Happy New Year!
Happy 2009, one and all.
It was a very quiet New Year's Eve. I worked until 8 - finally landed a number 1 position on my team's sales board for a little bit yesterday afternoon and finished in a very respectable 4th place. I LOVE the feeling of doing a great sale on a product I believe in and works well for the customer. It was a slow night, but good. Quiet at home as well - poked around trying to upgrade our newly adopted iMac G3 to some sort of reasonable internet browser, made my annual death pool list and chatted with Hubby until the ball dropped. Didn't care to stay up to watch Robbie Keneval make his jump - is it bad that I didn't really care one way or the other if he made it?
Today, also quiet. Have been thinking for weeks (well, since before Thanksgiving) about the right time to set tomato seeds. Finally decided that it was now or never, so I went to 4 different stores trying to find them. You'd think they'd be more prevalent this time of year here in AZ, but no. Did finally track down a bunch at Home Depot - picked up some organic San Marzanos and some Sweeties. Sister sent me a bunch of heirloom seeds for my birthday which included some Green Zebras, so I'm trying them too. Anya wants me to plant carrots - I think we may still have enough time in the season, so I may sow those tomorrow in the outside garden.
Ground is still damp from all of the rains last week, and even soft in some places. I'm tempted to get out there tomorrow and start digging soil for some new beds while the ground is still so workable. Maybe something to do tomorrow morning.
Financially, things are getting a little tighter. The economy has definitely hit hubby's job so, including next week, he'll have had 2 days of work out of 4 weeks. Suckage. Should pick up though as we move into January. Most of that down time was people cancelling company holiday parties. He's also moving to do breakfasts and lunches which will give him better work opportunities. I'm getting the basic paycheck and am now eligible for bonus, but I'm still on a learning curve and not yet hitting those bonus numbers. I think I should be able to in a week or two, though.
Still, mortgage went up (ARM hit) and sent us up $250 a month when we could ill afford it. We have applied for loan modification but because I was unemployed, we didn't qualify - weird huh? Maybe now that I'm employed, we can try again. We're certainly going to hit a point this month where the mortgage is likely to be short/late for the first time since before we refinanced. I'm disappointed that our hard work to try to improve our credit may be for naught. A friend gave me a lead on some other mortgage help as well, so I'm not getting super stressed about things. There are many people in far worse shape than us.
All of this is to say that we aren't without our struggles, but we're doing very well, and I'm continually amazed at how much happier I am that I've left what I thought was my dream company. I'm in a company now with better benefits, and a better and more walk-the-talk attitude about empowering employees and job-pathing to promotions. I feel I have space to dream big and be who I am at this company and no one is going to say anything but Go For It, and how can I help?
Speaking of empowerment and fun...Friday is pajama day. I'm so looking forward to wearing yoga pants, a tshirt, my bathrobe and comfy fuzzy socks and my knock-off crocs....and knowing I won't be the only one....
It's going to be a very good year... :)
It was a very quiet New Year's Eve. I worked until 8 - finally landed a number 1 position on my team's sales board for a little bit yesterday afternoon and finished in a very respectable 4th place. I LOVE the feeling of doing a great sale on a product I believe in and works well for the customer. It was a slow night, but good. Quiet at home as well - poked around trying to upgrade our newly adopted iMac G3 to some sort of reasonable internet browser, made my annual death pool list and chatted with Hubby until the ball dropped. Didn't care to stay up to watch Robbie Keneval make his jump - is it bad that I didn't really care one way or the other if he made it?
Today, also quiet. Have been thinking for weeks (well, since before Thanksgiving) about the right time to set tomato seeds. Finally decided that it was now or never, so I went to 4 different stores trying to find them. You'd think they'd be more prevalent this time of year here in AZ, but no. Did finally track down a bunch at Home Depot - picked up some organic San Marzanos and some Sweeties. Sister sent me a bunch of heirloom seeds for my birthday which included some Green Zebras, so I'm trying them too. Anya wants me to plant carrots - I think we may still have enough time in the season, so I may sow those tomorrow in the outside garden.
Ground is still damp from all of the rains last week, and even soft in some places. I'm tempted to get out there tomorrow and start digging soil for some new beds while the ground is still so workable. Maybe something to do tomorrow morning.
Financially, things are getting a little tighter. The economy has definitely hit hubby's job so, including next week, he'll have had 2 days of work out of 4 weeks. Suckage. Should pick up though as we move into January. Most of that down time was people cancelling company holiday parties. He's also moving to do breakfasts and lunches which will give him better work opportunities. I'm getting the basic paycheck and am now eligible for bonus, but I'm still on a learning curve and not yet hitting those bonus numbers. I think I should be able to in a week or two, though.
Still, mortgage went up (ARM hit) and sent us up $250 a month when we could ill afford it. We have applied for loan modification but because I was unemployed, we didn't qualify - weird huh? Maybe now that I'm employed, we can try again. We're certainly going to hit a point this month where the mortgage is likely to be short/late for the first time since before we refinanced. I'm disappointed that our hard work to try to improve our credit may be for naught. A friend gave me a lead on some other mortgage help as well, so I'm not getting super stressed about things. There are many people in far worse shape than us.
All of this is to say that we aren't without our struggles, but we're doing very well, and I'm continually amazed at how much happier I am that I've left what I thought was my dream company. I'm in a company now with better benefits, and a better and more walk-the-talk attitude about empowering employees and job-pathing to promotions. I feel I have space to dream big and be who I am at this company and no one is going to say anything but Go For It, and how can I help?
Speaking of empowerment and fun...Friday is pajama day. I'm so looking forward to wearing yoga pants, a tshirt, my bathrobe and comfy fuzzy socks and my knock-off crocs....and knowing I won't be the only one....
It's going to be a very good year... :)