many quiet times though.  It’s hard to find a tax pro available to answer phones when I want to take my lunch.

If you are going to a tax preparation office or a CPA, I suggest you make your appointment now!!!