The Good with the Bad

Last week was a tough week. I already posted about it, but with the bad week at work along with Malik in the hospital, Tevia's father in the hospital, my brother coughing up blood, and some other things, it is hard to imagine a more stressful week. Fortunately I am blessed with a calm demeanor and I know that I am blessed and so do not blame God for any of these things and thank Him for things not being worse. I have often heard that if you have something really good happen, then something bad will probably happen soon (i.e. get called to a mission and all of the sudden the girl you have liked for years has the hots for you) and vice versa. I'm not sure that I have seen a pattern of this, but certainly this week was a vast improvement.

This week a couple of things happened. First we did our taxes. I did them on turbotax.com as a friend of ours had noted you can do it online and then decide at the end if you want to pay for the services. This seems like a genius marketing strategy as most people will do the work and see the tax refund (hopefully!) and easilly agree to pay the $20 to file online with no paperwork, etc. I have been very curious over the past few years to try this out as we do our taxes on our own and who knows what hidden loopholes we are missing. Well, apparently a few. After going through the very easy-to-use program online we only had one area of concern or question. We had sold a few of our stock options last year and this ended up being a little more complicated than expected (and I had expected some complications). But after researching for a while we determined the way it needs to be done for the IRS (which of course is completely illogical, but...). In the end the neat little box they have in the corner of the screen which constantly changes showing the amount of your tax return with each number you input showed substantially more than we had expected. Dramatically more! It was so surprising that I almost didn't believe it or dare use the program. But in the end we paid the $20 and sent it off to the IRS without having to sign anything or send anything in. Theoretically we get the refund in around 10 business days. It was a fantastic surprise. Then we did our state taxes the same way and had a very similar experience. Last year for taxes we got back $28. This year it was in the hundreds. So, needless to say I am a big turbotax fan and we are happilly awaiting some good money.

This week was also my review. This is the time I learn of my performance and what my bonus and salary increase will be. Last year Prudential provided me with a bonus that was VERY generous (they wanted me to stick around) so I had expectations that my bonus would be less this year. Surprise again! Though not substantially more, it was more - thanks to a great performance year. So we will be getting quite a bit more cash this Spring than expected. It is amazing how blessed we have been. I have been thanking God all week. Now the hard part is deciding what to do with the money - a big portion going for a minivan to fit the Wall clan (we will have 5 of us this Fall). I finished the reviews of my employees - feeling guilty every time I went over their bonuses and raises knowing what mine was. But I am only given so much, so I have little control over what I get compared to what I give. My employees are fantastic. I enjoy being with each and every one of them, which makes my job much easier. Risa, who is not on my team, has been doing well also. My team really likes her - and she has suggested to me that she wishes she was on my team as it is the best! :-)

So, though I certainly would not want to go through a week like two weeks ago again, to be followed by a week like this was a blessing. Certainly money isn't everything, and I don't want to sound like that is the greatest thing in the world. It is not. Money is not my goal in life. But having extra money is nice - and it will be spent or used wisely. My votes are for the minivan (Chrysler Town and Country), a patio set for our deck (found one at Target I LOVE), and a mountain bike for me. The rest, if any, can go to my beautiful wife for her heart's desire and savings. These two weeks reminded me of a quote I have on my desk (which since I am not at work, I'm not sure of the person who said it) that goes something like: for people who feel, life is a tragedy; for people who think, life is a comedy. I like the quote, but I would add "for people who know God's Truth, life is a blessing."