November 1st

It seems like we have been looking forward to TODAY for the past two months. The once small start-up that Ken started working for nearly 3 years ago announced in August that it was being acquired by Hewlett Packard. The sale closed at the end of September and today is Ken's first official day at Hewlett Packard!


It has been exciting ride working for a Bay Area Start-up. Ken has put in a ton of time working very hard to make his company, specifically his products successful. He has also worked hard to make telecommuting successful for him and his company. Since last August, Ken had been working for the Global Services Division, basically to help the field launch the products he had created. That was exciting for him to work with huge customers and help them architect a comprehensive software security solution. (See what I pick up:-) The only thing is that Ken HATED the travel, and so did the kids and I. Plus, he is an Engineer at heart!

So imagine how afraid we were that his company would be bought and he would either be stuck in Global Services and doing consulting or laid-off because he wasn't really a consultant or a sales guy, just in this weird position in the field. Literally- they would change his title based on what kind of work was needed at a potential customers!


As part of the acquisition, everyone who still had a job on November 1st would have to be given an offer at the beginning of September (from what we have heard it seems like HP hired everyone). Thankfully, Ken's old VP arranged for Ken to receive and offer from Engineering. So today marks the start of my husband going back to his Dream Job! Of course when he isn't being lent out to the field, which ironically is happening today as he presents at a conference for them.


It's exciting for us. Ken has never had any of his stock options work out at any of the companies he has worked for. It seems like the economy tanks soon after he is hired so they are always worthless or he hates his job and doesn't stay long enough for them to become anything. In hindsight, the start-up he worked for in Utah still hasn't gone public 5 years later so I don't think we are missing anything.

Granted his company was acquired, it didn't go public, so we aren't making enough off of our stock options to buy the Beach House that I have been dreaming about. But, we are going to spend 2 weeks over Christmas celebrating here...This is the condo that we rented in Cancun for our 10th Wedding Anniversary trip when Ginger was just 8 months old. This is the trip where I convinced Ken to take all of our kids plus my parents so they could watch the baby for 2 days while we stayed at the Ritz Carlton down the street. Big surprise this time I convinced Ken that instead just going on a romantic trip for a long weekend by ourselves, to instead take the kids again and go for two weeks! And my parents will be joining us again too, so we can try our two nights at the Ritz Carlton all over again! (see the note at the end)

And WAY too much of the Stock Options $$ is going here
Seriously, doesn't the government know I only had 4 children so I could get a $4,000 Child Tax Credit!

Have you ever talked to your spouse about what you would do with a windfall? It's pretty interesting the choices you make. It's not really what we day-dreamed about. We have chosen to celebrate a little and the rest is going towards some financial goals that we have had, which have more often then not felt like dreams instead of attainable goals most of the past 13 years. Basically in reality it all goes to...
Yep, that's our children! They are hoarding their big ol' pile of $$$ we decided to give them:-) I'm totally just kidding, they were surrounding Ginger as she opened birthday presents.



But honestly, isn't that why most people work so hard-- to provide for their children and give them financial security.

Instead of buying things like: (I'm just listing it here for when our family looks back on this)

• A New Car (well, he wants a truck) for Ken. He still drives his beat up little, red sentra. It's the first care we bought together and it was 6 years old. Pretty soon his car will be 2 decades old and it keeps kicking. It's beat up, dirty, and frankly me and the kids hate to ride in it. It has weird electrical problems. I thought for sure we were going to be getting rid of it when it's brake lights mysteriously came on when it was parked in the driveway a couple of months ago and the only way to make it stop was for Ken to pull the brake fuse. We didn't drive it around for a month while Ken thought on the problem. Given that he only drives it to the airport every once in awhile there wasn't a huge rush. Turns out the car only needed a $2 part from the dealer. You have to love a car that makes you laugh!
• Or how about hardwood floors in my Dining Room and Family Room. I totally lusted after those for a good, long while!
• A new dishwasher might be on that list of wants too. And since I'm a woman I could also add about a million other projects and home renovations. But in the end, I just figured if I wouldn't cough up the $$ out of a normal paycheck then it's not really worth it.
• Our boys have been dying to get a boat. But after we talked about the maintenance fees and time involved in caring for a boat we figured we would come out ahead if we just rented one for a weekend each summer. Plus, I like to travel more then doing the same activity weekend after weekend.

Anyway, so that's the update. We'll have to see what this new adventure at HP turns out like and if Ken will enjoy it.

**We decided on Cancun because Ken and I are dying to see what the beach looks like now that they have finished restoring them. We are also dying to stay at the Ritz Carlton and eat all the amazing food, especially eating dinner in our own private casita on the beach. We loved that night last time! We are not fancy-schmancy restaurant people but this is sooooo worth it! This time I told Ken I could go two full days without seeing the kids, instead of having a breakdown in the middle and crying for my little baby like last time.
He's so sweet though that he:
A. Doesn't believe me.
B. Is totally understanding when I do.
The other reason we chose Cancun instead of Grand Cayman (which is totally where the kids wanted to go) is because we love this Condo and the owner is really nice. It has a perfect location and I am kind of nervous about going somewhere new over Christmas. I already have started buying the little food items here that I will need to do some of our favorite Christmas traditions. With a view like that I could totally cook for two weeks on vacation!