Penchuk.com

Ironically, Ben’s in his room right now for being mean to his brother.  But, this is great.

Ben’s Book

Over the last few days, Jack’s come out with a new funny comment each day. Thought I should share…

• Thursday - “I would drink my pee if I had to.”  We’ve been watching Man vs. Wild and saw Bear Grylls do this.
• Friday – “I like hot stuff…and Anna.”  Anna is one of Jack’s daycare pals.
• Sunday – While watching squirrels run around chasing each other, “Maybe they’re playing freeze tag.”

We went to the Carolina Hurricanes the other night and I took a few pictures with the new iPhone. Here they are.

Being the first Saturday of the month, I got the kids in the car and went to the local Home Depot for their Kids’ Workshop.  This is where the store supplies a small kit to make a bird house, trivet or something along those lines.  We got there around 10:30 (the event lasts 9:00AM – 12:00PM) but as soon as we walked in, the greeter told us they were all out of kits.  The kids were disappointed but I figured we’d head over to another Home Depot.  We got there and quickly found where they were holding it.  We walk about to the woman at the activity desk (it’s now about 11:15) and she informs us that they’re all out of kits.

Usually I have nothing but good things to say about this program.  It’s teaching the kids to do things for themselves, let’s them see the product of their labor and is great daddy/kids time.  And the kids have become quite fond of Home Depot.  Not today.  All of us were mightily disappointed.  I can understand one place being out, but two, c’mon.  Home Depot is better than that.

Ben on the holidays: “I just love Christmas!”

Jack on our trip to Home Depot for the monthly kids’ workshop: “I want to make Mommy a cuckoo clock.”

Ben: Let’s play something.
Daddy (on a ladder putting up Christmas lights): Ben, I’m kind of busy right now.
Ben: Why are you doing that?
Daddy: The sooner you realize that when you do what your mother or your wife or your girlfriend wants, life becomes a whole lot easier.
Ben: Why are girls always in charge? That’s not fair.
Daddy: (Laughing and almost falling off the ladder)

Ben just tossed the pen he was using aside and said, “Good bye pen, you stink, you’re pink.”  I have no idea what that means but it made me laugh for no good reason.

Of course, everytime we ask Jack how his day was, he gets downright sullen, crosses his arms and says with all sincerity, “I had a bad day.”  It’s hard not to laugh at him.

In other news, we had Thanksgiving dinner here on Thursday.  Laura’s father, Paul, is in town for a few days and Carrie’s mother, Ann, was here as well.  Matt and Carrie’s friend, Umberto, joined us as well.  We had tons of food and a good time was had by all.  Yesterday we got our tree (pictures to follow sometime soon) and Laura has been busy decorating.  She just loves this time of year.

Earlier today Ben spent some time scribbling in a notebook that he earned from the treasure box in his school class.  I wasn’t really sure what he was doing but eventually he presented me with a small piece of paper.  He told me that he wrote me a story and wanted to know if I would hang it up at work.  Of course, I will, but I thought I should share it with all of you that probably won’t see it at my office…

Congratulations to my beautiful wife, Laura, who yesterday completed her first 5K, the Raleigh Old Reliable Run.  She finished in just over 32 minutes for a pace of a second or so over 10 minutes per mile.  Her goal was to finish the race without stopping and she accomplished her goal!  Way to go, Laura.

Just wanted to share a little bit of good news!  Earlier today I accepted a Director of Account Management position with iContact, a leading email marketing firm based in RTP.  Many of you know iContact but if not, it is a young company that has seen steady, and one might say rapid, growth even during these rough economic times.  They’re currently ranked 189 on the Inc. 500 and the Triangle Business Journal has given them awards as one of the best places to work in the area.  This is the 2008 write-up for medium size companies and they also won in 2009 for large companies (no write-up).  The position is similar to one that I have held in the past and loved.  I will be leading a team of account managers focused on retaining clients and growing the overall revenue from those clients by providing excellent service.  There are a ton of challenges ahead of me, but I’m looking forward to tackling them.  I’m very excited to get back to work on Nov. 16th.

Through this extended vacation my wife, Laura, has been the most amazing person.  She has been supportive, encouraging and cheerful.  Without her, this experience would have been much different.  She’s the greatest.