happy habitat happenings

Hello Friends!

I'm still alive, but in summer mode (if only it were summer weather!) Kids are home, so I'm not working quite as much, and the first thing to give is the Happy Habitat blog. I didn't ever want blogging to be a thing of stress for me, so I have never made any obligations to myself or the public on how often I would post, or what topics I would cover, and I would never make apologies for not posting (does anyone out there really read this anyway!)

In addition to hanging with my kids, I've been knee-deep in yucky business stuff. This is the kind of crappy stuff that owning your own business involves:

• MANY phone calls to the Kansas Department of Revenue to find out how to file Kansas Retail Sales Tax. Did you know that for EVERY sale in Kansas, I have to list that individual sale, with it's separate city's tax code (there are codes that have to be looked up, as they couldn't just call it the city), with it's separate tax percentage, in addition to the total quarterly sales, then deduct out internet sales that do not require sales tax. Did I lose you? Me too. I'm seriously thinking about not selling items in Kansas to avoid this ridiculousness. 
• MORE phone calls to the Kansas Department of Revenue to figure out why they want me to file for employee's tax withholding when I don't have employees. 
• Fees and Forms to become an LLC (allright, that was surprisingly easy, but still had to weed out all the extra stuff on the internet that companies try to get you to pay for). I'm officially an LLC now though-- apparently that's important.
• Business Insurance. Yep, I guess I had to get that too. I've been in business for almost 2 years without it, but found that some companies wouldn't partner with me without insurance. So had to take care of that fun item too. 
• And back to the Kansas Department of Revenue for quarterly taxes. I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be paying my income tax every quarter (not to be confused with 'withholding tax' or 'retail sales tax'). 

Gross, right? I suppose it's the stuff you have to deal with to get on to the good part--- designing new patterns! Taking care of those odds and ends makes the fun part that much better. 

Speaking of fun parts, check out Latina Magazine's April issue! The XO Pillows were featured in their "The Good Life: Go Green" section. WOOHOO!