A Taxing Time

Every spring, Will and I are reminded what horrible record-keepers we are. It’s painful. We’ll survive (at least, I’m pretty sure we will—we’ve made it through 12 times already). But it reminds me of something I once heard about marital tensions: The ultimate test of a relationship, apparently, is attempting to wallpaper a room together. It brings out the best and worst in people…again, apparently—we have not yet attempted it. We’ve painted together, and frankly, that didn’t go well. Will’s standards for evenness of color clashed with my own. We've also encountered trouble canoeing in a coordinated way, as well as jogging. Will tends to trod two steps ahead of me at all times, which irks me—it interferes with my pace, as well as my pride.

But back to the reality of our rubble—I mean, paperwork. It’s a mess!

I try—I do! Shoeboxes, mailboxes, accordion-style folders, traditional filing cabinets…none of them seem to work for us. We’re just naturally “pile people.” Which doesn’t bode well come April 15th. If we were regular work-a-day folks, it might not be such a headache, but with Will’s wedding photography business, home office considerations, various charitable donations, plus a job change for Grace this past year, we’re kind of complicated.

“This is awful,” I sputter, exasperated.

“Speak for yourself. I’ve got everything nice and tidy,” Will says, straight-faced, his hands wrist-deep in pieces of paper.

Then he acquiesces: “If we could just narrow it to which level of the house they might be on, that would help.”

It would help if we kept up with this throughout the year—I know that. I would also help if we would stick to one system instead trying new things every few months.

Ah, well—if we’re pilers, at least we’re not procrastinators…not the red-lining variety, anyway. It’s March 21st—25 days ’til Christmas, er, Tax Day! Here’s hoping some elves show up to straighten out our stuff before then!