Tea Parties

It is a tradition among our friends to have a Patriot's Tea Party on President's Day - entire families in full Colonial costume, china, tea, scones, finger foods, and fellowship. It was fascinating to me to be gathered at the table with five other homemaking, homeschooling mothers all dressed up like Dolley Madison. What delightful, womanly fun! How the feminists would laugh; that is, until they heard the conversation. The topics of discussion Monday included the limits of tolerance and inclusion in liberal thought, the effectiveness of modern education, raising our children to succeed at marriage, and the debunked claims of a Virginia woman to be Anastasia.

On the other hand, the parties I've attended that were primarily feministic, working women had incredibly shallow conversation - clothes, vacations, what they'd bought for the house. It bemuses me why mothers at home are seen as brainless drudges by such brainless drudges as these women. Come on home, dears. Let's have a tea party and discuss some real issues.

How Firm a Foundation ... Is Not Built on Fraudulent Science

The fall of Reiner Protsch von Zieten, a Frankfurt professor of anthropology, ought to give chills to those who persist in interpreting scripture in light of the latest scientific "evidence." Turns out he has lied and manipulated data for 30 years in order to "prove" early humans in Europe. One skull once asserted to be the oldest human remains in the area at 27,400 years old was found to be that of an elderly man who died in 1750. A skeleton thought to be 21,300 years old was actually only 3,300 - well within the limits of young earth creationism.

It frustrates me that Christians twist and strain scripture to fit in with scientific thought that changes freely. Once I had a conversation with a thoughtful informed Christian who was surprised that with my background in biology, I was a young earth creationist. He propounded a theory that perhaps animals lived and died ages in the six days of the creation story - that their death (without souls) could have occured within the parameters of "very good" before the advent of people and sin. I countered that the fossil record showed these supposedly ancient creatures dying of cancer and violence - hardly "very good". He was shocked, he'd never known there were fossils that showed this. Would someone tell me why in the world someone who knows that little about the science of the fossil record would base his interpretation of scripture on the light of that science? No wonder people think we are idiots.

The lesson is... those who judge God's eternal Word by the theory of the day, may find that not even the evolutionary scientists are standing with them in the end - for it was his fellow scientists that exposed Protsch's fraud.

H/T WorldNetDaily

Turbo? Tax

An hour of my day:

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You have been connected to 320 Paul .
320 Paul : Hi ! How may I help you?
Customer: I filed my NC return electronically. After it was accepted, I went through the screens to complete the filing. I was told that I needed to file some additional paperwork and to follow the printed instructions, when I printed the instructions said nothing about additional paperwork, but printed a D-400Lines 37 and 45 (Other Additions and Other Deductions Statement)) that was blank except for our names and SSN. What do I do?
320 Paul : What Turbo Tax product were you using? Basic Premier or deluxe?
Customer: Deluxe
320 Paul : Is it a D-400 worksheet?
320 Paul : 400-D?
Customer: No, it's a form labeled "Form D-400, Lines 37 and 45" in the upper left hand corner.
320 Paul : Have you done your updates?
Customer: Yes, we were totally updated when we did this.
320 Paul : Is that a state tax form?
Customer: Like I said in the first paragraph, it's a North Carolina "Form D-400, Lines 37 and 45 Other Additions and Other Deductions Statement" We've used TurboTax for 9 years and I've never seen an ambiguous instruction like this.
320 Paul : Checking on this issue
320 Paul : I am assuming they are wanting you to file this form along with your return
Customer: It's a blank form, the instruction page did not say to file it, or where to file it. If I am supposed to send this in, where? I filed electronically.
The agent is sending you to http://www.dor.state.nc.us/downloads/D401.pdf.
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320 Paul : Have you checked the north Carolina website in regards to this form?
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Currently experiencing network delays, one moment please....
320 Paul : The form is totally blank or the information is not filled out on it
Network connection re-established.
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320 Paul : ? Network connection re-established.
Customer: The form is not filled out except for our names and SSNs Customer: The website is *slowly* downloading. I'll look. I'm frustrated, though. This is one of the reasons we use TurboTax -- so I don't have to play tax accountant :-)
320 Paul : Is that the only writing on the form ((Blank Page)) or are there lines and entry spots?
Customer: The lines and entry spots are there with no entries in them.
320 Paul : Did you run an error check befor you filed?
Customer: Error Check said no errors
Customer: I've checked through the website you sent and see nothing about this form.
Customer: The lines 37 and 45 instructions do not seem to apply to us.
320 Paul : I was just informed that if you ran an error check and recieved no errors then you are fine
320 Paul : That form was just for your own records
Customer: Does that mean that I file the blank form (and if so, where?) or that I do not file it?
320 Paul : Do not file it. It has already been filed when you efiled.
Customer: So, if I am understanding you correctly, the form is for our own records, and TurboTax was in error when it said we needed to file additional paperwork?
320 Paul : I'm sorry I thought you said earlier that there were no instructions to file additional paperwork 3
20 Paul : I am going to contact another agent in regards to this issue
Customer: Please read the first paragraph. The screen said we needed to file additional paperwork and to follow the instructions on the printed filing instructions. The printed instructions said nothing at all about filing another form. However this D-400, lines 37 and 45 form printed with no entries but our names and SSN.
320 Paul : did you electronically file and select Sign by paper?
Customer: No, we electronically filed with self-select pins
320 Paul : Have your returns been accepted
320 Paul : The status of your returns?
Customer: Yes, both federal and state returns have been accepted and we have DCNs
320 Paul : We are checking into the situation now
320 Paul : Do you have values on line 37 or 45
Customer: Checking, one minute
320 Paul : Sorry can you go into your return under state Taxes
Customer: No, those lines are blank on Form D-400
Customer: I checked the return and there are no entries on those lines or in the worksheet (QuickZoom) for those lines
320 Paul : Perfect
Customer: And....
320 Paul : Ther is probebly nothing else to do, just let me finish my check
Customer: Paul, I'm going to have to leave in the next few minutes, my children have chorus practice. Do you have some direction for me?
320 Paul : You should be OK If the IRS needs that form they will ask for it
320 Paul : Also were you printing to file or for your records?
Customer: Well, it's the North Carolina Dept of Revenue I'm worried about - it's their form.
Customer: I was printing the North Carolina Electronic Filing Instructions
320 Paul has left the session.
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You have been connected to 320 Gerald .
320 Gerald : Hello , how may I help you today?
Customer: Arrrggghhhh. Do you have access to the incredibly long discussion we have been having?
320 Gerald : one minute
320 Gerald : I have talked to paul and he said there is nothing to worry about
Customer: Does that mean I do not need to file this Form D-400, Lines 37 and 45 that printed?
320 Gerald : where you printing for your files or to file with
Customer: If you have access to the chat, I said that I was printing the North Carolina Electronic Filing Instructions
320 Gerald : is there values on those lines
Customer: As I have said several times, there are no values on those lines or on the QuickZoom worksheets for those lines.
320 Gerald : then you do not have to worrie about that then
320 Gerald : if there is no vaule then you do not have to worry about it
Customer: I do not file this blank form - is that correct?
320 Gerald : no, becasue there is not values
Customer: Thank you -- Bye!
320 Gerald : If you want to let our supervisor know what a good job we are doing, you can e-mail your message to taxkudos@intuit.com and we will make sure that they are informed. Thank you for taking the time to send us your compliments!
320 Gerald : I would appreciate if you could take a short survey on my personal performance, where I am rated on a scale of 1 to 7, 7 being the best. You will find this survey as soon as you close the chat window. Thank you for your feedback and for contacting TurboTax Support. Your session has ended. You may now close this window.

This is a direct copy of their customer service chat believe it or not. It's a good thing I've used TurboTax for 9 years without problems or this would have cured me. BTW, the survey never appeared on the screen. Perhaps they really didn't want to hear what I thought...

Happy Valentine's Day

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee.
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompetence.
Thy love is such I can no way repay.
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let's so persever
That when we live no more, we may live ever.
Anne Bradstreet

This is the poem I placed on the front of this year's Valentine's Day card to my dearest earthly friend, my husband. Anne Bradstreet, known as the Puritan poet, was a mother of eight, who lived from 1612 to 1672 in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony. This exactly captures how I feel about the husband that I give submission to, just as Anne Bradstreet did her husband. So much for repressed, tyrannized Puritan women :-)

Hash History

Well, that's just incredible. I have googled and googled trying to find a link for hash to put in the last post to no avail. Somehow in all these millions of webpages, no one, not one single soul, has enshrined the best end to which beef has ever been put - Union County, SC hash. It is meat and onion, cooked to tender succulence, surrounded by a broth that is the essense of them both. Served on white rolls, with bread and butter pickles on the side, there is no better eating. My mother tells me that hash is the traditional Fourth of July cookout in Union and it used to be made only then. Then O'Dell's came along, but that's a story for another day. I wish I could give you a link, but it's just not out there... and I was sworn to secrecy about the recipe.

Hypocrites and Hash

Recently someone wrote a screed about my husband, and some of our coworkers in our non-profit accusing us all of being flagrant, gasp, Christians. I am fed up with the seculars who say they are about tolerance and diversity, but are totally intolerant of anyone who disagrees with them and can't bear diversity if it includes Christianity. Why can't these guys see that they are so busy accusing us of judging folks by their beliefs that they can't see that they are judging us by our beliefs. I herewith create a new acronym RWYW - READ WHAT YOU WROTE, the 21st century version of "look in the mirror, dear."

So what does hash have to do with it? These hypocrites are making hash of the English language. It's becoming newspeak: tolerance = those who aren't "progressive" enough will be ridiculed, demonized and ostracized; diversity = you are only allowed to be different in physical, non-important ways, everyone must believe the same; inclusive = we include everyone who isn't a Christian.

And unfortunately, all this frustration makes me want to bury my sorrows in a big plate of hash from O'Dell's in Union, SC. Hash with bread & butter pickles. Lots of it. That's why I'm overweight - frustration.

"Hmmm. Hmmm. Hmmm." 

Best Sounds in the World

Tonight I'm typing around my baby girl, listening to her happy sounds as she dozes, "Hmmm. Hmmm. Hmmm." Ah, a gentle joy wells up in me. Earlier Hal and I were watching a tape with a birth story on it. Oh that newborn cry brought tears to both of our eyes. I remember one of our boys' first cry. He was born on the way to the hospital and I was worried, then that sweet, sweet sound. Those precious sounds of motherhood: a baby laugh, a newborn cry, a toddler squeal of joy, the husky voice of a young man whose heart is touched. God is good!

Social Security "Contributions"

On The Locker Room, I saw a link to Fixing Social Security by Phillip Longman who was talking about how to change Social Security to encourage child-bearing - you know, little people who will one day owe payroll taxes and keep SS able to pay benefits. Well, I think he needs to look at much simpler changes:

The vast majority of mothers of large families I know (and I know hundreds) are only able to maintain and continue growing a large family because they are homemakers, and do not work outside the home. Our culture punishes this sacrificial love in many ways, from simple denigration ("Aren't you wasting your degree?" as if the training of the next generation was a worthless task) to the marriage penalty to the Social Security system.

Did you know, for example, that a stay-at-home mother is not allowed to contribute to her Social Security account? To do this, she must leave the home, get a job, and be taxed. I know one mother in our area who drives around with her family in tow delivering flowers and earning income they don't need, while spending time they can ill afford. Why? Because she's older than her husband, and when she reaches retirement age there will be no check for her otherwise … because she's been busy raising the children who will be paying for your check.

How is this fair? Why can't she just make the "contribution" needed for her credits without going to all this trouble? She would far rather invest the money than the time.