Catching up
It’s been a long, busy two weeks for us all.
- Kidzilla- lost his first two teeth, the first was swallowed while eating corn on the cob at a KFC.
- A- seamlessly went back to work, leaving me alone to fend off such ponderable questions as “Mom, when you die can I have your room?” (Where did that come from? Does Kidzilla know something I don’t?)
- Someday- Took herself to court and won, mortifying and wrangling a bunch of money out of her babydaddy.
Overall, the trip to CA was good. We opted to fly on our bread and butter airline even though it meant a longer trip and more stops. But we were pretty much guaranteed seats so we took it. We accumulated nearly 8 hours of wait time in the Austin, TX airport, which was just short of a pleasure. All of our flight crews were friendly (especially after I brought some boxes of cookies on the way out). I did end up reporting one FA who was wearing Crocs with her uniform though. Aside from being a safety hazard (hmm, evacuating a flaming plane while wearing plastic shoes???), they just looked unprofessional. Am I a bitch? Maybe, but proper footwear didn’t seem to be a problem for any of the other 5 FA’s we had.
We came home to a mailbox stuffed with mail and to find A’s new $500 headset having been left on our doorstep for 4 days by UPS. Bless my neighbors for not stealing it. Why it was not sent signature required, we’ll never know.
A was able to commute up and meet us in CA for his 3 days off in between trips. The ease of commuting to the Bay Area, where we were staying brought up some discussion b/t us. My parents are moving out of their house there for 2 years and would probably be more than happy to rent it cheaply to us for the duration. The commute would be tons easier for A. Should we approach it? We decided to pass. Neither of us feels a great pull back to CA yet. We’d have to live in my parents house, unable to paint or decorate b/c they plan to move back in in 2 years. Us living there would give them less incentive to move their masses of furniture and stuff out. Plus, we run the risk of creating ongoing issues with babydaddy that we don’t have living far away. And the kicker, we’d know that we would have to move again in 2 years and probably couldn’t afford to stay in the area.
We are sticking with our plan to move to Houston in the spring. We’ve had to face that we won’t be able to buy a house right away; partially due to said babydaddy being on a partially successful quest to ruin my credit. But we’ll be content to rent for a year while we really take a chance to look around and see what’s on the market.
We are settling back into the aviation life and having A come and go again. He just came home for a 5 day block. His holding a line was short-lived, due to line reductions and he’s back to holding a relief line for February. It’s a line, with designated trips still, but he won’t find out when they are until very near Feb, which is a hassle. But we’ll make it work. He’s no longer in the bottom 10% of FO’s in the company or at the base, which is good news for him. Thought to ponder for the day- why are trips usually 4 days long? Who decided that? Why can’t they all be 2 day trips?
My 32nd birthday is coming up in just over a week. I’m not sure if I’m happy or sad. Or how we’ll be celebrating yet.
A return to flying
A was cleared by his doctor to return to flying after the 1st of the year! Three weeks ago I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but with the help of some great physical therapists, he’s ready to go. So good-bye weekends and days off that we actually want. His first trip is at the end of the week. He’s going back as a lineholder too, which is a nice bonus. No more reserve days or relief lines for us- we’ll actually get a schedule 3 weeks ahead of time, not 3 days.
I think he’s a little nervous about getting back into the plane after so much time off, but I know it will come back as soon as he slips into that seat. He’ll have a few chart revisions to wade through before he can even get into the cockpit though. A is seriously the most random accident prone person I have ever known. I give it a few months before it’s something else. And I say that with love, I really do.
Now that I’ve finally gotten used to A being home and we’ve settled into a routine, it’s going to be hard to give it up again. It’s so easy to be able to pawn off chores that I hate like vacuuming and grocery shopping onto someone else… And so nice to have someone to roll my eyes at when something crazy happens. A and Kidzilla have spent extended time together since school is out for the holidays and it’s been really great for their relationship. And for A to see what it’s like for me to spend day after day with Kidzilla with no reprieve. This break has been a learning experience for all of us, mostly in good ways.
Kidzilla and I are also taking to the skies soon; in an attempt to fly cross country solely on A’s regional. Barring any weather problems, we’ll be touring the country via New Orleans, Austin and Oklahoma City, before our final destination in CA. Once we land, we’ll still have a 1.5 hour drive to get where we need to be. It will be a great adventure for us and probably much more fun than the court hearing we have to go out there for (which should be a victory in my favor though). The 5 hour layover in the tiny Austin, TX airport will probably be the least exciting part.
The new year is bringing new opportunities and challenges to us already. We have been working and planning for what this new year will bring and are ready to make the jump. We are expecting another roller-coaster year of changes and ups and downs, this time mainly self-imposed, as we finally get settled in to a new life. The unexpected is what makes life fun right?
Small Victories
Hooray for Christmas, it’s almost here! Gifts have been ordered, shopping lists have been made, and it’s 80 degrees outside today. Feels like Christmas is on it’s way.
We passed our anniversary. 3 years since our first date and 1 year married. It was pretty anticlimatic really since we lack the funds to do anything more than go to dinner. But A promised me that one day I would get my second honeymoon complete with either a heart shaped in room swimming pool or a champagne glass bathtub. If those two super cheesy attractions exist, I must experience them.
A’s arm is healing. He went for a follow up apt yesterday and now has to go for some physical therapy. Seems the break was in a bad spot and there is some scar tissue building up that is inhibiting his mobility. Or something like that. He continues to walk around with his arm frozen in a weird Bob Dole like bend. I keep offering him a pen for his hand and he keeps telling me what I can do with said pen… Last night we had a good laugh over whether he could pass off his oddly angled chicken wing as healed and fly again. We’re still unsure if he’ll be ready to fly by the start of the new year.
A is headed out to ONT to tie up some loose ends he left due to his unexpected month long vacation. So for one night, I get the bed back to myself again. It’s been over 2 full weeks since I’ve had any time alone, without either A or Kidzilla around. These past two weeks have not been without incident as we’ve worked to assimilate A into our full time lives. One day I caught myself wondering when he was going to leave again already b/c I was getting annoyed with him interfering with some kitchen related activity. It was his 4th day home. Then there was the Christmas Tree Debacle which involved the return of all of our newly purchased tree decorations until we could work things out. I sent him shopping and was unhappy with his choice of toilet paper. I’m sure it’s been just as difficult for him trying to get used to the incessent noise of a kid in the house and the lack of restaurant quality dinner selections every evening.
There is a lot of time that I feel really happy with the life I have chosen and feel that it works really well for us- I’m much to independant and headstrong to live with A on a full time basis. He would go crazy having to deal with me all the time. But at the same time, it sure is nice to have him home.
How to get out of working holidays when you have low seniority
Fall while playing with your kid and break your elbow.
Yep, A was outside doing dad things with Kidzilla when he fell and broke his elbow. He saw the specialist today and was given a 4 week reprieve from work. It could have been much worse, this break didn’t require pins or an actual cast- just a splint and a sling.
It’s a heck of a length to go to to get the holidays off, but it seems to have worked.