Admittedly, I am not entirely certain when spring arrives in Southern California. We had a glorious January with sun and seventies, after a rainy December. I barely had time to trim back my roses before they started blooming again.

When we lived elsewhere, I always planted daffodils so I could watch their green shoots pop up through the snow and I knew spring was on the way. Maybe these days daffodils are coming up in December, for all I know!

But the one sure sign of spring is always taxes. As a former CPA, I���ve always done my own. As long as I���m writing, I have to keep paying, including both employer and employee Social Security taxes, on top of federal and state. Don���t let anyone tell you your Social Security check is a government benefit! Invested the way I invest my own savings, I���ve paid my own way, not the government, thank you very much. Given my age, I���m probably paying future benefits for my children!