Incentives......

I got a marker board yesterday to start working on incentives with Kali 2.8. While she's a smart girl, she has a tendancy to want to get up in the middle of the night and ask for various things (tuck me in, cuddle with Mommy, etc.). What I've noticed in recent trial runs is that if you give her some incentive to stay in her room all night, she does it without issue.

So, borrowing a page from my parenting teacher otherwise known as Supernanny, I've set up a 'Good Girl' board for her. There are 15 squares drawn on the marker board. Every time Kali stays in her room all night, she gets to put an 'X' on the board. When all of the boxes get filled, she gets to go to the store and pick out a coloring book or reading book of her choice.

In some cases, she's woke up 2-3 times a night in recent weeks. Since the new plan was implemented, she's got a perfect record.

We never give kids enough credit. They're very smart when they want to be.

Baby checkup........

Mrs. Lime went for a checkup today on the baby. No huge concerns, other than the baby being a bit small. They found a 5 pound baby, which is still pretty good size. Mrs. Lime is also slightly dialated, so there's some signs that a baby is there. Mrs. Lime said they believe we may have the baby a bit sooner than anticipated, though likely no more than a week or so earlier than the due date. So I may have an extra long Thanksgiving break in store rather than an early December break. I'll definitely be keeping the phone fully charged from here on out.

Clean up, eat, win, and sing..............

Kali 2.8 and I had a fun night. Nothing really all that exciting at face value, but we got to spend some time together hanging out.

We went to FedEx to get some copies made. It took a little while to get everything done. Kali was relatively well behaved. She did show off more of her tendancy to be like me. She's very big on everything having a spot and being organized accordingly. There was a Halloween card display right next to where we were standing in line. Kali noticed that 2 of the cards were on the floor. She asked if she could go put them back and I told her she could. Not only did she pick up both of the cards, but she made sure to walk around the display and find the exact place that each card was supposed to go.

We headed over to a cheap pizza buffet to grab some food afterwards. Kali ate some pepperoni pizza and quite a bit of salad. She went with the swirl soft-serve ice cream because, well, because swirls are cool when you're two years old. She topped off the dinner by going back and winning a five cent bracelet on a game while only using $1.50 to do so. So I paid $1.45 to give her a sense of accomplishment.

Last stop on the tour around the city was Sam's Club. First thing she spots when she comes in......a Disney Princess Castle playset that Sam evidently decided to put RIGHT NEXT TO THE FRONT DOOR. Great marketing, but lousy location for parents looking to go shopping without buying toys. Kali was actually relatively good about it. Initially, she started getting this fake sour-puss face when I said she couldn't play with it. I told her that sour-faced girls don't get to play with toys. As if there was a light switch, she promptly switched to the 'I'm a sweet little girl who isn't frowning' face while repeating the same request in a much more pleasant tone. Granted, she was still saying it, but at least it was less irritating.

We headed home to the sounds of 'Sesame Street Karaoke' on the DVD player. Kali's getting really good at singing the songs. As Uncle Tom found out while in town, the songs being repeated over and over on each trip quickly get stuck in your head. Eventually, you just start singing children's songs for no particular reason throughout your day. Uncle Tom now knows the 'Ladybug's Picnic' song by heart.

Soaks in everything.........

Kali 2.8 continues to impress with her observation skills. I'm continually amazed with how much she soaks in at every turn of the day. She'll randomly bring up events from a few days ago that made an impression on her, events that I've often already forgot. She also repeats a lot of phrases on TV or in a movie for emphasis. In addition, the secret name of the incoming baby was mentioned in front of Kali and she immediately repeated it. So if you work hard enough, you may be able to squeak the name out of our smarter-than-her-age kid. Of course, you have to do that in the first five seconds you bring it up before she switches to another random topic as two year olds often do.

Another busy week ahead of me. I'm sure it will slow down after this week, right? Right?

Interview day.............

I interviewed today for the management position in my group. No real surprises from a question perspective, though I thought I could have done better. There were a couple of times where I couldn't come up with what I felt was a good answer right away. Just kind of sat there and thought. Ah, well. Sometimes that happens.

I don't think the interview will ultimately affect my chances at getting or not getting the position. I think my work over the past year should speak volumes. An upper manager in the group we work for told my manager that she expected him to make sure I play a major role in the group moving forward. So regardless of whether I land the lead position, upper management thinks well of me and that's all I can do.

Time capsule........

I've been assisting Mrs. Lime's grandmother with getting her home in order. She's going to be moving down to live near Mrs. Lime's uncle where they can keep a close eye on her.

Just a few things that I found:

-Old music from the middle part of the 1900s
-Several newspapers announcing the first man on the moon.
-Old pictures of Mrs. Lime's family members, including her mom.
-An autograph book from 1936/1937 where Mrs. Lime's grandmother collected notes from friends/family.
-Sewing patterns from the 1950s. Some wacky clothes in that drawer.
-Several carousels of slides that we haven't even viewed yet.
-A spiral notebook used by Mrs. Lime's mother in college. Lots of doodling in it along with some notes to her friends/boyfriends, including Mrs. Lime's dad.

I've got plenty of stuff still to go through, but some pretty fun stuff thus far. I'm sure there's plenty more to be found.

I am just wiped out.........

I've been going non-stop over the past week or so. My workplace is in flux until they hire a new manager (which I now have found out may or may not be me). Meanwhile, I'm the interim manager, so I have to run the ship for now.

In addition, I just finished up a 100-page report for my father-in-law. I'll be starting some new paperwork this week.

I'm also helping clean out a relative's house. Roughly 60 years worth of 'stuff'. Someone's got to jump-start the process and I'm just the one to do it. Took out 11 bags of trash in about two hours of work last night.

And outside of all of that, I have to be a dad and a husband. I only had 4 hours sleep last night due to Kali having a rough night. I'll also have a second child in a month's time.

Other than that, not much going on.

The wisdom of a 2 year old.........

Me: I am SO hungry. I think I'm going to take a bite out of your arm.

Kali: No! Do not eat me!

Me: Why not? I am so hungry!

Kali: Daddy, you can't eat me. I am not an EGG!

Today is the day "it" hit the fan.........

Life just got a bit interesting at my workplace today. My manager, who as I mentioned previously was doing bad things, was fired late last night. There is already a process in place to replace him as the team leader, but I've been asked by my higher level project managers in the company to not apply for the position. They know I'm fully qualified, but they're considering putting me in another lead position in the company.

It's always a bit of a risk to pass up a management position with little more than a promise that another one is in the works, but I trust my upper manager enough to take the risk. He did a great job keeping my status as a silent whistleblower in the matter surrounding the firing. That's a good enough reason for me to trust that he has my best interests at hand. Not only that, but he's a former FBI agent. He, much like me, can read unintentional body language and knows when someone is lying or telling half-truths. He went out of his way to note that he knows that I was telling the truth regarding situations in our group, so I have a good feeling that he trusts me as well. I feel the need to repay his trust.

Except for the couple of people who were involved, the rest of the group is shocked that he was fired. If they knew some of the situations that I was privy to, they wouldn't be surprised. In fact, they'd likely be shocked that he even put himself in that bad of a position. But I can't say anything about it for fear that they'd figure out I was the reason he was fired.

This exercise is a blatent reminder of what can happen when a manager thinks he's bulletproof. I don't care how many people you think are on your side or that you think you can say derogatory things about others and get away with it. Eventually, it will catch up with you. It's an excellent lesson for everyone in regards to both personal and business relationships. It's OK to be a firm and direct person, but you can mistreat people. It will always end badly.

It's all new to Kali 2.8...........

A week ago, there was a re-release of the Wizard of Oz to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the movie. Kali 2.8 has seen the movie once before on TV, but with commercials a child is easily distracted. So we picked up the Wizard of Oz movie so Kali could watch it.

I came home from work the next day to find Kali watching the movie. She started bouncing up and down on the couch and excitedly told me that she was watching the Wizard of Oz. Mrs. Lime smiled from behind and held up 4 fingers, noting that this was actually the 4th time that she had watched the movie. She already had a great grasp of the plot and characters along with predicting what would happen at the start of each scene before it even happened. She explained the movie to me in great detail, making sure that I knew exactly what was going on and what I had missed.

It's a great movie and it honestly holds up very well even today. If it keeps a two year old kid's attention, it must be good.

I'm sure I'll be dealing with this soon enough......

Was reading a blog entry from a friend of mine that was pretty startling about the Swine Flu at his kids school.

Link to "The Swine" blog entry

So his kid's grade at his school went from normal attendance to 80% absent in three days?!?!?! That's pretty crazy. It does sound like it's relatively easy to treat once diagnosed, but that's some pretty contageous stuff.

Soon Kali 2.8 will be in school and 'building up immunity' one sickness at a time.

Checking out dance class.......

We took Kali 2.8 over to the local college where her Papa helps teach a college ballroom dancing class. Kali was pretty excited to go see the dancing. She watches ballroom dancing on TV every Monday night, so she was ready to go see it in person.

As soon as everyone started dancing, she got up and started spinning around. She quickly figured out that she could see her dress spinning in the mirror on the wall, so she spun around several times and watched herself in the mirror. She also danced with me for a bit.

When Papa came around the circle and was near us, Kali was excited to see him dancing. She then noticed that the girl that Papa was dancing with had Kermit the Frog on her shorts. For the rest of the time we were there, Kali would ask where 'Papa and Kermit' were if she couldn't see them on the floor.

We left once she got a bit bored (which two year olds are prone to do), but she said on the way home that she wanted to be in dance class. She can start doing that next year, so we'll definitely have to get her involved in that.

Sleepless night.......

I couldn't go to sleep for awhile after that Mizzou debacle last night against Nebraska. Easily one of the worst collapses I've seen. I have no clue how Zac Lee performed like Zac Lee for three quarters only to become Dan Marino in the final quarter.

***shudder***

On the bright side, basketball practice starts a week from today. My favorite sport is back. I'll just focus on that for now.

I blame Kali 2.7........

Mizzou played Nebraska tonight in football. While Kali was awake, Mizzou outscored Nebraska 12-0. At some point around 10:15, Kali fell asleep next to me on the couch. From that point on, Nebraska outscored Mizzou 27-0.

I should have never let her fall asleep.

Mission accomplished........

Had a female co-worker that I hang out with quite a bit who had her birthday today. She eats lunch in a group of us that get together every day. I scored big points today with her. None of the other 6 people in the lunch group remembered that it was her birthday. I showed up with cake for the entire group to celebrate her birthday.

In closing, I'd like to thank Mrs. Lime for teaching me to remember important dates. It paid off in spades today.

Isn't that interesting..........

You know you're having an interesting day when a lunch conversation goes like this......

Me: So who just called your cell phone?

Person: Oh, it was the doctor's office. They got my test results back, but said I should come in to discuss the results.

Me: What kind of tests?

Person: Some blood work and a STD test.

Me: What do you need a STD test for?

Person: You know.......just the occasional test to make sure everything's still clean.


I'm going to go out on a limb and say I'm glad that I don't have that issue.

Yet another milestone..........

I'm officially 35 years old as of today. Most people lie about their age until they get really old and suddenly decide it's a badge of honor. Not me. I consider it a badge of honor that I even made it to 35.

This time of the year does get me excited about what's to come......

-Royals finish last in their division again. Thank God that's over.
-Chiefs have now lost 27 of their last 29 games, which is the worst stretch of losing in NFL history.

On the positive side......

-Mizzou football is off to a 4-0 start with a relatively young team. Next few years should be fun.
-Mizzou basketball starts practice in 1 1/2 weeks. Mizzou has a great coach and a good group of kids who make it very easy to root for them. Should be a lot of fun to see the younger players develop this year.
-It's getting cooler outside. Mrs. Lime doesn't like it, but Kali and I dig it.
-By my 36th birthday, I expect to have two daughters in my midst. I'm likely to need divine intervention.

Never a dull moment. I don't even have time to think about being old.

My Wal-Mart safari.......

I usually shop at a nearby Target store when I need to get something relatively quick. Last night, I was printing out some pictures on the printer and ran out of ink. Target doesn't carry the printer cartriges and the various electronics stores were closed. My one option was the 24-hour Walmart nearby. There's a couple of things that become immediately evident when you enter the store......

1. The store is DIRTY. I guess I never realized how dirty the Walmart stores are when compared to other retailers. I've never seen so many spots on the floor where something had dropped down and dirt had been tracked through the mess.

2. The people in the store are an interesting group of people to say the least. There is no dress code for sure. Anything you think a person could wear in public can be seen on display in a Walmart.

My trip to Walmart was topped off by a family in the self check-out line. Family consisted of parents (who were both likely only around 40) and they had 5 kids ranging from 18 to around 10. The oldest girl also had a 6 month old baby.

Normally, you think the self check-out is for people with a relatively small amount of items. Not this family. They decided to bring the self check-out line to a virtual stand-still by checking out THREE SHOPPING CARTS of stuff in a self check-out line. To add to the excitement, the 18 year-old appeared to have no idea that the bar code on the product was actually how the price scan works. She just kept spinning the product until she heard a beep.

Meanwhile, her baby is sitting in the cart. A teenage daughter is standing next to the baby only to see the baby spit up all over himself and the floor below. The teenager duly notes 'Uh, the baby just spit up all over the floor'. To which the 40-some mother says 'I'm sure they'll have someone clean it up'. The teenager sees the baby spit up again a couple of minutes later all over the floor again, but doesn't say anything this time because she knows what her mom will say.

After scanning for at least 15 minutes, the family finally has everything paid for and is ready to leave. At that moment, the mom hands out cigarettes to basically anyone in that family who's old enough to smoke. They all stick the cigarettes in their mouth and head out the door with lighters in hand. As soon as they hit that exit, they're ready to light up.

I'm not sure when I'll go to Walmart again, but it'll have to be an awfully good reason.

Meeting the locals..........

I was invited over to a local poker tournament in town. It was held in one of the buildings on the town square in an upstairs office. Nothing fancy, but had a pretty interesting cross-section of the community. There were some good civic leader connections available, which may help down the line with the local renovation project we're working on. They play a tournament every Wednesday night. I usually am busy taking care of Kali 2.7 or doing other things, but since Kali was out of town with the grandparents, I decided to give it a whirl.

I played pretty tight poker to feel out the players a bit and then started with some aggression once I knew what I was up against. I won a little pot early on with pocket tens and made sure to flip it over just to advertise to the table that I only played premium hands. I used that to my advantage about 15 minutes later when I had the best flush draw after the flop. I bet and one guy called. Pot was large and I checked the turn. He checked as well and I had a pretty good idea that he was hoping for the same thing I was, which was another card to hit a flush. The river came and I didn't have my flush. I had ace high and went all-in. He thought for some time and then finally folded and showed that he had king high and was going for the same flush as me. I got a big stack from that pot and flipped over my bluff just to let them know I could bluff.

I mixed up my play pretty well the rest of the night. I got paid off on a lot of good hands due to my big bluff earlier. I think it was very adventageous that I was a new guy. The regulars in the game were pretty baffled and couldn't get a good read on me. I didn't bluff a whole lot, but when I did, I never got called where I had to show the bluff.

After 4 hours, I won the tournament and went home with $250. Unfortunately, that pretty much means I'll have to go and play again at some point, but it'll probably be a couple of months. I'm sure I'll find a good use for the money.