As Promised

Okay, so, as promised, I am going to fill you all in on Kayden and her most favorite thing ever and Kevin's new job. Also, this is a long one.....maybe grab a drink and a snack.

So in September, Kayden stared school. Well, Pre-K to be exact. Being the little bookworm that she is I was not surprised at all to hear "I love school!" after only the first day. Kayden's first day (which is really only three hours long as she goes to the morning class from 7:50-10:50) pretty much consisted of Addison and I just staring at each other and wondering, "What they heck are we supposed to do while Sister is in school?". . Anyway, we've gotten over that now. Addison plays/breaks things. I blog.

Kayden brings home things like paper turkey feathers, snowmen, candy canes, and ginger bread men for "us" -meaning her and I glue- to decorate together as a family. She thinks these family decorating projects are awesome. I actually really enjoy them too. Although the "artist" in me has to bite her tongue and not comment on how an odd number of jelly beans would be more appealing to the eye than an even number.

But look, I held my tongue and Kayden created the most beautiful turkey feather I've ever seen. 

Kayden also loves the friends she has made. Although Kevin has a slight problem with the fact that most of her "best friends" so far have been boys. She rotates who her best friend is every couple of days though so as long as she throws a girl in there every now and then, he'll will be content to not accompany her to school and shoo the boys away. As a father of two girls, he figures he should start playing defense early....or maybe that's his offense. I don't know. Either way, they aren't dating til they're 30.

Kayden's teachers, Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Becca are both awesome. Ms. Jennifer is her primary teacher as Ms. Becca is more focused on the special ed children in their class. There is a better, more "pc" name for special ed preschoolers but I can't remember it now. Kayden's class is a blended class meaning all the children on both ends of the spectrum are together in one class. This is to teach the "more advanced" kids, like Kayden, to be accepting and to learn that not all kids are "like me" and it has been proven to help the slower children develop at a faster rate in order to keep up with their classmates. I think it's awesome and I'm all for it.

Anyway, back to Ms. Jennifer. She really is great. Exactly what you'd think of when you think of a Pre-K teacher....unless you'd think of something different me. Here, I'll just describe her for you and you can decide if what I think of as a typical Pre-K teacher matches what you think. Not that she is "typical". She is extraordinary. She is young, coming up on 30 I would guess. Not married and no kids. She says "Why would I want my own when I have 30 of yours?!" She is totally one of those aunts that dotes on her nieces/nephews. She drives a sporty little car but somehow manages to get car-seats in the back. She is sarcastic and funny like no body's business. And she is an amazing story teller. I once had the privilege of listening to her read a story to the class and all I could think as I stood in awe of her was, "Wow. I ought to just never read another book again because I could never put that much personality/excitement into each and ever word nor could I ever have that many different incredible voices for each character!" I have since then read many books, but my renditions were completely inadequate when compared to hers.

Look at her, reaching out to claw at the kids just like the evil witch in the story would. Oscar worthy I tell you. 

I am also particularly found of her because she has recently become a Mary Kay client of mine. Score. Kayden thinks the world of her. When we told Kayden that she was going to "get to" stay home from school for Thanksgiving break, she was pretty upset. Obviously the idea of staying home with mom and dad was not at all appealing for this 4 1/2 going on 14 year old. The same thing happened for Christmas break. Almost every day she asked if it was Monday yet so she could go back to school and see Ms. Jennifer. Then she'd tell me how when she did finally get to go back to school, she was going to run up to Ms. Jennifer and give her a big hug. And that is precisely what she did. Ms. Jennifer greeted her with a "What's up Shortie?" and although I secretly wished Kayden would think of me as being even half as cool as Ms. Jennifer, it still warmed my heart.  Kayden is there at school now; I'm sure being filled with the vast amounts of knowledge they provide at Pre-K and loving every second of it. Addison and I are content at home and I'm happy to have her company until she too turns 4 and has her turn experiencing the great unknowns of Pre-K. Good luck to whoever her teacher is....I should start praying for her now.

Okay, now on to Kevin's new job! First of all, before I get into any of the job details, I have to say this: I have a very, very studly husband who wears business casual attire like a totally hunk. He used to always wear business casual to the bank when he worked there (and, of course, looked like a stud then too) but then at his last job, working for his parents in their dental lab, he dressed.....well, like you would to go to work at a dental lab -something you are good with getting ruined. So jeans, a T-shirt and a ball cap. Seeing him like that everyday, I think I forgot how awesome he looks in dress clothes. He was still handsome then but there is just something about him getting all fancy for work that makes him look different to me. Maybe it's the confidence a nice outfit will give a person. Maybe I just have a weird thing for slacks.

Just look at how good he looks! **whistling** (Note: He would not wear the converse to work. I know all of you 40+ plus -with the exception of my sister, Patty- year olds are probably thinking that looks ridiculous but I assure you, it is very cool, he looks hot, and its a "generation thing" as my sis-in-law explained to her mom and dad who saw Kevin's shoes and promptly made fun of him.)

Anyway, I'm sure all of you are thinking "Geeeez, get a room and move on" so I'll move along to the job description which I'm sure to most is much more interesting than a pair of slacks, however perfectly tailored they may be.

The official title is account manager. Ooooo, fancy right? He is working for a company at their headquarters in Lewisville that sells office supplies all over the country. Office supplies.....you're probably thinking just paper, pens and ink right? Well, right and wrong! He will be selling those items but their catalogue actually has over 50,000 different products in it!!! Everything from the basics like paper clips and printer paper all the way to wheelchairs, fire extinguishers, personalized coasters, coffee machines and more. A bigger catalogue = a greater opportunity for a sale = more money. He'll be making a base salary plus an uncapped commission. Every person he has come into contact with has told him repeatedly that there is huge money to be made at this job. Is money everything? Absolutely not. Do we need more of it to pay off our debt, get Kayden into private school, buy a house, and eventually EVENTUALLY have another baby? Most definitely. He will be making phone calls to a list of offices within a certain territory that his company will supply for him so he doesn't have to go research places to call. He is hoping to be asigned Houston or Austin but his territory has not been given to him yet. He will be strictly inside sales, not outside. Meaning, he will be calling, not going, to the offices out there.

When he left yesterday for his first day he was really nervous. As he texted me a little on and off throughout the day I could tell he was getting more and more comfortable/confident though. When he left this morning he was excited and pumped up and eager. I'm really proud of him. Changing jobs is not easy and the training portion is never fun but Kevin is doing what needs to be done for our family and I'm thankful to be married to a man who will put us before himself.....although at this job there is a ping-pong table, corn hole, and a Playstation in the break room, so he doesn't have it that bad.

I will keep you updated on how he is doing there. Although, when we start driving around town in a new Maserati and are gone half the year to our summer home in Rome, you'll probably be able to figure out for yourself how we're doing.

Until tomorrow.