A lot of you have been calling to see how my vacation went. If was WONDERFUL! We did a World War II Tour of Europe. Starting in Amsterdam, we followed the alled troops in reverse, through Germany, Belguim and ended up in France on the coast of Normandy.

We were actually touring for 13 days and saw at least one, if not two, museums everyday! I have to admit by the 13th day, I was getting a little tired of museums. But all in all it was great. It rained the 1st 10 days we were there, but we just thought we were in Oregon!

We went with a tour group and there is no way we could have gone as far or seen as much as we did on our own. If you've never done a tour or gone to Europe, I strongly suggest it. We went with Image Tours and they were great. (www.imagetours.com)

BUT as always, vacations must end. So, I'm back at work trying to make up for lost time.

After 11 years in an office, I am moving everything back to a home office. I finally realized I was spending money on rent, phones, etc for a space I'm never in. As you know, I'm usually in someone else's office. It was becoming a very expensive PO Box.

So... begining July 15th, I will be working out of my home. You probably won't notice any difference since most of you have never been to my office in the first place.

The advantage to you is... Now all numbers will ring directly to my cell phone. You won't have to try calling the office - getting no answer - and then calling my cell phone. Whether you call 503-238- 4747, 800-321-4744 or 503-484-7400 they'll all ring on my cell phone. I may still be with a client when you can and not answer but I'll only have to listen to one voice message! (It should be an advantage for all of us!)

The new mailing address will be: SBA Services, Inc 2605 SE 66th Ave Portland OR 9726

More and more small to large businesses are starting to accept credit card payments from their customers. Whether you already accept them or are just thinking about it, you can sign up through Intuit to process the transactions directly in QuickBooks. No re-entry, no fuss, it's automatic.

Currently, Intuit is offering a special sign up (through me, of course). The standard set-up fee and the monthly fee is waived for the 1st 2 months. (There is a minimun of $20/mo).

The rates are:

• Set-Up Fee $59.95
• Monthly Fee $17.95
• Monthly minium $20.00
• Card-swiped rate 1.76%
• Key-entered rate 2.44%
• Non-qualified rate 3.14%

There are NO long term contracts and NO cancellation fees.

If you would like more information, give me a call. It only takes a few days for the set up and the time savings and convenience are invaluable.

Unfortunately, our class attendance has dropped to almost nothing. Because of the cost of maintaining the classroom, we are going to be closing it.

I really hate doing it, but I can't keep the classroom if it doesn't pay for itself, so I had no choice. What I have found, is that most people want the one-on- one training in their own offices not a classroom.

The classes scheduled through the rest of the summer will still be done (if there's enough people) but after 8/31/06 the classroom will be no more.

Because I'm moving back home, my office space is now available. Many of you know Kaye Uhrick, of Kaye's Bookkeeping. We've been sharing the office for the last several years.

Kaye will be staying in the office and is looking to rent out my space. You can call her at 503-236- 5280 and make arrangements to come by and look at it.

First of all I want to apologize to anyone who tried to reach me in April or May and didn't get a response. My Mom's cancer came back with a vengence in April and she passed away on May 18th. I spent most of April & the beginning of May driving back & forth to McMinnville.

I am really grateful for the time I got to spend with her those last weeks. The cancer spread faster than even her doctors anticipated but she never really suffered too much.

I want to thank those of you who knew for your prayers and understanding.