KC is 15 Late Post

So my tech skills are still weak.  It is my youngest man-ling's 15th birthday today.  I can't quite wrap my head around this.  That middle pic?  Pretend it is the first one in the series.  That was probably when he was about 5 months old.  He was a preemie and so so tiny.  In that picture the newborn clothes were still big on him, but at least we had made it out of the doll clothes section!  I remember how utterly petrified we were bringing him home.  This young, precious life was entrusted to us and we.were.not.ready.  No one ever is.  I think you can read 50 billion books, take classes, read blogs, and baby sit your heart out, but it is not the same.  KC was not our first child, but he was our first infant and as such there were many firsts with parenting him that we had not experienced with the other kids.  Thank the goddess that he was an easy and forgiving baby!

The picture on the far right is of KC after dance recital last year.  Ever since he was 2 he has wanted to dance.  He would flit around the house waving my wives sparkly fabric bits and create shows in our front hall where he did his version of tap dancing.  It took till he was 4 to find a studio that was boy friendly and a non competition studio, but once we did, he has never left it.  He has added to his dance classes year by year, increasing in knowledge and ability. 

The first picture in the series.  That is KC today.  A strong 15 year old with goals, dreams and the drive to succeed.  He works part time at a local market. He helps teach at the dance school.  He volunteers in a classroom at church and helps at the library.  He is funny, loves word play, graceful, emotional and we are so very very blessed that he is our son.

I wanted this birthday to be special for him and in true J-E Team fashion it was special in ways we did NOT expect.  I had purchased tickets to Tap Dogs. They are a cool dance troupe he wanted to see.  They had medical issues and the night before our performance they cancelled.  Our tickets were refunded but they are not touring in our area the rest of the year.  KC took it with better grace than I did.  We've been sitting on these tix for about 2 1/2 months!  I was bursting with excitement for him.  He reminded me that such things happen with live performances, which is very mature and very true.

Then KC got sick.  Very sick.  Wound up on an antibiotic and missed a whole week of work and basically had the most low key birthday one could imagine.  He even had us cut the birthday pie he had requested without him blowing out the candles because he was coughing so much he was afraid of contaminating the rest of the family.

But for all that there were still presents and laughter, and even a birthday that went so far south from what was planned will be part of the memory montage for a son we love so dearly.

No Promotion After All

It has been over a year since my former boss was promoted to another position within our company.  For  awhile now it has looked like i might at long last receive the chance to be the property manager.  My regional manager was very much in my corner and advocated for me.  I had a lot of extra duties which I fulfilled successfully.  I reduced our vacancy at the site and increased our collections. I held staff meetings and dealt with grumpy tenants.  And more.  I also kept my own regular work load up to date.

However at the end of the day, someone else will become manager on the 29th of this month.  I could tell how upset my regional was at having to impart this to me.  But it was not unexpected.  The thing I do not have is a certification in property management.  I have a number of other work related certifications but am not a certified property manager.It was my hope that because I fulfilled all additional duties beyond expectations and sought out other things to do, that I would perhaps be promoted and given a time frame to obtain the ARM designation.    I will get that designation too. And all the things I did?  They are just new skills.  They are things that now go on my resume as things I can do for the lucky company that will hire me away.  But I will get the certifications first.  My company pays for education.  (insert wry chuckle there)

My coworkers have been very sweet about it all. They all thought that I had been promoted because a memo went out of available positions and our site was no longer on it.  It has been obvious that i was doing things that were outside the regular scope of my job, so they thought there would soon be a big cool announcement.  I appreciate that vote of support too, as I have had to push our team in some new directions this past year and growing pains are not always comfortable.

So am I sad? I'd lie if I said no. But am I devasted?  Nope.  My job is one facet of who I am and while I love affordable housing and am passionate about it, it is not all that I am.  And I also think there is something great out there waiting.