Thanks Kansas City!

As I sit in a coffee shop in my new home of Greenville, South Carolina, I trying to figure out what I want to do next: go to Shawnee Mission Park to run or go to Westport to sketch? Should I go by Broadstreet Cafe or Crave Cafe for my coffee? Do I have time to meet the trail running group tonight? WAIT....all of these things are in Kansas City and have to be stored in my mind where all of the other good memories go.

Even though I only lived in Kansas City for one year, I did many things I will remember for my lifetime. KC is a wonderful 'family' city. At just over 1 million people, it's large enough to have everything you want but without many of the things larger cities bring.

There are very little traffic problems and one can drive across the city in 20 minutes! Compared to ATL (the only major city that I have extensive experience in) KC is a breeze. Atlanta offers nothing more than KC, but with much more aggravations.

Every little neighborhood has a park, greenspace areas, and sidewalks. There are at least 6 public parks with long running trails within 30 minutes of my old home. Shawnee Mission Park is one of the best public parks I've seen. It's well maintained and has anything you would want to do outdoors: fishing, a 22-mile riverwalk, miles of wooded trails, horse trails, a dozen covered shelters for gatherings, etc.

The cost of living is cheap and is relatively the same as where I grew up in GA.

The weather is great and you get to experience all four seasons! Growing up in mid-Georgia, winter doesn't exist. Usually I had 9 months of summer with the next three being a combination of spring and fall. In KC, each season was a few months long and by the time you were tired of one, the next was starting. It's hot during the summer sometimes reaching triple-digits for a week (but little humidity). The fall and spring are wonderful and the winter is mild (even though the locals said this past one was unusually so). I enjoyed the weather immensly mainly because of the lack of humidity - I didn't sweat each time I stepped out of the door. Yesterday in GA, the temperature was mid-90s with 91% humdity. Blah.

If you like sports then KC is full of passionate fans: the Chiefs make up the large part but you can't help but root for the 'lovable losers', the Royals. Lawrence, home of the Jayhawks, is only 35 minutes away also!

If you like music, then KC has plenty for you. It's a major stop in the midwest for all the major acts plus it's a hub for all things 'blues' (listen to the 'Fish Fry' on Friday/Saturday nights on public radio for some great music).

Anyway, I wanted to boast some and say 'thank you' KC for a wonderful year. I'll always have postive memories about my time spent there and hope my travels take me back one day.

WOW...what a month!

Things have finally started slowing down for me after the busiest month ever which involved marriage and moving across the country! I'm sitting in a coffee shop in downtown Greenville, SC after dropping Lucy off for her first day of work and it's nice to have time to rest my mind (catching up on sleep will probably take a few days).

I'll do a few seperate posts over the next few weeks with pics updating both the wedding and moving. Doing one post for all wouldn't do each justice. Thanks for all the help we got with the wedding and moving. I'm excited to get started in Greenville!

I'm no longer a crook!

GOOD NEWS!! I have been cleared of all charges and the government is no longer after me! It seems as if the IRS has 'cleared the differences between our records' and that I no longer owe them money (or my arm...or first born).

For those who haven't read the past posts, I received a letter in the mail in March saying I owed $96,000 in back taxes from 2004! Obviously this was a mistake that could have easily been corrected (if they would have checked my checking or savings!). Instead, everything was put on my shoulders to find back information, contact the client in question whose job the IRS screwed up (I was paid $960...not 96k), get an accountant to write a letter saying I'm not a crook.

After all of this, you'd think this would clear me....NOOOOOOOOOOO! I then received ANOTHER LETTER in early May saying I no longer owed 96k and 'they understand there was a mistake'...(NNNNNOOOOO SSHHHH@#@#@T!), but they couldn't see where I paid tax on the original payment of $960!

Honestly, this is wear it's get comical! I glanced at my back tax forms and saw where I paid taxes on all my 1099 forms (and I'm not an accountant). All of my 1099 (freelance) forms were totaled and then added to the amount I made from my fulltime job. When I showed the accountant the IRS' letter mentioning they couldn't find where I paid taxes on the $960, he laughed out loud!!!! Can they NOT UNDERSTAND OR READ THEIR OWN FORMS????? He then had to write another letter basically holding their hand explaining their own form to them.....pointing out where taxes on the $960 was paid!!!

In conclusion, I'm glad I kept all my back tax information. I can't imagine 'what if' and I didn't have it!!! The IRS put everything on my shoulders to prove to them that THEY SCREWED UP!! Please....everyone...KEEP YOUR BACK TAX INFORMATION because you never know when you'll have to prove you're not a crook.