I have been putting a lot of thought into my goals for 2010. 2009 was such a bad year for us, but yet we reached alot of our goals as a family.

Last year at this time I was trying to teach a child with "emotional disturbance" that was really just a spoiled brat and refused to learn. Me and that 1 boy in a big ol' classroom. I was miserable at my job. Then in February I was asked to make 7 children that were labeled mentally retarded take the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Test (or TAKS) writing test On GRADE LEVEL. It was child abuse. But if they could hold the pencil, thanks to No Child Left Behind, they must take that test. One child ate his pencil. Another girl kept copying the directions. Another girl cried the entire time. She was smart enough to know she couldn't do it. It was child abuse. I said right there and then -NEVER AGAIN will a abuse a person like this. State prescribed child abuse. Do it or loose your certification and face criminal charges! The forms and signatures we had to sign...the test security rules...no wonder there is such turn over amongst teachers.

What was nice about teaching is what most teachers complain about the most: The hours and the pay. I knew this. I'd looked for other opprotunities for years. I knew there was nothing else out there where I could get paid $50,000/year and get 2 1/2 months off, while my kids were off. But, after the year I had last year, I just could not step into another state-sanctioned child abuse situation.

My husband, (also a burned out educator--an assistant principal at a high school), and I had built up a good rental house income. He's also is partners in a ranch that he and his father own. Last year we decided to try the grass-fed farmer's market concept to get more return per calf. That was a great move. He did so well that he could quit teaching and grow his farmer's market business--be "farmer Ray" full time. I would get my real estate license and grow the rental business.

To be able to pull this off, we'd have to move onto the ranch, rent out our house. The ranch house is paid off, which really lowered our monthly expenses, but the father-in-law, whom is, to say it nicely, is mean, rude, nasty hoarder that has never cleaned a toilet in his life crazy man that is inflicted with Parkinson's disease and congestive heart failure, and a sprinkling of dementia, just enough to make his faults really exaggerated, lives at the ranch house and is not the easiest person in the world to be around, and he smells.  It took us 2 months of cleaning and purging at the ol' ranch house before we could move in. Just in time, 'cause the ol' father-in-law was going down fast. Then, he had a stroke. (He's doing 80% better now that we make sure he takes his meds, and take him to the doctors...but that's a completely different story...)

Then whack. We lost our oldest son. Which is a completely different story. But because of that we had a legal situation on our hands. We were in court every other week for a while. It was by far the hardest situation I have ever gone through in my entire life. It sitll hits me like a brick wall that he is gone. Sometimes it is still very hard to breathe when everything starts washing back on me, and I miss him, but life goes on and I have 2 other wonderful children that I Thank God for every day, and appreciate much more now...

As soon as we took the step off the plank and quit our teaching jobs, all of our renters defaulted, or moved, or had to be evicted for various reasons. Wham. We had NO money. But, we have great credit. We had our ranch and farmer's market income. We made it through that crunch. We cleaned out the ranch house and moved in our classrooms and all of our stuff from our house. The ranch house is full to the brim now, but we are moved in, and it just takes time to sort out all of the stuff and get organized.

This didn't match my goals that I set up in Jan. 2009 at all, but as I look back at my amended goals as life happened and amended them for me, and how well I survived the loss of my oldest child and the legal situation that he left us, I think I did surprisingly well of getting through the year with my amended goals achieved.This really is leading up to my goals for the year. But without the background, they might seem odd. But, after last year, I must keep God and family first. So, Here they are:

Goals

• Keep God First. Make it to church every week, and get the kids to Sunday school every week.

• To get organized at home, to where we can really have a home office and be proud of this wonderful house will someday be ours completely.

• Keep this house clean and presentable to customers of our ranch-related business. Many people come over to pick up their meat and order a hay delivery or ask if Ray can do tractor work. We need to keep this place like a model home. It will get there soon, and stay there I pray.

Real Estate Goals: I would like to earn a combined income between rentals and sales of at least $100,000. To do this, I reach 2-3 new contacts a day. At first I was breaking it down like everyone does, that I need to sell on average 24 homes at an average of $175,000. Then I decided that this is completely the wrong approach for ME to take. I am a people person. For me it's not about selling houses, it's about helping people find the right house for them, or helping them get the most they can for the house they need to sell. If I only think money, I am not ethically serving my clients. So I am going to state my real estate goals this way:

HELP 70 different set of people (families, couples, single folk, whatever) sell or find the best house for them in a manner that is the best customer service they could ever imagine, and impress them so that they refer me to all of their friends. In my area, some people are looking for $50,000 places, some rentals, and some want nothing less than $300,000 on the lake. Surely the small accounts will lead to more referrals via word of mouth, which will make the work more than worth it. So, I will focus on satisfied customers this year, not end sales. If happy customers are selling buying and renting, then the rest will "all work out in the wash". To do this I will be responsive and organized. I will answer the phone, return calls and emails in a timely manner, and keep up with people, papers and places. I will study the real estate market in the Greater Houston Area. I will attend workshops and take webinars. I will continue to be active in the Active Rain community, and will keep up my web presence.

Other Business Goals: I plan on helping my broker build her new REO business that she has started. I will help market the Law Ranch Cattle Company brand of meat. I will help my husband start a chicken branch and maybe even pork. I will help Ray plant a big market garden...and branch into other farmer's markets.

I think that should be enough to keep me busy from 6:00 am to 10:30pm every day. When one is busy, they don't have time to fret about the past. They are too busy building a future. That is my plan. To build a future for my family.