Kaitlyn Kares wrap-up

We've been very fortunate over the last few weeks.

First, semi-retirement ended and I'm able to bring in some ducats. Second, Kaitlyn turned two and we had a great time with great friends. Finally, we just wrapped up the Kaitlyn Kares food drive and, I'm happy to report, it was a rousing success.

For those of you who don't know, Michelle and I decided to do a service project to correspond with Kaitlyn's second birthday. We figured it was something we could do every year around Kaitlyn's birthday and, when she gets older, will realize that it's good to give back.

Over a week's time, we collected food door-to-door in our neighborhood, as well as sponsored a food drive contest at the daycare. Thanks to the generous response, we were able to provide Positive Direction for Youth and Families, Inc., an outreach center and food pantry in east Greensboro, nearly 400 cans and boxes of food.

Friday was our day to drop off all those donations, and it was truly a great experience. We stocked the shelves and talked with the volunteers, led by Mary Todd Allen, the organization's executive director. We learned a lot about the group, including that they've got an adjacent barber shop and beauty salon that helps offset the costs to run the non-profit.

Kaitlyn didn't just lend her name to the project, but she was an asset when we had to stock the shelves 

If you can believe it, we nearly filled the pantry shelves with our donations. We actually had more items than their closets could hold, which gave us a warm, fuzzy feeling

Kaitlyn found time to have some fun, too

These are the wonderful women of Positive Direction for Youth & Families, Inc.

The Pecking Order, Kaitlyn-Approved

Last night was a rough night. Kaitlyn decided she didn't want to sleep in her crib, so around 1 a.m. she wailed for Mommy. And of course Daddy got up and brought her into bed. And later in the night, when Kaitlyn woke up crying for milk, Mommy got up, went to the kitchen and brought it back into bed for Kaitlyn.

Granted, Michelle doesn't remember a lick of it thanks to the Ambien, but that's not the point of the story.

In the morning (the real morning, not the 1 a.m. wake-up call), as Michelle got ready for work and I lay with Kaitlyn in bed watching Blues Clues, the little one rolled over to Michelle's side of the bed and proudly stated, "Lay on Mommy's pillow."

That's good honey, I replied. Kaitlyn then rolls over toward me, finally coming to rest with her head on the pillow that would be considered "my side."

"Lay on Kaitlyn's pillow," she exclaims.

"No honey, that's Daddy's pillow."

"Daddy lay on Kaitlyn's pillow."

I shake my head and laugh, realizing that my daughter recognizes the bed as Michelle's space, a place that she has fully vesting rights to and I am merely a placeholder. So Kaitlyn has made the unofficial pecking order official. For those keeping track (or more appropriately, for those who hadn't figured this out already): Michelle, Kaitlyn, Boo, James.

Finally: Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes on the new job. Things are going quickly over there and I have a great group of people to work with (and no, they don't know I blog so none of them are reading this -- unless they stumbled upon it somehow). And they're keeping me plenty busy.

Semi-retirement ends tomorrow

Today is the last day of my semi-retirement, as I head off to my new job with Market America. No, I'm not selling, but rather working on the company's Web site, which I urge you to bookmark and purchase from in order to ensure long and happy employment for me.

Seriously though, I look forward to the new challenges ahead and not listening to Michelle complain about me not doing anything on her list talk about how I need to shower each and every day being a more involved member of society. So the days will be a little longer, a little busier. The nights a little more tiring, a little more hectic.

How will this affect Kaitlyn? Probably not at all, since she'll remain in the same daycare with the same friends at the same price (ugh). How will this affect Michelle? Ridonkulously, considering she'll not only have to not count on me being home to run her errands, but also not be at home in case there's a call from daycare.

She'll likely be the one who gets those calls now, since she'll be closer and now has something like 10.5 years 12 months nine weeks of comp time at work. Plus, she's a government worker, and we all know they don't do anything work on their own schedule sit on their thumbs all day put in so many hours anyway that they can afford to take the extra time.

More importantly, how will this affect Growing Up Kaitlyn? I hope not at all, but it appears I'm going to have to try and set up an actual posting schedule for the blog so that I keep to it. We'll let you know what the final decision on that one turns out to be, but don't fret -- Growing Up Kaitlyn will continue strong.