After the new year, Joey had one week at his old job before starting his new one. I was so excited that last Friday, I had to document the moment!
The very next Monday, he started at his new company, Mitchell. He is an Implementation Project Manager in the Auto Physical Damage division. My understanding of what that means is that he'll be helping to configure workflow and estimating software solutions for their clients in the auto insurance industry. If you want a more detailed (or accurate) description, you should probably ask him!
His first week got off to a good start. His new manager was excited for him to join the team and did a good job of introducing to everyone and setting up training for him. He was already impressed in the new hire orientation with the focus on career growth and happiness - especially compared to his past experience at General Atomics where orientation was pretty much all about the rules and regulations and how to not screw up. It was a very different tone. Then the second week, he attended the annual company conference that was really motivating about the Mitchell mission/vision/core values, employee happiness, and ways to exceed their customer's expectations.
At the end of the month, they sent him to Pennsylvania to attend a training on how to estimate auto damage for insurance adjusters, to better understand the needs of their clients.It sounded interesting so I was excited for him but I wasn't so excited about being left alone for a whole week. This new job will involve a little bit of travel - a couple days a month - so I figured I should get used to it. Here are some of his pics from the week .
He arrived in Pennsylvania on Sunday night, right in the midst of all the snowstorms hitting the NE, so he got to see quite a bit of snow!
The view from his hotel in the morning. PA didnt get near as much snow as they predicted but it was still pretty cold and snowy.
A picture of his classroom.
And all the damaged cars. Most of the training was hands-on estimating damage. Not a bad skill to have!
Jack really missed him while he was gone and asked me every morning and every night "Where daddy go?" and then he would answer his own question with "the plane? at the airport?" It was really cute. We did ok on our own. I started to get a little lonely by the fourth or fifth night (a toddler doesn't make for the best dinner conversation) so my friend Stephanie came over one night to keep me company. Jack loves company and snuggled right up to her with some books.
On Joey's last day, he got out early (after acing his final test!) and tried to do a little sightseeing before heading to the airport. He wasn't far from Gettysburg so he took a quick driving tour around the area.
Since then, it's been a little slow at work, as he is still waiting to get his own projects and get up to speed on their software. He's a little anxious to jump in and have more responsibility but he's optimistic that it will be a good job and a good company once he gets in the swing of things. I certainly hope so, he deserves it!
SO WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING???
Hmm...I'm not sure. Time is flying by. Let's take a look at some of the pictures I took in January...
Here's Jack at a nearby playground on the big boy swing. He LOVES swings like you wouldn't believe and we let him try out the big kid one since they didn't have a baby swing at this park. We were there to meet a potential babysitter from Care.com but she flaked on us. We tried meeting with 5-6 different sitters and only one of them turned out to be reliable. Why is it so hard to find good help!?
Jack has really started to show his imagination in the last few weeks (or months? I lost track.) He now likes to play with two of his stuffed animals - bear and tiger (which is actually one of Joey's golf club covers.) Every morning he insists that we put bear and tiger at the table with him so they can eat too. According to Jack, they like to eat rice - for every meal.
Jack is still loving making towers with blocks and this will keep him busy for up to an hour.
Jack's new favorite thing to do is to "watch" while I'm cooking. I let him help me make cookies over Christmas and now I can't even make toast without him begging to bring the chair to the counter. One morning I made some oatmeal muffins and he intently "helped" me for an hour. He even sat and watched the muffins bake for 20 min. He didn't want to leave the kitchen until they were totally done!
This is a picture from nap time. No story really, I just think they way he is sleeping is cute.
Here's one Joey sent me one night while I was out at a work-related event. I always give him a hard time about not giving Jack vegetables for dinner so he sent me this pic to prove that he did. He had green beans and raisin bran. According to Joey, that's what he wanted. I guess that's what happens when you let a toddler decide, but at least he had a vegetable!
The week that Joey went to PA, I had a networking event to attend and needed someone to watch Jack. My friend Tricia volunteered and Jack had a blast playing with her son Logan, just 4 days younger. She sent me this pic while I was at the event with the caption "My boys for the afternoon" and I thought it was adorable. She's expected another little boy in March so I think it was good practice. Thanks Tricia!
Towards the end of January, one of my coworkers went on an early maternity leave. We were in the process of transferring her work to me for a mid-February transition but because of complications, she had to stop working with only 1 day notice. Our team scrambled to pull together a last minute baby shower for her. Since then I've been slammed at work trying to finish her projects plus my own. It's been ok though because it helps keep my mind off my own pending arrival. Good news is that she had the baby just the other day and he is healthy as can be!
Speaking of our pending arrival, we haven't done much to prepare for baby girl. I did finally take one Sunday to hit up all the thrift stores nearby to get some girl clothes. We were just going to reuse Jack's more gender neutral clothes, but I couldn't resist at least getting some girl ones. I cleared out all the 99 cent racks and got quite the stash. I can't wait to get to use some of these little outfits!
I also picked up a Mr. Potato Head for Jack while at one of the thrift stores. I wasn't sure if he was too young but he really loves it. He doesn't seem to understand where the parts are supposed to go but he really enjoys sticking them in various places.
It took him a few days to be able to get them in without help but I was so proud when he made his first creation on his own.
Last but not least, we bought Jack a little tie for my dad's upcoming wedding in Vegas. I wasn't sure if he would cooperate and wear it the day of, so I introduced him to it one morning a few days before the trip. He immediately loved it and wanted to wear it every day that week. It was so adorable.
So that was pretty random but that was our January. Next up - our trip to Vegas to see my dad tie the knot! Stay tuned!
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