A Quote for Today: September

Today I share some of my favorite Oprah Winfrey quotes. Others may have said them too because some of these I have heard similar versions before, but Oprah is quoted as saying these and I resonate with them:

"I believe the every single event in life happens in a opportunity to choose love or fear".

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough".

"My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment".

IRS Debt -- What I Found Out

It is just becoming apparent to me just how many ties and strings (on many levels) there are to unwind when married people go separate ways. This part is beginning to really fascinate me. First of all I am honestly over much of the anger I was feeling that drove me to the decision to divorce my husband. I had made this decision back in September 2007 and told him then too. So I have been unweaving the emotional ties for several months now. I can really take a step back an make observation about the process without the emotional upheaval. I find this prospective interesting. Anyway, we do not have much in assets together, but we do have debt with the IRS. And now I am working on cutting my connection with him on this too. I am happy to pay the IRS my half, but not his. The IRS (so I hear) doesn't see a married couple at two people even after a divorce; if one doesn't pay they go after the x-spouse until the debt is paid in full.

Well, I made a phone call today and told the IRS agent on the phone my situation which is that I had set up a payment plan a few moths ago to pay off our IRS debt. My soon to be x-husband has not paid for his portion of the payment in a timely matter two months in a row and the payment plan is now cancelled. I proceeded to tell her additional personal information and asked how can I get my half separated from his half. Now here is the the most interesting part ... the first IRS agent I spoke with told me there was nothing I could do about this .. she simply said that we were married for those tax years owed and we owe them together. I hung up, yes frustrated ... and you know what I did. I got back on the phone and called the IRS up again. A different IRS agent came on the line. Now I must add that callers get placed on hold until the next available agent comes on the line. I had waited nearly 20 minutes for the first agent and about 15 for the second agent. I proceeded to tell my same story to the second IRS agent and she said that I might qualify for Innocent Spouse Relief and Separation of Liability and Equitable Relief and to fill out form 8857!

Wow! I am so glad I listen to my urge to call back ... something just told me to call back. And yes, I found the form online, filld it out and mailed it in. I'll keep you posted.

Investment Club Meeting: September

We did not have a regular investment club meeting tonight. Instead we all met up this morning to do our community outreach activity volunteering at the Food Bank in Salinas. We packed nearly 300 bags of food -- assembly line style -- that were given out (after we left) to people who need food for the week. While were were there a local news station came to the Food Bank to do a new story and the investment club made it on the 5 o'clock news!

This was really fun helping out. Everyone in the group gained something from this experience. It was amazing to see the huge warehouse full of donated food and to hear about the volume of food that the Food Bank moves each week. I am always fascinated with working systems. I spent time talking to the warehouse foreman asking him about all of that.

Rewarding day!

Nature by the Drop Blending Lab

I scored on a mahogany table today off Craigslist! I needed a dining table because I hosted a Nature by the Drop blending lab tonight and did not have a dinning table.

Holly and I had two ladies come who knew a little about essential oils, but have not come to one of our labs yet. They each made a few items. My 7 year old daughter made herself a spritzer – she loves blending too!

I feel like I want to tell you more about these blending labs. We play an essential oil ice breaker to begin. Usually a new person has no idea what they want to make or what to expect from these labs. There are so many oils to choose from that it can be over whelming. So we purchased a deck of informative cards; each card features an essential oil and describes all the qualities of that particular oil. We each randomly choose a card and share what it says and then smell that oil. It is fun to see everyone light up when they discover they can really use the oil they chose for a particular purpose they happen to be working on lately.