Some weeks are just so FULL, you know? Full of getting up, and getting going, and getting others going, and working. Full of obligations and reminder notes and to-do lists and appointments and errands. Full of compliments, and pleasant surprises and phone calls from friends, and feelings of accomplishment. Full of horrible mistakes and freezing weather and, thankfully, FIXING the horrible mistakes. Full of teeth brushing and bedtime stories and back scratches and laundry (really full of laundry) and throwing meals together, and driving Karin to and from practice.
Yesterday I had my salary “discussion” with my boss. She made it clear, as she obviously had to, that it was merely an information meeting and not a negotiation. The only time you really get to have salary negotiations in Sweden is during the interview process for a NEW job. Once you have the job, you’re pretty much stuck in the pool with the rest of your colleagues and the money gets divided up based on criteria that has always felt very NON-AMERICAN to me. But this year, for the first time in several, I was actually pleased when I walked out of the room. My boss complimented my work and my performance this year and rewarded me for it. She made me want to continue doing my best, and isn’t that what it’s all about, after all?
I’m still stuck in the tax info-gathering nightmare, but I feel like I’m at least making headway. I had managed to gather the info on 4 accounts all by myself based on the bank statements on file going back 4 years, and another bank is sending me the info I need for their account next week for all six years. I called the first bank as well today, and the guy who helped me on the phone didn’t seem very sanguine about being able to find all the info I needed for the last 2 years, and suggested I come into the bank office to talk to them and order what I needed, but then when I got home and went into the internet bank to work on the problem so more, I found that bank statements going back MORE than the 2 years I needed had been added to the site. I’ll call and thank him tomorrow, because not only WAS he helpful, but he saved me over over 2000 kronor!
All I have left to figure out are the mutual funds, both ours and the kids…and I’m not sure how to get the “maximum amount of money for the year” for accounts that fluctuate in value constantly. We don’t get statements of transactions for mutual funds; we simply get a year-end statement with the current value of our shares at the end of each year. I don’t know if that’s enough for this report.
I actually DREAMED about IRS forms the other night: talk about nightmare! Also, I think the FBAR should be renamed FUBAR, because that is totally what it is.
Anders emailed me at work today and said a co-worker had asked him to switch one of his trips. He asked Anders if he would mind taking his (the other guy’s) Italy trip in April instead of his (Anders’) planned Bangkok trip in March, and Anders said “Sure!” This makes me happy because I don’t like it when Anders goes so far away. And after I responded to the email with enthusiasm, he emailed me back again a little while later with prices and an itinerary for a weekend trip for the kids and I to join him in Modena over the weekend while he’s there! Yay!
Did I tell you we had snow over the weekend? No one cares: you all have snow. But we’ve had hardly any all winter, though the first snow that we DID have a month or so ago froze fast and is still on the ground. In addition to the snow, we had hoarfrost and I freaking love that stuff. It makes all the trees look like they have leaves, only WHITE. And all the plants blossom with CRYSTAL. And everything else gets outlined in DIAMONDS. It’s so pretty. I don’t care that we haven’t had a lot of snow, actually; I’m just glad that it’s not one of those rainy dark sodden winters where everything is damp and moldy and blah. The light is returning and we’ve had unprecedented amounts of sunshine and blue skies for DAYS in a row. And as long as the days are ALSO full of sunshine, then I can handle pretty much anything.