I would like to share a long-overdue introduction of an artisan I was lucky enough to discover: Jamie, of the Peach Street Boutique (on Etsy).

Another blog held a drawing for a gift certificate to the shop back in November, which I was delighted to win.

With St. Nicholas’ Day approaching, I quickly decided to get a fun wall-hanging for R.T. (Jewel already has a lot of decor).

Red, White and Blue was a given – Captain America guy, just like his Papa.

Jamie and I had quite a lengthy message exchange, working out all the details. It absolutely had to say “R – dot – T – dot”, as that is how R.T. often refers to himself. Since the plaques don’t normally have punctuation, this was an adventure.

I felt nervous about picking colors “blind”, and placed my trust in Jamie’s artistic eye. I did decide to be a “rebel,” and do the two plaques in different base colors (opposing their different design colors), a decision that I think resulted in a lovely patriotic product.

Here’s R.T. checking out his name on St. Nicholas’ Day.

Jamie’s advice was on-the-money. The design is lovely. The colors are perfect. The “Dot” is adorable. The workmanship is professional. The packaging was safe and secure. And the prices in her Etsy shop are very reasonable for an artistic product of this nature.

I have nothing but praise for Jamie and her work, and do not hesitate to recommend her to you.

Isn’t that lovely?

It’s called My Caring Cross.

Handcrafted in Bethlehem, from olive wood, by Christian artisans who earn a living wage for their labors.

Beautiful all the way around!

Caring CrossesTM are individually carved from a single unique piece of beautifully grained olive wood pruned from the olive trees around Bethlehem the birthplace of Jesus. Christians have been carving crosses like this for hundreds of years, originally for pilgrims and more recently tourists visiting the Holy Land. Each craftsman receives a fair price to support their family and Christian community. My Caring Crosses are designed to fit comfortably into the palm of your hand as an aid to prayer or meditation. Ideal as your spiritual companion for easing children’s fears, comforting worries and stresses of adults and focusing the prayer of the sick and elderly.

On their website you can find out more about the Caring Cross story.

I purchased two Caring Crosses (who could resist that deal!), and they are simply delightful. The unique wood-grain of the olive branches gives each cross its own personality, while the professional quality cutting and finishing leaves them smooth and well-fitted to the palm of your hand.

We are not particularly enamored of the idea of a “talisman”, but these will definately find a place in our home. Possibly as:

• A wall hanging (have you seen my wall of crosses?)
• A paperweight
• A subtle, classy desk piece / paperweight for Wolf at work
• A component of the inventive table decorations and centerpieces to which our children often treat us
• A good “busy hands” item for the youngest when we’re reading schoolwork that’s not fascinating to him
• A sweet surprise tucked into Wolf’s suitcase when he travels (blessedly rare)
• And yes, probably as a bit of a “worry stone” for those prayer times when I’m extra challenged by letting go of certain things

I will also be keeping them in mind as gifts!

BUY IT

Run, don’t walk, and you can order your cross(es) and pay via PayPal directly from the My Caring Cross website.

An individual cross, complete with information card and red velveteen gift bag, is only $5 + $3 shipping, or – as long as they are running their current special – you can order two crosses (with cards and bags) for just $10 (including shipping). They even have discounted larger quantities for mission work, church groups, or fundraising!

WIN IT!

One lucky As For My House reader will receive one of these lovely crosses… Keep it for yourself, or use it as a thoughtful gift for someone you care about.

Enter using the handy-dandy RaffleCoptor form below. Entries will not be counted except by the automated RaffleCoptor processing.

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We file our income tax returns on time. We are scrupulously honest. We pay the taxes we owe.

Up until last year, I have always done my taxes myself, at home on my PC.

Last year I was attracted by the idea that several places online offer free use of their online system, and free eFiling, for members of the military.

I chose TurboTax.com from among the options, since it was the software with which I was familiar. And everything went smoothly, so I never gave it another thought.

This year, I went willy-nilly to the first place I ran across with that program, and started preparing our return on the TaxSlayer website.

Even though I didn’t have all of the documents yet, I went ahead and put in what was available – Wolf’s income from his “day job,” from the Reserves, and a 1099-R from a Life Insurance policy we had cashed out (long story not relevant here, but while it might sound odd on the surface we believed this was the proper stewardship action in this matter).

I was really exasperated when I saw how things were shaping up. TaxSlayer showed that we would owe the IRS a bit, but would owe Mississippi considerably more – over $600!

Looking through the online payroll information, I was able to determine that we were having the wrong amount withheld overall – since Wolf’s last pay increase, and Nick’s 17th birthday, we have lost ground in several areas.

I never even thought that the withholdings needed to be adjusted – let that be a lesson you can learn from my mistake!

But it also turns out that Mississippi is not the most pleasant state in which to live, in this regard (we’ll leave “in other regards” for another day!). That Student Loan Interest deduction you can take on your 1040? Not a deduction in Mississippi. And so on…

I had to change the withholdings additionally for Mississippi, to account for their, erm, rigid policies.

So, our house will be in better order when the time comes to file our 2012 taxes. But in the meantime, I shared my woes with my Facebook friends.

Several commiserated about Mississippi. But one friend said,

Yeah, I always do it on several of those online sites, to see who gives me the best return!

Um, wait a minute. The tax law is the tax law. If you put the same information in, you absolutely should get the exact same result.

Skeptical, I went and input the identical information at H&R Block and TurboTax.

All showed the exact same number for our Federal Income Tax.

But Mississippi?

TaxSlayer = WE OWE $600+

H&R Block = WE OWE $300+

TurboTax = Refund of $54

Clearly, the tax code for Mississippi is not as clear, or not as clearly implemented — or both — as its Federal counterpart.

But which of those is right?

Beginning at the beginning, I printed out the blank tax forms from IRS.gov and the MS Dept of Revenue, and worked through the whole process by hand.

As you might expect, the Federal return went smoothly, and I, too, arrived at the answer all three sites had delivered.

STRIKE ONE

One item that came quickly to light was that TurboTax had told me about a deduction that was missed by both other programs — pay earned while serving in the National Guard or any branch of the Reserves may be deducted up to a certain amount. Wow!

TaxSlayer had a mention of this, but stated that it was only for National Guard pay, so I did not believe that we qualified.

H&R Block has no mention of this what-so-ever.

I tried contacting customer service. After chatting, talking, transferring, and teeth gnashing, I was told the matter was being escalated and I would be contacted within 48 hours.

I never heard back from them.

Since there was no way to claim it in their system, they were disqualified from the race with a pointed letter to customer service.

H&R Block, you’re fired! A company honoring the military by offering free filing should give them that deduction, for sure!

STRIKE TWO

Soon I uncovered the second problem:

The Life Insurance income from the 1099 form was reported correctly on the Federal return by all three programs. But only TaxSlayer was showing that income on the Mississippi return.

So the big question: Who is right?

Was TurboTax (and H&R Block, but they’re already fired) simply missing this income in the Federal-to-State transfer? Or did they know something TaxSlayer did not know, making the income not taxable in Mississippi?

After reading through all the information easily accessed through the DOR website (short of starting to sift through the voluminous code itself), it seemed that it was clearly taxable income in Mississippi.

Bad news, TurboTax.

STRIKE THREE

I wanted to give TurboTax the benefit of the doubt, here, since they had been kind enough to show me the deduction for Reserve pay.

After the in-program-chat representative determined that I was not an idiot, they had me call and speak to a “tax adviser.” I worked with a woman in that department for some time, and she agreed with my assessment that the income should be taxable.

She had me call another department, giving me an “Incident Number” so they could find my case. This was the “Working On My Return” Department, who should be able to either explain the situation, or provide a work-around solution.

I called. The Incident Number didn’t work. I walked through a bunch of nonsense again. They finally figured out that I was not an idiot.

I was told that it would be escalated to “Tier Two Support,” and that someone would get back to me within 48 hours. (Wait, doesn’t that sound familiar?)

I never heard back from them. (Wait, doesn’t that sound familiar?)

TurboTax, you’re fired! Not only is there potentially a glaring error in your software, but your Customer Service is worse than nothing!

IN THE HOME STRETCH

So, that leaves the undisputed champion as TaxSlayer!

Except, wait… I’m still not really sure whether that 1099 income is taxable. What if, in spite of all their other issues, TurboTax and H&R Block got this part right (they are the majority opinion, at this point)?

Someone with two clocks never know what time it is.

And apparently someone with two tax programs never knows how much they really owe.

We went to visit Church of the King today, to help them celebrate the “Grand Opening” of their new building.

Nick has really been blessed by the Youth Ministry there, and [Youth] Pastor Gabe is really a neat person.

We dressed as we always do. Wolf and R.T. were by far the best dressed men in the place, including pastoral staff. We got a lot of comments about how cute R.T.’s suit was, since it was such a novelty to them.

Being aware of the climate there, and working towards balance with a growing-up young man of 17, we allowed Nick to wear his “good jeans” with a button shirt and dress shoes. Not what we would choose, but still a step above the general dress of the congregation.

(The photo is my handsome son, but unrelated to the specific outfits mentioned in this musing).

We came home afterwards, and most of us began changing out of our “church clothes” into more casual apparel for a relaxed afternoon.

Nick, on the other hand, was going to a “dress rehearsal” with the mock trial team. He began changing to dress up - into his suit and tie.

Hmm.

To me, this would indicate that the mock trial competition is more important than God. Or that making a good impression on the “judge” is more important than making a good impression on the Lord.

It’s not a new concept, of course, in our house. You can read all about it in Wolf’s post Are You Ready?

We’re still working out the kinks in our relationship with Green Pasture‘s Fermented Cod Liver Oil and Butter Oil. (Read the beginning of the saga HERE).

We’ve tried several new things since the first post. Some have been notably less successful than others.

The Littles, who cannot yet swallow pills, have the fewest options. They take the Butter Oil by itself, and then both have settled on the Peppermint flavored Emulsified Fermented Cod Liver Oil as the best choice for both texture and flavor.

Wolf and I find the Butter Oil the least appealing part of the equation. Something about the texture is just icky.

Nick, on the other hand, isn’t too bothered by the Butter Oil, but gags on the Cod Liver Oil.

We (the Big People) are all happiest with the Butter Oil / FCLO Blend Capsules – but the cost per dose is so much higher that way, we don’t feel that’s the best choice.

Our first plan was to compromise and let each person have one of the products in capsules, and take the other straight. So we bought all four components, and everyone went their own way.

As bad as the chocolate blend was, we were still hopeful. When Green Pastures offered to send us a product for review, we chose the blended gel in Cinnamon Tingle flavor.

Sadly, it was just as much of a failure in our house as the chocolate. Everyone preferred their previously-settled-upon method of taking the two separately.

Lately, we have a new hope, discovered by Wolf. He found that you could lick the gel off the spoon with the tip of your tongue, “toss it back” and swallow it quickly — and somehow totally avoid the taste, except for a hint of cinnamon. I’m sure this has to do with the placement of the various taste receptors on the tongue.

We’ll have to keep trying this out, and see if it continues to prove useful. Certainly, having only one product to keep on-hand would be a lot simpler than the current system!

In an amazing instance of “Great Minds Think Alike”, Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist, posted today with a video demonstrating How to Best Swallow Cod Liver Oil.

Breath control – something else to try!

Whatever it takes, though, we are committed to these supplements. I’ve just read too much to discount the benefits, and it’s certainly not something we can get from our diet (here and now, anyway).

If you’re ready to give it a try, you have a few options:

• Directly from Green Pastures
• Radiant Life, who has slightly lower prices on a few items (and the same on the rest), and a percentage discount on multiple bottles
• Dr. Ron’s Ultra Pure, who also has essentially the same prices as Green Pastures, offers Free Shipping on order over $150 (at least as of now), and does full case and half case discounts if you’re really ambitious

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You know that cool form I’ve been using for the last few giveaways? Well, RaffleCoptor was actually only Beta Testing…

And now they’re having an official Launch Party!

You can enter to win an iPad2, or one of two Kindle Fires! (Be sure to list As For My House as “who referred you” — then if you win, I win, too!)

Enter using the form below, but please note that this is RaffleCoptor’s giveaway, not mine. (So if you see this giveaway listed on another blog, or on the RaffleCoptor site, you are already entered!)

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Sorry for the recent silence…

Our AT&T U-Verse Internet service decided that it wasn’t going to work anymore, and the saga of getting it fixed involved several days of delay and frustration.

As of now we are back online, though. So I guess I should get busy writing a “real” post!

Happy New Year!

To start things off with a bang, RaffleCoptor and Random.org picked the winners for both of our recent giveaways!

The winner of the Shabby Apple BACIAMI! dress is **UPDATE** Since our first winner, Karen, did not respond to the notification email, we have drawn a new winner. Congratulations to Jordyn, #48, who won for just leaving a comment on the giveaway post! She has already provided her shipping information, and should have her dress in no time.

And the Kosher Casuals drape cardigan winner is Tammy, #19.

I’ve emailed both winners, and hopefully both will respond promptly and claim their prize. (I guess “hopefully” might not be a universal sentiment, since if they don’t we will draw someone else).

Congratulations, ladies. A big THANK YOU to everyone who entered, as well as the gracious sponsors who made these fun giveaways possible.

(Cute graphic from Musings of a Stay at Home Mom, a blog I know nothing else about)

The title of Ruth Myers’ book is beautiful:

The Perfect Love:
Intensely Personal, Overflowing, Never Ending…

There is, in fact, quite a lot of beautiful, lyrical language in the book. I have been moved over and over by her selection of quotations, Psalms, old hymns, and other lovely writings.

I wanted to like it, I really did. Every time I put it down and read another book before even contemplating picking it up again, I forced myself to go back to it. And though I continued to find lovely old hymns and quotes, I still never really got “into it.”

It wasn’t compelling, or even particularly interesting, as far as the presentation of the material went. It just seemed to meander along, stringing together things that talk about the love of God.

Honestly? No, I never did finish it. I slogged through about 3/4 then gave it up as a lost cause.

So, 5 stars as a source of inspirational quotations, 1 star as a meaningful Bible Study or life-changing work.

* * * *

Everyone who ranks this review at the Waterbrook Multnomah website has a chance to randomly win a free copy of the book — Note that you’re rating my review, and not rating the book in question. (Plus, I appreciate you letting them know that you appreciate me!)

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I’ve found another great shop for modest clothing – Kosher Casual!

They were kind enough to send me one of their lovely Open Drape Cardigans for review (like the photo, only in black). The garment is well-made and attractive, they were a pleasure to deal with, and the shipping was quick.

Kosher Casual features a lot of products good for layering. They seem to follow the philosophy that if the skin is covered to a certain place, then you are modestly covered.

To that end they have layering shells, snug tanks, stretchy “sleevies,” etc.

And, hey, they include a piece of Israeli Kosher Bazooka bubble gum with each order! Bazooka Joe speaks Hebrew!

My personal taste is to have clothing be less form-fitting, so I really like the draped front of this top. Unfortunately, the sleeves are cut rather snug. With stretchy fabric, it’s not that it’s binding, or too tight – just not me.

My loss is your gain, however:

I’m going to pass this lovely item on to one of my readers!

Just enter using the handy-dandy RaffleCoptor form below before the year ends…

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