Recap: Julie & Julieta Come for a Visit
Two weeks ago, my sister Julie and her daughter, Julieta, came to visit from Mexico. They were here for two reasons: 1) to meet Miss Reagan and 2) to file taxes. Both were accomplished - albeit, one easier than the other - so we'll call the trip a success. I was hesitant even before they arrived (Jessica and Sean were nice enough to go pick them up from the local airport since Reagan was already asleep), because I heard some things from Julie about how crazy her daughter was! As soon as they walked in the door, I learned that my hesitation was not ungrounded...
Jessica was already nearing her tipping point (apparently Julieta wasn't a huge fan of the car seat we put her in and voiced such disgruntlement with loud screaming), Sean retreated upstairs to watch TV almost immediately, and Tommy, the ever nosy dog, was investigating everything. Julieta walked in the door and tipped over Tommy's water bowl. Then, leaving a trail, she made her way around the entire bottom level grabbing everything I didn't think she'd be able to reach:) She pulled several of my new herb sprouts from the container, ripped pictures and magnets and other items from the refrigerator door, and somehow found a pen and a tablet of paper on which she made one mark per page. Guess this is what I have to look forward to!
Day 2 was still hectic, but not terrible. Again, I made rounds of the house putting things up even higher and the contents of the water bowl found the floor once more. But Julieta was slowly getting used to Tommy and was learning that Reagan wasn't her own personal baby doll, so things were looking up!
Days 3-14 were even better. During the visit, we went to Walmart, Target, Old Navy, Marshall's, Carolina Premium Outlets (about a 2 hour drive), and a slew of other places gathering things on a list that Julie brought with her. We were shopping mainly for clothes for Julieta and a couple of her cousins. Apparently the clothing selection in Mexico isn't so good and to top it off, they are more expensive down there. Who knew?! We enjoyed several meals out and cooked an equal number of times. Julie made me some delicious Mexican food a few times and we ate other very basic meals. Julieta eats everything so she was easy to please:)
The story of the taxes really rates it's own paragraph. First, we both attempted to do the taxes online. Unfortunately, due to Max's lack of citizenship, he required a 1040-NR (non-resident) form, which wasn't available to us. No worries, we just called a local tax office and they assured us they had dealt with such situations. We headed over to Liberty Tax and dropped off the paperwork. The lady was kind enough to say that she would figure estimates for us and call back shortly. Shortly turned out to be about a day and a half later! During this time, I asked Julie if she had a power of attorney for Max. She looked at me as if I had said, "Julie, do you have a third arm?" We contacted the tax office and they assured us that they could email a form to Max and he could electronically sign the document. Well, after the first document was emailed, we got a frantic text from Max about how they spelled his name wrong and the address was incorrect, so we jetted over to the office and fixed the issues with them. Meanwhile, we had to go to two gas stations to find a calling card and then drove around the city looking for a pay phone (try to recall the last place you saw a pay phone...they hardly exist anymore). We finally located one and after a heated conversation in Spanish, Julie solved the problem and the power of attorney matter was complete. Around dinner time of the third day focused on taxes, the consultant at Liberty Tax finished the filing and all was well. They are getting back a significant amount, so it was totally worth it. Now all I have to do is wait for the call to pick up the check and mail it to Mexico.
All in all we had a great visit. We took Julieta to see the beach for the first time and Reagan enjoyed having a playmate. It was good to see them and hopefully they find their way stateside again in the near future. Until then, I know they are expecting us to visit Mexico...stay tuned to see if that ever happens:)
Jessica was already nearing her tipping point (apparently Julieta wasn't a huge fan of the car seat we put her in and voiced such disgruntlement with loud screaming), Sean retreated upstairs to watch TV almost immediately, and Tommy, the ever nosy dog, was investigating everything. Julieta walked in the door and tipped over Tommy's water bowl. Then, leaving a trail, she made her way around the entire bottom level grabbing everything I didn't think she'd be able to reach:) She pulled several of my new herb sprouts from the container, ripped pictures and magnets and other items from the refrigerator door, and somehow found a pen and a tablet of paper on which she made one mark per page. Guess this is what I have to look forward to!
Day 2 was still hectic, but not terrible. Again, I made rounds of the house putting things up even higher and the contents of the water bowl found the floor once more. But Julieta was slowly getting used to Tommy and was learning that Reagan wasn't her own personal baby doll, so things were looking up!
Days 3-14 were even better. During the visit, we went to Walmart, Target, Old Navy, Marshall's, Carolina Premium Outlets (about a 2 hour drive), and a slew of other places gathering things on a list that Julie brought with her. We were shopping mainly for clothes for Julieta and a couple of her cousins. Apparently the clothing selection in Mexico isn't so good and to top it off, they are more expensive down there. Who knew?! We enjoyed several meals out and cooked an equal number of times. Julie made me some delicious Mexican food a few times and we ate other very basic meals. Julieta eats everything so she was easy to please:)
The story of the taxes really rates it's own paragraph. First, we both attempted to do the taxes online. Unfortunately, due to Max's lack of citizenship, he required a 1040-NR (non-resident) form, which wasn't available to us. No worries, we just called a local tax office and they assured us they had dealt with such situations. We headed over to Liberty Tax and dropped off the paperwork. The lady was kind enough to say that she would figure estimates for us and call back shortly. Shortly turned out to be about a day and a half later! During this time, I asked Julie if she had a power of attorney for Max. She looked at me as if I had said, "Julie, do you have a third arm?" We contacted the tax office and they assured us that they could email a form to Max and he could electronically sign the document. Well, after the first document was emailed, we got a frantic text from Max about how they spelled his name wrong and the address was incorrect, so we jetted over to the office and fixed the issues with them. Meanwhile, we had to go to two gas stations to find a calling card and then drove around the city looking for a pay phone (try to recall the last place you saw a pay phone...they hardly exist anymore). We finally located one and after a heated conversation in Spanish, Julie solved the problem and the power of attorney matter was complete. Around dinner time of the third day focused on taxes, the consultant at Liberty Tax finished the filing and all was well. They are getting back a significant amount, so it was totally worth it. Now all I have to do is wait for the call to pick up the check and mail it to Mexico.
All in all we had a great visit. We took Julieta to see the beach for the first time and Reagan enjoyed having a playmate. It was good to see them and hopefully they find their way stateside again in the near future. Until then, I know they are expecting us to visit Mexico...stay tuned to see if that ever happens:)
Great pictures and recap of the visit! The picture of Julieta sleeping on the couch makes her look five years old!
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