SLOGGING ALONG

Paid our taxes this week! Now going through the depression that always follows. Even though we pay huge (to us) quarterly deposits all year, paying the balance at the end hurts. It doesn't help that the April due date falls at the end of the slow winter season - and this year it was particularly slow due to our rotten weather. Also doesn't help to read in the newspaper about the trillions of dollars going to wage war and rebuild other countries. And the obscene profits that the big corporations make while we little guys just keep slogging along and struggling to keep going in the face of rising operating costs and higher prices for our merchandise. Higher and higher fuel costs translate to higher delivery costs for our merchandise - regular gas went to $3.05 this week. Trying to find affordable health insurance is an exercise in frustration. And it just keeps raining.

There - - - I feel better getting that all off my chest! It's Easter and time for renewal and revitalization. The little teasers of sunshine we've had now and then seem to perk people up and make us optomistic that things will be getting better.