The Kassel Family Project Life 365

We offered to babysit for Baby Jack this evening so that Ian and Amanda could have a dinner out.  Andy and I very much remember what the first couple of months was like with a newborn.  Eating at all is difficult…  Forget about eating at the same time.  You just learn to eat in shifts.  I was really surprised when they actually took us up on the offer.  Amanda had a tough time leaving, but she did leave and headed out to pick up Ian.  While they ate a tasty dinner of barbecue, we got some quality time with Jack that included Laura and John each getting to hold and feed him.  Jack didn’t nap much in the three hours that we were there, but I sure got lots of baby snuggles.  I think he was growth spurting though because he was a hungry boy.  I ended up feeding him eight ounces.  By the time that Ian and Amanda got home, Jack was a content, quiet baby.  I was so happy to be able to help out the new parents and get some baby snuggles at the same time.  I do have to admit that I was happy to give him back to his parents, though, because the “baby days ship” has sailed for me.  I am quite content with just babysitting.

We spent part of Vacation – Day 3 with Uncle Art and Aunt Tammy.  It was great to just spend time with them and relax.  Great Aunt Tammy taught the kids a new skill…  Gambling on the Kindle!  Laura apparently inherited my Mom’s luck as she nearly doubled Tammy’s winnings.  We laughed a lot about how Laura was winning, winning, and winning some more.

While the kids were having a lot of fun with Jackpot Party Casino, Andy spent a while talking to Uncle Art about our family tree.  At one point, Art wandered into the basement because he had some old certificates, letters, etc., that he had gotten from my grandparent’s house.  While going through the stack, we came across the original War Ration books for my grandparents, uncle, and mom.  It was quite amazing to see these.

At about 4:30 pm, we said goodbye to Uncle Art and Aunt Tammy and loaded up for the second leg of our journey.  We arrived at Scot and Sheila’s about 6:30 to spend the next two nights with them.  We spent the evening eating great pizza, laughing, hanging out, having a few drinks, and meeting BABY JACK!  Aunt Erica got some baby snuggles!  Woo Hoo!  I have to say that he is one cute little buddy.

After Ian, Amanda, and Jack left, we put the kids to bed and hung out with Scot and Sheila.  It was a late night that involved lots of chatting and drinks.  Before we knew it, it was almost midnight.  It was just a great, great night.  Love those two!

We spent today with my cousin, Erin, and her family.  The kids were so excited to get to see Thalia again.  We ate lunch at Red Robin (YUM!) and then explored the new trampoline park in Rockford.  I would have taken pictures of the kids bouncing on all the trampolines, but that would have been a fruitless effort as all the pictures would be blurry.  It was a great, fun afternoon with family and it was the perfect way to start off vacation.

We are all loaded up and ready to head to the Chicago area to see family, meet Baby Jack, and just relax.  Yay for a week away!

We attended the Missouri Beer Festival again this year.  This time, we had VIP tickets that allowed us to enter the event an hour early.  It was awesome!  No waiting in lines and we got to taste a few beers that were not available during the regular time.  I enjoyed this year’s festival much more than last year.  The venue was much, much better and it was just a fun afternoon spent with my husband.  An Andy full of lots of different kinds of great beer is a happy Andy…

Today, I found out that I did not get the Project Director position for one of the projects in my office.  The fact that I didn’t get the job is not the major disappointment.  The job is, at best, a hornet’s nest, but it would have included project management, which I very much miss.  My major disappointment is because I am pretty sure that our Associate Director was going to make the announcement next week while I am on vacation and not tell me first.  Even more disappointing is the fact that this pretty much confirmed my suspicion that my Associate Director has little to no faith in my abilities, meaning that I need to begin looking for another position.  Disappointing.  Just disappointing.  At least the Director took it upon herself to tell me about it so that I would know and not read about it while on vacation.  To console myself a bit, I started my vacation early and headed to both Old Navy and Gap for a little shopping therapy.  For once, I spent money on only myself.  Then, I went to Hy-Vee and bought the ingredients for Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka and Lemonade Martinis and spent the evening drinking a few of those.  By the time I return to work the beginning of April, my head will be in a better place.  Look forward…  Look forward…

Goodbye to our old washer and dryer.  They have a new home at Jeremy’s house.  They were a great set for the last nine years, but I must admit that I really love the new ones.  Hopefully, Jeremy can use them for a few more years anyway.