Milestones and waiting

 

 This is me in front of our house when we first got to Mazatlán in September 2019. Now with COVID in the mix, it's where we spend pretty much all of our time.  We're hitting a milestone of living here a year and a half, which is how long we lived in Argentina before moving back to the states.

      This week was hard I think for the city of Mazatlán, mainly because there was no Carnaval. It defines this city as special and people from all over the world usually pack the streets to see it. Last year it was SPECTACULAR!

       As ex-pats, we still file taxes in the US and we filed right away last March using H&R Block so we would get it automatically sent to our bank. A form was missing, so after 3 months they notified us of that (After I called them). So once we finally got the requested paperwork in July, we got it all together and sent it DHL. Then nothing, no tax return, for 2 months so I called again in September. They said to resend using our tax preparer, so we contacted H&RBlock and she re-sent. Then nothing and we waited. The tax return is a significant amount and has left us pretty destitute over and over not getting it. Finally, I checked last week and it said" return mailed", on the website. I assumed that was an error because we didn't file that way, but nothing showed up in our account. 
       So I called again yesterday (Fun fact, only 1 in 4 people get through to the IRS because they make the wait time so long and the phone tree so complicated!). It took 10 failed calls to get through and 3 hours of my day to find out that yes, they mailed a check because February 12 was the last day of the 2020 tax season and for "old taxes" they don't do electronic transfers. We counted as early filers last year..... So we're still waiting now for the post office.

      Our other long wait will be for the vaccine. We are not citizens of Mexico so we must wait until this country has an excess vaccine to sell in the private clinics. Since I'm unwilling to travel without the vaccine it looks like we will have to wait till around the middle of 2022.

     In other news, my comic book "The Dragon in The Closet, The Amulet, Issue #2" has been released on Amazon and other sites. I was just interviewed about this book on Jukebox Mind, which you could read here. 
    Also, storytime readings of my new books have been released....

        Fireflies was read on the Reading Pioneers Academy channel (just brilliantly done and the best reading I've seen of my books) and on Jasmine's Reading Corner (also a good job).

 The Gift From Little Raccoon, A Pandemic Tale was also read aloud on StoryTime Pals, which is a great channel, worth checking out!

       

  Mike has also been busy with two new stories (written by Cody Goodfellow) coming out in Slow Death Zero, a comix anthology, which can be pre-ordered here . I colored one of the stories, but I don't think I got a credit this time.

  Anyway, stay warm to all my friends and family in the states, and have an excellent week!