It Pays to Exercise

I have been doing a lot of walking lately. Sometimes I go in the morning with a neighbor/friend of mine, and sometimes I go with Gary and the dogs.

The other day as I bent over to pick up a penny I saw laying in the street, I realized that I am up to about 75 cents and a ratchet socket wrench. I have found pennies and dimes and I just put them in my pocket; it adds up! Walking near the airport a week ago I found a wrench for Gary. He seems quite tickled to have it.

So, it pays to exercise, literally. You might not get rich doing it, but it is better than staying home, eating bon-bons and watching soap operas.

GENEALOGY

This morning I received an email from my cousin Bev Laseke in Illinois. She has been corresponding with a distant cousin in Germany, a Laseke. She sent me a copy of our Family Crest. A month ago my nephew Sam Laseke asked if I had the family crest. I thought I had it but when I looked at it I realized it was just an imitation of what a family crest would look like. If anyone has any ideas what the crest stands for let me know. Michelle thinks it is a warrior with a feather duster, meaning Laseke's are great house cleaners.

I also came across some very interesting information. The Klein Family and the Laseke Family are both from Hohnhorst Germany at about the same time. Maybe we are related! That would explain why our daughters are a little "different".

I have been on the computer a lot the past few days and I have been working on a lot of genealogy. I am trying to update the information I have as it is very easy to have a wrong date or place. I received a Family Tree from my cousin which was given to her by our cousin in Germany and she has my mom married to a Daniel Laseke, and my niece Jill as a Laseke. If you Google Laseke there is a Jill Laseke that is a realtor but it is not my niece Jill Bradley. It is a lot of fun to work on and to try and piece it all together. I have come across many Laseke's and Laeseke's that I don't know who they belong to.

My favorite part of working on genealogy is to look at the census records. They have a lot of information on them. In the early 1900's they went door to door so you could see who lived next door to the person you are looking up. It also tells where the people were born and where their parents were born. If you ever get a chance, go to the Library and look at them.

I PASSED!

On Saturday I turned in my test to certify to do Income Taxes through the IRS and AARP for the low income and elderly. I got 100% on the Basic portion and 100% on the Intermediate portion. I passed the Advanced portion, I had an inherited stock in the Short Term Capital Gain section and because it was inherited it always goes in the long term section. So 3 of my answers were wrong, but if I had it in the right place the calculations were correct. I was very nervous turning in the test because I had been studying for almost a month. I even spent a lot of my time in Chicago reading my manual and practicing on the computer.

On Monday I thought I would go to the Tumwater Library and watch someone else do tax returns. As it turns out they were short a couple of Counselors so I got to do a few tax returns. I was so nervous with the first lady. I decided I wasn't going to tell her she was my first customer or she might ask for someone else. After a few minutes I relaxed and it was just like the Practice Lab we worked on. I am working again in Tumwater on Wednesday, and Thursday and Saturday I am in Yelm. They need help in Salkum so I might go out there every other Saturday.

This is a picture of the logo on the shirt I get to wear. I am easily one of the youngest volunteers.