With the wonderful spring weather arriving, I thought I would do some work in the garden today. It was tough to get started, but once I did it felt good. The winter was hard on many of the plants and there were a lot of dead branches to clear away. I put in a good couple of hours got the blood flowing.

I managed to get the front yard looking pretty good, but there is a lot more work in the back. The lawn will need mowing soon and I’m thinking about letting Kyle start that this year. I’m sure he is looking forward to another chore!

 With the tax deadline quickly approaching, there are still a lot of people who need to get their taxes done. Every year there are numerous people who put off doing their taxes till the last minute. Many times, people just don’t feel like doing the work, but other times they have a reason not to want to do their taxes.

My friend Bob is one of those people. He has had some tax problems in the past and owes a lot of money. Bob is one who has a IRS wage garnishment. I’m not saying it’s not his own fault, but he is my friend and I wanted to help him just the same. We were talking the situation over, and I informed him that he may benefit from the professional advice of a tax attorney. That way, he may be able to get a handle on his financial situation.

Bob is a great guy and I felt that he should not be punished to harshly for some of his decisions. I also told him that not only should he get help with his federal taxes, he would be able to get state tax help as well. Bob felt a lot better about the situation after our discussion. I am happy that I was able to make him feel a little more at ease.

As mentioned before, I had begun to feed the ducks in the pond behind our house. As it happened, I was at the pet store and saw a cute little bird feeder. A few dollars later, I hung the feeder in the little tree out back.

What a ruckus they make!! I watch from the house as the birds chase each other all around and squabble over every crumb. The smart ones wait on the ground for the scraps to fall and avoid the competition.

That reminds me, its time to feed the kids!

Since my mother has retired and moved to Florida, she is enjoying her life. One of the problems she has is that she spends a lot of time alone. She has friends and neighbors to talk to for sure, but they are not always available when she feels like socializing. I don’t always have time to talk with her, so I started looking for a way for her to meet new people.

I did some research online and I think I came up with a solution. I introduced her to the concept of Senior Chat Rooms. I found a good one at seniorchatcity.com. The service is free so that’s always good. The best part is that she is now able to connect with thousands of other seniors who share her interests. There are a lot of seniors out there who are in the same situation as she is. They can spend hours chatting or just touch base once in awhile.

Mom really likes it and has begun to use it more and more. She even went out and got a webcam so she would be visible online! She has lots of friends now and regularly chats with the ones she likes the most. I’m glad I was able to help mom keep up a social life and in developing a safety net of friends she trusts.