Milestone year ahead

We both know that Y2Ten will be a genuine milestone year for us. We're certain that it will be filled with major changes in our lifestyle, finances and activity patterns.
We have no clue how all of these changes will manifest themselves or begin to appear and evolve. However, we absolutely certain that they will.

Perhaps the biggest sea change will take place with my job. I know I will be leaving the job sometime in 2010 but I don't know when or how. The stage has already been set for this transition. My employer has pillaged my budget and taken another $2400 a year our of my take home pay. I am now working for the equivalent of entry level wages at a Burger King except I don't get a discount on the french fries.

Meanwhile, while we were holed up in Nephi, I rec'd news that my boss has resigned from my employer. That happened the day before New Year's Eve. My boss was a mixed bag. By and large, though, he did what he could to keep me happy. I appreciated that very much. I simply can't imagine his replacement being as generous and flexible in their approach to "keeping John Happy." The molasses that is my employer will move slowly to replace my former boss so I wouldn't expect the new director to come onboard before the end of January.

We need January simply to get our finances back in order. Our trip to Arizona nuked our checked accounts and credit cards. I haven't even begun to think about the damage control mode fcr these profligate expenses. However, we must pay the piper and face reality here pretty soon. That's going to take awhile.

We want to use up our dental deductible, too, and take some advantage of our existing health insurance. That's going to take awhile. Plus, we have lots of pro-active stuff to do on our Idahome--especially in the plumbing department. We really do need to beef up our security system as well. The Arizona trip was a real wakeup call about homeowner security.

January-February are actually two great months--they always offer opportunities to enjoy winter here. For example, right now the snowpack is at near-record low levels. Nevertheless, Harriman State Park has over 20 miles of trails groomed and waiting for us. They have about an 18 inch base with more expected this weekend. That's plenty of snow to snow shoe. Those trails are glorious and watching the trumpeter swans during winter is awesome. The park is only 1:15 away from home and they charge a mere $4 per person to use the groomed trails. Cain't beat that.

The other thing, too, that hangs over the impending transition at work is my regard for the volunteers and non-profits that I serve. Although I have very low regard for the competency of my employer, I have very high regard for those I serve. I started a lot of projects in the past nearly 2.5 years. I want to make sure those legacies have their own self-sustaining momentum.

Many of the above topics will be discussed in much greater and often redundant details in the future posts on this blog. This post summarizes a general overview of the near-term future for us. I think you can probably see why I started this blog--it's going to be tough to keep track of how this year evolves. A blog is a great tool to track our personal history as it happens.

Thanks for reading & Cheers, J&S