Fall is actually my favorite season. The only thing wrong with it is that it means winter is coming, which is my least favorite season. :)
So, my Top Ten Favorite Things About Fall:
1. The cool-down. I love it when the heat of summer is finally broken, when I can wake up to the crisp cool air that warms up into a perfect comfortable day followed by the cool nights where you can almost see your breath and the stars really pop. No hazy, murky days and nights, but the clear colors and clean air of Fall. Ahhhh
2. The colors. The explosion of colors in the trees around me with the backdrop of the bright blue sky and the amazing sunsets that we get around here during the fall always make me smile.
3. School. Kaylee likes school (usually), it's fun watching her learn new things and garner friendships, and I have the day to work, fly, catch up around the house, whatever needs done.
4. Halloween. It's Kaylee's favorite holiday, I think even more than Christmas. This year she is going as a dark and creepy "goth girl", which I debated on for awhile before letting her do. She has a black wig, black dress, black gloves, black nylons, black shoes, and a pink tulip princess candy bucket. Go figure. ;)
5. Pumpkins. It's a tradition, now. I let Kaylee pick out a pumpkin and let her decorate it as she pleases. I usually carve it how she wants it, and we scoop out the insides and I bake the seeds (the once a year I use my oven) ;) and we just have fun with the whole thing. She loves scooping out the guts and lighting the candle in the pumpkin when we're done. She loves spooky, gross, scary things, and the jack-o-lantern provides most of those things in one fell swoop. Going to the pumpkin patch is something she also loves to do, and is a several year tradition as well.
6. Thanksgiving. Every year, Thanksgiving has been the holiday that Steve and I just spend with each other. We had a tradition of going to Florida every year for several years, and then we made it N. Carolina. Now we don't really have a tradition other than it's the holiday we usually take and do with just us, and we are quite thankful while we do it. :)
7. The Drinks. Steve likes hot apple cider, and Kaylee and I are fond of hot chocolate. I love to make real hot chocolate, with sugar and cocoa and milk on a pan on the stove with a dash of vanilla and some whipped cream on top. Kaylee and I also love eggnog, something we indulge in. My mom used to make real eggnog too, using raw egg, but I can't seem to bring myself to do that one any more. Every once in awhile you'd get a bit of unbeaten egg go down, and the slimy thing gets my goat. I loved the taste of the drink though. Nutmeg rules.
8. The Food. Homemade chili and warm soups, candy from Halloween that I don't even pretend is just for the kids, warm turkey and home made mashed potatoes and I'm getting hungry...
9. The Flying. Fall has usually been our busiest season. This year was a little odd, and things are actually slower now than they were during the summer, but we did have a beautiful summer, too, without the extreme temps. Our BBQ Bash is always in the Fall, and the last of the airshow season too. The cooler temps and the higher winds of the Fall usually make for excellent airplane performance, and the comfort in the planes goes up. Not the icy chill of winter or the hot stagnant air of summer, but Juuuust Right. :)
10. Well, season premiers. The shows we enjoy come back with new episodes and new seasons and it's a much better way to spend some time in the evenings than trying to not to drain your brain too much with reruns again. And, much as I hate to admit it, I enjoy watching the NFL. I like watching football. Not college, just pro. There, I said it...
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
I'd Swear It Was A Monday
This was a day that acted like a proverbial Monday, but ended all right anyway. So sit right back and I'll tell you the Saga of the BMV. :)
As I was getting ready this morning, I had "Good Morning America" on in the background with the volume off, and I looked over in time to see that the subject of the moment on the screen was "How To Get Your Kids To Do Chores". I thought that was funny. You have to have a segment on that? How do you get your kids to do chores? Ignorant me, I thought it went like this: "Johnny, it's time to do your chores" or perhaps "Have you finished your chores?" with an occasional side of "Because you live in this house too" and "Yes, I mean now." How complicated is that?
The TV folks keep talking about the Palin/Biden debate and I keep seeing photos of them. I have to admit, every time I see him, Biden reminds me of a really bad used car salesman in a really expensive suit with his slicked-back hair and his big white teeth and fake smile. That is not a political opinion by the way, simply an observation of my reaction to his demeanor.
So, next comes my BMV drama. Basically I needed to transfer a car title into my name and then get new plates for it. Insurance had already been transferred over, and all that was left was the title and plates. Shouldn't be too difficult, right? I knew I was in trouble when I got to the BMV and there wasn't a parking spot available in the entire lot. The line was all the way to the door-
this was me in the middle of the line facing towards the desk. ;) They have a big sign on their wall that says "Did You Know that Wed-Fri is not nearly as busy as Tues and Saturday?" Good to know, as is the tidbit that the last day of the month is a very bad day to go to the BMV as people are trying to get things renewed prior to expiring that day. Like me. :) Anyway, I got up to the desk, handed her my title, and she said "uh oh, I don't see a date, let me see if this is a problem", and left. Sadly, it was indeed a problem. A lien had been paid off on the car almost a decade ago, but the loan officer who signed it off had not put the date down, so therefore the BMV wouldn't accept the title as lien-free. She suggested I go across to the street to the bank named on the title and see if they'd look up the date and fill it in for me. I looked where she pointed and saw no such bank, so I went back to Glenndale to look them up. I'd been looking across the wrong street, so I drive back to that bank, go inside, explain the situation to the teller there, who says "You'll have to go to our corporate loan office." I asked where that was, and she said "somewhere on Main." Oh, thank you. And here is the very first time I used my GPS in my car in town to find something in town and I actually wouldn't have found it without it. Go GPS! :) I found the office on Main St., and explained the problem to the nice lady at the loan department desk. I spent the next 15 minutes in her office, because she couldn't find the date in their records either. The original loan officer was gone several people ago. There was one piece of paper with a date stamp on it, but she couldn't read it. The computer didn't have it in there because the transaction was so old. She talked about me "coming back" while she looked into it, but I was really stuck and I told her so. The license plates on the car expired today. The insurance was already switched over to mine, so I couldn't get new plates on the new insurance without the title being switched, and I couldn't get plates off the old insurance because it wasn't on the old insurance any more. Finally she called the BMV on the phone, told them she didn't have the date, and they told her to put a date in there prior to the date of sale. So she did, and I was on my way BACK to the BMV. Again, there was quite a line. While I am waiting, a woman says "Laura! Hi! How are you!?" Not only do I not know her name, I don't recognize her face. At all. I chat briefly with her until it was our turn at the counter, hopefully without giving away the fact I didn't remember meeting her before. *sigh* This time, I get back to the counter, and the woman behind it asks if I got what I needed as far as the date, which amazed me that she remembered me out of the masses, and then she leaned in and said "I am going to put your name in the queue at the front of the list, since you've already been here and waited in two lines." And she DID. I barely got sat down from talking to her when they called my name. From there things went smoothly. I got my plates, I got my title changed, and while I was there the lady said "Did you know your license expires in just a few months? While you're here, we can renew that if you like." My license expires in March of 2009, which is actually half a year from now, but I figured, why not?? So, I did that, too. Except the last time I renewed, I'd done it online, and I forgot that there was an eye test this way and that they were going to take my photo again. I barely passed the eye test and I wasn't exactly photo worthy, but hey. Last time my license expired without me knowing it, so this time I figured doing it 6 months early wouldn't hurt, and it doesn't move the next expiration date forward, and I was already there being tortured, so why not. :)
I was 15 minutes late to lunch thanks to the BMV journey, and once all our food got there, the poor waitress lost her grip on the trays. She saved one, Steve Cusick saved a second, and the third, mine, hit the floor and splattered everywhere. So I got to wait another 15 minutes or so and watch everyone else eat while they recooked my food. I felt bad for her though-she said she had a dislocated shoulder, and they took my food off of our bill even though I hadn't complained. Like I, Laura Butterfingers, have any room to complain about someone accidentally dropping something! :)
From there I went to Glenndale, picked up 739KS and flew it to Kokomo in order to pick up Chuck who was bringing over the Citabria for something to be fixed. It was really rather bumpy and gusty today. We started off with fog and ended up with wind again...
I got back to Glenndale in time to make a bank run and pick up Kaylee from school, feed her a snack, and take her to ballet/tap. I'm so pleased with how she's doing on that this year. Last year, her heart wasn't in it. She didn't want to quit, and I asked, but she just went through the motions mechanically, didn't really try, didn't listen that well, didn't focus, and even at her recital she mostly watched the teacher and copied her motions off stage rather than dancing. This year, she is so much more relaxed and rested and less stressed out thanks to the change in schools, that she is having fun being a kid again. She is able to focus on her dance classes and really DO it and enjoy it. Today I was watching her, with her neck long and head up and her arms moving smoothly and she looked so graceful and mature. Same with everything else. She is just a different girl this year. No more hysterics after school, no more fighting to get her to do anything, no more stumbling robotically through her after-school activities while refusing to quit doing them. Every time I think about it, I'm torn between gratitude that it's so much better and a little anger that it was ever that bad to begin with.
Kaylee is sleeping in a tent she made in our front living room. I let her stay in it because she's actually sleeping well up there, and she likes it. What kid doesn't like to sleep in a tent, anyway? :)
I think there's a Tuesday Top Ten tonight, if I end up with the time to do it. But as for today, it was a Tuesday more like a Monday. I told Chuck that it's like nothing went right the first half of the day, and yet it came out anyway. The BMV lady was very helpful, telling me where to go and what to do, and then remembering me and bumping me to the front of the line when I went back. The bank loan officer lady was very helpful, actually calling the BMV for me so that I wouldn't go back empty handed, and finding a way to make it work even though they didn't have what we needed. My food was dumped, but the replacement was free. All in all, I'll take it. :)
(And hey, if you decide to be a problem person with the BMV check-in lady, keep in mind that she has the power to bump your name to the bottom of the list for as long as she wants to. And if you are polite even in the midst of a hassle, she may do her best to help you out.) ;)
As I was getting ready this morning, I had "Good Morning America" on in the background with the volume off, and I looked over in time to see that the subject of the moment on the screen was "How To Get Your Kids To Do Chores". I thought that was funny. You have to have a segment on that? How do you get your kids to do chores? Ignorant me, I thought it went like this: "Johnny, it's time to do your chores" or perhaps "Have you finished your chores?" with an occasional side of "Because you live in this house too" and "Yes, I mean now." How complicated is that?
The TV folks keep talking about the Palin/Biden debate and I keep seeing photos of them. I have to admit, every time I see him, Biden reminds me of a really bad used car salesman in a really expensive suit with his slicked-back hair and his big white teeth and fake smile. That is not a political opinion by the way, simply an observation of my reaction to his demeanor.
So, next comes my BMV drama. Basically I needed to transfer a car title into my name and then get new plates for it. Insurance had already been transferred over, and all that was left was the title and plates. Shouldn't be too difficult, right? I knew I was in trouble when I got to the BMV and there wasn't a parking spot available in the entire lot. The line was all the way to the door-
this was me in the middle of the line facing towards the desk. ;) They have a big sign on their wall that says "Did You Know that Wed-Fri is not nearly as busy as Tues and Saturday?" Good to know, as is the tidbit that the last day of the month is a very bad day to go to the BMV as people are trying to get things renewed prior to expiring that day. Like me. :) Anyway, I got up to the desk, handed her my title, and she said "uh oh, I don't see a date, let me see if this is a problem", and left. Sadly, it was indeed a problem. A lien had been paid off on the car almost a decade ago, but the loan officer who signed it off had not put the date down, so therefore the BMV wouldn't accept the title as lien-free. She suggested I go across to the street to the bank named on the title and see if they'd look up the date and fill it in for me. I looked where she pointed and saw no such bank, so I went back to Glenndale to look them up. I'd been looking across the wrong street, so I drive back to that bank, go inside, explain the situation to the teller there, who says "You'll have to go to our corporate loan office." I asked where that was, and she said "somewhere on Main." Oh, thank you. And here is the very first time I used my GPS in my car in town to find something in town and I actually wouldn't have found it without it. Go GPS! :) I found the office on Main St., and explained the problem to the nice lady at the loan department desk. I spent the next 15 minutes in her office, because she couldn't find the date in their records either. The original loan officer was gone several people ago. There was one piece of paper with a date stamp on it, but she couldn't read it. The computer didn't have it in there because the transaction was so old. She talked about me "coming back" while she looked into it, but I was really stuck and I told her so. The license plates on the car expired today. The insurance was already switched over to mine, so I couldn't get new plates on the new insurance without the title being switched, and I couldn't get plates off the old insurance because it wasn't on the old insurance any more. Finally she called the BMV on the phone, told them she didn't have the date, and they told her to put a date in there prior to the date of sale. So she did, and I was on my way BACK to the BMV. Again, there was quite a line. While I am waiting, a woman says "Laura! Hi! How are you!?" Not only do I not know her name, I don't recognize her face. At all. I chat briefly with her until it was our turn at the counter, hopefully without giving away the fact I didn't remember meeting her before. *sigh* This time, I get back to the counter, and the woman behind it asks if I got what I needed as far as the date, which amazed me that she remembered me out of the masses, and then she leaned in and said "I am going to put your name in the queue at the front of the list, since you've already been here and waited in two lines." And she DID. I barely got sat down from talking to her when they called my name. From there things went smoothly. I got my plates, I got my title changed, and while I was there the lady said "Did you know your license expires in just a few months? While you're here, we can renew that if you like." My license expires in March of 2009, which is actually half a year from now, but I figured, why not?? So, I did that, too. Except the last time I renewed, I'd done it online, and I forgot that there was an eye test this way and that they were going to take my photo again. I barely passed the eye test and I wasn't exactly photo worthy, but hey. Last time my license expired without me knowing it, so this time I figured doing it 6 months early wouldn't hurt, and it doesn't move the next expiration date forward, and I was already there being tortured, so why not. :)I was 15 minutes late to lunch thanks to the BMV journey, and once all our food got there, the poor waitress lost her grip on the trays. She saved one, Steve Cusick saved a second, and the third, mine, hit the floor and splattered everywhere. So I got to wait another 15 minutes or so and watch everyone else eat while they recooked my food. I felt bad for her though-she said she had a dislocated shoulder, and they took my food off of our bill even though I hadn't complained. Like I, Laura Butterfingers, have any room to complain about someone accidentally dropping something! :)
From there I went to Glenndale, picked up 739KS and flew it to Kokomo in order to pick up Chuck who was bringing over the Citabria for something to be fixed. It was really rather bumpy and gusty today. We started off with fog and ended up with wind again...
I got back to Glenndale in time to make a bank run and pick up Kaylee from school, feed her a snack, and take her to ballet/tap. I'm so pleased with how she's doing on that this year. Last year, her heart wasn't in it. She didn't want to quit, and I asked, but she just went through the motions mechanically, didn't really try, didn't listen that well, didn't focus, and even at her recital she mostly watched the teacher and copied her motions off stage rather than dancing. This year, she is so much more relaxed and rested and less stressed out thanks to the change in schools, that she is having fun being a kid again. She is able to focus on her dance classes and really DO it and enjoy it. Today I was watching her, with her neck long and head up and her arms moving smoothly and she looked so graceful and mature. Same with everything else. She is just a different girl this year. No more hysterics after school, no more fighting to get her to do anything, no more stumbling robotically through her after-school activities while refusing to quit doing them. Every time I think about it, I'm torn between gratitude that it's so much better and a little anger that it was ever that bad to begin with.
Kaylee is sleeping in a tent she made in our front living room. I let her stay in it because she's actually sleeping well up there, and she likes it. What kid doesn't like to sleep in a tent, anyway? :)
I think there's a Tuesday Top Ten tonight, if I end up with the time to do it. But as for today, it was a Tuesday more like a Monday. I told Chuck that it's like nothing went right the first half of the day, and yet it came out anyway. The BMV lady was very helpful, telling me where to go and what to do, and then remembering me and bumping me to the front of the line when I went back. The bank loan officer lady was very helpful, actually calling the BMV for me so that I wouldn't go back empty handed, and finding a way to make it work even though they didn't have what we needed. My food was dumped, but the replacement was free. All in all, I'll take it. :)
(And hey, if you decide to be a problem person with the BMV check-in lady, keep in mind that she has the power to bump your name to the bottom of the list for as long as she wants to. And if you are polite even in the midst of a hassle, she may do her best to help you out.) ;)
Monday, September 29, 2008
The Next Day
Kaylee got off to school today with her first school fundraiser money in hand, her lunch that she packed all by herself (you don't want to know what was in it), and her flipflops on. Her last school wouldn't let her wear flip flops and this one does, so she likes to wear them out of I think repressed defiance. ;)
I was supposed to fly today, but we had an odd fog for a good portion of the morning and I couldn't. It was a yellowish/whitish wall of cloud on the ground that you could visibly see as if you were flying through it. It was weird, it only happened in patches, and it took several hours to burn off. So instead I went out to Glenndale and entered time sheets now that we are looking at the end of the month billing process again and already.
Happy Birthday to our niece, Alonna! I can't believe it, but she's 18 years old. :O I'm officially getting old. :)
Kaylee was cleaning up her room for the night, but was having trouble shutting a couple of her dresser drawers. So I demonstrated how you push clothes down and then shut the drawer. I moved to the next drawer, and put my hands in there right when she took her foot and kicked the big wooden drawer closed on my knuckles. For the second time in a week I yelled an "Aaaaaaa!" That. Hurt. Still hurts, in fact!
Well, Monday is going, and once again I find myself with a distinct lack of a thing to say. So, goodnight!
--------------------------------------------
"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
I was supposed to fly today, but we had an odd fog for a good portion of the morning and I couldn't. It was a yellowish/whitish wall of cloud on the ground that you could visibly see as if you were flying through it. It was weird, it only happened in patches, and it took several hours to burn off. So instead I went out to Glenndale and entered time sheets now that we are looking at the end of the month billing process again and already.
Happy Birthday to our niece, Alonna! I can't believe it, but she's 18 years old. :O I'm officially getting old. :)
Kaylee was cleaning up her room for the night, but was having trouble shutting a couple of her dresser drawers. So I demonstrated how you push clothes down and then shut the drawer. I moved to the next drawer, and put my hands in there right when she took her foot and kicked the big wooden drawer closed on my knuckles. For the second time in a week I yelled an "Aaaaaaa!" That. Hurt. Still hurts, in fact!
Well, Monday is going, and once again I find myself with a distinct lack of a thing to say. So, goodnight!
--------------------------------------------
"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Uhhhhh
Kaylee woke me up this morning by climbing in bed with me and saying "Wake up, Mama; wake up, Mama." We watched Steve and Nathan fly home on FlightAware and picked up a few things around the house. The day really passed uneventfully and quietly at home.
It was one year ago today (and yesterday and tomorrow) that we were at the Gathering of Mustangs and Legends. I can't hardly believe that was a year ago already, but it was. That is something I will always remember with a bit of awe and amazement; a once-in-a-lifetime experience for sure...
I hope you are all enjoying your weekend, and I'll catch back up to you when I have something to say, even if it is uninteresting as usual. ;)
It was one year ago today (and yesterday and tomorrow) that we were at the Gathering of Mustangs and Legends. I can't hardly believe that was a year ago already, but it was. That is something I will always remember with a bit of awe and amazement; a once-in-a-lifetime experience for sure...
I hope you are all enjoying your weekend, and I'll catch back up to you when I have something to say, even if it is uninteresting as usual. ;)
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Perspectives of New Things...
Kaylee and I woke up on our own this morning nice and early. That girl would sleep in forever on a school day, but Saturday morning dawns and she's up and at 'em!
We got ready and I took her out to Glenndale with me, where Chuck and I met up with a group of Girl Scouts earning their aviation badge. I gave a little chat on airports and aviation and what we do and why, then a little quickie on what makes planes fly. After that I took them up three at a time and gave them a ride around Kokomo. People on their first rides are always fun, especially kids. Kids are just thrilled and excited. They aren't scared, they just think it's amazing, and their enthusiasm rubs off. I heard lots of "There's my church!" or "There's St. Joe hospital!" or "I see Pizza Hut's red roof!" or "Wow, look at Hwy 31!" Even "There's my school!" and "I see my neighborhood!" Several of them wanted to do the flying themselves, so after we got up I turned it over to them, which did make a couple of the moms a little nervous at first, and then a bit amazed that their little girls were flying an airplane. The last load I took, the girl with me in the front had grabbed onto the yoke from the get-go and was raring to go the whole time. She was a very soft-spoken, quiet little thing, and I couldn't hardly hear her. She didn't say much all the way around, just let me do the talking, even when she was flying, and she wanted to do all the flying. I took the plane again as we came in to land, and she looked up at me, right in the eyes, and said in all seriousness in a very quiet little voice, "This is the best day of my entire life."
It doesn't get much more rewarding than that. Who knows, maybe a future aviatrix was born today. After it was over, they came up with several questions to ask about flying and airplanes, and then they gave me this neat quilt they had made with paper. Each girl had drawn a "thank you" card on 8.5 x 11 colored paper, drawn airplanes and designs and signed their name, and then tied all the squares together with yarn to make a little quilt. I have it hung up on our wall at Glenndale for now, and will take my camera out for a photo later. It was sweet.
But no, Steve, just because it was enjoyable doesn't mean you don't still owe me. ;)
I brought Kaylee home, then went out to Sheridan to take a flight that didn't end up happening. A much-needed trip to the store later, we're all home and comfy.
Someone the other day was going to go on a flight as a passenger who had never flown before, and they were scared to death. They were so scared that they commented that they might spend their time in the airplane crying, but that they would go. No... I often take people who are nervous or even downright anxious; but I am not going to take up a person who is so terrified that they already know ahead of time they will be spending their time in there crying and trying not to panic. I suggested the person just think about it for awhile, and we'd see in the future. :)
By the way, for you junk food fans, there is a new flavor of Edy's Ice cream out there called "Take the Cake". Somebody got a flavor of ice cream to taste an awful lot like cold raw cake batter. Now there's no need to bake a cake just to lick the beaters (er, not that I ever did that)...
We got ready and I took her out to Glenndale with me, where Chuck and I met up with a group of Girl Scouts earning their aviation badge. I gave a little chat on airports and aviation and what we do and why, then a little quickie on what makes planes fly. After that I took them up three at a time and gave them a ride around Kokomo. People on their first rides are always fun, especially kids. Kids are just thrilled and excited. They aren't scared, they just think it's amazing, and their enthusiasm rubs off. I heard lots of "There's my church!" or "There's St. Joe hospital!" or "I see Pizza Hut's red roof!" or "Wow, look at Hwy 31!" Even "There's my school!" and "I see my neighborhood!" Several of them wanted to do the flying themselves, so after we got up I turned it over to them, which did make a couple of the moms a little nervous at first, and then a bit amazed that their little girls were flying an airplane. The last load I took, the girl with me in the front had grabbed onto the yoke from the get-go and was raring to go the whole time. She was a very soft-spoken, quiet little thing, and I couldn't hardly hear her. She didn't say much all the way around, just let me do the talking, even when she was flying, and she wanted to do all the flying. I took the plane again as we came in to land, and she looked up at me, right in the eyes, and said in all seriousness in a very quiet little voice, "This is the best day of my entire life."
It doesn't get much more rewarding than that. Who knows, maybe a future aviatrix was born today. After it was over, they came up with several questions to ask about flying and airplanes, and then they gave me this neat quilt they had made with paper. Each girl had drawn a "thank you" card on 8.5 x 11 colored paper, drawn airplanes and designs and signed their name, and then tied all the squares together with yarn to make a little quilt. I have it hung up on our wall at Glenndale for now, and will take my camera out for a photo later. It was sweet.
But no, Steve, just because it was enjoyable doesn't mean you don't still owe me. ;)
I brought Kaylee home, then went out to Sheridan to take a flight that didn't end up happening. A much-needed trip to the store later, we're all home and comfy.
Someone the other day was going to go on a flight as a passenger who had never flown before, and they were scared to death. They were so scared that they commented that they might spend their time in the airplane crying, but that they would go. No... I often take people who are nervous or even downright anxious; but I am not going to take up a person who is so terrified that they already know ahead of time they will be spending their time in there crying and trying not to panic. I suggested the person just think about it for awhile, and we'd see in the future. :)
By the way, for you junk food fans, there is a new flavor of Edy's Ice cream out there called "Take the Cake". Somebody got a flavor of ice cream to taste an awful lot like cold raw cake batter. Now there's no need to bake a cake just to lick the beaters (er, not that I ever did that)...
Friday, September 26, 2008
Freaky Friday
I spent the morning getting the house ready to be cleaned, then went out to Glenndale to do a Discovery Flight with someone new. I had my fun for the day when the older gentleman who used to fly and was accompanying the gentleman my age who was going for one of his first rides looked around while we were all standing out by the plane and said "So who is flying with XX?" I said "That would be me." He stumbled and stuttered for a second, ended with "You?" I smiled and said "Yes, I'm the instructor who will be going with him today." He got out an "Oh, oh, okay". The funny thing was, I'd already introduced myself by name, as the instructor, and been chatting with these guys for over five minutes about flying. It obviously threw him for a loop that I was the pilot. Later I got the "How long have you been doing this?" question too, but hey, that's a fair question that I'll bet most pilots get asked. I'll bet most of them don't get a look of shock and occasional dismay at telling someone they are going to be their pilot, but a girl has to get her amusement somewhere. ;)
I landed the plane from that discovery flight right at lunch time, and we all had burgers and hot dogs and tons of desserts. Excellent timing...
Steve ran home after lunch and packed a bag and headed to Kentucky for a couple of days. It was an unexpected little trip that he will hopefully (surely) enjoy involving a lot of BBQ. :)
I went and picked up Kaylee and took her to a doctor appointment; a check-up that went just fine, of course. She's healthy as a horse. She was only a little nervous about the whole thing, and mostly just wanted to make sure I would be in there with her, which of course I was.
She went to stay with Grandma & Grandpa for awhile while I went and did an evening flight. The wind was up fairly good for what we were trying to do, but we got it done, and when we finished the sun was setting and the winds were calming and it was a beautiful evening. I was driving home with the orange and the peach colors off to my west, relaxing to music, when suddenly I saw a flash of movement off to my right. I looked over in time to see two deer running right in front of my car, which was moving at a decent clip on the back roads. I stood on my brakes, which probably need checked now, along with my tires and my shorts, and one deer made it to the other lane and paused, but the other froze in my path. It was one of those time-slows-down things. I thought about my uncle in a hospital for months after hitting a deer, and I moved my arm away from the center of my wheel so that if the airbag went off I wouldn't break my face with my own arm/hand, and I yelled a wordless "Aaaaa!" as I just stood on my brakes. I couldn't swerve because I was 1) too fast and 2) didn't have a safe place to swerve to. The deer finally bolted the rest of the way across as I slid past where they'd been. I just sat there for a second before continuing my drive home. My heart rate finally settled down after about five minutes, but I spent a good portion of my drive home scanning the side of the road like a crazy twitchy person waiting for the boogie man to jump out at them again. Talk about a mood buster!
Tomorrow will be another busy one. I've got a Girl Scout troop to give rides to all morning, and then a flight in the afternoon as well that will last several hours. Busy Saturday coming...
I landed the plane from that discovery flight right at lunch time, and we all had burgers and hot dogs and tons of desserts. Excellent timing...
Steve ran home after lunch and packed a bag and headed to Kentucky for a couple of days. It was an unexpected little trip that he will hopefully (surely) enjoy involving a lot of BBQ. :)
I went and picked up Kaylee and took her to a doctor appointment; a check-up that went just fine, of course. She's healthy as a horse. She was only a little nervous about the whole thing, and mostly just wanted to make sure I would be in there with her, which of course I was.
She went to stay with Grandma & Grandpa for awhile while I went and did an evening flight. The wind was up fairly good for what we were trying to do, but we got it done, and when we finished the sun was setting and the winds were calming and it was a beautiful evening. I was driving home with the orange and the peach colors off to my west, relaxing to music, when suddenly I saw a flash of movement off to my right. I looked over in time to see two deer running right in front of my car, which was moving at a decent clip on the back roads. I stood on my brakes, which probably need checked now, along with my tires and my shorts, and one deer made it to the other lane and paused, but the other froze in my path. It was one of those time-slows-down things. I thought about my uncle in a hospital for months after hitting a deer, and I moved my arm away from the center of my wheel so that if the airbag went off I wouldn't break my face with my own arm/hand, and I yelled a wordless "Aaaaa!" as I just stood on my brakes. I couldn't swerve because I was 1) too fast and 2) didn't have a safe place to swerve to. The deer finally bolted the rest of the way across as I slid past where they'd been. I just sat there for a second before continuing my drive home. My heart rate finally settled down after about five minutes, but I spent a good portion of my drive home scanning the side of the road like a crazy twitchy person waiting for the boogie man to jump out at them again. Talk about a mood buster!
Tomorrow will be another busy one. I've got a Girl Scout troop to give rides to all morning, and then a flight in the afternoon as well that will last several hours. Busy Saturday coming...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Dragging My Tail
Steve and I made the mistake of having insomnia until well past 2:30 a.m., meaning the alarm this morning went off waaaay too early for our tastes. I actually was doing fine; I got up better than he did for once and got going and didn't have any trouble, but this afternoon I hit the wall and I about fell asleep sitting up.
I went out to Glenndale and Steve and I flew in the Citabria for awhile. I kind of laughed when I sat down in the back seat, and made a comment about what terrific visibility there really is back there after all. Compared to what I've been seeing down final and on landings lately, there is a plethora of information to look at! It's all a matter of perspective. ;)
After we flew we went out for lunch, then came back and Chuck took me to Kokomo in the Citabria so I could bring Dale's Super Cub back home to Glenndale. I got to fly Dale's aiiirplane, I got to fly Dale's aiiiirplane. ;) The Super Cub beats out the Cub in several respects for me personally. First, it has an electrical system with a radio and everything. Most importantly, it has a little button I can hit that starts the engine from inside the airplane. This saves me from the physical labor of doing something called "throwing the prop" or "asking for help", two things not on the top of my favorites list. It also has a great deal more horsepower, which is nice, and it even has flaps for those dependent upon such things. ;) So I brought it back to Glenndale and did a couple takeoffs and landings while I was at it, just to take the limited opportunity while it existed.
It was time to get Kaylee and take her to gymnastics, and this is where the sleepies hit me hard. Dinner, laundry, bath time for her, a movie to relax before bed, and Kaylee's day is about done. Mine will continue until bed time (if I can stay awake) with a lot of things I need to do, and putting more photos up. I put up another 2 pages of photos on my site, same link as yesterday, but pages 5 and 6 are up with more of the people and the actual event. But if you wait until tomorrow, I just got another disc from someone in the tower and I'll be adding several more, though they will be mostly airplane photos again. :)
We were on our way to school this morning, and I have no idea how it came up, but Kaylee brought up snacking on people. I know, I know, and I started to be horrified right up to the point I remembered "Lady Fingers" for you Cedarville girls, and I still turned out normal, didn't I? Don't answer that. (Um, that's a story I read and did a report on and bothered those around me with, not something worse...) ANYWAY, back to Kaylee, she said "That would be gross, but maybe it would be all right with a little Teriyaki." I actually snorted. Yes, she was kidding, of course.
Here's a rare photo of Steve and I at the same place at the same time at the BBQ Bash. This was Saturday, when we both felt kind of sick, but hey. :)
~Sydney Smith
"Beaten paths are for beaten men."
~Eric Johnston
I went out to Glenndale and Steve and I flew in the Citabria for awhile. I kind of laughed when I sat down in the back seat, and made a comment about what terrific visibility there really is back there after all. Compared to what I've been seeing down final and on landings lately, there is a plethora of information to look at! It's all a matter of perspective. ;)
After we flew we went out for lunch, then came back and Chuck took me to Kokomo in the Citabria so I could bring Dale's Super Cub back home to Glenndale. I got to fly Dale's aiiirplane, I got to fly Dale's aiiiirplane. ;) The Super Cub beats out the Cub in several respects for me personally. First, it has an electrical system with a radio and everything. Most importantly, it has a little button I can hit that starts the engine from inside the airplane. This saves me from the physical labor of doing something called "throwing the prop" or "asking for help", two things not on the top of my favorites list. It also has a great deal more horsepower, which is nice, and it even has flaps for those dependent upon such things. ;) So I brought it back to Glenndale and did a couple takeoffs and landings while I was at it, just to take the limited opportunity while it existed.
It was time to get Kaylee and take her to gymnastics, and this is where the sleepies hit me hard. Dinner, laundry, bath time for her, a movie to relax before bed, and Kaylee's day is about done. Mine will continue until bed time (if I can stay awake) with a lot of things I need to do, and putting more photos up. I put up another 2 pages of photos on my site, same link as yesterday, but pages 5 and 6 are up with more of the people and the actual event. But if you wait until tomorrow, I just got another disc from someone in the tower and I'll be adding several more, though they will be mostly airplane photos again. :)
We were on our way to school this morning, and I have no idea how it came up, but Kaylee brought up snacking on people. I know, I know, and I started to be horrified right up to the point I remembered "Lady Fingers" for you Cedarville girls, and I still turned out normal, didn't I? Don't answer that. (Um, that's a story I read and did a report on and bothered those around me with, not something worse...) ANYWAY, back to Kaylee, she said "That would be gross, but maybe it would be all right with a little Teriyaki." I actually snorted. Yes, she was kidding, of course.
Here's a rare photo of Steve and I at the same place at the same time at the BBQ Bash. This was Saturday, when we both felt kind of sick, but hey. :)
Quotes for the Day:
"A great deal of talent is lost in the world for want of a little courage…The fact is that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can."~Sydney Smith
"Beaten paths are for beaten men."
~Eric Johnston
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Pointless Rambles
A list of random thoughts of the day.
For my records, which I desperately need to catch up on, I flew at Sheridan this morning for 1.6, then flew this afternoon for .8 out of Glenndale in the 739s. It was a pretty calm day, up into the high 80s as far as temps, and looking down that afternoon I saw my first (of the year) tree with fall colors starting to show on it. I do love the Fall colors and temps and feeling; I just wish it was followed by Spring. ;)
A friend at lunch the other day mentioned that teaching people to fly is kind of like teaching Driver's Ed, and it of course is in many regards. But one major difference that I was thinking about today is that pretty much everybody in America drives a car, but only a small percentage of Americans fly an airplane. There were about 14,000 women pilots in America out of 305,250,000 total people in I think 2007. Pointless from a statistical standpoint, but slightly interesting anyway. :)
Kaylee got two green jewels at Awanas tonight, which was only eclipsed in excitement for her by her team winning for the third week in a row at the games. She's loving that.
Kaylee along with two others are the only ones in their class who have so far not had to have any homework sent home this year, because they are getting it all done in class. She's loving that, too.
A lovely woman named MJ Purk has created an SMA calendar full of children's photos, with the proceeds for sales to be split between Marshall's Miles and SMA Support. If you'd like to support the fundraiser or could use a calendar full of cute kids, feel free to go here to buy one. :)
I, as a typical American, am simply annoyed at having the season premiere of Criminal Minds be preempted by another political speech. I should want to hear what they have to say, but frankly, I'd rather they put it in writing and let me check it out at my leisure. It's 9 p.m. and I'm not in the mood.
Have you ever been so afraid of something that you knew you had to do it or permanently lose a crucial piece of yourself? I wonder if examples are coming to your mind, or if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Sometimes I think the biggest expressions of bravery are not the big battles, the large events, but rather the quiet moments that nobody knows exist.
(No, I am not talking about myself right now.) ;)
This came to my inbox today under the title "Words to Live By":
"I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in a maze of mediocrity. I will not give up, shut up, let up, or slow up."
~Robert Moorehead
For my records, which I desperately need to catch up on, I flew at Sheridan this morning for 1.6, then flew this afternoon for .8 out of Glenndale in the 739s. It was a pretty calm day, up into the high 80s as far as temps, and looking down that afternoon I saw my first (of the year) tree with fall colors starting to show on it. I do love the Fall colors and temps and feeling; I just wish it was followed by Spring. ;)
A friend at lunch the other day mentioned that teaching people to fly is kind of like teaching Driver's Ed, and it of course is in many regards. But one major difference that I was thinking about today is that pretty much everybody in America drives a car, but only a small percentage of Americans fly an airplane. There were about 14,000 women pilots in America out of 305,250,000 total people in I think 2007. Pointless from a statistical standpoint, but slightly interesting anyway. :)
Kaylee got two green jewels at Awanas tonight, which was only eclipsed in excitement for her by her team winning for the third week in a row at the games. She's loving that.
Kaylee along with two others are the only ones in their class who have so far not had to have any homework sent home this year, because they are getting it all done in class. She's loving that, too.
A lovely woman named MJ Purk has created an SMA calendar full of children's photos, with the proceeds for sales to be split between Marshall's Miles and SMA Support. If you'd like to support the fundraiser or could use a calendar full of cute kids, feel free to go here to buy one. :)
I, as a typical American, am simply annoyed at having the season premiere of Criminal Minds be preempted by another political speech. I should want to hear what they have to say, but frankly, I'd rather they put it in writing and let me check it out at my leisure. It's 9 p.m. and I'm not in the mood.
Have you ever been so afraid of something that you knew you had to do it or permanently lose a crucial piece of yourself? I wonder if examples are coming to your mind, or if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Sometimes I think the biggest expressions of bravery are not the big battles, the large events, but rather the quiet moments that nobody knows exist.
(No, I am not talking about myself right now.) ;)
This came to my inbox today under the title "Words to Live By":
"I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in a maze of mediocrity. I will not give up, shut up, let up, or slow up."
~Robert Moorehead
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Photos
Okay, I got five pages of photos up so far. The first two and a half pages are Trey's photos of Nathan's T-6 in flight. I've made them small enough that they shouldn't take too long to download if you click on any of them to blow them up. Nathan is the big red bobble head in the front seat and I'm the little red bobble head in the back seat. ;) The last two and a half pages are my photos both of their T-6 and of some of the event. I didn't take a ton more photos at the event because I know of a LOT of people who had cameras wandering around who swore they'd get me copies of their photos. So once I gather all those photos together, I'll get a good sampling of them posted. :)
If flying photos bore you, don't go visit the photos because there's pretty much nothing but flying photos. ;)
If flying photos bore you, don't go visit the photos because there's pretty much nothing but flying photos. ;)
Alley Oop
We have just had the most unbelievable weather around here for a long time now. It's beautiful. Calm winds, blue skies, perfect temperatures; I dread when that goes away, because it is perfect "work" weather. At least our line of work!
My morning flight was cancelled, and I went out to the office where we worked on finishing up counting the cash and checks and credit card slips from the BBQ Bash. I don't have any final numbers yet, but it's looking like we might have even topped last year! I know we gave 36 T-6 rides total, and I know that Sunday had 120 regular riders-not sure on Saturday yet. Anyway, hopefully by tonight I'll be able to say what the totals are, but it sure looks like it was a great weekend as a fundraising event as well as a fun one. Two birds with one stone! :)
Just before lunch I went up in the Decathlon with someone and we did aileron rolls. It was a nice smooth day for it, and we had a good time. Originally we were going to do spins, but I demonstrated a roll first which brought about a large grin and something along the lines of "Oh man, we gotta do that again", which led to me doing about two more, then him practicing them for the rest of an hour or so. His verdict was instant falling-in-love-with-and-hooked-on the rolls, and I found it a good way to spend time too. :)
After lunch, I felt like I got hit with the sleepy stick. I practically fell asleep back at the office, and after I picked Kaylee up at school, I about fell asleep in her ballet class too. The last half of the class, which is Tap, did manage to wake me up with the loud music and the loud metal tapping on the hard floor all out of rhythm. I tried to study the T-6 manual while I was sitting there. A little bird told me that the getting with it portion of flying the T-6 is coming up in the not-too-distant future, so I have some things to get stuck in my head.
Speaking of which, radial engines are unfamiliar to me in several ways. For one thing, this is a Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1. Well, R for radial, air cooled, 9 cylinder, 600 hp, that I got, but what is AN-1? I also have to laugh, because every time I think about how much oil the system holds, I always say "quarts" first, because I've never before flown anything that measures its oil in gallons. 10.2 Gallons of oil. Good grief!
Okay, time to finish up the evening stuff. Laundry, kiddo stuff, school stuff, finish off BBQ stuff so I can catch up on SMA stuff, and I still have hundreds of photos to go through and get something up on line. I'm having a terrible time figuring out what to put up, with an overload of options. I haven't even gotten through them all yet to delete 'bad' ones or adjust color/contrast, and I worked on that until pretty late last night. I have hundreds to go. Not complaining, mind you, as I love having them! I'll let you know when some are up, naturally...
My morning flight was cancelled, and I went out to the office where we worked on finishing up counting the cash and checks and credit card slips from the BBQ Bash. I don't have any final numbers yet, but it's looking like we might have even topped last year! I know we gave 36 T-6 rides total, and I know that Sunday had 120 regular riders-not sure on Saturday yet. Anyway, hopefully by tonight I'll be able to say what the totals are, but it sure looks like it was a great weekend as a fundraising event as well as a fun one. Two birds with one stone! :)
Just before lunch I went up in the Decathlon with someone and we did aileron rolls. It was a nice smooth day for it, and we had a good time. Originally we were going to do spins, but I demonstrated a roll first which brought about a large grin and something along the lines of "Oh man, we gotta do that again", which led to me doing about two more, then him practicing them for the rest of an hour or so. His verdict was instant falling-in-love-with-and-hooked-on the rolls, and I found it a good way to spend time too. :)
After lunch, I felt like I got hit with the sleepy stick. I practically fell asleep back at the office, and after I picked Kaylee up at school, I about fell asleep in her ballet class too. The last half of the class, which is Tap, did manage to wake me up with the loud music and the loud metal tapping on the hard floor all out of rhythm. I tried to study the T-6 manual while I was sitting there. A little bird told me that the getting with it portion of flying the T-6 is coming up in the not-too-distant future, so I have some things to get stuck in my head.
Speaking of which, radial engines are unfamiliar to me in several ways. For one thing, this is a Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1. Well, R for radial, air cooled, 9 cylinder, 600 hp, that I got, but what is AN-1? I also have to laugh, because every time I think about how much oil the system holds, I always say "quarts" first, because I've never before flown anything that measures its oil in gallons. 10.2 Gallons of oil. Good grief!
Okay, time to finish up the evening stuff. Laundry, kiddo stuff, school stuff, finish off BBQ stuff so I can catch up on SMA stuff, and I still have hundreds of photos to go through and get something up on line. I'm having a terrible time figuring out what to put up, with an overload of options. I haven't even gotten through them all yet to delete 'bad' ones or adjust color/contrast, and I worked on that until pretty late last night. I have hundreds to go. Not complaining, mind you, as I love having them! I'll let you know when some are up, naturally...
Monday, September 22, 2008
Monday; the Rest of the Story
I thought that was too cute to not take a photo of and post for posterity. (See the next post down if you don't know what I'm talking about.) She never did perk up that much-she's been pooped most of the day. She almost fell asleep watching a Barbie movie on the couch, so I just put her to bed early, poor thing.
I on the other hand woke up at 5 a.m., and I was Wide Awake. I tried to go back to sleep, but I finally gave up sometime after 6 a.m. and just went ahead and got up. I looked at my photos and edited some of them, then I went ahead and caught up my blog as best I could remember from the weekend. I hauled Kaylee out of bed and took that picture when I saw her face. So many captions ran through my head that I couldn't pick one, so I decided that "Monday" would suffice. :)
After I dropped her off, I drove down to Sheridan only to be foiled by visibilities and a few things to cover on the ground anyway. A bunch of us met up for lunch and talked about the weekend for awhile, and went over some of the fun stuff. Ty had gotten a young man who proposed to his girlfriend on the plane too, so that makes two of us that have been part of that. Pretty fun, actually!
I ended up at Kokomo because Nathan needed to take the T-6 somewhere and needed a lift home. I got there first, so I decided to get some practice in on the T-6 tug, which is also the Mustang tug, and is something I'm not...highly skilled...at driving with the big tow bar attached. I got her hooked up and pulled out just fine, and then pushed the big tow bar back into the hangar backwards. I wouldn't call myself smooth and fast at it, but hey, I managed, which is half the battle. Next I have to be able to put the whole plane way, not just the tow bar, but I'll wait for an emptier hangar than I've got right now to practice that one. ;)
It was a nice day for a flight, and I enjoyed taking the Baron out for the first time in awhile, too.
It was time to come and get Kaylee, who was still very tired, so I had her stay home this evening and rest and relax. I've done a couple basic needed items around the house, and I need to work on our BBQ Bash numbers. But suddenly I find myself fading again, and I have a feeling that 5 a.m. wake-up call is coming due. In order for me to not become one of "Them" (as Chuck said at lunch), I am going to try to stay awake long enough that I can get a normal night's sleep, but right now it's not looking promising. *yawn*
Here are the quotes that came to my inbox today:
-----------------------------------
"Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don't. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever."
~Philip Adams
"It is funny about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the very best you will very often get it."
~W. Somerset Maugham
"Life... It tends to respond to our outlook, to shape itself to meet our expectations."
~ Richard M. DeVos
I on the other hand woke up at 5 a.m., and I was Wide Awake. I tried to go back to sleep, but I finally gave up sometime after 6 a.m. and just went ahead and got up. I looked at my photos and edited some of them, then I went ahead and caught up my blog as best I could remember from the weekend. I hauled Kaylee out of bed and took that picture when I saw her face. So many captions ran through my head that I couldn't pick one, so I decided that "Monday" would suffice. :)
After I dropped her off, I drove down to Sheridan only to be foiled by visibilities and a few things to cover on the ground anyway. A bunch of us met up for lunch and talked about the weekend for awhile, and went over some of the fun stuff. Ty had gotten a young man who proposed to his girlfriend on the plane too, so that makes two of us that have been part of that. Pretty fun, actually!
I ended up at Kokomo because Nathan needed to take the T-6 somewhere and needed a lift home. I got there first, so I decided to get some practice in on the T-6 tug, which is also the Mustang tug, and is something I'm not...highly skilled...at driving with the big tow bar attached. I got her hooked up and pulled out just fine, and then pushed the big tow bar back into the hangar backwards. I wouldn't call myself smooth and fast at it, but hey, I managed, which is half the battle. Next I have to be able to put the whole plane way, not just the tow bar, but I'll wait for an emptier hangar than I've got right now to practice that one. ;)
It was a nice day for a flight, and I enjoyed taking the Baron out for the first time in awhile, too.
It was time to come and get Kaylee, who was still very tired, so I had her stay home this evening and rest and relax. I've done a couple basic needed items around the house, and I need to work on our BBQ Bash numbers. But suddenly I find myself fading again, and I have a feeling that 5 a.m. wake-up call is coming due. In order for me to not become one of "Them" (as Chuck said at lunch), I am going to try to stay awake long enough that I can get a normal night's sleep, but right now it's not looking promising. *yawn*
Here are the quotes that came to my inbox today:
-----------------------------------
"Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don't. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever."
~Philip Adams
"It is funny about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the very best you will very often get it."
~W. Somerset Maugham
"Life... It tends to respond to our outlook, to shape itself to meet our expectations."
~ Richard M. DeVos
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Sunday SlowDown?
After going to bed so early, I woke up Bright-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed and ready to face the day, finally. I got Kaylee up and ready (she was rather less energetic than I this time), and we went out to the airport for the annual church service we hold there. It's a tradition that started three or four years ago, to have a little service Sunday morning prior to the start up of the rides and the finish of the event. We joke because we've got about every denomination of person that comes out there. I fill the Baptist seat, we've got Methodist and Lutheran and Church of God and even Mennonite. There were more, I just can't recall off-hand. I think we all enjoy coming together in that way too, outside of just the flying stuff. The hymns we sang were the "old" classics that you don't hear in most 'progressive' churches any more, and while Kaylee didn't know the words, I still did at least. :) Walt also did a nice job on the service. Last year we finished just as the T-6 fired up for the first time that day, which seemed an appropriate "Amen" to me, but this year was a little quieter on that regard. The obligatory church offering (as the Methodists say ;)) brought in another almost $700 towards SMA Support, which is pretty amazing if you think about it.
Shortly after that, our rides started back up, the grill masters hit the grills, we started in on lunch and the number of people steadily grew. In the past, Sundays were clean-up days from the event. Then the last couple of years, our rides booked up and took us past dark, so we continued them Sunday afternoon to finish off people. This year, the afternoon was pretty much a smaller version of the main event. There were a lot of rides and a good amount of people out there. I don't have final numbers; in fact I don't even have basic numbers on much, but I know the T-6 did almost as many rides on Sunday as it did on Saturday. Ted came out and was our Em Cee for the day, and all the people were back selling raffle tickets and shirts and SMA info and rides and food and all that good stuff. Kaylee had a job today too, and she was quite excited about it. She got to face paint. Sheryl brought in a batch of face paints, and Kaylee and several other girls did designs on other kids' faces.
Kaylee felt quite important with that job. Perhaps too important. One adult was trying to take her photo while she painted on a face, and she paused and gave him a look. He said "Is it bothering you that I'm taking your photo?" She replied with "No, but it's bothering me that you are behind the counter." :O Man, I'd never have spoken to an adult that matter-of-factly. Part of me thinks it was funny and part of me thinks it was rude. I didn't tell Kaylee that part about me thinking it was funny. ;)
I went and opened the canopy on the Mustang, took the tape off, etc., and a tiny little boy came up to me and pulled on my pant leg and asked me if I was going to fly it right now. I said "No, it's not flying right now." He said "Well, will you fly it later?" I said "It will fly later, yes, but not with me." He said "Why were you in it then if you aren't flying it?" I said "Because I'm just getting it opened up and ready-it's another person that owns and flies it." He was satisfied and walked off, sunglasses on, mini pilot of the future, whose parents told me he just sat and stared at the Mustang for a looong time, and couldn't wait to see it fly. :)
We went for a little while down to Sam's hangar where there was a surprise birthday party for his mother-in-law. They said she hates surprises, and she's in her 90s, but she handled it very well. ;)
Kaylee somehow cut her foot or lost a scab on her foot or something, and suddenly these two girls come running up to me and ask me if I'm Kaylee's Mom, because she's bleeding. I almost roll my eyes, because if she sees pink she's been known to freak out about the "blood", but I wander over to the jumpy thing and see her sitting in there with blood all over her foot and all over the jumpy. Sure enough, it was a bleeder all right. She's panicked, pretty much, but finally I tell her I can not get in there and she has to come to me, and she does. We get the blood all cleaned up and it's this tiny little cut on her foot. She has no idea how it happened, either. Ah, her excitement for the day I guess.
Nathan decides it's time to take the Mustang home, so I take the Citabria out and over to Kokomo in order to pick him up. Steve said when I called in at Glenndale that I was landing, quite a few people stopped to watch my landing. Next year maybe I'll have a more interesting landing for them to watch, or I could tell them where to find a more interesting landing or two of mine lately, but this year it was hopefully uninteresting and uneventful. ;)
The evening wound down, the T-6 rides finished earlier this year so Trey and Duane and Sherry could get going and head home with Tom Woods's T-6 before the storms got bad down south, Nathan put his away, the regular rides closed down, and then the crew went to work in a flash picking up what needed picked up. Tape off of the stakes, stakes off the ground, tables and chairs and food put away, hangars cleaned out and rearranged...it takes awhile and it will be a few days before everything is completely back to normal. Kaylee and I rode Chuck's Four-Wheeler for a few minutes, watched a few people go fly over, we went and stole fried chicken from Sam's house for a bunch of us, and we took a break that evening for a little while.
When we finally made it home, it was time to throw Kaylee in the bathtub in an attempt to wipe off some of the dirt from the day-and it was her second bath of the day!
All in all, while I don't know totals yet on the Bash, I can say that if nothing else we had a wonderful time, a good turn-out, beautiful weather, promoted aviation and SMA awareness at the same time, a safe event, a clean event (with port-o-potties that were top notch with flowers and sinks and all sorts of stuff in there!) and that we'll have made money for SMA Support at the same time. Can't beat that... Here is the Woods' T-6 being flown off towards home, piloted by Trey, a soon to be famous photographer and son of Duane (the man who donates his time for a weekend to give warbird rides to all these people, with no pay), with the smoke on. See ya!
Shortly after that, our rides started back up, the grill masters hit the grills, we started in on lunch and the number of people steadily grew. In the past, Sundays were clean-up days from the event. Then the last couple of years, our rides booked up and took us past dark, so we continued them Sunday afternoon to finish off people. This year, the afternoon was pretty much a smaller version of the main event. There were a lot of rides and a good amount of people out there. I don't have final numbers; in fact I don't even have basic numbers on much, but I know the T-6 did almost as many rides on Sunday as it did on Saturday. Ted came out and was our Em Cee for the day, and all the people were back selling raffle tickets and shirts and SMA info and rides and food and all that good stuff. Kaylee had a job today too, and she was quite excited about it. She got to face paint. Sheryl brought in a batch of face paints, and Kaylee and several other girls did designs on other kids' faces.
Kaylee felt quite important with that job. Perhaps too important. One adult was trying to take her photo while she painted on a face, and she paused and gave him a look. He said "Is it bothering you that I'm taking your photo?" She replied with "No, but it's bothering me that you are behind the counter." :O Man, I'd never have spoken to an adult that matter-of-factly. Part of me thinks it was funny and part of me thinks it was rude. I didn't tell Kaylee that part about me thinking it was funny. ;)I went and opened the canopy on the Mustang, took the tape off, etc., and a tiny little boy came up to me and pulled on my pant leg and asked me if I was going to fly it right now. I said "No, it's not flying right now." He said "Well, will you fly it later?" I said "It will fly later, yes, but not with me." He said "Why were you in it then if you aren't flying it?" I said "Because I'm just getting it opened up and ready-it's another person that owns and flies it." He was satisfied and walked off, sunglasses on, mini pilot of the future, whose parents told me he just sat and stared at the Mustang for a looong time, and couldn't wait to see it fly. :)
We went for a little while down to Sam's hangar where there was a surprise birthday party for his mother-in-law. They said she hates surprises, and she's in her 90s, but she handled it very well. ;)
Kaylee somehow cut her foot or lost a scab on her foot or something, and suddenly these two girls come running up to me and ask me if I'm Kaylee's Mom, because she's bleeding. I almost roll my eyes, because if she sees pink she's been known to freak out about the "blood", but I wander over to the jumpy thing and see her sitting in there with blood all over her foot and all over the jumpy. Sure enough, it was a bleeder all right. She's panicked, pretty much, but finally I tell her I can not get in there and she has to come to me, and she does. We get the blood all cleaned up and it's this tiny little cut on her foot. She has no idea how it happened, either. Ah, her excitement for the day I guess.
Nathan decides it's time to take the Mustang home, so I take the Citabria out and over to Kokomo in order to pick him up. Steve said when I called in at Glenndale that I was landing, quite a few people stopped to watch my landing. Next year maybe I'll have a more interesting landing for them to watch, or I could tell them where to find a more interesting landing or two of mine lately, but this year it was hopefully uninteresting and uneventful. ;)
The evening wound down, the T-6 rides finished earlier this year so Trey and Duane and Sherry could get going and head home with Tom Woods's T-6 before the storms got bad down south, Nathan put his away, the regular rides closed down, and then the crew went to work in a flash picking up what needed picked up. Tape off of the stakes, stakes off the ground, tables and chairs and food put away, hangars cleaned out and rearranged...it takes awhile and it will be a few days before everything is completely back to normal. Kaylee and I rode Chuck's Four-Wheeler for a few minutes, watched a few people go fly over, we went and stole fried chicken from Sam's house for a bunch of us, and we took a break that evening for a little while.
When we finally made it home, it was time to throw Kaylee in the bathtub in an attempt to wipe off some of the dirt from the day-and it was her second bath of the day!
All in all, while I don't know totals yet on the Bash, I can say that if nothing else we had a wonderful time, a good turn-out, beautiful weather, promoted aviation and SMA awareness at the same time, a safe event, a clean event (with port-o-potties that were top notch with flowers and sinks and all sorts of stuff in there!) and that we'll have made money for SMA Support at the same time. Can't beat that... Here is the Woods' T-6 being flown off towards home, piloted by Trey, a soon to be famous photographer and son of Duane (the man who donates his time for a weekend to give warbird rides to all these people, with no pay), with the smoke on. See ya!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Zooming In
Saturday arrived in a hurry after a late night on Friday, but just about everybody woke up feeling a little puny. I was okay in the morning, but as the morning progressed my head started pounding, and then my headache got bad enough that it made my stomach sick. I took the medicine I had available, but it just wasn't cutting it, and let me tell you, a borderline baddie like that is bad enough in day to day activities, but when you've got the constant noise of airplanes like the loud T-6 blowing overhead every few minutes, it's downright painful. I couldn't really eat lunch because my stomach was upset, and I was having difficulty enjoying the event or doing much to help with it. Finally I realized my hands and legs were shaking, so I went and laid down on Dale's couch in the back room of the office for a few minutes. By the time the afternoon wound down, I was finally able to eat dinner and feel a little better. Steve was running on very little sleep, everybody was just pooped from working so hard all week to get stuff ready and from staying up so late the night before.
Meanwhile, the Bash went on around us doing just fine. The airplane rides were steady, the flow of people was steady, the food was prepared and taken care of in a top notch way, the DJ had the tunes going non-stop with lots of "flying" themes, some young ladies sold candy and soft drinks all day to tide people over, we had a pedal plane raffle booth, Ann took care of the SMA table, which she did a wonderful job preparing, setting up, and manning (womaning), and the ladies working the ticket booth did a great job too. We sold BBQ and Glenndale hats and t-shirts and SMA bears and bracelets and pins and shirts. The "Ramp Dudes" did a fantastic job keeping everyone safe at the event, keeping people out of the way of the running airplanes, marshaling the pilots to the proper parking and fueling and loading spots, briefing and loading up the passengers going on their rides, all that stuff. We had golf cart drivers who took people from parking to the event and back to their cars when they were done, who also took people from one end of the airport to the other if need be. We had tower guys (gals) who stood up in Jim Wright's tower and acted as "Air Boss", letting pilots know of traffic sequencing and just keeping things organized and safe in the air and on the ground. We had Operations guys who helped empty trash cans and keep things picked up around the event. Cookers who manned the grills and ladies who kept us supplied and organized. Pilots who spent two days sitting in a small airplane for hours straight to give ride after ride over Kokomo to folks. Folks who watch the kid area and make sure nobody is bleeding or beating on anyone else. Corporate sponsors who donate either money or supplies for the Bash so we don't have to use SMA money to bring in SMA money. Hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch were donated, pizza was donated, Coke products were donated, airplanes were donated, the BBQ dinner itself was donated along with all the food that went with it. You can see that this is no small undertaking, and how impossible it would be if we had to pay all these people for their help. We couldn't have an event if that were the case, but thankfully we do have a huge array of people who are willing to come out once a year and work their rear-end off for no pay whatsoever just to have a good time and help out a good cause.
Nathan brought the Mustang in on Saturday, much to the delight of folks. You can see folks
standing on the roof of the "tower" off to the left, and folks gathering around as he shuts down. (You can click on the photo to enlarge it a bit.) Nothing matches the sound of that engine blowing by at 249 knots, and a lot of people are really surprised each year when he actually lands it on our little grass strip. This year we parked it in the middle of the place, and it made for a nice centerpiece. That morning they did a photo shoot with Nathan's Mustang and his T-6, with their matching paint schemes, using another T-6 as the "photo ship". It wasn't the best lighting for it, but Trey got some good pictures, which he generously left for us, and I'll go through and put some up on Nathan's site when I get the chance.
We did have one little bit of excitement this year. For the first time ever since we've been having these events, we had to call an ambulance onto the field. Fortunately it was nothing to do with us, nothing we did, etc., but an older woman basically felt faint and sat down on the grass. She wasn't really responding appropriately, so folks laid her down on the grass, and one of our guys grabbed a woman we know who happened to be there who is a doctor, after calling 911 just to be on the safe side. We had a blood pressure kit and a stethoscope there for her to work with, and the doctor agreed she needed to be taken in and seen at the hospital. We ended up with two ambulances on our field loading her up, and they arrived at the same time our skydivers dropped in for the first time, so it looked like a skydiver wiped out or something to people. Fortunately not!! :) The woman was hydrated at the ER and later released and doing fine, so all is well that ends well. I am thankful that so far we've had these events with nobody being hurt, and that this first time we had to utilize our 911 services out there that it was basically for someone overdoing it a bit on a warm day.
Saturday evening the Bash wound down around 8 or 9 p.m., and we packed up and headed home without much delay. I walked in the door around 9:20 p.m. and I was in bed and asleep by 9:30 p.m. I kid you not. I was OUT. And I stayed out until 7:30 the next morning, too. I slept like a log, I don't remember a thing, I and everyone else around me was flat out worn out! The Main BBQ Bash Day passed safely and enjoyably with beautiful weather and a nice turn out!
Meanwhile, the Bash went on around us doing just fine. The airplane rides were steady, the flow of people was steady, the food was prepared and taken care of in a top notch way, the DJ had the tunes going non-stop with lots of "flying" themes, some young ladies sold candy and soft drinks all day to tide people over, we had a pedal plane raffle booth, Ann took care of the SMA table, which she did a wonderful job preparing, setting up, and manning (womaning), and the ladies working the ticket booth did a great job too. We sold BBQ and Glenndale hats and t-shirts and SMA bears and bracelets and pins and shirts. The "Ramp Dudes" did a fantastic job keeping everyone safe at the event, keeping people out of the way of the running airplanes, marshaling the pilots to the proper parking and fueling and loading spots, briefing and loading up the passengers going on their rides, all that stuff. We had golf cart drivers who took people from parking to the event and back to their cars when they were done, who also took people from one end of the airport to the other if need be. We had tower guys (gals) who stood up in Jim Wright's tower and acted as "Air Boss", letting pilots know of traffic sequencing and just keeping things organized and safe in the air and on the ground. We had Operations guys who helped empty trash cans and keep things picked up around the event. Cookers who manned the grills and ladies who kept us supplied and organized. Pilots who spent two days sitting in a small airplane for hours straight to give ride after ride over Kokomo to folks. Folks who watch the kid area and make sure nobody is bleeding or beating on anyone else. Corporate sponsors who donate either money or supplies for the Bash so we don't have to use SMA money to bring in SMA money. Hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch were donated, pizza was donated, Coke products were donated, airplanes were donated, the BBQ dinner itself was donated along with all the food that went with it. You can see that this is no small undertaking, and how impossible it would be if we had to pay all these people for their help. We couldn't have an event if that were the case, but thankfully we do have a huge array of people who are willing to come out once a year and work their rear-end off for no pay whatsoever just to have a good time and help out a good cause.
Nathan brought the Mustang in on Saturday, much to the delight of folks. You can see folks
standing on the roof of the "tower" off to the left, and folks gathering around as he shuts down. (You can click on the photo to enlarge it a bit.) Nothing matches the sound of that engine blowing by at 249 knots, and a lot of people are really surprised each year when he actually lands it on our little grass strip. This year we parked it in the middle of the place, and it made for a nice centerpiece. That morning they did a photo shoot with Nathan's Mustang and his T-6, with their matching paint schemes, using another T-6 as the "photo ship". It wasn't the best lighting for it, but Trey got some good pictures, which he generously left for us, and I'll go through and put some up on Nathan's site when I get the chance.We did have one little bit of excitement this year. For the first time ever since we've been having these events, we had to call an ambulance onto the field. Fortunately it was nothing to do with us, nothing we did, etc., but an older woman basically felt faint and sat down on the grass. She wasn't really responding appropriately, so folks laid her down on the grass, and one of our guys grabbed a woman we know who happened to be there who is a doctor, after calling 911 just to be on the safe side. We had a blood pressure kit and a stethoscope there for her to work with, and the doctor agreed she needed to be taken in and seen at the hospital. We ended up with two ambulances on our field loading her up, and they arrived at the same time our skydivers dropped in for the first time, so it looked like a skydiver wiped out or something to people. Fortunately not!! :) The woman was hydrated at the ER and later released and doing fine, so all is well that ends well. I am thankful that so far we've had these events with nobody being hurt, and that this first time we had to utilize our 911 services out there that it was basically for someone overdoing it a bit on a warm day.
Saturday evening the Bash wound down around 8 or 9 p.m., and we packed up and headed home without much delay. I walked in the door around 9:20 p.m. and I was in bed and asleep by 9:30 p.m. I kid you not. I was OUT. And I stayed out until 7:30 the next morning, too. I slept like a log, I don't remember a thing, I and everyone else around me was flat out worn out! The Main BBQ Bash Day passed safely and enjoyably with beautiful weather and a nice turn out!
Friday, September 19, 2008
The BBQ Bash Begins
Man, what a packed-out, crazy, fun weekend!
Friday is usually our "Finalizing" day, the day where you finish setting things up, finish putting up signs, getting things printed, get all the tables and chairs set up, all that good stuff. Then that evening we have a pizza party and watch a movie and have some music. Well, this year Friday evening was an actual event, and we're running around trying to get things done while we've got a LOT of people out there hanging out. It was great!
Friday started with us still waiting for our FAA approval of our event. They want a bunch of information on the pilots flying people at the charity events these days, so I spent a ton of time and money going back and forth to Staples to fax of page after page of info on all our pilots. You're supposed to have all that done by 7 days in advance, and as of the Friday morning of our event they still wanted some additional stuff, didn't get some that was already faxed, etc. The last time I went to Staples, for sign holders, I had three different employees make comments to me that ranged from "Didn't I see you in here this morning-or was that yesterday?" (Yes, both.) to "Do you work here now too?" (Apparently) to "Hey, we have a bed in the back if you'd rather stay." (Haha!) I have decreed that I'm not going back to Staples for awhile! Anyway, so that afternoon Steve and Nathan and Chuck were all standing around our fax machine waiting for the Final Approval Letter to be sent through, and once it came in we finally relaxed. NOW we were official and legal.
Duane and his son Trey flew in with the Tom Woods T-6; he let us use it as a static display airplane this year. After we had our pizza, donated by Pizza Hut, Nathan and I went in his T-6 and Duane and Trey went in the other T-6, and we went up and flew around. Originally I thought it was just a way to go over the veterans association gathering as they'd kind of requested, and have some fun, but it was also a photo shoot. If I'd have thought about it I would have closed
my canopy and sat there for better looking photos, but I was busy looking around, taking photos and enjoying the wind in my face. I'd put the camera down now and then when I saw Trey with his camera out though. It was a gorgeous evening for it, and I really enjoyed the flight. I love the formation flying and love the T-6, and flying over Glenndale's runway with another Six with the sun setting in the background on a cool Fall-ish evening was about surreal. Those are the experiences you always look back on and just smile. I've got more pictures than I can put up for the next couple of days, for sure, but I look forward to looking through and seeing what I've got. This is one of me and Nathan in his T-6 with Glenndale in the background. You can click on this one (photo by Trey) to blow it up a little bigger for a better view if you like.
We were out at the airport until quite late Friday night; there was a camp fire, two live bands who did a great job, food and drinks and lots of good company. The campers were set up outside, the kids' bouncy areas were blown up and ready to go, and our event basically started whether we were ready or not!
Friday is usually our "Finalizing" day, the day where you finish setting things up, finish putting up signs, getting things printed, get all the tables and chairs set up, all that good stuff. Then that evening we have a pizza party and watch a movie and have some music. Well, this year Friday evening was an actual event, and we're running around trying to get things done while we've got a LOT of people out there hanging out. It was great!
Friday started with us still waiting for our FAA approval of our event. They want a bunch of information on the pilots flying people at the charity events these days, so I spent a ton of time and money going back and forth to Staples to fax of page after page of info on all our pilots. You're supposed to have all that done by 7 days in advance, and as of the Friday morning of our event they still wanted some additional stuff, didn't get some that was already faxed, etc. The last time I went to Staples, for sign holders, I had three different employees make comments to me that ranged from "Didn't I see you in here this morning-or was that yesterday?" (Yes, both.) to "Do you work here now too?" (Apparently) to "Hey, we have a bed in the back if you'd rather stay." (Haha!) I have decreed that I'm not going back to Staples for awhile! Anyway, so that afternoon Steve and Nathan and Chuck were all standing around our fax machine waiting for the Final Approval Letter to be sent through, and once it came in we finally relaxed. NOW we were official and legal.
Duane and his son Trey flew in with the Tom Woods T-6; he let us use it as a static display airplane this year. After we had our pizza, donated by Pizza Hut, Nathan and I went in his T-6 and Duane and Trey went in the other T-6, and we went up and flew around. Originally I thought it was just a way to go over the veterans association gathering as they'd kind of requested, and have some fun, but it was also a photo shoot. If I'd have thought about it I would have closed
my canopy and sat there for better looking photos, but I was busy looking around, taking photos and enjoying the wind in my face. I'd put the camera down now and then when I saw Trey with his camera out though. It was a gorgeous evening for it, and I really enjoyed the flight. I love the formation flying and love the T-6, and flying over Glenndale's runway with another Six with the sun setting in the background on a cool Fall-ish evening was about surreal. Those are the experiences you always look back on and just smile. I've got more pictures than I can put up for the next couple of days, for sure, but I look forward to looking through and seeing what I've got. This is one of me and Nathan in his T-6 with Glenndale in the background. You can click on this one (photo by Trey) to blow it up a little bigger for a better view if you like.We were out at the airport until quite late Friday night; there was a camp fire, two live bands who did a great job, food and drinks and lots of good company. The campers were set up outside, the kids' bouncy areas were blown up and ready to go, and our event basically started whether we were ready or not!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Aviate, Navigate, Communicate
I got up just a bit earlier this morning so that I could take Kaylee to Walgreens before school and pick up some extra snacks for her class. This was her week to bring a snack to class, and I did, but she claimed it wasn't cool to only bring one snack, so I brought several the next day. Apparently it worked and she is the class hero again, because she said everyone was excited about the extra snack choices. One crisis for the day, averted. ;) After I left the school I had to stop by Staples and fax off a few more pages to the FAA, which put me a few minutes late for my morning flight. I don't like being late, but you can only do what you can do.
This paragraph is for our family to skip. ;) I had someone do a takeoff that got my attention more than about any other takeoff I can remember. We had just lifted off and the airspeed was too low, the nose was too high, and the person had drifted off to the very edge of the runway. My job is of course to talk a person through the scenario as far as possible, and we were on our way to getting things straightened out, when suddenly the engine got very quiet. For a split second I thought we'd had a strange and sudden engine failure, but instead the person had pulled the power all the way off by mistake. With the nose way up and the airspeed way down, when the power goes away, the plane...doesn't like that. I got the power back in asap and we'd gotten high enough that I had the altitude to recover, but I'll bet it was interesting to watch from the ground, and, well, I was definitely awake for the day. :)
From the flight I went on to Glenndale, and it was a buzzing little place. Our SMA banner is up, several trailers and Nathan's bus are parked out there for the campers, the stakes are up, and it's coming alive. One of our guys has a time-lapse camera thing going, and he's going to speed it up and show it Saturday night I think. Should be interesting.
After lunch I went out to Kokomo and flew for an hour and a half in the Cheyenne with Kevin. It's the first time I've been in the Cheyenne since they made several changes to it, and the changes are nice! That plane always feels rather speedy to me when it's been awhile since I've been in it. I call it "hurtling", and that's not a bad thing. ;)
When we were done, Steve and Chuck and Steve C. and Jonathan came out and we worked on how to load and unload people in the T-6 for the BBQ Bash rides. Safety measures, how to best get in and out, how to do the seatbelts, how to minimize the impact on the airplane (no feet scraping, no grabbing the wrong area, no people falling and breaking their legs, you know, that kind of stuff). I got to be the first helpless victim while the two guys helped me load in, buckled me up, and told me how to get in and out of the airplane. Do you think they'd be willing to come do that for me every time, because that was kind of handy. ;)
I ran home to get Kaylee, then met up at Glenndale with the others. Steve and Chuck and a few others finished up a couple of things and then we all went to dinner prior to me bringing Kaylee home so she could do her chores for the day and get to bed, and Steve going back out to Glenndale to keep on working.
It's been a hopping week, with Steve getting the brunt of it, and Chuck getting a fair share too. I've got a few more things to do myself, and I'm not looking forward to my last assignment, but that's the way life works. I just can't believe it's here already, that tomorrow night we start off with a pizza party, live bands and a movie; and away we go!
This paragraph is for our family to skip. ;) I had someone do a takeoff that got my attention more than about any other takeoff I can remember. We had just lifted off and the airspeed was too low, the nose was too high, and the person had drifted off to the very edge of the runway. My job is of course to talk a person through the scenario as far as possible, and we were on our way to getting things straightened out, when suddenly the engine got very quiet. For a split second I thought we'd had a strange and sudden engine failure, but instead the person had pulled the power all the way off by mistake. With the nose way up and the airspeed way down, when the power goes away, the plane...doesn't like that. I got the power back in asap and we'd gotten high enough that I had the altitude to recover, but I'll bet it was interesting to watch from the ground, and, well, I was definitely awake for the day. :)
From the flight I went on to Glenndale, and it was a buzzing little place. Our SMA banner is up, several trailers and Nathan's bus are parked out there for the campers, the stakes are up, and it's coming alive. One of our guys has a time-lapse camera thing going, and he's going to speed it up and show it Saturday night I think. Should be interesting.
After lunch I went out to Kokomo and flew for an hour and a half in the Cheyenne with Kevin. It's the first time I've been in the Cheyenne since they made several changes to it, and the changes are nice! That plane always feels rather speedy to me when it's been awhile since I've been in it. I call it "hurtling", and that's not a bad thing. ;)
When we were done, Steve and Chuck and Steve C. and Jonathan came out and we worked on how to load and unload people in the T-6 for the BBQ Bash rides. Safety measures, how to best get in and out, how to do the seatbelts, how to minimize the impact on the airplane (no feet scraping, no grabbing the wrong area, no people falling and breaking their legs, you know, that kind of stuff). I got to be the first helpless victim while the two guys helped me load in, buckled me up, and told me how to get in and out of the airplane. Do you think they'd be willing to come do that for me every time, because that was kind of handy. ;)
I ran home to get Kaylee, then met up at Glenndale with the others. Steve and Chuck and a few others finished up a couple of things and then we all went to dinner prior to me bringing Kaylee home so she could do her chores for the day and get to bed, and Steve going back out to Glenndale to keep on working.
It's been a hopping week, with Steve getting the brunt of it, and Chuck getting a fair share too. I've got a few more things to do myself, and I'm not looking forward to my last assignment, but that's the way life works. I just can't believe it's here already, that tomorrow night we start off with a pizza party, live bands and a movie; and away we go!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
And Another One Gone...
I spent the morning working at home and doing that errand thing I'm so good at, lunch with friends, then back to Glenndale to gather together the last of the stuff the FAA needs for all our pilots that we're using for the BBQ Bash to give rides.
Nathan's info was at his hangar at OKK, so he took me over in the T-6 to pick it up and dropped me back off at Glenndale. It was just a perfect day for a flight, and even in that quick couple of trips I felt myself relax a lot. Canopy open, sun in the face, wind in the hair, 600 hp in the ears. It's funny, every once in awhile I look around up there and I still feel that little bit of amazement.
I went to Staples for my 14th trip this week to go fax more paperwork to the FAA, back to Glenndale to watch airplanes fly and talk to a couple of people, took Kaylee to Awanas, went to dinner with Steve, picked up Kaylee, and we came home and started working on the last of our stuff for the Bash. We only have tomorrow really, and part of Friday, and I'm flying a good portion of tomorrow, so...eek!
Kaylee's teacher told me the other day that we have a little writer on our hands, because she wrote out this entire story with tons of details, and her teacher was amused at the end result. She often mentions that Kaylee is creative.
Kaylee also drove the golf cart today out at the airport, as in by herself. She gave Jim a ride back to his house at the end of the runway, then drove back to us alone, a bit under a mile long trip. She felt quite grown-up with it all and she did a good job. That's one thing about Kaylee-she has *always* done a great job being careful and responsible when it counts.
That's about it for today-another day gone, another one gone, another one bites the dust. :)
Nathan's info was at his hangar at OKK, so he took me over in the T-6 to pick it up and dropped me back off at Glenndale. It was just a perfect day for a flight, and even in that quick couple of trips I felt myself relax a lot. Canopy open, sun in the face, wind in the hair, 600 hp in the ears. It's funny, every once in awhile I look around up there and I still feel that little bit of amazement.
I went to Staples for my 14th trip this week to go fax more paperwork to the FAA, back to Glenndale to watch airplanes fly and talk to a couple of people, took Kaylee to Awanas, went to dinner with Steve, picked up Kaylee, and we came home and started working on the last of our stuff for the Bash. We only have tomorrow really, and part of Friday, and I'm flying a good portion of tomorrow, so...eek!
Kaylee's teacher told me the other day that we have a little writer on our hands, because she wrote out this entire story with tons of details, and her teacher was amused at the end result. She often mentions that Kaylee is creative.
Kaylee also drove the golf cart today out at the airport, as in by herself. She gave Jim a ride back to his house at the end of the runway, then drove back to us alone, a bit under a mile long trip. She felt quite grown-up with it all and she did a good job. That's one thing about Kaylee-she has *always* done a great job being careful and responsible when it counts.
That's about it for today-another day gone, another one gone, another one bites the dust. :)
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Run-Around
This was certainly one of the run-around days. I made about six phone calls, answered ten emails, set up several doctor and dentist appointments, and then got to work on some BBQ Bash things before running out to a bunch of errands. I got several things shipped off for SMA Support, I got the house picked up a bit, I got several things printed up and printed off, and basically it was a busy, productive day. A gorgeous, busy, productive day. Cool temps, blue skies, no winds, perfect for aviation, which made me twitchy. I hope our BBQ Bash weekend has such good weather coming up here!
Kaylee had ballet and a good day at school, Steve and Chuck are doing their "Pre-BBQ-Madness" runs, and life continues as normal.
I grew up reading every novel written by the first author in my quotes, and even though they are simple books which are all almost identical, I remember them fondly. :)
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"Up to a point a man’s life is shaped by environment, heredity, and movements and changes in the world about him; then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be.…Everyone has it within his power to say, this I am today, that I shall be tomorrow."
~Louis L’Amour
"Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live..."
~Dorothy Thompson
"When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends."
~Japanese Proverb
Kaylee had ballet and a good day at school, Steve and Chuck are doing their "Pre-BBQ-Madness" runs, and life continues as normal.
I grew up reading every novel written by the first author in my quotes, and even though they are simple books which are all almost identical, I remember them fondly. :)
--------------------------------------
"Up to a point a man’s life is shaped by environment, heredity, and movements and changes in the world about him; then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be.…Everyone has it within his power to say, this I am today, that I shall be tomorrow."
~Louis L’Amour
"Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live..."
~Dorothy Thompson
"When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends."
~Japanese Proverb
Monday, September 15, 2008
Today
Happy Birthday to Steve today! He's a young fellow still in his 40s, for now. ;) He didn't want a lot of pomp and circumstance today, but we got a card and Kaylee picked out a little gift she thought was neat and we had a steak dinner after her cheer practice. A quiet birthday since he wouldn't let us sing at the restaurant. ;)
I flew for 1.1 at Sheridan today, doing take offs and landings with V. The ceilings were such that we could stay in the pattern and do that, and that was it. As soon as we finished, the clouds came down even lower, making the rest of the morning a "wash" on flying. I'm glad we got ours in, anyway.
After I picked Kaylee up at school, I took her to Wal-Mart to get her cheer shoes, and while we were there we got her Halloween costume, which has to be the first time in history I have ever gotten her costume prior to the week before the big day. She wanted to be something creepy and scary this year, so we got a long black 'bride' dress, a black wig, and black lipstick to put on her. She wanted fake piercings and "those nylons with holes in them" and I said no way to both of those. There's scary and then there's scary. ;) So the girl who has spent most Halloweens dressing as various Disney Princesses has this year decided to go for scary. *sigh* Also, while we were there, I picked up some bread for sandwiches. Kaylee says "Mom, we can not get white bread, it's not healthy. Get the dark bread." She fairly insisted, so I bought the wheat bread, even though I don't like wheat bread. Fortunately, she's the one eating it in her sandwiches anyway, so if she wants that wheat stuff, she can have it. ;) I actually used to only buy her whole grain, 5-grain bread to eat, for a long time, to be healthy. I wandered away from that because I don't like it, but if she'll eat the stuff with less sugar and more fiber, then who am I to hold her back?!
After her cheer practice, we went to the new steakhouse in town for Steve's birthday dinner, and that pretty much closes out the day. :)
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"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power."
--Alan Cohen
"Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them."
-- W. clement Stone
"Humility is a virtue; timidity is a disease."
-- Jim Rohn
"The feeble tremble before opinion, the foolish defy it, the wise judge it, the skillful direct it."
--Madame [Jeanne] Roland
I flew for 1.1 at Sheridan today, doing take offs and landings with V. The ceilings were such that we could stay in the pattern and do that, and that was it. As soon as we finished, the clouds came down even lower, making the rest of the morning a "wash" on flying. I'm glad we got ours in, anyway.
After I picked Kaylee up at school, I took her to Wal-Mart to get her cheer shoes, and while we were there we got her Halloween costume, which has to be the first time in history I have ever gotten her costume prior to the week before the big day. She wanted to be something creepy and scary this year, so we got a long black 'bride' dress, a black wig, and black lipstick to put on her. She wanted fake piercings and "those nylons with holes in them" and I said no way to both of those. There's scary and then there's scary. ;) So the girl who has spent most Halloweens dressing as various Disney Princesses has this year decided to go for scary. *sigh* Also, while we were there, I picked up some bread for sandwiches. Kaylee says "Mom, we can not get white bread, it's not healthy. Get the dark bread." She fairly insisted, so I bought the wheat bread, even though I don't like wheat bread. Fortunately, she's the one eating it in her sandwiches anyway, so if she wants that wheat stuff, she can have it. ;) I actually used to only buy her whole grain, 5-grain bread to eat, for a long time, to be healthy. I wandered away from that because I don't like it, but if she'll eat the stuff with less sugar and more fiber, then who am I to hold her back?!
After her cheer practice, we went to the new steakhouse in town for Steve's birthday dinner, and that pretty much closes out the day. :)
--------------------------------------------------------
"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power."
--Alan Cohen
"Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them."
-- W. clement Stone
"Humility is a virtue; timidity is a disease."
-- Jim Rohn
"The feeble tremble before opinion, the foolish defy it, the wise judge it, the skillful direct it."
--Madame [Jeanne] Roland
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Into Each Life A Little Rain Must Fall
Back atcha, Steph. ;)
I woke up this morning for some reason with one of "those" headaches. I got out of bed at some undetermined hour of the morning and took some Tylenol and tried to go back to sleep on the couch to kick the headache, without much success. It took until well after noon to finally fade, and several hours after that before my stomach recovered too. You know, that pain bad enough that it makes you queasy? Urgh.
I finished my novel this afternoon, and studied a little bit of the T-6 manual. I need to do what I tell my students to do and "chair fly" some things over and over until they become something I don't have to think about while in the plane. That frees you up to focus on actual control vs procedures when you are in the real airplane. There are a couple of things I've done that were kind of dumb that I only did because I was too far behind, and there are a couple of things I do because I've done them that way for 5300 hours, and now there's a different way to do them and it's really hard to break the basic learned habit on a dime. It's been good for me.
Kaylee and Steve had a fun daddy/daughter day. They played Xbox, played the blues on the piano, spent a lot of time straightening up in her room, made breakfast together, and just had a mostly nice and fairly productive day. She gets so excited about those days that are just about them. She and I have our time alone together, and she really enjoys that, too. She just lights up at having a person's undivided attention for awhile. She's a lucky girl. :)
Ike has made himself known here in Indiana today. It rained pretty much non-stop today, and the winds gusted upwards of 50 mph at times. Not a good flying day, I'd say. ;) At least tomorrow looks better.
Well, to the sound of the rain in our gutters, the NFL down low on the TV, and music from Kaylee's room, I think I'll get ready for tomorrow. This is the crunch week before the BBQ Bash, and if you want to see some people running around like chickens with their heads cut off, stop on over at Glenndale!
To end...from Kim-I do remember that now that you posted it, but I had forgotten. No time like the present to be reminded, thank you. :)
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"Life passes like a flash of lightening whose blaze barely lasts long enough to see. While the earth and the sky stand still forever, how swiftly changing time flies across man's face. O you who sit over your full cup and do not drink, tell me........for whom are you still waiting?"
~Hermann Hesse
I woke up this morning for some reason with one of "those" headaches. I got out of bed at some undetermined hour of the morning and took some Tylenol and tried to go back to sleep on the couch to kick the headache, without much success. It took until well after noon to finally fade, and several hours after that before my stomach recovered too. You know, that pain bad enough that it makes you queasy? Urgh.
I finished my novel this afternoon, and studied a little bit of the T-6 manual. I need to do what I tell my students to do and "chair fly" some things over and over until they become something I don't have to think about while in the plane. That frees you up to focus on actual control vs procedures when you are in the real airplane. There are a couple of things I've done that were kind of dumb that I only did because I was too far behind, and there are a couple of things I do because I've done them that way for 5300 hours, and now there's a different way to do them and it's really hard to break the basic learned habit on a dime. It's been good for me.
Kaylee and Steve had a fun daddy/daughter day. They played Xbox, played the blues on the piano, spent a lot of time straightening up in her room, made breakfast together, and just had a mostly nice and fairly productive day. She gets so excited about those days that are just about them. She and I have our time alone together, and she really enjoys that, too. She just lights up at having a person's undivided attention for awhile. She's a lucky girl. :)
Ike has made himself known here in Indiana today. It rained pretty much non-stop today, and the winds gusted upwards of 50 mph at times. Not a good flying day, I'd say. ;) At least tomorrow looks better.
Well, to the sound of the rain in our gutters, the NFL down low on the TV, and music from Kaylee's room, I think I'll get ready for tomorrow. This is the crunch week before the BBQ Bash, and if you want to see some people running around like chickens with their heads cut off, stop on over at Glenndale!
To end...from Kim-I do remember that now that you posted it, but I had forgotten. No time like the present to be reminded, thank you. :)
------------------------------------
"Life passes like a flash of lightening whose blaze barely lasts long enough to see. While the earth and the sky stand still forever, how swiftly changing time flies across man's face. O you who sit over your full cup and do not drink, tell me........for whom are you still waiting?"
~Hermann Hesse
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Confessions of a Quiet Saturday
- I stayed in my pajamas today, and I liked it.
- I read on my latest Robert Ludlum book today, in my pjs, and I liked that, too.
- I have accomplished very little of import today, and I don't mind that. Sometimes you just need a break. I may accomplish more later this evening, but for now, we are relaxing.
- Kaylee hid Easter eggs filled with candy around the house just because she felt like it. I think they have all been found. We don't care that it isn't Easter.
- I need to work on compassion, because I find myself annoyed at the 1200 people who stayed in Galveston after being told that if they did it would be "certain death" who did it anyway and then called 911 in the middle of the hurricane when it was too late for anyone to do anything about it. *sigh*
- I am sure that there are some who had good reasons for staying. I know some SMA families who can't sit in cars for 10 hours straight trying to get out of town in the herd, and stay and do their best. I would also guess that all 1200 people who called 911 in the middle of a hurricane are not all medically fragile people who couldn't leave.
- I have managed for the most part to miss what many would call "classic" movies, in particular many old westerns. Today I watched "The Magnificent Seven", and, in true confession form, must admit that I actually liked it. Chiseled chins and high cheekbones and manly men with honor and courage who know when to stand up for themselves and when to walk away. You can come away with dozens of life lessons out of that one movie. The young hotheads who either learn to control themselves or don't make it. The 'soldiers' who know that sometimes you have to fight to defend those who can't defend themselves, but realize that even when they win such a fight, they lose, too. The people who are bullied and bullied until one day they realize they have to stand up and risk being destroyed, or don't stand up and be destroyed. Courage and fear was a frequent theme in the movie as well. That everyone feels fear, including our heroes, but they do what they have to do despite the fear. One man described it as wet hands and dry mouth and wondered if the gunslinger felt the same way before a fight. Gunfighter says "every time". And then he gets it done anyway. Hasn't everybody felt some variation of that feeling? I know I have. There are several things I have done that were a lot tougher for me to do than anyone would know, and I'm sure probably everybody has experienced that at some level. It was kind of nice to watch the movie, I have to admit, even though "old" flicks, let alone Westerns, are not usually my style. "The Magnificent Seven" is a classic for a reason.
- My pajama time ended around 3 pm when Nathan asked if we wanted to come out to OKK and do some T-6 flying. Why, yes, in fact, that sounds lovely! The winds today at the time we went flying were 19 gusting to 25 knots. Those are pretty good winds for me in this plane right now. Fortunately they were down the runway, though it was still a little bumpy and gusty.
- I lost track of how many takeoffs and landings we did, or how long we flew. I know that when I got out of the plane, my shirt, jeans and hair were all wet, my neck was rubbed raw where the seatbelt scrapes, my left arm was a little weak feeling from me holding it in place and pulling heavy gear/flap levers, and I felt pretty good about it all. Not that I had all beautiful takeoffs and landings, but they are feeling more in control.
- I'm still working on taxiing smoothly and properly with that big old heavy tailwheel, and turning around with a gusting wind was a definite exercise. I didn't stop the rate of turn soon enough once, and the wind pushed us almost all the way back around, and by the time I got it corrected and headed the other way, we swung too far that way too, and to a lesser degree I did it again trying to go straight-finally we were both just laughing out loud watching me try to straighten the thing out and go the right way down the runway. Hey, if I can't laugh at myself, I'm sure there will be plenty of others in line waiting to do it for me. ;)
- I'm having fun, I'm learning a good amount, and I look forward to it "clicking" in to the point where I can make good landings on purpose more than on accident. ;)
- Steve finally got his first flight in the T-6 today. I think he enjoyed himself too.
- Kaylee is working on cleaning her room, I cleaned up the kitchen, and I think the rest of the evening will go back to the calm, quiet day, as it started...
Friday, September 12, 2008
Closing Time
As I write this, Ike is aiming at Texas, and the newscasters are claiming that fuel prices could double or triple. Good thing I filled up yesterday when gas was $3.85 a gallon, apparently, because I'm trying to imagine $8.00-$12.00/gallon and it's not pretty. I told Steve I may have to pull out the motorcycle until things calm back down if that happens. Except when Kaylee is with me. My car just doesn't get great in-town gas mileage. Oh look, and there is Geraldo getting blown by wind and rain. How novel. *sigh* This hurricane certainly does look big and ugly, and I hope the people who live in its path are safely elsewhere.
When I picked Kaylee up from school today, I left a dvd on her car seat. When she got in and opened the dvd and saw that it was the new Barbie movie, she squealed so loud people outside the car heard her. I told her "Happy Friday!", and indeed it was. Her class had Wendy's hot food for lunch, she got to pick a prize out of the treasure box because she'd been good all week, her papers sent home for the week all look great, and she's just quite pleased. I rented the "Diamond Castle" or whatever it's called from Redbox, and at $1 per day, it's worth it to keep it for the weekend. :)
Steve's gotten a ton done towards the Bash, and I've gotten some done too. He's the heavy hitter on this event, always has been, and I think people would be amazed if they had any idea of what all went into this one weekend...
Well, I know there were things going on, but I've been sitting here staring at this for an hour, and I'm pooped, so I'll figure it out another day. ;)
When I picked Kaylee up from school today, I left a dvd on her car seat. When she got in and opened the dvd and saw that it was the new Barbie movie, she squealed so loud people outside the car heard her. I told her "Happy Friday!", and indeed it was. Her class had Wendy's hot food for lunch, she got to pick a prize out of the treasure box because she'd been good all week, her papers sent home for the week all look great, and she's just quite pleased. I rented the "Diamond Castle" or whatever it's called from Redbox, and at $1 per day, it's worth it to keep it for the weekend. :)
Steve's gotten a ton done towards the Bash, and I've gotten some done too. He's the heavy hitter on this event, always has been, and I think people would be amazed if they had any idea of what all went into this one weekend...
Well, I know there were things going on, but I've been sitting here staring at this for an hour, and I'm pooped, so I'll figure it out another day. ;)
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Stuff
Yesterday in Chattanooga, I went to a counter at the airport to sign in, and I was looking down at a piece of paper on the desk when the person behind the counter said "So, did you find everything you need, little girl?" I looked up quickly to see if it was a joke, but it wasn't, so I just smiled and said "Yes, thank you." in the polite way in which I was raised. And then I went around the corner and started laughing. I have now been called a "Good Girl" and a "Little Girl", and I'm not sure I'm either 'good' or 'little', but hey!
Something was bothering me all day yesterday. I could not remember the name of the little boy who kissed me when I was about six years old. See, I started trying to remember things from when I was Kaylee's age, and I do. I remember living in Ankeny, Iowa, the apartment there, moving out of there. The horrible wasp attack on the swing set where Mom came and dragged me out of a swarming mass of angry wasps. I remember my babysitter, and the little girl who taught me how to ride my bike without training wheels, and my big bike wreck, and chiropractic visits. I even remember going to college with my mom and going to some of her classes with her. I specifically remember sign language class, and how the teacher even prayed in sign language and I thought it was bad to pray with your eyes open. :) I bet colleges today don't let people bring their 5-7 year old kids along to class, but then again, I was quite good and well-behaved, too. ;) And then I was remembering the church. I know that it has a lot of metal grates on the floor, because I tripped on one and cut my knee to the bone. I also was baptized there, and I remember standing in front of the church and not even being that nervous about it. The basement had black and white (or dark and light anyway) checkerboard squares, and I used to stick my arms out to my sides and spin and spin around in circles until it was a blur and I'd fall down laughing. And Clinton Carter gave me a kiss on the lips and I thought it was gross. I'd been trying to think of his name all day, and finally, the next day, while driving in my car and not thinking about anything close to that, his name just popped into my head. The old hard drive might be getting full, and it may take awhile to access my information, but at least some of it is still there. ;)
I did not have a very productive morning, though I tried. I no longer feel like writing it out, but everything I tried to do ended up not working for one reason or another, until just before lunch when I finally got some stuff done. We met up with Duane and a guy he's flying with in a T-6 for lunch along with the rest of the usual suspects, and then went out to Kokomo airport where Nathan and I flew his T-6. It's actually the first time I've flown one in a couple of months. I was in the back, and I actually had a worse than normal average with only one out of three decent landings. One 3-point attempt turned bouncer, one decent wheel landing, one wheel landing turned bouncer. Best of all I had lots of people watching. ;) It felt good to get back in the plane though.
From there I picked Kaylee up at school, brought her home and got her ready for and took her to gymnastics, then met up at Glenndale with Chuck, Ty and Steve C. We drove to Indianapolis and ate dinner before going over to an AOPA Safety Seminar being held on (ironically enough) "Mastering Takeoffs and Landings". The safety seminar counts towards lowering insurance costs, and acts as a "get out of jail free" card too of sorts. If you happen to be involved in an incident or accident within 6 months of attending one of these, you get a 'pass' on insurance rates going up. We ran into at least four other Glenndale guys there too, which was neat. I did find one good advantage to being one of the few females there though. At break time, there were hundreds of men aiming for one men's restroom, and about four of us ladies ducking into the women's restroom. Now THAT'S a switch!! Ha.
The seminar lasted a bit over two hours, and after the day and the drive, I'm ready for bed!
Oh, one Kaylee story. She asked me if I remembered how last year they weren't allowed to have a club, then told me that this year there's a club in her class, that everyone in the class is in the club, and that her classmates told her she should be in charge of the club. As a good little leader, she picks someone else in the club each day to be in 'charge' of the club and make decisions, and she insists that everyone will get a turn to be in charge. Oh, boy. I asked her if everyone was included and felt included and she insists they are and that it's just something fun. I certainly hope so, but it sounds like it so far...
Something was bothering me all day yesterday. I could not remember the name of the little boy who kissed me when I was about six years old. See, I started trying to remember things from when I was Kaylee's age, and I do. I remember living in Ankeny, Iowa, the apartment there, moving out of there. The horrible wasp attack on the swing set where Mom came and dragged me out of a swarming mass of angry wasps. I remember my babysitter, and the little girl who taught me how to ride my bike without training wheels, and my big bike wreck, and chiropractic visits. I even remember going to college with my mom and going to some of her classes with her. I specifically remember sign language class, and how the teacher even prayed in sign language and I thought it was bad to pray with your eyes open. :) I bet colleges today don't let people bring their 5-7 year old kids along to class, but then again, I was quite good and well-behaved, too. ;) And then I was remembering the church. I know that it has a lot of metal grates on the floor, because I tripped on one and cut my knee to the bone. I also was baptized there, and I remember standing in front of the church and not even being that nervous about it. The basement had black and white (or dark and light anyway) checkerboard squares, and I used to stick my arms out to my sides and spin and spin around in circles until it was a blur and I'd fall down laughing. And Clinton Carter gave me a kiss on the lips and I thought it was gross. I'd been trying to think of his name all day, and finally, the next day, while driving in my car and not thinking about anything close to that, his name just popped into my head. The old hard drive might be getting full, and it may take awhile to access my information, but at least some of it is still there. ;)
I did not have a very productive morning, though I tried. I no longer feel like writing it out, but everything I tried to do ended up not working for one reason or another, until just before lunch when I finally got some stuff done. We met up with Duane and a guy he's flying with in a T-6 for lunch along with the rest of the usual suspects, and then went out to Kokomo airport where Nathan and I flew his T-6. It's actually the first time I've flown one in a couple of months. I was in the back, and I actually had a worse than normal average with only one out of three decent landings. One 3-point attempt turned bouncer, one decent wheel landing, one wheel landing turned bouncer. Best of all I had lots of people watching. ;) It felt good to get back in the plane though.
From there I picked Kaylee up at school, brought her home and got her ready for and took her to gymnastics, then met up at Glenndale with Chuck, Ty and Steve C. We drove to Indianapolis and ate dinner before going over to an AOPA Safety Seminar being held on (ironically enough) "Mastering Takeoffs and Landings". The safety seminar counts towards lowering insurance costs, and acts as a "get out of jail free" card too of sorts. If you happen to be involved in an incident or accident within 6 months of attending one of these, you get a 'pass' on insurance rates going up. We ran into at least four other Glenndale guys there too, which was neat. I did find one good advantage to being one of the few females there though. At break time, there were hundreds of men aiming for one men's restroom, and about four of us ladies ducking into the women's restroom. Now THAT'S a switch!! Ha.
The seminar lasted a bit over two hours, and after the day and the drive, I'm ready for bed!
Oh, one Kaylee story. She asked me if I remembered how last year they weren't allowed to have a club, then told me that this year there's a club in her class, that everyone in the class is in the club, and that her classmates told her she should be in charge of the club. As a good little leader, she picks someone else in the club each day to be in 'charge' of the club and make decisions, and she insists that everyone will get a turn to be in charge. Oh, boy. I asked her if everyone was included and felt included and she insists they are and that it's just something fun. I certainly hope so, but it sounds like it so far...
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
ChattaNOOga
My day began with the sound of the alarm going off in the darkness at 4:40 a.m. No kidding. I had gotten everything ready the night before except the flight stuff, so a shower, a weather check and a flight plan later, I was out the door and on my way to Kokomo.
I had gotten the plane ready the night before too (knowing what a...wonderful...morning person I am), so as soon as the others were ready we headed up and moved out on our way to Chattanooga, Tennessee. I watched the sun rise at 9,000' this morning over clear skies, and had an uneventful and quiet flight in. We had to shoot an ILS (instrument approach) into Chattanooga because of clouds that moved in during the last part of our flight, and it's always nice to break out of the gray and find your runway right in front of you where it's supposed to be. :)
The gentlemen had a rental car waiting for them, and I took the "courtesy car" into town to get some breakfast. The key chain had a foot-long barbell looking thing hanging off of it to prevent pilots from losing or stealing the key, and it hung down so long it bumped my leg the whole time I was driving. I can say, however, that I did not in fact lose the keys, so, hey. :) As I was sitting at the little no-name restaurant (I like to go to unusual places to eat when I travel, places I'd only see there) eating my hearty breakfast, reading the latest "Bourne Identity" book, sipping my coffee with extra cream, an anonymous person quite far from home, I was reminded fondly of the Pizza Hut days. Even back then I knew they were the "good old days" that some day I would miss, and I do miss many parts of those days. Flying for a living certainly has its down sides. Long hours sometimes, not exactly multi-millionaire pay, sweaty in the summer, freezing in the winter, uncertain schedule, sudden massive maintenance expenses, inability to know even as of the day OF sometimes if a trip can be made or not because of weather, and 4:40 a.m. wake-up calls sometimes. ;) This is why, in order to do it for a living, those have to be outweighed by things like flexible schedules, enough pay, satisfaction of watching students fulfill what is sometimes a lifelong dream, 7 hour drives reduced to 1.5 hour flights, cool Fall days and calm summer evenings, and seeing the sun rise at 9,000'. :)
Lost an alternator belt on the way home, but there are two alternators on the airplane and we didn't have any trouble with anything, and the flight ended uneventfully at home this afternoon. While I was waiting for the fuel truck, I watched the T-6 I had gotten to fly in do takeoffs and landings, and Nathan was out in his T-6 too...
Tonight was Kaylee's first evening back to Awanas. Honestly, I had temporarily thought about not having her go back to Awanas this year. Last year it was a struggle; it became one more thing she had to do, she was always wiped out, getting her to memorize her sections on top of all of her homework was increasingly a battle (which should not be the point of doing this), and I just hesitated. But I decided that if she was going to drop something, it would need to be one of her other extra-curricular activities and that Awanas needed to stay, so tonight we got on the vest and went. As soon as we walked in, one of the leaders said "Oh, hi Kaylee!" Another walked by and said "Welcome back!" We got to the gym, and as I was filling out the registration, two little girls barrelled into Kaylee and gave her a huge hug, and she squeezed them back in a little group hug. The leader told Kaylee that this year they get a plaque for finishing their book and that it was her last year in Sparks and was very excited to talk to her. Away Kaylee went, skipping and happy with her friends, and I left with a smile. See, she doesn't have homework this year so far. She doesn't have to stay up until 10 pm finishing book in a bag and spelling words and math pages because she had to study after school for her Awanas that night.
Ahhh, this is such a good year. Kaylee comes home from school happy. Do you know how many days after school last year I would be driving Kaylee home and she would just sob most of the way home? Or how many times I had to just lay on the couch and hold her while she cried almost hysterically after school and she couldn't even tell me why? Kaylee wakes up cheerfully. Last year every morning I had to literally drag her out of bed, carry her to the kitchen, force her to get dressed and out the door on time, and there was no "right" side of the bed for her to wake up on. This year is calm, peaceful, and happy. Hallelujah! She's even focusing better in her dance and gymnastics classes again.
Speaking of Kaylee, she told us tonight that her class was going to have pen pals this year, and that they were going to be writing kids "from another country". She then mentioned Alaska and Africa, which led to a little geography lesson for a couple of reasons. ;) Apparently this is a project for her Spanish class, and her class will be writing in English to kids who speak Spanish, and will be getting letters from those kids in Spanish that her class will have to translate. I think that's a pretty neat idea. I like that, and Kaylee's excited about it too...
Well, thus ends our day. Tomorrow I don't have a flight in the morning for the first time in awhile; hopefully I can be productive in other ways. If I can wake up. ;)
I had gotten the plane ready the night before too (knowing what a...wonderful...morning person I am), so as soon as the others were ready we headed up and moved out on our way to Chattanooga, Tennessee. I watched the sun rise at 9,000' this morning over clear skies, and had an uneventful and quiet flight in. We had to shoot an ILS (instrument approach) into Chattanooga because of clouds that moved in during the last part of our flight, and it's always nice to break out of the gray and find your runway right in front of you where it's supposed to be. :)
The gentlemen had a rental car waiting for them, and I took the "courtesy car" into town to get some breakfast. The key chain had a foot-long barbell looking thing hanging off of it to prevent pilots from losing or stealing the key, and it hung down so long it bumped my leg the whole time I was driving. I can say, however, that I did not in fact lose the keys, so, hey. :) As I was sitting at the little no-name restaurant (I like to go to unusual places to eat when I travel, places I'd only see there) eating my hearty breakfast, reading the latest "Bourne Identity" book, sipping my coffee with extra cream, an anonymous person quite far from home, I was reminded fondly of the Pizza Hut days. Even back then I knew they were the "good old days" that some day I would miss, and I do miss many parts of those days. Flying for a living certainly has its down sides. Long hours sometimes, not exactly multi-millionaire pay, sweaty in the summer, freezing in the winter, uncertain schedule, sudden massive maintenance expenses, inability to know even as of the day OF sometimes if a trip can be made or not because of weather, and 4:40 a.m. wake-up calls sometimes. ;) This is why, in order to do it for a living, those have to be outweighed by things like flexible schedules, enough pay, satisfaction of watching students fulfill what is sometimes a lifelong dream, 7 hour drives reduced to 1.5 hour flights, cool Fall days and calm summer evenings, and seeing the sun rise at 9,000'. :)
Lost an alternator belt on the way home, but there are two alternators on the airplane and we didn't have any trouble with anything, and the flight ended uneventfully at home this afternoon. While I was waiting for the fuel truck, I watched the T-6 I had gotten to fly in do takeoffs and landings, and Nathan was out in his T-6 too...
Tonight was Kaylee's first evening back to Awanas. Honestly, I had temporarily thought about not having her go back to Awanas this year. Last year it was a struggle; it became one more thing she had to do, she was always wiped out, getting her to memorize her sections on top of all of her homework was increasingly a battle (which should not be the point of doing this), and I just hesitated. But I decided that if she was going to drop something, it would need to be one of her other extra-curricular activities and that Awanas needed to stay, so tonight we got on the vest and went. As soon as we walked in, one of the leaders said "Oh, hi Kaylee!" Another walked by and said "Welcome back!" We got to the gym, and as I was filling out the registration, two little girls barrelled into Kaylee and gave her a huge hug, and she squeezed them back in a little group hug. The leader told Kaylee that this year they get a plaque for finishing their book and that it was her last year in Sparks and was very excited to talk to her. Away Kaylee went, skipping and happy with her friends, and I left with a smile. See, she doesn't have homework this year so far. She doesn't have to stay up until 10 pm finishing book in a bag and spelling words and math pages because she had to study after school for her Awanas that night.
Ahhh, this is such a good year. Kaylee comes home from school happy. Do you know how many days after school last year I would be driving Kaylee home and she would just sob most of the way home? Or how many times I had to just lay on the couch and hold her while she cried almost hysterically after school and she couldn't even tell me why? Kaylee wakes up cheerfully. Last year every morning I had to literally drag her out of bed, carry her to the kitchen, force her to get dressed and out the door on time, and there was no "right" side of the bed for her to wake up on. This year is calm, peaceful, and happy. Hallelujah! She's even focusing better in her dance and gymnastics classes again.
Speaking of Kaylee, she told us tonight that her class was going to have pen pals this year, and that they were going to be writing kids "from another country". She then mentioned Alaska and Africa, which led to a little geography lesson for a couple of reasons. ;) Apparently this is a project for her Spanish class, and her class will be writing in English to kids who speak Spanish, and will be getting letters from those kids in Spanish that her class will have to translate. I think that's a pretty neat idea. I like that, and Kaylee's excited about it too...
Well, thus ends our day. Tomorrow I don't have a flight in the morning for the first time in awhile; hopefully I can be productive in other ways. If I can wake up. ;)
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Opposite Day
I don't think anything happened as it was supposed to happen today. :)
I was supposed to fly this morning, and got all the way down there only to be thwarted by low-hanging clouds, only around there, again. I wasn't supposed to fly tomorrow, and now I'll be getting up at 5 a.m. to be gone all day on a flight. It continued all day, yadda yadda. I was supposed to be working on BBQ Bash stuff this afternoon, but instead I had a whole 90 minutes today to do that stuff and get all the billing folded, stuffed, licked, and in the mail, because I then had to go out to Kokomo and enlist Chuck's help in moving the T-6 and the Mustang out of the way so I could fuel up the Baron and move it to another hangar for my Bright and Early Flight tomorrow morning.
I finished that just in time to get Kaylee to ballet/tap, and after that I had a conference call with the SMA Coalition group. Finished that and had to run out to Staples to fax off a request for food donations for the BBQ Bash...
It's a good thing I'm not superstitious. At the airport today, Kaylee started crying when I told her I had a trip tomorrow, and when I asked her what was wrong, she told me that she didn't want anything bad to happen. I asked her what kind of bad, and she said "I don't want you to die!" Well, I don't want to die just yet either, so we are on the same page there. Then as I was leaving, Nathan said "Don't hit a mountain tomorrow." Hey, thanks! I'll try! ;)
Kaylee played Wii for quite awhile this afternoon, Steve's running around like crazy on the Bash still, and that's pretty much the family day...
I was supposed to fly this morning, and got all the way down there only to be thwarted by low-hanging clouds, only around there, again. I wasn't supposed to fly tomorrow, and now I'll be getting up at 5 a.m. to be gone all day on a flight. It continued all day, yadda yadda. I was supposed to be working on BBQ Bash stuff this afternoon, but instead I had a whole 90 minutes today to do that stuff and get all the billing folded, stuffed, licked, and in the mail, because I then had to go out to Kokomo and enlist Chuck's help in moving the T-6 and the Mustang out of the way so I could fuel up the Baron and move it to another hangar for my Bright and Early Flight tomorrow morning.
I finished that just in time to get Kaylee to ballet/tap, and after that I had a conference call with the SMA Coalition group. Finished that and had to run out to Staples to fax off a request for food donations for the BBQ Bash...
It's a good thing I'm not superstitious. At the airport today, Kaylee started crying when I told her I had a trip tomorrow, and when I asked her what was wrong, she told me that she didn't want anything bad to happen. I asked her what kind of bad, and she said "I don't want you to die!" Well, I don't want to die just yet either, so we are on the same page there. Then as I was leaving, Nathan said "Don't hit a mountain tomorrow." Hey, thanks! I'll try! ;)
Kaylee played Wii for quite awhile this afternoon, Steve's running around like crazy on the Bash still, and that's pretty much the family day...
Monday, September 08, 2008
More Monday Minutia
Well, this was a busy one! I got Kaylee to school this morning then went down to Sheridan for a flight that lasted until about 11:30. We did ground reference maneuvers, slips, and a repeat of stalls, if that sounds fun... :) At 10:30 Nathan texted me to go fly the T-6, which fortunately I didn't see until I was done and it was too late. After all, it would have been rude to leave someone watching the dust of your tires receding down the road back to Kokomo. ;)
After that it was lunch and errands that ended just in time to pick up Kaylee from school, after which it was time to eat, do some family stuff and a bit of much-needed work prior to me heading off to a school board meeting which lasted until past 9 p.m. After that I worked on a poster for our BBQ Bash until just around 11 p.m., and tomorrow starts another day.
Kaylee made me laugh the other day-we were playing the Wii, and it paused and did this dramatic music noise thing. Kaylee sighed and said "Oh brother, I can't stand dramatic effect." I started laughing and asked her where she heard that phrase, and she didn't know, but she certainly knew how to use it appropriately. She told me about how most people like shows that have a lot of dramatic effect but they just drive her crazy. She sounded about 17 instead of 7 again... :)
Lots of things going on for those of you who pray. Three friends have now sent their sons to Iraq, two just this week. A 31 year old single mother of three children with no health insurance with a connection to Kaylee's school was just diagnosed with five malignant breast cancer tumors. A good friend is struggling with her and her husband's grief at the rapid decline of her mother-in-law with terminal cancer. We lost another one of ours to SMA. His name is Ethan, and he was 8 years old. You have no idea how frightening it is to parents of SMA kids when these older kids who have beaten the odds for so long suddenly pass away with no warning, no way to combat heart issues, no way to know for sure what is taking them so no way to know how to prevent it. It is absolutely heartbreaking and terrifying for those still here. The below poem was written by one such mom. Her name is Tina MacIntyre:
A father should never lose his son.
A mother should not be the one
to say goodbye to her child.
No thoughts or words ever spoken mild
could ever mend the pain inside
of knowing that you loved and tried
to beat this disease that you were told
would shorten the life of the one you did hold so lovingly, so tightly to your soul.
Each day it is there, a deep dark hole.
The knowledge that one day your child would drift from this Earth to Heaven above.
But know it is not for lack of love
or striving with every ounce of your being
To show all that their time here was worth living.
After that it was lunch and errands that ended just in time to pick up Kaylee from school, after which it was time to eat, do some family stuff and a bit of much-needed work prior to me heading off to a school board meeting which lasted until past 9 p.m. After that I worked on a poster for our BBQ Bash until just around 11 p.m., and tomorrow starts another day.
Kaylee made me laugh the other day-we were playing the Wii, and it paused and did this dramatic music noise thing. Kaylee sighed and said "Oh brother, I can't stand dramatic effect." I started laughing and asked her where she heard that phrase, and she didn't know, but she certainly knew how to use it appropriately. She told me about how most people like shows that have a lot of dramatic effect but they just drive her crazy. She sounded about 17 instead of 7 again... :)
Lots of things going on for those of you who pray. Three friends have now sent their sons to Iraq, two just this week. A 31 year old single mother of three children with no health insurance with a connection to Kaylee's school was just diagnosed with five malignant breast cancer tumors. A good friend is struggling with her and her husband's grief at the rapid decline of her mother-in-law with terminal cancer. We lost another one of ours to SMA. His name is Ethan, and he was 8 years old. You have no idea how frightening it is to parents of SMA kids when these older kids who have beaten the odds for so long suddenly pass away with no warning, no way to combat heart issues, no way to know for sure what is taking them so no way to know how to prevent it. It is absolutely heartbreaking and terrifying for those still here. The below poem was written by one such mom. Her name is Tina MacIntyre:
A father should never lose his son.
A mother should not be the one
to say goodbye to her child.
No thoughts or words ever spoken mild
could ever mend the pain inside
of knowing that you loved and tried
to beat this disease that you were told
would shorten the life of the one you did hold so lovingly, so tightly to your soul.
Each day it is there, a deep dark hole.
The knowledge that one day your child would drift from this Earth to Heaven above.
But know it is not for lack of love
or striving with every ounce of your being
To show all that their time here was worth living.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Ahhhhh
What a beautiful day!
Steve and Kaylee slept on the deck last night, and I had the rest of the house to myself. I had the opportunity to actually sleep in this morning too, and I was still the first one up. There is something wrong with that! I woke up at 7, got up around 8, and for some strange reason was motivated to get some stuff done. I made a good dent in even putting away laundry, dishes, all sorts of stuff.
I even got my pictures up. Here are the photos from Indian Hills, and here are the photos from the Pork Festival Parade. It was a fun day, and I think this photo expresses that well. :)
One other thought from yesterday-a parade will really bring out the 'real' in kids now and then. Kaylee was initially polite and waiting for fairness to kick in and others to be polite enough to let her get candy too. When that didn't happen, she was diving in grabbing candy with both fists. Once we moved positions and were now going candy-hunting with friends, I had to pull her back aside and remind her that it was time to go back to playing by polite rules, and not to take all the candy she could reach at the expense of her friends. It's pretty interesting to watch the dynamics of kids as they all race for the candy, try to maintain societal politeness in some cases, and yet still get all the candy they can for themselves. I was glad to see our three sharing with each other, swapping candy for favorites, if a bunch fell by one, they'd divide it up amongst the others. Not because their parents told them to, but because they thought it was only fair. Now if adults could only figure that out too. ;)
I went out to Glenndale to do a Discovery Flight, and we had a good flight. We went on top of the clouds, did some maneuvers, all that fun stuff. It was a busy one at the airport, too. Indian Hills was still going on, I believe, but Glenndale had its share. I was only there for 90 minutes, I flew for 45 of those minutes, and the rest of the time I was fueling up an airplane, taking the money for a transient airplane who stopped in to refuel, signing a student endorsement for someone, etc. It is a beautiful day to hit the skies, for sure.
I ran a few errands on my way home, and then will be spending the rest of the afternoon/evening with the family... :)
Steve and Kaylee slept on the deck last night, and I had the rest of the house to myself. I had the opportunity to actually sleep in this morning too, and I was still the first one up. There is something wrong with that! I woke up at 7, got up around 8, and for some strange reason was motivated to get some stuff done. I made a good dent in even putting away laundry, dishes, all sorts of stuff.
I even got my pictures up. Here are the photos from Indian Hills, and here are the photos from the Pork Festival Parade. It was a fun day, and I think this photo expresses that well. :)One other thought from yesterday-a parade will really bring out the 'real' in kids now and then. Kaylee was initially polite and waiting for fairness to kick in and others to be polite enough to let her get candy too. When that didn't happen, she was diving in grabbing candy with both fists. Once we moved positions and were now going candy-hunting with friends, I had to pull her back aside and remind her that it was time to go back to playing by polite rules, and not to take all the candy she could reach at the expense of her friends. It's pretty interesting to watch the dynamics of kids as they all race for the candy, try to maintain societal politeness in some cases, and yet still get all the candy they can for themselves. I was glad to see our three sharing with each other, swapping candy for favorites, if a bunch fell by one, they'd divide it up amongst the others. Not because their parents told them to, but because they thought it was only fair. Now if adults could only figure that out too. ;)
I went out to Glenndale to do a Discovery Flight, and we had a good flight. We went on top of the clouds, did some maneuvers, all that fun stuff. It was a busy one at the airport, too. Indian Hills was still going on, I believe, but Glenndale had its share. I was only there for 90 minutes, I flew for 45 of those minutes, and the rest of the time I was fueling up an airplane, taking the money for a transient airplane who stopped in to refuel, signing a student endorsement for someone, etc. It is a beautiful day to hit the skies, for sure.
I ran a few errands on my way home, and then will be spending the rest of the afternoon/evening with the family... :)
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Planes, Parades and Pork
I remembered what I was going to say last night. Kaylee enjoys watching some of the Disney channel TV shows starring some of the older kids. Usually I've watched several episodes with her to make sure I'm okay with it, and then once I'm familiar with the show I'll let her watch it and I mostly tune it out in the other room. Well, last night we were watching the "Suite Life of Zach and Cody". It's a modern-day version of Eloise or whatever the little girl who lived in the hotel's show was "way back". You know, she got into trouble, she was a little rowdy, she ran the place, had adventures, etc. Every once in awhile I've had a chat with Kaylee that I didn't approve of how the boys would talk to adults, but in general I'd been fine with the show. During last night's show they sneaked out of their rooms in their bathrobes and went to an adult party, and when their mother caught them they were dancing with scantily dressed adult women, pulling them around by the hand, girls giggling, telling them to "call me", and basically acting like little Hugh Hefners, robes and all. I looked at Kaylee and while I was trying to figure out how to put this, she said "I know, Mommy, I don't like it either." I said "First of all, that's no place for kids that age. Secondly, they disobeyed, didn't they. Third, girls are not toys or trophies that follow along behind boys like little puppies." She informed me that she was aware and knew, and agreed that when she was a grown-up and was dating boys, she would have more respect for herself than that. This went into a much longer conversation involving everything from Godliness to marriage to whatever, but I won't bore you. ;) But I was really...grossed out...by seeing ten year old boys (or however old they are) acting like little playboys. I didn't find it very amusing.
Yesterday I was doing a bunch of laundry, and once when the dryer finished, I skipped into the other room to get it out. Kaylee comes around the corner with a frown on her face and says "Mommy, did you just...skip?" I said "Yeah, why?" She is still frowning. "Why??" I just smiled and said "Because I felt like it, I guess. Wanna skip with me?" Suspiciously she says "Okay", turns around starts skipping around the house, and I followed behind her, skipping. She turns her head, sees me skipping, and just BURSTS out laughing. She's laughing so hard she trips. Apparently I am a goofy skipper. ;) But I sure do love hearing her laugh. :)
This morning we had an instructor meeting at Glenndale and just went over a bunch of stuff. We
finished up around 11:30 or so, and went over to Indian Hills where there was a fly-in, drive-in event. It was a gorgeous day for it, thankfully, because last year it got rained out. :) (Man, look how much littler Kaylee was last year again!) There were more planes in there this year than I think there have been in the last five years that he's done the event. It was a great day! We had burgers and brats and fresh tomatoes and all the beverages you could ask for. There was an older dog there named Sadie, that has been there in previous years, and Kaylee attached to Sadie right away. Sadie is a sweet dog, and very patient, and Kaylee spent a lot of time with her. :)
Around 2 I left and took Kaylee to Tipton where they were having their Pork Festival Parade. Yes, I know, I am a transplant so I still kind of smirk when I hear about the "Pork Festival" too, but it's actually a pretty good-sized deal down there. I parked in Nathan's driveway and we walked a block to the main street, found a shady spot and settled in. As the parade started, this group of boys came up to the curb, and they were just, well, rude. One was a teenager, a big guy with a big mouth and a big attitude who kept threatening a couple of the younger ones. The younger ones were yelling and screaming at the parade people, insulting them if they didn't have candy to throw. Once the candy started coming, Kaylee wasn't getting any because the boys would grab it. She started to pout and come sit by me, and I told her that she was just going to have to be aggressive and get out there and get candy too if she wanted it. She promptly did just that, and was holding her own just fine. Then we found where Nathan and Holly and the kids were, so we went over by them, and I was glad to ditch the boys. But what was funny was that at one point, Kaylee kept glaring at the older kid because he was just acting very badly; then she comes over to me, hands on her hips, and says "Mommy, these boys are acting like two-year-olds. They are SO immature." Oh, I laughed.
Nathan/Holly had gotten Kaylee a fairy hair crown/ring, and they chased candy for awhile, waved at the princesses, stared at the elk and the horses, and just enjoyed themselves. It was a gorgeous day for it, and they had fun.
When I left there, I brought her home to rest for an hour or two, and then we went back out to Indian Hills and were there until pretty late here. Planes flew in and out, we had BBQ (delicious!) and a big fire and just sat around and relaxed. Kaylee found a little friend to play with for the evening, and snuggled up on Sadie some more too. It was a good, fun day.
Of course I've got photos, but I won't have time to get them up tonight, so check back in tomorrow if you wish. :)
Yesterday I was doing a bunch of laundry, and once when the dryer finished, I skipped into the other room to get it out. Kaylee comes around the corner with a frown on her face and says "Mommy, did you just...skip?" I said "Yeah, why?" She is still frowning. "Why??" I just smiled and said "Because I felt like it, I guess. Wanna skip with me?" Suspiciously she says "Okay", turns around starts skipping around the house, and I followed behind her, skipping. She turns her head, sees me skipping, and just BURSTS out laughing. She's laughing so hard she trips. Apparently I am a goofy skipper. ;) But I sure do love hearing her laugh. :)
This morning we had an instructor meeting at Glenndale and just went over a bunch of stuff. We
finished up around 11:30 or so, and went over to Indian Hills where there was a fly-in, drive-in event. It was a gorgeous day for it, thankfully, because last year it got rained out. :) (Man, look how much littler Kaylee was last year again!) There were more planes in there this year than I think there have been in the last five years that he's done the event. It was a great day! We had burgers and brats and fresh tomatoes and all the beverages you could ask for. There was an older dog there named Sadie, that has been there in previous years, and Kaylee attached to Sadie right away. Sadie is a sweet dog, and very patient, and Kaylee spent a lot of time with her. :)Around 2 I left and took Kaylee to Tipton where they were having their Pork Festival Parade. Yes, I know, I am a transplant so I still kind of smirk when I hear about the "Pork Festival" too, but it's actually a pretty good-sized deal down there. I parked in Nathan's driveway and we walked a block to the main street, found a shady spot and settled in. As the parade started, this group of boys came up to the curb, and they were just, well, rude. One was a teenager, a big guy with a big mouth and a big attitude who kept threatening a couple of the younger ones. The younger ones were yelling and screaming at the parade people, insulting them if they didn't have candy to throw. Once the candy started coming, Kaylee wasn't getting any because the boys would grab it. She started to pout and come sit by me, and I told her that she was just going to have to be aggressive and get out there and get candy too if she wanted it. She promptly did just that, and was holding her own just fine. Then we found where Nathan and Holly and the kids were, so we went over by them, and I was glad to ditch the boys. But what was funny was that at one point, Kaylee kept glaring at the older kid because he was just acting very badly; then she comes over to me, hands on her hips, and says "Mommy, these boys are acting like two-year-olds. They are SO immature." Oh, I laughed.
Nathan/Holly had gotten Kaylee a fairy hair crown/ring, and they chased candy for awhile, waved at the princesses, stared at the elk and the horses, and just enjoyed themselves. It was a gorgeous day for it, and they had fun.
When I left there, I brought her home to rest for an hour or two, and then we went back out to Indian Hills and were there until pretty late here. Planes flew in and out, we had BBQ (delicious!) and a big fire and just sat around and relaxed. Kaylee found a little friend to play with for the evening, and snuggled up on Sadie some more too. It was a good, fun day.
Of course I've got photos, but I won't have time to get them up tonight, so check back in tomorrow if you wish. :)
Friday, September 05, 2008
Another Week To A Close...
This morning I was supposed to fly, but sometime in between 
dropping Kaylee off at school with a lot of apple slices for Grandparents' Day and driving 40 minutes to the airport, the weather took a dive and we were unable to go up. So instead I did some ground time, then went back to Glenndale for our Friday lunch. It was ham & beans, so that means I had a lot of desserts today instead. ;)
Kaylee had a fun day today, she said. They had cheese pizza and milk for a hot lunch (one less lunch for me to pack-yeah!) , and at 1:30 her grandparents got to come in, do a craft, get a tour of the room, and all that fun stuff. I heard today that Kaylee's classmates ask her to sing, that they like hearing her sing, and apparently even said/say "encore, encore!" to her. Funny. :)
I put up some photos that Grandpa took today on her website, and if you want another look at how much she has changed in just one year, look at her photos from Grandparents' Day last year!
I had things I was going to discuss earlier, but I'm now too sleepy to remember what they were. I was awake until about 1:30 this morning, and woke back up at 5:45 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. So I'm a little droopy here...
dropping Kaylee off at school with a lot of apple slices for Grandparents' Day and driving 40 minutes to the airport, the weather took a dive and we were unable to go up. So instead I did some ground time, then went back to Glenndale for our Friday lunch. It was ham & beans, so that means I had a lot of desserts today instead. ;)Kaylee had a fun day today, she said. They had cheese pizza and milk for a hot lunch (one less lunch for me to pack-yeah!) , and at 1:30 her grandparents got to come in, do a craft, get a tour of the room, and all that fun stuff. I heard today that Kaylee's classmates ask her to sing, that they like hearing her sing, and apparently even said/say "encore, encore!" to her. Funny. :)
I put up some photos that Grandpa took today on her website, and if you want another look at how much she has changed in just one year, look at her photos from Grandparents' Day last year!
I had things I was going to discuss earlier, but I'm now too sleepy to remember what they were. I was awake until about 1:30 this morning, and woke back up at 5:45 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. So I'm a little droopy here...
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Thankful Thursday
I am thankful for many things! Today I was thankful for a little bit of rain that we needed, for cooler temperatures, for grocery stores full of snacks that I shouldn't be eating, for Kaylee's happy spirit, for cuddling, for friends, for our health.
I keep up on Alan Henley, the AeroShell T-6 formation flight team leader who was paralyzed at home playing with his kids. He wiggled his toes today, they think, and that is what has made this day wonderful for them. That he is alive, has a little movement in one arm, and wiggled his toes. They thank God repeatedly and daily for these blessings and more. There is a little perspective for anyone out there who thinks they are having a bad day or a difficult time.
We are ramping up for our BBQ Bash 2008 already-Steve is hopping. The whole summer is just Gone. We never made it to the boat, we never made it to visit my mom & Ernie, Kaylee is back in school, Fall is here, and zoom, Summer is gone. Unbelievable!
I spent the day from the time I dropped Kaylee off at school until it was time to pick her up, minus a lunch break at a burger place, entering time sheets and doing end of the month airport billing. I'm still not done, but it's closer anyway.
Kaylee hopped into the car today, expressing how much she loves her school, likes making new friends, likes already knowing some of the teachers, likes her new teacher, and even likes bringing her own lunch. She's a much happier, peaceful, relaxed girl than she was this time last year, no question about it. Something else to be thankful for on a Thursday-or any day. :)
I keep up on Alan Henley, the AeroShell T-6 formation flight team leader who was paralyzed at home playing with his kids. He wiggled his toes today, they think, and that is what has made this day wonderful for them. That he is alive, has a little movement in one arm, and wiggled his toes. They thank God repeatedly and daily for these blessings and more. There is a little perspective for anyone out there who thinks they are having a bad day or a difficult time.
We are ramping up for our BBQ Bash 2008 already-Steve is hopping. The whole summer is just Gone. We never made it to the boat, we never made it to visit my mom & Ernie, Kaylee is back in school, Fall is here, and zoom, Summer is gone. Unbelievable!
I spent the day from the time I dropped Kaylee off at school until it was time to pick her up, minus a lunch break at a burger place, entering time sheets and doing end of the month airport billing. I'm still not done, but it's closer anyway.
Kaylee hopped into the car today, expressing how much she loves her school, likes making new friends, likes already knowing some of the teachers, likes her new teacher, and even likes bringing her own lunch. She's a much happier, peaceful, relaxed girl than she was this time last year, no question about it. Something else to be thankful for on a Thursday-or any day. :)
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