Five Goals for 2009

Now that I got my Year in Review out of the way it’s time for my Five Goals for 2009.

 

In 2007 I went a remarkable 4-for-5 on my goals, nailing everything but the loss of weight.

 

In 2008 I went 1-for-5 nailing only my wife, accomplishing the goal of knocking her up.

 

Much like rollover minutes are carried over to your next month, most of those four goals that are still outstanding will be carried over to 2009.

 

Let’s review my 2008 Goals shall we?

 

Having Another Rugrat – Check! I had accomplished this goal even before I wrote my goal but not knowing that I had accomplished the goal. Follow me? Anyway, in September Princess Lia was born and I had accomplished Goal No. 1.

 

Practicing the Two P’s – I wanted to practice Patience and being Positive. Last year was not a good year to try to accomplish those goals as I struggled for months with both of my jobs and the growing annoyance and independence of one Lukas Johnson.

 

Take a Vacation – Okay, make it 2-for-5. Lis, Lukas and I did take a drive down to California where we spent a few days hanging out with my brother, visiting with my buddy Dennis and his family and then going to Disneyland. It was a road trip, it was enjoyable, but it didn’t feel like a vacation. When I returned I took the next couple of days off to hang out. Still we took a break from work.

 

Settling On One Job – Let’s see, as I write this I’m sitting at the Herald waiting for the phone to ring. It’s 8:50pm and I got off of my day job about 3 hours ago. I’d say – NO!

 

Lose Weight – When I weighed in last year I was at 220-pounds. When I weigh in this year I tip the scale at 225. NO!

 

You can carry over the Two P’s, Settling on One Job and Lose Weight goals to 2009 because those are three things I need to accomplish. Here are my Five Goals for 2009:

 

Positive Patience – I failed badly at this in ‘08. I had moments of greatness but would follow them up with a breakdown. Not since before I was married have I had a year of temper tantrums like I did in 2008. I thank, as mentioned above, the growing independence of Lukas and his willingness to NOT listen to a word we say along with the great amount of stress and pressure I was feeling from work. This year I need to realize that I have a 4-year-old turning 5 and that he doesn’t quite comprehend things as much as I should. I need to realize that maybe it’s time to get some help for my temper issues now that they’ve resurfaced thanks to my mini-me. I’m hoping this job and accomplishing Goal No. 2 will aid in all this as I think the more I’m away from the house the bigger toll it takes on mine and Lukas’s relationship. That’s not good – family or a hobby job that pays $100 a week?

 

It’s Time to Call it Quits – It’s been five-plus years. I’ve moved up from $9.06 to $9.80-something. More importantly I’ve accomplished a lifelong goal of writing about sports. I’ve even gone farther than I imagined when I started this job in late-2003. I get my name in the paper on a weekly basis (go to www.heraldnet.com and type in ‘Kevin Johnson’ in the search field). I’ve written feature stories. I wrote a story that landed on the front page of the paper. Not the sports section the entire paper. I’ve done everything I can, except working full-time or designing papers, which was never on my must-do list. I’ve made good friendships. I’ve learned a lot about my writing and the profession without even taking more than three classes post-high school. But now my passion and the time it takes for me to do my hobby have taken a toll on my family life. Lis and I have determined that the extra cash is not worth the stress and toll it takes on me and my family. There were days in November that I didn’t even see my family. I was so busy it didn’t matter if they were home or not. Lis plans on going to Brazil in February for six weeks, when the high school basketball postseason heats up. My goal is to finish up the winter sports season, put in my two weeks notice then head to Brazil for two weeks of vacation. It will be hard. I will miss the people I work with. I’m now the longest tenured part-timer on the staff. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing.

 

Drop some Pounds – As you can see I moved up a weight class this year. Most of that has been poured on in the past month where I gave a “I Don’t Give A Darn” attitude and just ate my way to five more pounds. The weather is cold, I get home late, I like to snack, so! So…that needs to end fast. So far the first three goals all have to deal with Goal No. 2. If I am not away from home as much I have more time to exercise or at least walk to the park with Lukas and start him on his jump shot. I need to work on watching what I eat and need to work on getting some exercise or it isn’t going to matter how much time I have off work if my health isn’t good enough to keep me around a long time. My goal is to drop close to 30 pounds and to hover around 200. My Body Mass Index thingy says I should weight 185. Ha! Let’s just try to get to 200 first!

 

Work Hard – I went from feeling underpaid to feeling overpaid. I got a raise when I changed jobs. I got benefits. The bosses let me leave early. The bosses gave me a bonus. It’s time to earn their trust and money by working hard. That means writing policies. That means working harder. Again, Goal No. 2 can help with this. The less I’m working two jobs, the more sleep I can get.

 

Write Something – I tried to think of a goal that would be fun to accomplish but also challenging. For years and years and years I’ve wanted to write a script. Randy and I have come up with ideas for movies and I started then stopped writing them down. If I get rid of the second job I’d have a bit more time for that. I have also thought about putting this journal into a book format and telling our story that way. Though these goals are a long shot I think it’d be fun to at least get halfway through a book. We’ll aim for that goal.

 

Of course there are other goals…continue to love my life, my wife and my family. I want to continue to raise more money for the ACS Relay for Life. I want to become more involved, which I have becoming a Committee member. I’d like to look into going back to school but again I don’t want the timeframe to screw us up. I’d like to write more in my blog. I have a few entry ideas that I would like to write (all-time crushes, top road trip movies) and look forward to continuing to do that. I look forward to starting up basketball again and I look forward to another fun year with the church family. Here’s looking towards 2009!