Mrs. CPA

As the Wheel Turns

My brother, JD, is going to be on Wheel of Fortune on Thursday, March 26. I asked if he would do a guest blog about the experience. Part Two of the saga will be revealed tomorrow and will be the taping of the show and in Part Three he'll talk about the rest.  

How many of your remember the episodes where if you were the big winner, you took your winnings and bought prizes there on the spot?   I do.

How many of you remember the few seasons where if you went to the bonus round in one episode, you were brought back to compete in the following episode?  I do.

How many of you remember thinking to yourself as you watched “I could do so much better than he/she could!”?  I do (and did almost every night I watched)

 

Well, all of those memories plus many more are stirred every night when I hear the audience (recorded audio to be exact) shout….WHEEL…….OF…….FORTUNE!  Cue the music.  Cue announcer Charlie introducing Pat Sajak and Vanna White.  Cue the contestants nervously clapping.  It is hard to imagine that the show is in its 27^th season now.  Ummmm, I was 2 when the show started [ed. And I was probably already bugging the crap out of him.].  You know you have something good when you can say it has lasted a quarter of a century.

The Wheel of Fortune, no matter how old or how young you are, finds its draw being a simple game with big rewards for those who know their alphabet and have a little lady named ‘Luck’ on their side, and big pitfalls for those who have a tough time spelling and/or have a horrible friend named ‘Greed’ that tags along with them.  The game is simple, almost too simple, and since everyone feels they can play the game, everyone watches to see how they could do.  When you sit at home and yell at contestants as though they will hear you all the way in California (or wherever they taped that episode) and you yell so loud you think they can hear you months in the past (when the show was actually taped) it makes you feel good, like you are the champ.  Don’t act like you don’t know what the heck I am talking about…you have done it.

Well, with that lead in, I guess I should tell you how I got my shot to be the one behind the wheel, the one being yelled at by millions of views on their couches, and the one who knows for now how well or bad I did.

I have had people from various places ask me upon hearing of my forthcoming appearance, “So how did you get on the show?”  Luck is a big part of it, no doubt.  But there is a little more to it as I would find out.

Most of you probably know (by looking at my ‘drunken pictures’ that my sister took) that I was living in Arkansas back during the 2008 election cycle.  Let me tell you how much fun it was to be a moderate democrat living in a house with two staunch republicans….that is a whole other blog in the making. [ed. It was FLOWERS AND RAINBOWS at my house for several months FLOWERS AND RAINBOWS.]

But while I was in Arkansas, I happened to see where Wheel of Fortune was bringing its bright yellow RV aptly know as the Wheel Mobile [Ed. this only rhymes in the South.] to Conway, AR for an open audition.  The dates of the audition would be November 14-15.  Now these dates fell after the election was over (lucky for me) and were right around the time I would be heading back to Georgia.  I told my wife (who claims she is a better Wheel-er than me) that I wanted to at least hang around so I could go and check out this audition [Ed. And I thought it was for me!].  I went expecting to get on stage that day.  Heck, I didn’t really know what to expect.  So like the internet reader I am, I searched to see what I could find out. 

 When I got to the ‘show’, as they call them, I was at the end of a VERY LONG LINE.  There were to be three shows on the 14^th and three on the 15^th.  Each one was about an hour long and out of the thousands there, only a few would make it on the make-shift stage at each show.  Well, I wanted to be there for the first show so I could go ahead and get this out of the way and be on my way back to Georgia.  So, the first show started at 4pm.  I didn’t know that so many people could take off work early to be at a Wheel of Fortune event. 

 So I am at the back of the line, but surprisingly, the line didn’t take long to navigate and everyone there was super nice and obviously ecstatic, thinking they were going to get their shot at fame and fortune today…..WRONG.  We all were given a color coded piece of paper that had a printed form on it to fill in your information (i.e. name, phone number, address, age, sex, email, etc.)  Once they opened the gate to let people into the gaming area, you were to drop your piece of paper in a box and go find a spot to take in all the excitement.  There were lots of people there and it was a ‘C’ of Wheel Watchers and enthusiasts.

As the show started, some crazy, young, multiple Red Bull drinkin’, traveling Pat Sajak made his way to the stage and some model, Vanna-wannabe accompanied.  The host explained that names would be drawn at random from the cards we filled out, five at a time, and those who were called were to essentially act like a fool and make their way to the front.  They would have their picture taken, and then compete against four other crazies for a chance at a prize.  For every five people, the game would start with introductions to the crowd, a speeded up version of the game, and each of them wound up winning the prize, no matter who solved the puzzle.  Hats, bags, and cups were used instead of trips and ridiculous amounts of cash. 

The host did relay some very important information at the start of the show.  He stated that the contestant coordinators would be back in a couple of months to hold the FINAL AUDITIONS.  And just because you made it on stage at that event (or the other shows that had while in Conway) didn’t mean you would get a call back for the final auditions.  AND, if you DIDN’T make it on stage that day, that didn’t mean you wouldn’t get called back for the final auditions. 

 I must say, I left there that day thankful for hearing the last part about not making it on stage, because I left thinking that at least I got to see how one of these events goes down.  And oh yeah, there were those that made complete fools of themselves.  And there were girls there in prom dresses.  What the hell?????  This wasn’t an audition to take Vanna’s spot.  Which, I think she will be doing until she is 70 (she is in her 50’s now).

But I thought that is where the story would end and life would return to normal back in Warner Robins, Georgia. [Ed. Fat chance of that since YOUR WIFE IS NOW PREGNANT!!]

I happened to be at work one day right before New Years, and in the normal routine of checking my email I came across an email from the Wheel of Fortune.  I thought it was one of those emails that you get when you sign up for alerts about the show and Wheel Mobile events, but when I opened it, it said that I had been selected to attend the FINAL AUDITIONS in Little Rock on January 8, 2009.  That was a little over a week away!

After a quick conversation with my wife on whether I should drive or if we could afford for me to fly out there, we decided to save time and spend just a little bit of money on a flight.  Who knows, we thought….this little bit of money now could turn into some big money later. 

So the time came for me to travel and I headed out.  The final auditions took place at the Capitol Hotel in one of their ballrooms.  There were 70 other hopefuls there that day.  I did recognize a few people from the Wheel Mobile event that I attended but there were many more that I didn’t. 

Once the audition started, we were called at random to stand up, say our name, and play a modified version of the game.  The contestant coordinators wanted to see if we knew what we were doing.  The Wheel was spun by them, we just called out letters and solved if we could.  If we were on a roll, they would stop the modified wheel on Bankrupt or Lose a Turn.  They went around the room twice so they got a second chance to make notes on people and their abilities.  After that, they gave us a test that had 16 partially filled in puzzles, covering four categories, and gave us five minutes to fill in as many as possible.  No doubt, that was the fastest five minutes and the hardest test I have ever encountered.

After a quick twenty minute break, where the coordinators graded the test and made selections on who they wanted to see more of, we were told who would be staying.  Those not called were given a “Thanks for being here”.  Which to most meant “your dream is squashed, have a nice day”.  Luckily I heard my name called, so I got to stay as one of 17.

In the final part of the ‘final audition’, we competed a little more realistically against competitors.  The wheel was still spun by the coordinators, and of course no money was kept up with, but again they wanted to see if we could play this game the way it should be, along with what kind of personality we had and so on.  After our brief game, we then gave a background like we would if we were actually talking to Pat during the opening of the actual game.  A little nerve-wracking but lots of fun.  After this, we were told, IF we make the show, we will receive a letter in 2-3 weeks in the mail.  If did not make the show, you won’t get anything, not even an email.

I told myself that I would not get nervous until the two weeks got there and there was no letter.  I mean, there was nothing I could do, but to have made it as far as I did would be a story in itself.

The final audition happened on a Thursday.  The following Saturday, I was sitting upstairs when my wife came in with the mail.  She held up a letter with the letters WHEEL OF FORTUNE in the return address spot.  I went nuts.  She, however, thought that it was the letter telling me whether or not I was going to be on the show.  I told her that the only way you are on the show is if you get the letter.  She then went nuts.  It was like a crazy dream.

In the letter, they inform you that they have up to 18 months to have you tape an actual show.  There were other bits of helpful info in the letter, but 18 months struck me…It could take up to a year and a half to get on the show?  What a bummer, but they do that in order to ensure a good cross section of their contestants or put you on a show, say if you are a teacher, that fell during Teachers’ Week. 

I tried to research what would be an average time for people to get the call to go tape their show and what I could find told me it would be 5-6 months.  That would have put me taping in the summer.  That would be fun….California in the summer! 

Oh, but I didn’t have to wait that long.  I got the call four days later that they wanted me to tape on February 5^th.  So now I had gotten the letter and the call both within two weeks.  And now, a little over two weeks, we would be heading to California to tape my show for the “Coast to Coast” week.  We quickly booked our flights (and you have to pay for your travel up front – if you don’t win money on the show, they give you the $1000 to cover travel expenses) and were all set.

My wife and I were to be celebrating our 2^nd wedding anniversary soon, so we extended our stay to become a mini-vacation.  We left on Monday of that week, spent Tuesday and Wednesday site-seeing in LA (Wednesday we were joined by my dad and his girlfriend), and Thursday we would be taping pretty much all day.  They tape 5-6 shows apparently a day, and work a total of 4 days a month!!!!  If we could all get the work we needed done for the month in a 4 day period, I think we all would jump at that. 

After all the nervousness was built up for the day to arrive, it finally was here. 

Check back for PART 2 of ‘As the Wheel Turns’.

It's the King's Birthday

I remembered the mustache missive around 3 am.

(This one took several pieces of Easter candy to accomplish.)

(This one took practically no convincing at all. All I had to say was, "Wear this for one of my internet friends." He doesn't even ask any questions anymore.)

This one took 21 takes to get semi right. Very becoming.

He wasn't really too happy about this. Eleanor refused to participate. She ate her mustache.

It's all to say :

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE KING!

Hud-Hud is THREE!

Everyone says it, but I have no idea how we got from tiny squishy baby to this big behemoth of a KID.

Mickey's Birthday Cupcakes - Blue as requested.


 More Pictures Here (all of the good ones are taken by Imelda)

Miss Maddie is now 6 months old

They both had doctor's appointments last week and got shots. Hudson's shot resulted in ANOTHER staph infection in his leg at the injection site. It seems like we caught it in enough time and the medicine has almost returned his leg to normal.

I also have a delicious new baby cousin, who was born exactly 3 years and 9 minutes after Hudson. Will wasn't scheduled to be here until April 7, but he decided he was done cooking and my cousin's wife's water broke on Sunday night. He's just as cute as he can be!

I visited the unemployment office yesterday, which was as delightful an experience as you can imagine. But the real excitement was the new baby.

So here I am, still at home. I've done all the laundry, picked up the house, gotten supper ready, written thank you notes, and now I'm watching Castle and typing this up. (Notice the lack of shower in that list...)

You know you want to be me.
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Have you entered my giveaways?

One ends today, one ends tomorrow and one ends on Friday. I've got some family games, a book, and a package that is going to be the best baby gift ever for this week.

Pampers One Pack=One Vaccine

I took my kids to have well child checkups this week. We left our lovely insulated and safe home, rode in our fancy minivan, Hudson watching a video and riding in relative comfort in his car seat. Maddie was snoozing in hers. We arrived at the doctors office and hustled in. While waiting, Hudson watched the fish in the waiting room while Maddie giggled and played with some of her toys. When we were called back, it was to a room with a whimsical painting on the wall and books under the exam table. Hudson colored happily on the exam paper and jumped from colored tile to colored tile. Maddie had a bottle and they were weighed and measured. Our doctor came in and we discussed their development and milestones achieved. Then they both got a few shots and we went home, had some Tylenol and took the rest of the day easy.

Yeah, they cried when they had to get shots, but what if we didn't even have the option to GET those shots? What if we lived somewhere where a doctor was a scarce commodity and a trip to the closest one would take a day or more and when I got there, it was overrun with the sick and there was no medicine to be had? What if the only thing standing between me having a healthy child who lived and who I lived to see was a vaccine?

What if you could help provide that vaccine by doing something you already do?

I'm sure you all know Salma Hayeck is a great advocate for children. She has teamed up with Pampers and UNICEF in their program One Pack=One Vaccine. Every time you purchase a specially marked pack of Pampers diapers, wipes or a bodysuit, you are giving a potentially life saving vaccine to mothers and children in developing countries. Helping mothers and children while doing something that you would do anyway? Makes everyone happy. Especially these women who would never have a chance to see their child grow up because they weren't vaccinated for tetanus.

In 2008, over 50 million vaccines were provided through this program, donations gave an additional 100 million women and children a chance, and in 2009, they hope to provide an additional 30 million more life saving shots. That is because of people like me and YOU, who make a choice to purchase a specially marked pack of diapers. How simple is that?

Maddie is modeling one of the cute body suits above and this is the best part:

I have three of these delicious bodysuits to give away. All 12 month size. They are printed on Rabbit Skins onsies, and I have used the brand before and it is super soft and washes well. One lucky commenter will also receive a coupon for a jumbo pack of diapers as well. This would make a great gift. Please help support this great program by purchasing the specially marked packages of diapers and wipes.

In order to win, leave me a comment before 6 pm CST Friday, March 20, and I'll pick a lucky commenter to receive the coupon and bodysuit and then two more commenters to receive a bodysuit!  You can earn additional entries by tweeting about the contest, subscribing to my feed, or adding my button to your sidebar or a post. If you put the Pampers widget on your site or write a post about this yourself, you can earn TWO ADDITIONAL ENTRIES. Leave a separate comment for each entry you qualify for with a link to your tweet, post, or widget.

You guys, this is probably as important as anything else you will do today. Please help spread the word and support this worthy cause. 

[Cross posted at Want to Know What I Think?. I'll take all the comments and put them together to choose the winner, you can only comment on one post, please.]

The 6x6 Meme Makes for Good Content

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Jamie at Blonde Mom Blog tagged me for this a few weeks ago, and in all my personal angst I neglected to follow up with it. I'm sorry Jamie.

I didn't have 6 pictures in my 6th folder, but what I did have was 4 pictures of Maddie and JD hanging out, and this is the last one. Every picture of JD makes him look like he's drunk, but it's really only true about 50% of the time. (Kidding. Really.)

Thanks for tagging me Jamie!

The Three Books that Saved Bedtime

After bath time and a Little Diego or Dora, Hudson reluctantly trudges off to bed. He knows it's time to read a book. When Sterling Books offered us a chance to look at some books from their spring catalog, I tried to find some that he would like other than that Thomas the Train flashlight book we've been reading since Christmas.

The first book he wanted to read was Monkey, Monkey, Monkey by Cathy MacLennan. When I picked this book, I didn't realize that on our first trip to the library the week before, Hudson had picked out the same author's book Chicky Chicky Chook Chook. He loved the chicks and bees and cats. The illustrations were so fun. When I got the Monkey, Monkey, Monkey book, he picked it first as the one to read because he recognized the illustrations.

The book is about a little monkey looking for peanuts. He searches all over the forest. In the process he finds spotty cheetahs crocodiles, frogs, bugs, a colony of ants, birds, and the top of the rain forest canopy. He gets scared and his Daddy finds him and takes him home. He finally gets his monkey nuts!  Hudson loves pointing out all the animals and he relates to a Daddy coming to save his baby just from the sound of his baby's scared cry. The illustrations in this book are the best part. Hudson loves the texture that seems to almost pop off the page.

The second book we're reading is Quiet Bunny by Lisa McCue. I picked this book because the cover art reminded me of books I read as a child.

The Quiet Bunny loves the sounds of the forest at twilight, but wants to make his own contribution. He wishes for a sound of his own, but the Quiet Bunny doesn't make any noise. He listens to the frogs, and the wolves, and the bats, an mosquitoes and crickets. He tries to duplicate the ways the animals make their sounds to no avail. A wise owl tells him that he has to find his own sound. So he searches for his own sound. He thinks of all the things he likes to do, and right before the night song begins he finds his sound. 

This is a great story, weaving the sounds and animals that kids love with a great message of being happy with who you are while finding something special about yourself to share. The illustrations are soft and soothing which makes for a great nighttime story. Hudson loves the animal sounds and naming all the animals, not even realizing he's getting a great message from the story about being himself.

The last book we're reading is Go! Go! Go! by Roxie Munro This book has over 70 flaps for Hudson to unfold and discover what's under them. The book is short on words but long on fun. From firetrucks, to hot air balloons, to race horses, to a sea lab and race cars. The flaps help explore how things move. These aren't just any little flaps. They just keep unfolding!  The Hot air balloons go up and up 10 inches from the top of the book. The flaps make the cars look like they are really racing across the track. It's a very fun and ingenious way to tell the story of how things move. Hudson loves opening up all the flaps and discovering what the next fold brings.

All three of these books have become instant favorites at our house. Hudson has to take some time to think about which one he wants to read each night! (And I'm saved from the Thomas Flashlight book...) A big thank you to Sterling Books for the opportunity to share these with our family.

You Guuuuuuuuuuuyyyyyyyyyssssssssss!!!!

Thank you all so much for the kind works, encouragement and righetous indignation on my behalf on my post yesterday. Everyone who hears about the situation says, "Wait. That doesn't make any sense. You got fired over a mistake?" I'm going to tell you the last little piece of the puzzle that makes it all make sense. The part where everyone says, ""Ooooh, that explains it all." MY VP HATED MY GUTS. So. That's the part that the people at work don't know about. They'll all running scared trying to make sure they don't make any mistakes and fall under the ax too. There's going to be some stellar work coming out of that department for the next couple of months, let me tell you.

If you need accounting help, or know of someone who does, blogger or not - I can help. I can do business and personal tax returns, I can set up LLC's, I can give advice, I can do your Schedule C. Drop me an email or a comment and I'll get back to you pronto. I can do any states return or file for an LLC anywhere you want. It's not like I'm doing anything but sitting around in my pajamas anyway! 

And if you start thinking,"Well, why would I want to let Miss Just Got Fired even touch my work?", let me tell you, that I have never had anything but stellar reviews previously, even at the job I just got fired from! And my mistake had nothing to do with taxes other than it was a tax account. I think my Birmingham boss is trying to figure out a way I can telecommute for the rest of tax season. And more than one of my previous clients called to yell at him, "What did you do to make her leave? How can you get her to stay??!!" I'm good at what I do [did] and love it. And that's something that's hard to find anywhere.

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May I also direct your attention to an awesome giveaway at my review blog Want to Know What I Think? Protect a Bed is giving away three sets of pillow protectors in honor of National Napping Day, which is Monday March, 9. They are also offering a 15% discount on purchases made in March. So get crackin'!

Next week will be a giveaway a day over there. My bag of prizes is getting out of control! I've got CD's grocery cart snackers, stationary, an organic bath set, all kinds of stuff.

Fired. A True Story.

A few weeks ago at work, we discovered that a schedule prepared during our year end close had an error in it. I was the manager who reviewed that schedule first. My boss reviewed it and it was used in several different places during our close process. We determined that the error in the schedule, when carried through all of our work, caused a seven million dollar mistake in an expense. (This was not $7 million in cash, however.)

I was very worried because of the error, but since it seemed to not be a big deal during conversations I was a part of, and conversations that were relayed to me, I thought it was taken care of and we were moving on. Our work might be subjected to increased scrutiny in subsequent periods, but the issue was basically dropped as far as I knew. This was almost three weeks ago.

Obviously not.

I was called in on Monday morning and was told I was being fired over this error.

There are a lot of political things going on at my former workplace that I am not aware of. And some behind the scenes stuff must have taken place. Someone had to take the public blame for this error and being that the department was so small, the only person to take that blame was me. And somewhat rightful so, I was the first line of defense because I was the manager in charge of reviewing it first. As far as I can tell no one else has been reprimanded for this mistake except me.

How I could go from getting a good review and my boss telling me to keep up the good work in 2009 to packing up my desk? I have no idea.  I'm sure it makes everyone breathe a little easier that the person who was the initial reviewer and let this get through is no longer around to do anything else to embarrass and cause a close eye to be on the department. I'm sure it's reassuring to the auditors, both internal and external, that I'm no longer there.

I worked my butt off for them. I stayed all night with no complaints. I worked until I was almost sick while I was pregnant. My kids were sick sometimes, I had two hospital stays in two months, after a maternity leave during a busy time. My Dad was in critical condition and I had to take a day off. I worked Saturdays, and stayed late when needed. I did whatever was asked of me, pretty much with a smile on my face. I sat in a cube when all the other managers got offices. I worked on my desktop, when all the other managers had laptops. I started out at the lowest pay grade on the managerial scale since I wasn't a 15 year person. I goofed off on the internet when I didn't have anything to do. I took work home. I worried about my sick children and imposed upon my in-laws and family to take care of my children so I could go to work even though I didn't want to. I went to doctor's appointments and class parties when I could. I celebrated birthdays and ate cake with my coworkers. I stood in line for 40 minutes with Maddie to attend a funeral viewing for my boss's mother. He hugged me and thanked me for coming knowing he was going to be firing me soon. I dealt with the bureaucracy of a large corporation, something I would never get used to. But all that's life as a working parent.

And now I'm unemployed.

I'm unemployed in one of the worst economies since the depression. Where people can go long stretches of time without any hope of finding a job. My field is not as depressed as some others, but it is tax season, and no firms want to take a chance on someone in the middle of the busiest time of the year. Who has time to train someone on procedures and how tax returns need to be processed when they have a stack of files to take care of? Yeah, I can churn out a tax return, but the presentation of that return for review and for the client is a big part of that process, and every firm is different.

Hudson was at home sick with Tim on Monday. I had to call and tell my husband that an error, albeit a big error, had caused me to get fired. Tim's a pretty level headed person, and he isn't going ballistic like some people would. I am eternally grateful for him and his righteous indignation for me.

Here I am at 30, looking for work, after getting fired for the very first time ever.

We'll be OK for a few months. I can do some work for Nan. I can take advantage of the spring consignment sales to clean out our toy room and the bins of clothes I've been holding on to for no particular reason. Thankfully, Tim has recently had some great things happen to him at his work that has allowed us a little cushion in our budget.

I can also say with some certainty that you shouldn't been looking for the next Bitter is the New Black or Rage against the Meshugenah to come out of this little laptop.

I overheard Tim say to his best friend last night on the phone, "We're OK. Everything that is important to us is all still right here."

And he's right.