Olympic Fever

We have Olympic Fever here in the Lew household. We're going to have to go on a TV diet once the games are over because we've been watching non-stop since the opening ceremonies. Points of note:

1. How awesome is it that the U.S. won its first nordic combined event EVER?! Very awesome.

2. Curling is cool. Case in point: Jon and I signed up for a "learn to curl" class with the local curling club and will be learning the coolness in April. You may all feel jealous....now.

3. Lindsey Vonn. She is rad. She makes me want to say things like "rad." And that Julie Mancuso ain't no slouch either! I am really digging the American excellence in the alpine events this year.

4. Ice dancing is lame. I can get worked up about pretty much any Olympic event, but throw ice dancing on screen and it is like my brain starts to melt. Soooo slooooow. Soooo boring. Can't we cut this shizzle down to one performance instead of three? I think we can.

So that's what we've been doing for the past week. We will continue to do nothing but Olympics watching for the next week, and then we will be sad when it ends.

And, since you have all been so good, here is a nice picture I took at work today. My banana is a phone...get it? I am having a very serious conversation, as you can plainly see.

My first trip to the medals podium...

I successfully completed the Aerial Unwind category of the Ravelympics....frogging (i.e. ripping out) a scarf I tried so hard to love, but just hated.

Next up...Junior Olympics, and finishing a baby blanket before closing ceremonies!

Things that make me laugh...

This weekend, Evelyn was getting upset about something and I could not figure out what it was. Not unusual, really, except she kept going to the refrigerator and pointing, whining, trying to open the door, walk around the kitchen, come back to the refrigerator, etc. Being the keen deducer that I am, I opened the refrigerator and asked what she wanted. Milk? Sippy cup? Beans (she loves black beans right now)? Cheese? No, just more pointing and whining and frustration. I picked her up and walked around the kitchen, trying to figure out what she was pointing at. The word "wagh-wagh" kept getting repeated, but I didn't know what it meant. (Or, rather, the cracker I thought she wanted was decidedly NOT what wagh-wagh meant at that moment.)

We finally got back to the refrigerator, Evelyn pointed at the freezer and I opened it up. There, at the end of her little finger, was the secret stash of Girl Scout Thin Mints.

Smarty pants...

Wherein I lose my mind and start babbling incoherently...

I would like to tell a story about trying to rollover an old 401k into a new 401k and how it will drive you to madness. But wait, you know that story. Anyone who has ever tried to do this must face the same problems: paperwork, circular logic, more paperwork, confusing paperwork, and then some more forms and paperwork.

I have been fiscally irresponsible with my retirement accounts, letting two accounts started with former employers sit and not do anything for me for many years. One has been sitting for three years, so, you know, that's not so bad. It didn't fall when the stock market crashed or grow when the stock market rebounded. It's just been sitting there. Earning "interest," if that's what the kids call it these days. I'm going to roll that into my current account, trying to make the money "work for me" and "grow" and whatever. OK. Fine. The paperwork is a serious pain in my you-know-what (keepin' it clean for the kids!), but I can deal.

The real problem is the other account. The one from an employer I left in 2002. That one, too, has just been sitting there. The problem is, it was set up oddly, or I invested poorly, or who knows because I was 22 years old and didn't know my you-know-what from my elbow. So it is some kind of an annuity (is that a thing?) and if I want to roll it over into my current 401k I have to do it in installments over 10 years. TEN YEARS. That is almost how long I've been out of that job! Grr. SUCH A PAIN IN THE...well, you get the point.

So, whatever. I'm trying to do the right thing. I suppose I should just suck it up and start moving that annuity over a little bit at a time for ten freakin years and actually get the money into an account that can make more than 1% interest. Or maybe I should leave it in case...I don't know. I hate money and finance. Hate.

When I was in college my mom tried to force me to take a dance class and a computer programming class. The former was fine (hello, tap dance!), but I never took that computer class. I think I turned out just fine. But when Evelyn goes off to school, I think I'm going to encourage her to take a few business/finance classes. This stuff is complicated, but good to know. I wish I knew more.

But in the meantime, I hate 401k accounts and annuities and rollovers and PAPERWORK.

Bring on the E.R....

I'm pretty sure Evelyn is going to be one of those kids who ends up in the ER with a lacerated forehead or stitches in her lip or a broken wrist. Why? Because she is a daredevil! A crazy child! A wild woman! For example...

1. She learned how to climb up onto the side table next to the couch. It's about two feet by three feet in size, a little wobbly, but she loves it most of all. She'll push the books and magazines off the top, find a foothold and pull herself up. She would just sit on it, crawling from it to the couch and back. But now...well, now she likes to stand up on the table, stomping her foot to make the table wobble back and forth. Sigh.

2. She loves the blanket hammock! What is the blanket hammock, you might ask? If Jon or I are sitting on the couch or chair, put our feet up on the coffee table, with a blanket draped over our legs. Evelyn will get in the blanket hammock, between our knees, and jump up and down. She'll even crawl up on the coffee table and jump INTO the blanket hammock. Which is awesome on the knees. Last night she decided it wasn't enough to jump around in the hammock, but she wanted to stand ABOVE the hammock...i.e, on my shins. So she did. Repeatedly. Getting her balance and standing on my shins before falling into the blanket hammock. All to much glee and delight.

3. High chairs are right out and we are now standing on regular dining room chairs when eating. Apparently high chairs are for BABIES. Evelyn is, like, way too big for that. We discovered she was much better behaved in restaurants if we avoided the highchair completely and let her just stand on a chair by herself.

4. She loves to hang upside down. Loves it. Like a crazy child.

5. She can pull herself up onto the toilet, reach over and turn on the bathroom sink, and play in the water. Where things could get slippery and scaldy and hot. Yes, this one we do not encourage. We've started locking the bathroom door so she can't get in.

Oh there is more, mostly based on her love of climbing up onto things that are dangerous. Right now we are in close supervision, knowing she will do it anyway and trying to teach her the safest way to do things. But dang! My mom used to tell stories of my brother's crazy hijinks, climbing up on to tables and refrigerators and whatnot. Whatever gene that came from is dormant in me, but very very active in my child! This should be fun...

Bubbles

This weekend we played with bubbles...

Isn't that last picture the most precious thing you have ever seen? I dare say it is.