Today was an exciting one. First, we discovered that on the new app Jeff installed for our Apple TV, we could get new movies included. This led to some very exciting shrieking because we could watch Scoob, the new Scooby Doo film. I loved watching Scooby on Saturday mornings was a big part of childhood, and the girls discovering him and the Magical Mystery crew is super fun. I ran around the house cleaning and organizing (it's pollening season, and things need to be clean) while they were happily distracted, but made sure to poke my head downstairs to see the film on our projector screen periodically.
The girls were happily cackling at the movie when I headed upstairs with a load of clean laundry, and went to check on our stimulus check once again via the internet. There's an IRS website for this, but every time I check, it says the information doesn't match what they have on file. I tried our address, and my mom's (since we had been living there when we filed our 2018 taxes), and neither worked. Frustrated, I pulled out this year's taxes, and started going through the paperwork when I made a discovery. The kind of discovery where your stomach drops out and you think how could I have been this stupid? The accountant had inputted the address incorrectly. It wasn't ours, or my mom's, it was a hybrid of the two (her town and the "Ave" part, and our street number and name. A quick Google search revealed that it was actually an address, and I took a moment to compose myself before swearing- vehemently.
I typed in the address, and sure enough, the IRS website gave the encouraging message that "Your check was mailed to the address on file on May 8th". For those of you keeping track, that was over a week ago, and mailed to strangers at an address that wasn't mine. I immediately did two things- I emailed my accountant to ask what the heck I should do (and how to change my address), and then called the post office in town, hoping that perhaps they had held onto it, or had it returned. The officer I spoke to was very kind, took my name and phone number, and promised to check with the postman who serviced that house to see if he had noticed it.
Then I took things a step further. I completed a change of address form on USPS.com, so that if anything else from the IRS gets sent, it gets forwarded to me. My phone dinged as I was completing it, and it was my accountant, telling me there is a form I needed to fill out and send in with the corrected information. I searched the IRS website, found the form, and sought a phone number to call (I know, I know, it was futile). Eventually, I found a number, but the message was that they weren't accepting calls right now (so convenient), and to try their online automated services.
Cue more vehement swearing.
I was racking my brain when a lightbulb went off. I decided to see if social media could be used for good, and hopped onto the town moms' board. I explained my situation, and asked if anyone knew who lived at the address in question.
Remarkably, within five minutes, I had a message from the administrator of the group, saying she'd found a person in the group who had that address (they need proof of residency to join the group, so I am assuming they keep an excel sheet of such things). She had reached out to the woman, and would let me know if she heard anything. I typed back immediately, texting my number and saying that if she could please pass it along, that would be a huge help, and thank-you so much for coming to my aid so quickly.
And truly, not five minutes after that exchange, my phone rang, and it was the woman who lived at that house. She told me how she and her husband had been surprised to receive the stimulus check (it's in a very clearly marked envelope), but were worried about just returning it to the IRS, since they were pretty sure it would just end up in purgatory. They were going to try the post office this week, but then she got the admin's message about me.
I am not ashamed to tell you I burst into tears. Just at the thought of these people holding onto the check, in hopes of reuniting it with its rightful owner, was a kindness that I don't take lightly. I told her how my husband is currently on unemployment, and that I'm a teacher, so money is tight. Thank-you probably came out about fifteen or so times in our three minute conversation. She told me she would leave the envelope in a box on her porch, and I promised to be there in about ten minutes.
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| The newly carpeted living/dining room areas |
They and their dad had decided to make a full morning of films (hey, it was Saturday morning after all) and followed up Scoob (two thumbs up) with Trolls: World Tour. Jeff was tired and sore from all the work he's been doing prepping our friend's house for sale, and since carpet was being installed this morning, he was able to relax and watch the movie with the girls.
The movies was... interesting. Pretty typical children's cartoons, singing and dancing, and of course, bodily function humor involving trolls pooping baked goods. There were also many, many colors, and when a troll started floating by playing smooth jazz, Jeff and I looked at each other, communicating telepathically as only two people who have been together for a quarter century can.
WTF are we watching?
I'm not quite sure- I mean, I could understand this being written DURING quarantine, or by someone on a lot of drugs...
Seriously though, did that troll just levitate while playing a hookah?
Pretty sure he did. That, or I'm more out of it than I thought. Maybe I need a full day off.
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| Outdoor chess |
By the time the trolls came together to harmonize through all the genres of music, there was much troll mythology explained, and much that frankly, I don't want to know. It had been a long morning, and while the rest of the day would bring a ride to a friend's to pick up blue-filtered glasses (to try to prevent more ocular migraines in the future), outside chess with Jeff and the girls, and me talking Jeff into hooking up the trailer to our riding mower next time he mows the lawn so the girls could take rides, nothing could quite compare to the excitement of stimulus check adventures and crazy haired dolls that sing. All in all, a pretty good Saturday.
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