Goals - A Recap

I'm surprised to see that Winter is here already, and think that it is close enough to the end of the year to revisit my goals for 2008 and see how we did.

2008 Goals

Career

* Support E in finding a job he loves where we can spend more time together during the week (he should be working at new job by December 31, 2008)
Well, Erik is now on job #3 for the year, and back where he was at at this time last year. We definitly spent a lot of week day time together, between 6 months of working at the same office and 3 months of unemployment!

* Reach or exceed all of my sales goals at FWI
I was on target to meet this goal when I quit FWI in August, so I'm going to say that I didn't fail OR succeed at this goal.

* Mentor a new salesperson who will love working at FWI and have that person be in outside sales by year end
DONE! Good job Leanna.

Finances


* Combined household income of $200K or more
No.

* Add at least $30K to Savings/Investments
Close, but then we went and took a bunch of money OUT of savings so this is also a no.

* Pay down student loans at a rate of $1000/month
No. Was doing good at this goal till the job changes.

* Pay additional $500/month toward mortgage
Yes! Despite 3 months of unemployment.

Household

* Spend at least 15 minutes 5 days per week on housework
Ha ha ha ha ha.... I guess if I count cleaning clutter off of the countertops, that I probably met this goal. But I don't think that is exactly what I had in mind...

* Paint all living areas of the house to fit my dream house
Not yet :(

* Complete phase 1 of landscaping for under $5,000 (lawn, patio, some trees & shrubs)
Done.


Social

* Host 3 parties at our house
(1) - Housewarming
(2) - Jami's bridal shower
(3) - My birthday
Done.

* Engage with at least 2 recreational activities where we can make new friends as a couple
(1) - Guadalajara
(2) - nope, there is no #2

* Add at least 3 new friends to my social network
(1) - Dana
(2) - David
(3) - Dan
(4) - Heather
Done!

Recreation & Travel

* Travel to see our families in California, Washington, and Maryland
California - yes, once in January on business and then again next week
Washington - yes, in July
Maryland - yes, but just Gwen on business

* 1 Vacation to someplace with a beach
Yes! Several days in Puerto Vallarta while in Mexico plus time spent at Ron & Michael's in July.

* Try at least 3 new activities
(1) - Speaking Spanish 24/7 for 4 weeks
(2) - Being pregnant
(3) - Job hunting! Ha ha ha.

* Go on at least 2 backpacking trips
No, but we did have one day in Guadalajara where we walked all the way home from el centro, which took about 6 hours, so I am going to count that as 1 urban backpacking trip.

Fall At The Kubec House

Fall has officially arrived, the buffalo grass has gone dormant, and the leaves have fallen from our trees. The change of the season has brought many new and exciting events to our home this year.

Solar Panels

Today we signed the contract for the long awaited and debated PV solar panels. I am happy to announce that we truly leveraged the poor economy on this one. One of the many "ear mark" items on the bailout bill passed by Congress a few weeks ago was an elimination of the $2,000 cap on federal solar energy credits. The utility companies are responding to this change in the law by reducing their rebates. We were able to squeeze into a very small window of time where we get both, the high tax credit AND the high rebate. This resulted in an additional savings of about $5,000 for the solar system we were looking at earlier this year.

In the long run, we are purchasing a solar system sufficient to generate about 80% of the electricity we used over the last year for just over $3,000. It works out to a ROI of about 10%. Where else are you going to find that in this economy?

New Jobs

Next week Erik and I both start new jobs. Erik will be working for a company called America's Job Network, selling career consulting services to high level executives (resume writing services, interview coaching, etc.). I will be working for a company called UC4 selling a software system that automates business processes. Both positions offer the opportunity for better pay, benefits, and flexibility than our previous jobs. Erik will even have the option to set up a home office.

Trees

The initial design of the back yard is now complete, with the addition of six trees this fall. All of the trees were stategically placed to solve specific "problems" in the yard. We planted two Austrian Pine trees at the corner of the yard to add privacy, two Autumn Blaze Maples on one side of the house to block the glaring glow of some annoying street lamps, and two clumps of Aspen trees on the other side to provide shade to the kitchen and living room in the heat of summer.

Of course we got the best deals possible on all of the trees, with a total out of pocket of about $500 for all six of them. And with all of this time off we've had recently, Erik planted them
himself.

Politics

We are now officially addicted to the 24 hour news cycle. This is by far the most exciting and inspiring presidential election that I can remember. This last week we voted early and also went to see Joe Biden. This weekend we are going to an Obama rally. If you'd like to read more detailed political views from our household, check out Erik's new blog.

(and last but not least...)

Speck

As if all of these changes weren't exciting enough, we've also got a baby on the way! We've known this news for some time now (I actually found out just before we left for Mexico), but I was keeping it out of the "public domain" until after new jobs had been secured. You can follow Speck's development and my experiences with pregnancy at the Kubec Baby Blog, which I am now making public.

I am currently 15 weeks pregnant and the baby is due sometime in early April.

What We Say Without Words - washingtonpost.com

What We Say Without Words - washingtonpost.com

This was a very interesting article...something to keep in mind in business!

3rd Grade Bullies

Since my last post, I've decided to revisit the Wisdom Course as a mentor. And of course, as is true of any Landmark program, the moment I signed up, my life became rich with...lets just say, things I could transform.

(For those of you who might be reading my blog and are unfamiliar with Landmark, I'm not going to give you any sort of an introduction -- you can click here to attend one online.)

In the week since the course began, the office has been full of drama. Working with Erik is on the verge of falling apart, and it is largely because I've spent so much of my time and energy on beleiving that his boss is a jerk and telling the whole world. There is this individual at my office, who manages Erik but not me, who's management style I disapprove of. I've tried to tell my boss what a jerk the guy is, but I feel like he's just not listening.

This evening I was on a call with the other mentors, and I thought I'd share with them about this upset. I quickly was returned to third grade, when a kid named Brandon used to pick on me (Mom -- I know you are reading...let me know if I got this story wrong). He sat next to me in class and would pull my hair, shove, and punch me. Finally, my mom went to the teacher and complained. The way I remember the situation, the teacher said that the kid was flirting with me and didn't do much besides move my desk. Basically, she didn't do anything and I was left feeling like a tattle tale.

I realize I've been acting like this guy at work is Brandon the Bully. I feel like he's picking on everyone and I shouldn't have to put up with it, and I've been being a tattle tale about it. And I wonder why I've been ineffective...why should I expect my VP of Sales to listen to a 3rd grader complain about a bully? He probably thought he was hiring an adult when he gave me my job.

So the skill you learn in the Wisdom Course is how to recognize when you are being a 3rd grader, and start being an adult. I'm going to try it on this week...

“A goal is a dream with a deadline.”

Rather than resolutions, I do New Years Goals. I think a resolution implies that you need to fix or change some part of your life, and lets face it, nobody wants to be fixed. So instead I do goals. My life is full of goals, and over the past couple of years I've done a pretty good job at hitting them. In the past I've limited them to finance, this year I'm going to create goals for other areas of life as well.

Career

• Support E in finding a job he loves where we can spend more time together during the week (he should be working at new job by December 31, 2008)
  
• Reach or exceed all of my sales goals at FWI
  
• Mentor a new salesperson who will love working at FWI and have that person be in outside sales by year end
  

Finances

• Combined household income of $200K or more


• Add at least $30K to Savings/Investments


• Pay down student loans at a rate of $1000/month


• Pay additional $500/month toward mortgage

Household

• Spend at least 15 minutes 5 days per week on housework


• Paint all living areas of the house to fit my dream house


• Complete phase 1 of landscaping for under $5,000 (lawn, patio, some trees & shrubs)

Social

• Host 3 parties at our house


• Engage with at least 2 recreational activities where we can make new friends as a couple


• Add at least 3 new friends to my social network
  

Recreation & Travel

• Travel to see our families in California, Washington, and Maryland


• 1 Vacation to someplace with a beach


• Try at least 3 new activities


• Go on at least 2 backpacking trips