January in Review (and a Little of February)

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my lovely wife.  She is so special to me and I really hope that I can make this a special birthday for her!!!

One month down, 11 to go.  January seemed to go pretty fast, and a lot seemed to happen.  So I thought I would try to recap it here.

Of course we celebrated the new year to kick things off.  We also celebrated my brother-in-law Shawn's birthday since it was on the 3rd and he was going to be out of town for work on his birthday.  The kids always love cousin play time so we all had a good time.

Skyler's 5th birthday was the positive highlight of the month.  We had a smaller-than-usual party, which was really nice.  She even had her best friend from pre-school come.  They get along really well and are fun to watch when they play together.

Also, sometime during the month, I agreed to be a t-ball/6u (six and under) manager in Whittier Girls Softball League (WGSL).  This will be my first softball coaching experience and hopefully there will be many more after this.  I was able to get in touch with all the parents and starting getting ready for the season.  We had our first team meeting last night and it went well.  I already have a Team Mom and a couple of coaches...very encouraging.

Unfortunately, the month was highlighted by big injuries to both kids.  Skyler gave herself the biggest bump I have ever seen on a head.  Apparently she was running at my in-law's house and she wound up knocking her head on one of the dining room chairs.  The bump on her head was literally as big as half a golf ball.  I didn't think heads could swell that much.  After it went down, the bruise formed and colorful.  Fortunately, it was just a bad bruise and nothing else.  She's back to normal now although there is still some slight bruising that has yet to go away.

The moment of the month, although not fun at all, would have to be this past weekend at my parents' house.  We were over there to have dinner and celebrate my dad's birthday, which was on the 27th.  We brought the kids' scooters so they could ride them around the backyard.  While I'm on the phone with one of my softball parents, I hear Courtney come into the house crying.  I figure she fell and got hurt like she does on occasion.  I was right, but this was a lot worse.  She came in holding her hand under her chin.  Most of her chin up to the lip was solid red.  I realized when my mom reacted the way she did that it was serious.  With that much blood coming from her mouth (inside and out) I was a little freaked.  I don't like seeing my kids get hurt, let alone that much blood coming from them.  Turns out while on her scooter, she was turning, hit a groove, which stopped the scooter, but not her.  She landed on her left knee (really bad bruise) and the left side of her mouth.  Talk about being scared as a parent, boy was I.  We don't have insurance right now, but when I found out Urgent Care was open for another 20 minutes or so, I decided she should go.  Fortunately, they discounted the office visit and we got an antibiotic (generic).  All in all, we only paid $100 for everything related to the injury.  I'll take that.  Now she is healing.  The swelling is gone and a very large scab covers most of the left side of the left side of her lip.  I'm very glad that she is ok and talking more normal.  We kept her home from church on Sunday and school on Monday to allow it to heal a little before exposing it to the dangers of the school yard.  Her first day back was a little tough because she had to answer the question "What happened?" a million times.  It's hard as a parent to see your kids go through something like that, but you can't protect them from everything.  Just been there when they need you.

On a brighter note, there was some positive news on the job front.  I was contacted by two different companies, the same week, about openings they had and thought I may be a good fit for.  This week I have an interview with each.  I had my initial interview with a recruiter from Experian yesterday and will hear back early next week.  Tomorrow, I have an interview with Time Warner Cable (with the Controller).  I'm hoping one of these works out, but as I've learned, this is a very slow process.  God is teaching me patience, and apparently I need a lot of practice.