AM~Erica Will Drink Tea in Protest

So anyway...

In the U.S., today is THAT day. It's April 15th, y'all. You know...Tax Day. (in case you forgot)

So...it's my assumption that most folks who are getting some of their moolah back from the government have already filed their taxes way before today. Amm-i-rite?

It's also my assumption that those who owe to the government at this point may have waited to today to finish up &/or file their taxes. Amm-i-rite?

Today is the tax deadline. It's a day of stress. I've also heard that April 16th is also known as "Stress Awareness Day." Go figure.

Last year, I TALKED ABOUT TAX DAY. I brought up the ridiculousness we have to deal with to get taxes done. Even worse? H&R Block has had commercials priding themselves in taking on the most difficult tax situations & how they've read the 9000-some pages of tax codes. That's what you call complicated, people! I mean...really.

In a world where we are trying to simplify things again, the government & IRS are trying way too hard to have job security. Trying so hard, in my opinion, that it has made itself quite corrupt. When the IRS seems to follow its own rules & throws a lot of law out the window...that tells you something.

The IRS does hire a lot of people, don't get me wrong. But...BUT...have you seen or ever really dealt with the masses who are dealing with your money & information? It's frightening. I'm terrified by the lowered standards that the IRS makes OK to hire. I wish I were kidding.

Also...the IRS spends a lot of our tax dollars to send out bogus letters. Did you know that? Auto generated letters & notices that are pulled from old information or nothing at all. Not only is it  bad on the economy...it's bad on the environment as they continue to kill trees as we approach EARTH DAY COMING. *face palm*

Now, politically, I am in between the crazy. I'm not red...I'm not blue; I am in the purple area. So, as I lay this out, don't accuse me of being a koolaid guzzler....especially by any of you koolaid guzzlers (and I know who you are). I have talked about, and will continue to, making the tax system simpler. I'm talking flat-taxes, people. Think about it: (for example) 10% to federal out of every check; 7% to state out of every check; 3% to local out of every check. Just to keep it even in the example. Again, the rich will still be paying more than the poor, but the ratio would be the very same. This amount would automatically be pulled out of unemployment & welfare, too. It's much along the same lines that Herm Cain brought up in his short try for the presidency: the 9-9-9 taxing. Duh! Could be just that simple...

This gets rid of ridiculous tax codes, it makes things much simpler, no stress over the forms, better for the environment, better for overall stress...
Get the idea?

And if you are using the government as your yearly savings plan...think about how that sounds for a moment. Maybe you should open a CD to get interest on your savings, or put it in a savings account. Trust me...it might actually be better than trying to appear to be a better citizen by "paying more taxes" that you might get back after filling out 5 billion forms...probably more than once. Amm-i-rite?

In the meantime, we continue to protest in our own ways...cuz we still gotta pay taxes. So, have a tea party to protest. Again...not talking about the new republican-based party. They started with this premise...less taxes/lower taxes. However, it's produced some of the most radical characters yet. Yes...characters. But I'm talking the old-school Boston Tea Party concept. If you remember, I BROUGHT UP SUGGESTIONS BEFORE.

So, I think I'll wear a hat, drink some tea, and take in some of the freebies & discounts being offered today. Of course...after I have finished consuming my coffee...

How about you?

*PINKIES RAISED*

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

**********

UPDATE: The above post was from this morning. This afternoon, the horrific story & images have come out of Boston at the historic marathon finish line. Explosions going off down the street near the finish line is unreal & awful! And possibly a couple more found that did not go off? I would hope this is not a protest for Tax Day. It is ugly & uncalled for.

Pray for these people! Many had this on their bucket list & may not have gotten to finish. Many come from all over the world to run in this particular marathon. Those who did finish & was such a great feat now have had it turned upside down.

As of this update, 2 confirmed dead & 23 wounded. So sad. I'm in shock.

Reiterating Earth Day Confuses AM~Erica

So anyway...

It's Earth Day! I would love to know if you all are partaking in anything or if you are just continuing on with lives. If you read my POST YESTERDAY, then you'll know I see this more as Earth Environment Awareness Day.

Now I need to let you know upfront that we still get the newspaper delivered on our driveway. The biggest reason is so I can get my sales papers for price matching & coupons. So we are working on it. However, if you look at (or already read) my post from yesterday, then you will know my Earth Day weekend issue with what my son brought home & it's timing. Well, along the same lines, the Kansas City Star had an extra "section" printed & put in the paper on how to be better to the environment. Once again..."IRONY". Sure...let's kill a couple more trees to print about how to be better to the Earth. Smooth.

*face palm*

If we are going to put Earth (Environment Awareness) Day into practice, do we have to have environment-destroying ways to do it?

Don't get me wrong...I, personally, am still learning & revising & trying; it's sad to see schools, media & places of business be so hypocritical of the practice.

Thanks for the info, y'all...but there's gotta be another way!

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica Ponders How This Teaches Earth Day to Kids

So anyway...

As many of us know, since it's talked about and advertised and covered many ways, tomorrow is Earth Day. A day to bring heightened consciousness about the environment around us & what we can do to help take care of it. This should happen all the time, so I really think we should call this "Earth Environment Awareness Day". But that's just my thinking.

Earth Day seems to get a lot of people & places talking, discussing & learning about our environment and ways we can keep it good condition. Schools, for example, try really hard to cover this. I know my lil guy's school has gotten onto teachers for the amount of paper they use. Really I think it's more of a budget matter, but it still fits here. I had heard that 1st grade does get a whole lot of paper coming home. I thought that was crazy! And then the paper crackdown happened. We still get a lot coming home. I can't tell you the piles & mountains of paper we get brought home with him.

Lil guy had been talking about what they cover at school. This past week, they've been discussing & learning about Earth day & things we can do to help our environment. I think that's great! But when he came home yesterday bringing up that they had been learning about Earth Day, I never expected him to pull this from his bag:

Yes...you see a destroyed forest on the floor with a couple of booklets they made about Earth Day & healing the world. How did this really help teach the kids about the care for their environment? It might be on paper (ironically), but certainly not in practice. The contradictoriness of this has entered sad & epic proportions. This is what he brought home for Earth Day weekend. The Lorax would cry.

Speaking of the Lorax, you all should know my love for Dr. Seuss...you know, since I'm a MEGA FAN, and all. I honestly believe that Dr. Seuss (aka Theodore Geisel) was way ahead of his time in his thinking, especially when he created & wrote "The Lorax". We saw the movie & it was amazing. The whole story is so painstakingly relevant to this day. So imagine what I was thinking when I looked at this pile of Earth Day weekend send-homes.

I have decided to use this post as a help to hold me accountable for my part. I want to make bigger strides in the environment's care.

Get things from thrift shops to help repurpose or repurpose things from around the house instead of throwing away. Or, to help with TAX DAY in the future, donate your stuff to a thrift store...or see instant "reward" by having a garage sale. "One man's trash is another man's treasure." The old saying can certainly help with our environmental issues. Like I found a candlestick holder & a wooden Lazy Susan at a thrift store (Salvation Army, to be exact). I attached the two together to make a spinning cake stand.

Pinterest (if you're on it) actually has fantastic repurposing ideas & ways to make your own foods, cleaners, etc. for safer & cheaper, too.

Less chemicals & more recycling of things. If your disposal company does not do recycling in your area, find out what you can do. The company we use does do recycling, but not in our area...strangely. Do research on recycling places, too. What are the emissions going into the air to recycles some paper, plastic & glass. Something to think about.

There are SOOOOOO many more ways & things you can help out & do your part. It can be big or it can be small...but anything that can help, does.

So, have a great Earth Day...but keep in mind it's an awareness day. Earth Day should be happening EVERY day.

(and just to prove it...I might share this blog post again at random times just as a reminder)

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

What's Goin on with AM~Erica?

So, anyway...

I have a few things to put into this post. So, just bear with me.

Let me jump back a few nights ago to our church's annual auction (formerly MUMC Youth Auction, now Missions Auction which still helps the youth PLUS missions). This is an insane, fancy event! My hubby & I went to our first one last year, and we couldn't believe the amount of $$$ being put out there for items. There was a silent auction for a TON of stuff, then there's a oral auction with an auctioneer - a REAL one! We were so out of our league last year, we mostly went for the food & hoped we could participate in the silent auction. We did win a pair of tickets to see High School Musical at the Muny for my daughter's b-day...that was it. We spent the rest of the time eating and smiling & nodding (plus we enjoyed the company of the people at our table).

This year was different...very different. First, it was VERY scaled down & low-key. We are in a recession, so I know that had to hurt this fabulous even quite a bit. Plus there was a lot of other things going on during the weekend, so even the attendance was much less than in the past. No silent auction this year (WHAT...that's how we got to participate last year!), but still an oral auction with the same auctioneer - who, btw, has done the MUMC auction all 16 years it's been in existance. But there was a great change! People actually got to BUY for missions! The 4 major organizations our church supports had booths set up with displays of what they needed - then people could buy one of those things, or give toward it. Wow - it was so much more meaningful to actually see what you were doing for the organizations first hand. In return, you could get tickets, depending on what you spent, to go toward a donation RAFFLE. There was a few neat things we were deciding what to put our tickets toward - including the unbelievable safari package that contained jungle games, books, toys, stuffed animals, A YEAR'S MEMBERSHIP TO THE ST. LOUIS ZOO & BEHIND THE SCENES PASSES TO GO WITH IT. Amazing. We definately wanted to try for that one...especially with the kids. We put in a couple of tix for the "Girls Night Out" package that included 2 tickets to Hairspray at the Fox Theatre. I would take Liz, of course. Then, God Bless Betsy. Betsy is a wonderful woman of God with a GIANT heart. She & her hubby bought several items for the organizations & had more tickets than they knew what to do with...they were GIVING THE TICKETS AWAY!! She gave us about 12 more. So...we put a BUNCH more into the zoo bucket, another in the Hairspray bucket, and then a couple more into one called "All About Me" - a spa package. Why not...

We had a pretty good meal, the oral auction didn't have the money flowing as abundantly (it was all still too much for us), but we still had a fun table & glad we got to participate & get all dressed up. You will love to know that I wore a gorgeous dress that is bright turquoise with a touch of sequin & beading detail - an $8 find at Goodwill. I got more compliments in that crowd than I would have imagined. Glad I wore it! OH...and I, of course, had a scarf for my hair that happened to match.

As for the raffles, I won the "All About Me" package...you know - the "afterthought" one! YEA! Oh, darn - now I have to find sometime to USE it! OK - I have a year. There's bound to be a little time in there somewhere to get a pedicure & a spa treatment of sorts, right? We didn't get the others we were really pulling for, though. Oh well. It was a fun night! And, don't worry, I did thank Betsy for the spa package since it was her ticket that got it for me.

Today is Earth Day & also Administrative Professionals Day. Since I'm an "administrative professional", the guys at work got me flowers (which happend to match my outfit today - FUNNY) & they are taking me to lunch at the Brickhouse. YUM! I love my job!

And, I have caught a bug...the Twitter-bug! Seriously...you can follow @ http://twitter.com/iTweetAM_Erica. And it's connected to my FaceBook status updates.

This is what I have for now. I am trying to work up the courage for a much harder post. Pray for God to give me strength for that post to help with my healing. You will understand once I can get it posted...next time...

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

PS ~ you can follow me on my blog & on Twitter! Just hit the "Follow" button on either if you have an account or after you set one up. It's easy to do on BOTH! See you there!