Tax time, planning and packing

Evenings this week – prior to our leaving for Honduras – I am working on taxes. My goal is to have the paperwork ready for the accountant in Amarillo when Mama and I go over to see Gaylon, Chase and Makaila’s new baby; sometime early in March. Lat night I was able to get the tallies for farm expenses and incomes for last year. We had a pretty good year at the farm overall. Our expenses were double our income, but our income was not too shabby. We bought and sold sheep. We bought and sold cattle. We bought and sold goats. We sold many dozens of eggs. We sold beef and lamb and pork processed from animals we raised. All that adds up. On the expense side, we fed out our herd and flock through the year. All that adds up too. I build structures and we prepared for beehives on our farm this year. That new project is one of the drivers to take this trip early in the year. We will be very busy with the hives starting in early April.

This year I expect we will do better on the income side of the equation. It will still not match our expenses but if we start to get honey, that will add to our marketable products. That is an additional benefit of the farm. We get to raise our own beef, pork, goat and chicken, collect fresh eggs, grow vegetables and fruits and get our own honey (hopefully) and accrue the losses that accompany those activities. How much longer Mama and I will be able to keep the farm is an active question, but for now we are managing okay. It certainly helps at tax time each year. It gives me lots of projects to work on through the year. It gives Mama an outlet for her husbandry talents. A definite win for all of us. The animals included.

Mama and Victoria managed to get all the items for Cori et.al. in one suitcase without it being too close to the weight limit. That leaves Mama and I one suitcase to pack along with our carryon bags. That should be more than enough for the two of us. It will definitely be more than enough for us to handle as we lug the bags through check in at the airport. Mama is taking her walker. That adds an interesting dynamic to the process of getting our bags to the counter, but we will work it out on the fly – so to speak. Four bags, two personal items and a walker. This should be fun. At least until we check in the two larger bags. Then we only have two bags, two personal items and a walker. The walker is a huge help to Mama as we stand in queue during check in, during boarding and during customs check in Honduras. It gives her a place to rest when on those long lines. It is worth the additional work to have it available.

A more concerning part of the timing of this trip is getting the bills paid on time during our absence. I will not be able to access our accounts from Honduras. Safeguards in place on the accounts will not allow me into the accounts while in a foreign country. That is not a bad thing. Fortunately, I will get paid the Friday before we leave. That will enable me to get the most important bills in the queue over the weekend. I will have to catch up to the other bills when I get back. It should all work out, but it is still a bit concerning. We will be flying blind financially, so to speak. On the bright side, the company owes me several hundred dollars from the trip Mama and I took last week. Since I did not get a prepaid credit card from the company, I had to pay for the trip myself. All that money should be credited to or account while we are in Honduras. That will help pad the account. I am not taking that debit card with me so all the money deposited will be waiting on me and Mama when we get back. That will be a blessing.

Mama is working on getting us a hotel in Houston. Cori and Nate’s friend in Houston will let us park the Sequoia at their house while we are gone. They are going to take us to the hotel from their house Sunday night and the hotel will shuttle us to the airport Monday morning. So, many of the incidentals have been worked out and our Honduran crew is anxiously awaiting us.

Savanna is ready to go to our airport to pick us up. She was surprised recently when they went to the airport to pick up someone not related to her. She quizzed her daddy as to why they were picking up someone at Tory’s airport. Nate explained that other people come into Honduras through that airport as well. She thought about that for a minute and said. “Oh yeah. Grammy and Papi.”

It’s nice to have our own airport.