Another Friday!

Today was an exciting day in Greenville! Two very special people from Raleigh surprised us for lunch! My dad and our friend Chris were headed down to the river for some time out on the water and away from the busyness of work, and they stopped in and took us out to lunch. The timing was perfect and it was so good to spend some time with them, especially in the middle of the work day.

Stephen knocked out another really tough test this week and already has his sights on the next one. This weekend kicks off his birthday week, which will be lots of fun--we're starting it off right with a trip to the zoo tomorrow! But, unlike all those days growing up in school he doesn't get his birthday off this year... and to make it even worse he has a test on his birthday and another one the day after. :( So not fair.

He is also a TA for their radiation class that just started. I know his pupils will get tons of good info and tips on how to be efficient because he is an excellent tooth-picture-taker. I'll let him explain more on that though since I obviously have no idea how it all works. Honestly, he reads me his notes sometimes and I have never heard those words before. Much less all in the same paragraph-length run-on sentence. It is ridiculous! So when he tells you how dental school is actually easier than he expected and it's really not all that bad--don't let him fool you! He is a genius and I am so proud of him for how hard he works to learn all of this crazy stuff, and how passionate he is about dentistry! It's serious dedication.

One of my co-workers brought in Krispy Kreme this morning and another brought fresh bagels and cream cheese from the local bagel shop. Needless to say, the yogurt I took for breakfast is still in the fridge at work. I have no will power whatsoever.

A fun project I have been working on is researching a rental property my boss is part owner of in the Bahamas. They have an extensive website set up for it and it's been really enjoyable to learn about it. He wants me to be familiar with it so that I can help with all that goes into managing the property, which I am excited about! And, perhaps being more involved with the property will necessitate a site visit one day....  Check it out! You may want to visit too!

The not so amazing part of my day was when I had the thrilling opportunity to call the IRS. I was applying for an EIN for one of our properties online (which never goes through correctly the first time because the website is finicky but it is usually doable), but this time I got an error message that my request couldn't be completed and I needed to call the IRS and give them my error code. When I finally got through the phone tree, the polite little robot told me that the wait time was approximately 30 to 60 minutes. For real?! It's Friday afternoon, who is calling the IRS! Finally, after 39 minutes of repetitive hold music, dear Paula answered. She proceeded to tell me that my error code meant I simply needed to print out the EIN form from the website, fill it out, and fax it in. My request couldn't be completed online but could be done via fax. And that's all she told me. I am very confused as to why that message couldn't be displayed on the website rather than a vague error code and phone number, but I guess we shouldn't expect such efficiency!

Well, the kitty just took a trip to the litter box so I should stop stalling and dispose of that little gift. Have a great weekend!

~Buckwheat