I have a new job!

So much for taking three months off to relax. ;-) I finish with my current job (my long-term employer) on Friday of this week, and then I'll start my new job on October 21st. In the end, I'll get about three weeks off, so at least it's something.

I was able to negotiate a slightly higher sign on bonus ($5,000 more than the original offer), so I went for it. The salary is about 10% higher, and I'll get a comparable stock package, and have a similar bonus opportunity. When you factor in the cost of living in California, the overall package is about even with what I was making in Washington. That said, the company was willing to match my stock awards from my current employer. I was going to have to walk away from that money at the end of last week, & it's pretty much unheard of to get another employer to offer you those awards back (well, similar dollar amount, but in *their* company stock, of course). All told, I was able to retain $160,000 of company stock by landing a job this quickly, so it was a pretty huge deal for us. The odds of it happening were very small, so I hadn't even envisioned a financial scenario where this happened. I'll have to go back to the books & recalculate a few things.

I'll be paying for childcare again, which is about $1100/month, so no small amount.

In other news, the boys had a soccer game today (we got crushed), it rained cats & dogs, so we had to cancel a picnic, and I made homemade pizza. Cheese for the kids, gouda/meatball/green pepper for the adults. Yum!

I'm getting my hair cut for the first time in 5ish months (I think), & I'm excited! Here's what else I hope to do tomorrow:

• Get a hair cut
• Go for a run
• Plan the menu for the week
• Do yoga
• Stock the freezer with a few meals

What about you? What are you hoping to accomplish for the rest of the weekend?