Sunday, March 11, 2007

deep in the heart of taxes

sorry i've been unpresent lately. i've also been unpleasant as i am every year at this time due to being buried neck-deep in tax receipts.

self-employment means keeping track of all your expenses so that you can deduct them. smart people log each receipt into the correct category in quicken each time it comes in. melissa is stupid... she waits until the last possible second to file, add and report deductions to the accountant. melissa was an ART MAJOR. melissa needs a business manager.

in other news, i've been scanning my gram's old photo albums so that she can have them back. she's been busy lately taking a trip down her 97 years of memory lane and i'm hogging 3 of her books. they're absolutely fascinating! i don't know about you, but family histories and geneaology fascinate the heck out of me. here's an example of what i've found...






this is a photo of my great-great grandparents with their 4 sons and one daughter who is my great-grandmother carrie (my mom's dad's mom). my great-great grandfather, david, was a union soldier in the civil war. it's crazy to me that this photo documentation even exists, and that my kids will be able to have a photo of their great-great-great grandparents.



here's another photo of carrie as a baby.



i just love looking at the details and the styles of the clothing and furniture. and check out that smirk on her little face! you don't imagine she was horribly spoiled being the youngest and only daughter of 5 children, do you?

other than those two things i've been up to, i'm packing for our trip to the d.r. since we're leaving on thursday. i can't wait to get the heck outta dodge! i think i need a break.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ahhh....sepia...isn't it great??
I like it so much more than some of today's digital photos.

Nabeel said...

awww the little girl picture is soo cute, she is standing on the chair, how cute. I love these vintage photos and of course the family pictures in those times.

Da Mommy said...

How neat! I've found similar ones of my family and it is just amazing. My dad found my great grandmother's journal....WOW, now THAT was enlightening!! It was better than pictures!!

Andie D. said...

How cool that you're scanning this stuff. It will keep for so long now!

I love the old pics too. It used to be hard for me because I'm adopted. But now that I have my own kids, my husband's family pics have taken on an extra special meaning for me. They ARE my family too.

Lainey-Paney said...

a trip to D.R.??
As in Dominican Republic?
Been there.
Water is GORGEOUS!
Have fun on vacation!

If it's not Dominican Republic...then I don't have a clue!

:)

Your family history stuff is very interesting. Aaaaandd...I find that my grandmother LOVES to talk about that stuff with us. She loves to share the stories & great memories.

Secret Pal said...

What pure joy to be able to see back so far and to learn and know who your ancestor's are. Wow. To my knowledge nothing that old exists for my family. Who knows what may appear one day...My DH's mother does have an 100+ year old family bible with history and names in it....

Booklogged said...

Melissa, I hope your post means the taxes are finished. Genealogy is fascinating, isn't it? What a treasure to have those pictures.

Have a wonderful, romantic, restful time on your trip. I'm jealous.

J said...

Gorgeous pics. God, I got totally hooked on this stuff a few years ago...did our family tree. I have a picture of my grandma standing on a chair, but her eyes are closed, because she was afraid of heights. Too cute. Also a pic of a Union Soldier, my great great great grandfather, who died in the war before he even found out his wife was pregnant. Amazing stuff.

Have a great time in the DR!

Susan in Italy said...

triple great grandparents. Not too many people get to see pics of them!

Are you going to the Dominican Republic? You mentioned a relaxing beach vacation a while back...

Lotus Reads said...

You are very lucky to have pictures that date so far back, Melissa. I find myself totally fascinated with vintage pics and any time we're at an antique fair I find myself heading for the stalls with old postcards and photographs...I'm so curious about who those people might have been and what lives they might have had. Anyway, I digress...the oldest pictures we have are of my mom's grandfather, but there are just very few, so I treasure what I have.

Have a beautiful time in the Dominican Republic!

Jay said...

Those are really precious photos.

And I hear you on the taxes - yuck. And of course, the government of canada site apparently got hacked, and now no one can submit online. Do people really do their taxes on paper anymore?

hellomelissa said...

mr.l-- honestly, with photoshop, we could make many photos into sepia. i should do that more often!

nabeel-- aren't vintage photos amazing? i could stare at them all day.

da mommy-- i'd give my eye teeth for a journal, how lucky! i've tried to get my gram to write about her life since she's been around since 1910, but uh-uh. no dice.

andie-- how great that you've now adopted your hub's family!

lainey-- yep, headed out on thursday morning. wish my gram liked to talk!

secret pal-- ooh, a 100 yr old bible? what a treasure!

booklogged-- the files are now in the hands of an accountant. now, i just need to take a no-worries pill (does it even exist?) and RELAX on this vacation!

j-- will you post the photo of your grandma on the chair someday? wow, you REALLY got into the history with a family tree.

ml-- yes, they really do suck ass!

susan-- someday i'll post a photo of the kids' OTHER triple great grandma that i have a photo of. whistler beware! and yes, we leave for the dr on thursday.

lotus-- i miss you! and i'd love to go to a flea market with you someday... i have a feeling we'd be interested in the same things.

jay-- i didn'r hear about the canadian hack. can't trust anything on the internet these days, huh?

Anonymous said...

That's totally amazing! I love old photos, the ones that creep me out are the ones where they used to photograph the families after they died.. you know pose them upright in chairs, etc. BUT I'm glad here they are alive!

I drive a mini Van!!

Heidi said...

Those are great pictures. Too bad your gram doesn't want to talk about her life. It's still cool to be able to know who is in the pictures, I have a lot of old ones but I don't know who some of the people are.