My sister-in-law to be gets a lot of flack. She is a school teacher, and while many think she has an awesome responsibility and a noble job, there is a certain contingency that thinks she has an easy life because she gets summers off to go on gastronomical excursions to France. Little do they know that she doesn’t get paid in the summer unless she chooses a reduced paycheck during the year.

If that is your life goal — to work 8-9 months, then travel without taking leave, the other job might be a tax preparer. You could work 15-16 hour days from January 15th or February 1st through April 15th, or maybe April 30th to clear up all the latecomers, and then pick Cacao beans in Malaysia or tour the vegan barbecue establishments of Vermont. After all, a tax preparer is a tax preparer and not a general accountant.

I didn’t know this before, but you can’t just turn the lights off. There are a lot of  enrolled agent continuing education requirements . Namely, 16 class hours annually of continuing ed. This includes 2 credit hours of a enrolled agent ethics course, 3 hours of tax law updates, and 10 hours comprised of a variety of other tax law classes. Since the IRS requires 72 hours in a three year period, you better get cracking and take more than 16 a year. Gee, that’s like a semester at college.

While it does sound enticing, would I want to deal with ME as a client?

I have a brand new appreciation for the folks who sit across from me at H&R Block and type in my info.  I think I’ll bring in a plate of cookies for the staff. After all, dough is a business expense, isn’t it? They deserve a break and a big party on April 16th. This year, the party is on April 17th, as the 16th is a Monday and that’s the line that separates the late from the conscientious.

So why not make April 17th give cookies to your tax preparer day?

This post brought to you by Walgreens. All opinions are 100% mine.

The last time I stumbled into Walgreen's, I noticed a curious new brand, simply called NICE! "Nice!" can mean one of two things, of course:

• A legitimate exclamation of the pleasingness of an item.
• An ironic statement of disapproval.

The packages remind me of a Real Simple magazine cover. Okay. Tomato Paste. It has a picture of tomatoes on it. What? No Italian Countryside scene? No gold emblem with Venice on it (though surely you would not want a Venetian Tomato if you have to take antibiotics to take a dip in the canal). Prunes have a photo of prunes on it. Not smiling older Americans in a sunny meadow.

Nice! is actually a Walgreens store brand. You can find deep discounts on canned goods, boxed foods such as raisins, and cleaning supplies. What's more, is if you join the Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens, you will receive 10% cash back from any Nice! purchase (and Walgreens brand purchase), redeemable upon your next purchase of any item at Walgreens. (Oh, and check out Walgreens on Facebook for additional periodic sales on items.)

What's the damage? It does cost $20 per individual and $35 per family (INCLUDING the four legged SnackHounds) to join. However, you will not only get cash back, but full prescription discount benefits. The savings are real. I just paid half the price I usually pay at the vet's office for a prescription, but I received twice as much of the med. It was $9.99 for 20 pills=40 doses of prednisone for my pup, rather than 10 at the vet, who wanted to charge me $13.00 for it.

Did you save some cash this week with your extreme couponing coupons, plus the 10% kickback? Send a shout out to Walgreens on Twitter. They'll tweet you back so you can feel like a celebrity to their 90K followers. Maybe your Grandma will see it.

This little number, at left, has the Chinese characters for happiness on the side. That’s a very long string of characters to only mean “Happiness, ” sister. I’m a little suspicious. It’s kind of like a friend who was a foreign exchange student had their sister visit. She asked her sister a question and the sister went on for four minutes and my friend translated, “She said she’s happy.” What??

The glasses may be fine and good bebopping around town, but what if you read the reviews of a new, sit-down, classy restaurant that offered the best Chines cuisine? What if you sat yourself down with your glasses, made it a point to brush your hair away from the arms so the owner of the restaurant could see how coordinated you are to your dining experience, and found out that they way you had smudged something on them, the character has been altered to be perceived as a naughty word? Would everyone laugh or kick you out?

I digress. Cheap eyeglasses can help your coordinate your astigmatism for any occasion, but be really careful out there.

My brother kept telling me, “you’ve got to get Satellite TV For Your Business” but I was really resistant. I need to spend a lot of money on other things having to do with the business and I didn’t really see what good having some extra TV channels would do in my office. But after a while I finally gave in and as it turns out per usual, my brother was right…

Patient put really responded to having the news on or the cooking channel or whatever it is in the waiting room while they are waiting for me. I feel like when there’s an interesting TV show on they don’t get so upset with me when I’m running behind in their appointment is pushed back.

I love being in business for myself but it’s tough having to answer to other people when you’re not running on your schedule or something happens that’s totally out of your control. I guess it’s all part of the trade-off you get when you work for yourself.

Make your guests think you just walked over to one of those expensive chain coffee shops and brought them all yogurt parfaits.

1) Firstly, scour the world for Kashi coupons. There sometimes are coupon codes from Kashi, including occasional deals on Amazon, but you can also try to combine electronic coupons, your store sale, and manufacturers coupons. What you’ll want to buy is the Honey Almond Flax cereal. Then scare up one tiny container of in-season fruit. You’ll only need a slice or two for each parfait.

2) Get out your good crystal. If you don’t have any, before the party, visit the thrift store and consignment shops for mismatched water goblets and fancy wine flutes. Sometimes you can find whole sets, but sometimes you can cheaply buy mismatched singles.

3) Fill the goblets with a few spoonfuls of Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal, then add a few dollops of plain yogurt. After that, add a few slices of strawberries or even a drop of chocolate syrpup, then more yogurt and Kashi. Ultimately, the top layer should be raspberries or some other more expensive fruit.

4) Inspect for chips. If one is chipped but won’t cut a lip, all the better. You now can knowingly gaze over to the guest with the chip and announce that they have either won the prize or feign embarrassment while you scoop the goblet up and tell the story of rich but crazy Aunt Felicity who brought the goblet over on the Mayflower. Actually, use “Uncle Oceanus.” Apparently, someone named Oceanus was either born on the ship or born slightly later in the “new world” and folks could actually look up and verify that he was a real person.

One last thing, you’ll want to purchase one actual yogurt parfait from the pricey coffee shop. This way, you can have a receipt lying around somewhere, so everyone will know that you at least spent $3-7 a piece for them, and they’ll do the math.

As far as clean up? Just set them on the back porch. When no one sees goblets in the sink or on the counter, they’ll assume you have a staff.

This post brought to you by Walgreens. All opinions are 100% mine.

Heartburn…
Heartburn…
Indigestion…

A little mid-winter gluttony bloat is nothing compared to how folks who have acid reflux or extreme food allergies suffer. I make myself suffer half the time, in full disclosure. I just have to have that heavy cream. Stomach cramps are better than chemicals, right?

Until January 31, 2012, we can all suffer a lot less. Well…it doesn't mean our lactose intolerance will instantly be cured, but the Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens is offered at a special discount at Walgreens.

For $5 for just you, or for $10 for your whole tribe INCLUDING the little SnackHounds and kitties, discounts are assessed on prescriptions (Normally $15 and $35, respectively). You can also earn points when you buy any Walgreens or Nice! products or use their photofinishing service. My Snack Hound periodically takes a medication that humans also take, so he can be listed as a dependent on my plan. If only the government would consider Weenie Dogs as the same on my taxes, I'd be all set. I'll have to shout to Walgreens on Twitter to thank them for being pup friendly.

The program is especially nice for military families. The contract between Walgreens and Express Scripts is no longer. Express administers prescription programs for different employers, including the military. Folks may find some generics with the Savings Club could be less expensive than the copay or the patient portion of some brand name medications, incidentally. I know it did for me. For more up to date news on this, read up and "like" Walgreens on Facebook. There is news on additional deals, too.

Out of my way, extreme couponers!

When you have a theme restaurant, where the theme is not merely “let’s nail as many reproduction metal signs on the walls and suspend as many sleds and bike parts over patron’s heads,” but razor sharp specific, you really have to “sell it.” Johnny Rockets just doesn’t work if your soda jerk is sporting a mullet. And Strawberry’s Magical Blueberry Bunny Cupcake Patch doesn’t work when Mrs. Santa is wearing a Lady Gaga shirt, nor does “Braveheart” become more endearing of a movie once you notice the wristwatches and boxer shorts.

Among the cheap eyeglasses you can buy to finish off your crew’s uniforms in a way that mob caps and fake mustache’s without robbing anyone but the most ardent fans their dignity are candy heart and Christmas cane embellished spectacles. If you have a bakery, a princess party tea room or breakfast with Santa that runs to sold out crowds for several weeks, you can find the appropriate eyegoggles. After all, they can more easily swap their regular eyeglasses out at break time. It’s easier than ratting down a purple beehive, no?

So, if you are really adamant that your elves aren’t wearing Ray Bans and your fairy princess is wearing proper pink with roses without tripping over the little angels, it seems that the Zenni site has every manner of spectacle starting at $8.99 and up for prescription.

Ever since my husband and I signed up for Directv through http://www.cannonsatellite.com/ we have gotten totally into Top Chef. The new season is in Texas, and since we live in San Antonio it’s really fun to watch. Most of the beginning of the season was filmed here, so it’s really cool to see a lot of familiar places on TV. I also love to cook, so it’s cool to watch all the chefs and learn a thing or two.

Since we’ve started watching I’ve been thinking abut taking some cooking classes so I can improve my skills. I guess I’m a good cook for an amateur, but I’d love to make beautiful meals for my family. I don’t think there is anything better than having people over and feeding them delicious and beautiful food. I’ve learned to make a few really amazing meals, but I’d love to take it to the next level and get really good knife skills. If I could only do things faster, it would be much easier. Sometimes I get tripped up in the simplest things like chopping vegetables.

This post brought to you by Gift Card Weekend. All opinions are 100% mine.

Do you want a free sandwich? Or maybe a salad? How about some chips?

'Gilbert the Gift Card Machine' is giving away 100 Gift Cards per week to lucky folks at home, all culminating in Gift Card Weekend. Yes, 100 lucky "Likers" will each win a $10 Subway Gift Card. The Giveaway will happen every single day from December 23 through December 31st.

To enter:

1) Visit Gift Card Weekend on Facebook and " like" them.

2) "Share" the page with friends for additional entries. The more "likes" from friends you send, the greater your odds.

What is Gift Card Weekend? When you redeem a gift card at participating retailers, the recipient might just receive an extra reward if they redeem it from January 6-8. For example, Applebee's is offering an extra $10 bonus card with the purchase of a $50 gift card.

Food and restaurant partners also include:

• Giant Eagle
• Subway
• Buca di Beppo
• Giant Eagle

For friends that prefer clothing or other gear, JCPenney, BassPro and Adidas are among the other participants. Tell your recipient to check the site for details of their additional redeemable reward when they are planning their shopping trip or lunch out. So…look like a hero.

There are no rules against buying one for yourself, of course.

Every few years, another juice form an exotic fruit is introduced, sold through multi level marketing and is not available in stores. The last one I remember was Acai, and supposedly there was a special patented form. The folks who sold it at $40 a bottle swore that the Acai juice in stores was a watered down, low grade version. But now you can even find Noni at the health food store.

The latest juice product is Nopalea (pronounced No-pah lay’uh), and its put out by Trivita . The fruit is harvested from the Nopal cactus plant that has survived the harrowing weather of the dessert. Adherents claim that it reduces inflammation and rids the body of toxins. Antioxidants found in various fruits do just that. But, does it do more than readily available antioxidant juices and supplements?  The jury is out. Everyone wants a magic cure. While Nopalea doesn’t cure, most consumers wish a single dietary change to make a miraculous difference, whether than the miraculous difference coming from an overall balanced diet free of saturated fats.

On the other hand, drinking a high antioxidant juice and replacing soft drinks or “junk juice” drinks with it may have individuals noticing enough of a difference to inspire them to make other changes necessary in their diet.

If you have tried superfruit juices like Nopalea, write in and let me know what you think.

(* = By the way, this site, nor any of its friends, affiliates, or advertisers, including The SnackHound, Foodbuzz, Mrs. Butterworth, the good people of Hershey, Pennsylvania, Frankenstein, my nextdoor neighbor Tiffany, Dr. Watson, nor PayPerPost are affiliated in any way with Trivita)