.:charlesroper.net:.

NOTE TO SELF: From now until the day I die, hire H&R Block to file my annual income taxes. Heck, stick with them even longer than that - hire them to file my death taxes, too.

It was so easy this year. At 4:30pm I opened up my filing cabinet, pulled out 7-8 files full of bills, receipts, and past taxes, and headed down the street to the offices of H&R Block. At 5:15pm I was back in my apartment putting my files away. It took them a mere 45 minutes to open up my new account, calculate all of my deductables, and determine that I'd owe Uncle Sam an estimated $2,200 in taxes after earning over $20,000 in 2005. They did good, however in their eyes not good enough. They told me to bring in my car's log book so they could deduct any mileage associated with my business - at $0.48 per mile!

This wasn't free at all, but it was worth the $200 fee they charged me. They found ways to deduct items that I wouldn't have dreamt possible - such as rent . . . and even Internet bills! I'm sure that the amount of money that they saved me far surpassed the $200 price tag on their services. And don't even get me started on the value of time saved. I'm a small business owner now and I can't imagine the number of forms I would have had to fill out on my own this year. To sum it up, my taxes are all but paid for at this point leaving me with more time for something of greater significance - my wedding.

Ronda and I will be heading to Clear Lake this afternoon to check a few more things off of our wedding to-do list. Last weekend we reserved a lodge for the rehearsal dinner, chose and met with an officiant whom is to marry us, began the cake-choosing process, decided on tux styles and reserved my tux, chose and confirmed ushers for the ceremony, selected a master of ceremonies (MC) for our reception, sat down with my parents to discuss some of the finer details, chose a pianist and decided on some music for her to play, and chose a couple of expert singers for the ceremony - my brother and sister. Tomorrow we hope to finally choose a baker and decide on our large wedding cake along with several other smaller cakes of different varieties. We've made quite a bit of progress in the planning process recently, but as the big day is only 3 months away, we're starting to feel the need - the need for speed.

I'm sitting in my entreprenurial studies class right now, and I must say that I'm quite uncomfortable. Last week we turned in a preliminary market analysis for a proposed business idea. Basically, we were to type up an 8 page report describing the feasability of our business ideas. This report included research of similar companies in the area (competition) and extensive data about the industry that the business resides in. This analysis is what we would present to a bank if we were indeed interested in starting said business and were in need of a loan. Now back to my current comfort level. The papers were just returned and the classroom seemed to turn into a nursery filled with infants crying over poor grades. Already a business owner, I was armed with the information listed above over a year ago before I took the risk of starting up OmniScene Studios. This may be why I remain seated here in the corner quietly enjoying the score of fifty points out of a possible fifty on a plan which the professor has branded as "flawless."

Today, life is good.