Yesterday had one more positive thing about it-Chuck saved my helmet. When I flew Saturday, I noticed I could hear the radio, but I couldn't hear myself, and I found out after I landed that nobody could hear me transmit, either. A short in the wire. This was a particularly bad deal, because I haven't needed that helmet for 4 months, but now that I DO, I might have to ship it off to California, the place that took almost a year to get it to me in the first place, and have them fix or replace the wire, at who knows what cost and take who knows how long. Instead, Chuck and I went out to the Citabria where I wore it (since my head/helmet is too tiny for anybody else to wear it to test it) and he experimented until he found the source of the problem. Came inside, happened to have a soldering iron in the trunk of his car, another guy (Sam) happened to be there to help out, and together they fixed my helmet in just a couple of minutes. No charge, no shipping off, no down time. Saved my bacon for sure!
I spent the morning at the office entering time sheets, fuel sheets, pilot supplies being charged to accounts, payments made, etc. I finished up what we had there just in time for lunch, then ran a few errands and out to Kokomo (Airport) for another errand, then watched the boys work on the 172RG for a few minutes before it was time to get Kaylee from school and bring her home to get ready for ballet. While she's there, I'll probably be back at the office doing the rest of the end of month stuff for the airport, and tonight I have some studying to do for the weekend.
That's about it for today, just business as usual...
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The heights of great men reached and kept,
Were not obtained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept
Were toiling upward in the night.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Busy Bird
I'd have to call this an all-around positive day, even if it was a Monday and I am tired. It's beautiful out for one thing-even though I flew three times today, looking out at the still warm air makes me want to go fly for relaxation, too. Instead, Kaylee is up front eating Mac & Cheese, Steve is at work, and I'm writing this after some clean-up action around the house.
I have to go get my logbook and work on it before I really get buried alive or just skip a bunch of hours. It wouldn't be the first time I just quit recording most of my hours for a time period, but there are a few areas in which I need to keep tallying up, so I might as well do it for all.
After I dropped Kaylee off for school, I drove over to Glenndale, and Chuck flew me to Sheridan in the Citabria. The runway at Glenndale has two big puddles in the middle of it and is fairly soggy, but at that time of the morning the ground was still fairly hard from the cold and we just avoided the puddles. I flew in a 172 with a student for about an hour, doing soft and short field/spot takeoffs and landings. I left them at Sheridan and flew the 172 back to Glenndale myself so Charlie could work on a nosewheel shimmy and a 100 hour inspection. So I'm taxiing down the runway to take off, and I realize I have a message on my phone. I pull off and it's Steve telling me to call him before I come back to Glenndale, so I called him, and it was cute. He was letting me know about the puddles on the runway and suggesting where to go and stuff. I'll admit that while I already had a plan in place, having seen the runway when I left it an hour and a half prior, it's still good to have someone care and make sure you're not about to do something ignorant, isn't it? I'm sure I'll get a chance to return the favor. ;)
As light as the winds were, I decided I would land to the north and just make it a very short soft field landing and get it stopped prior to the first puddle rather than trying to play dodge the puddle to the south/hope I don't get bogged down on the taxiway. I should have had the student with me, since we were doing simulated ones on the concrete runway at Sheridan and this was much more real world. On second thought, I shouldn't have had them with me, because when you really want to make it short with no energy left for a long roll-out, you tend to make sure of it by coming in at an airspeed you don't really want students copying. Anyway. Mission accomplished nicely, and the runway was definitely softer than when we left it earlier as the sun warmed it up more. The bad news is that we're expecting several more days of rain. Just what we need, both for flying and for our poor runway.
We had nine of us at lunch today, which was a pretty good amount even for us. Usually we run 4-6 people, so it was a popular Monday I guess. After lunch I went back to Glenndale and entered time sheets for the end of the month billing until it was time to pick up Kaylee from school. She and I went out to Kokomo to pick up Steve and bring him back to Glenndale, I had to run my errands with her along, and then finally we were home for the day, cleaning up the kitchen, fixing dinner, giving out medicine, all that good stuff.
Kaylee started taking standardized tests today, and she hates it. She doesn't like being timed, and she doesn't like 'tests'. Not that anybody does, but she seems to be one of those who really is influenced by it. She said that when she knew it was a timed test, she'd get nervous and sloppy and have to go erase mistakes all the time and that she can't think straight. I tried to help, but while I was always nervous before tests, during them I focused and did great. She's nervous before and during both, poor thing. I'm trying to find ways to help with that, because this is something she is going to be dealing with for her entire lifetime in one way or another, and there has to be a way to help besides Valium. :)
Well, I've got some work to do tonight and hopefully some relaxation too before tomorrow and its rain hits...
I have to go get my logbook and work on it before I really get buried alive or just skip a bunch of hours. It wouldn't be the first time I just quit recording most of my hours for a time period, but there are a few areas in which I need to keep tallying up, so I might as well do it for all.
After I dropped Kaylee off for school, I drove over to Glenndale, and Chuck flew me to Sheridan in the Citabria. The runway at Glenndale has two big puddles in the middle of it and is fairly soggy, but at that time of the morning the ground was still fairly hard from the cold and we just avoided the puddles. I flew in a 172 with a student for about an hour, doing soft and short field/spot takeoffs and landings. I left them at Sheridan and flew the 172 back to Glenndale myself so Charlie could work on a nosewheel shimmy and a 100 hour inspection. So I'm taxiing down the runway to take off, and I realize I have a message on my phone. I pull off and it's Steve telling me to call him before I come back to Glenndale, so I called him, and it was cute. He was letting me know about the puddles on the runway and suggesting where to go and stuff. I'll admit that while I already had a plan in place, having seen the runway when I left it an hour and a half prior, it's still good to have someone care and make sure you're not about to do something ignorant, isn't it? I'm sure I'll get a chance to return the favor. ;)
As light as the winds were, I decided I would land to the north and just make it a very short soft field landing and get it stopped prior to the first puddle rather than trying to play dodge the puddle to the south/hope I don't get bogged down on the taxiway. I should have had the student with me, since we were doing simulated ones on the concrete runway at Sheridan and this was much more real world. On second thought, I shouldn't have had them with me, because when you really want to make it short with no energy left for a long roll-out, you tend to make sure of it by coming in at an airspeed you don't really want students copying. Anyway. Mission accomplished nicely, and the runway was definitely softer than when we left it earlier as the sun warmed it up more. The bad news is that we're expecting several more days of rain. Just what we need, both for flying and for our poor runway.
We had nine of us at lunch today, which was a pretty good amount even for us. Usually we run 4-6 people, so it was a popular Monday I guess. After lunch I went back to Glenndale and entered time sheets for the end of the month billing until it was time to pick up Kaylee from school. She and I went out to Kokomo to pick up Steve and bring him back to Glenndale, I had to run my errands with her along, and then finally we were home for the day, cleaning up the kitchen, fixing dinner, giving out medicine, all that good stuff.
Kaylee started taking standardized tests today, and she hates it. She doesn't like being timed, and she doesn't like 'tests'. Not that anybody does, but she seems to be one of those who really is influenced by it. She said that when she knew it was a timed test, she'd get nervous and sloppy and have to go erase mistakes all the time and that she can't think straight. I tried to help, but while I was always nervous before tests, during them I focused and did great. She's nervous before and during both, poor thing. I'm trying to find ways to help with that, because this is something she is going to be dealing with for her entire lifetime in one way or another, and there has to be a way to help besides Valium. :)
Well, I've got some work to do tonight and hopefully some relaxation too before tomorrow and its rain hits...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Recovery
Steve didn't feel well most of the day, Kaylee laid around quietly most of the day, I did nothing of importance whatsoever, and it was just very quiet. It snowed here today, a cold dreary day that looked suspiciously like winter to me. I'm glad I got out yesterday.
Here's a story of a young man of 90 getting his pilot's license. Actually, it says he got it in 1941, but it "expired", and he just got everything back. He passed the medical and plans on flying until his health fades. Go Mr. Marler! I don't know why he took 60 years off from flying, but I think it's pretty awesome that he's started back up even at age 90. See, you're never too old to keep learning, growing, and doing what you enjoy. :o)
Here's a story of a young man of 90 getting his pilot's license. Actually, it says he got it in 1941, but it "expired", and he just got everything back. He passed the medical and plans on flying until his health fades. Go Mr. Marler! I don't know why he took 60 years off from flying, but I think it's pretty awesome that he's started back up even at age 90. See, you're never too old to keep learning, growing, and doing what you enjoy. :o)
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Nice
I woke up this morning when one cat climbed up on my hip, another climbed onto my legs, and an icy cold 8 year old who had already had breakfast and now needed warmed up climbed in and huddled up on my back, pinning my hair down. They always get on top of me when it's cool out because I radiate heat, and cats and little kids both seem to get into that. ;)
A look at the weather basically showed that it was doing what it was supposed to be, which was a VFR day with rain coming eventually and a bit of wind that was supposed to get worse as the day progressed. I thought if I got out there in time, I could practice in the T-6 before the high-ish winds and rain hit, so that's what I did. Of course it took longer than normal because I couldn't be pampered today since I was on my own. ;) The Cub was in the way in the front of the hangar, so I pulled it out and chocked it off to the side. There was a battery charger hooked up to the tug, so I took it off and drove the tug out of the way, hooked up the T-6 and s-l-o-w-l-y pulled it out of the hangar so as to not scrape the Cheyenne or the door, unhooked the tug and put it back into the hangar, added the two cases of oil to the baggage compartment for weight and balance, closed up the back, took out Nathan's helmet and got mine, did the preflight, pulled through the prop, and finally I was ready to go.
I took off, and just to get into the swing of things I flew over my house (at several thousand feet above, nothing 'funny' here!), where I knew Steve and Kaylee would hear me. I saw them come out, and Kaylee jumping up and down and some waving, so I did some wing "waving" back, went out to the country and did a few maneuvers, then decided to practice some TOLS (take offs and landings). The winds had picked up by then, gusting around 20 knots, were forecasted to go up to 25, but it was never more than 30 degrees off the runway, so it was a good stepping-stone practice day for me. Putting everything away is harder than taking it out, but fortunately that went really smoothly as well and I got the T-6 backed into its' parking spot safely on the first try, everything else moved back in place, got a late lunch and came on home feeling like I'd accomplished something at least.
I read this on an aviation board and it made me laugh out loud. See, C-152s are one of my least favorite airplanes. They are tiny, you can only fit 1.5 people in there unless they are tiny, it's underpowered and slow and not in a good way like the Citabria. ;) So this guy wrote the below, and it cracked me up. It just goes to show you, everything is a matter of perspective. "As to turbulence issues, here's the deal: the 152 is NOT for wimps who can't handle a bit of buffeting in return for great sensitivity on the controls, roll rate and overall responsiveness. If I want to ride in a slug I'll take a 767. 152s are for real men, and real women. One other thing: they better replicate WW1 combat experience than, say, Warriors or Bo's." Great sensitivity on the controls? C-152s are airplanes for "real men and women"? Replicating WW1 combat experience? Whoa. That still makes me grin. Hey, whatever makes a person happy is fine by me! :)
Kaylee talked on the phone to her grandma for I don't even know how long. I kept asking if Grandma might be done talking yet, but Kaylee would frown at me and run away. She was just in chatty mood apparently. Grandma told her directions on how to make one of those paper thingies where you fold it and ask it questions and pick a color and number and it "answers" you; I have no idea what to call it. So we made one of those tonight, and Kaylee is in heaven. Thanks for the directions Mom, I didn't even know what to call the thing to google directions on how to make it. It worked perfectly and Kaylee is Quite Pleased. :)
Steve and Kaylee played outside for awhile, started up the motorcycle and Corvette to warm them up a bit, played Frisbee, let the cats out to play for awhile, and will be doing the camp-out-under-her-tent-in-the-front-room gig tonight as well. We had homemade steaks, fried potatoes and corn for dinner, and it's been a nice Saturday for all, I'd say!
A look at the weather basically showed that it was doing what it was supposed to be, which was a VFR day with rain coming eventually and a bit of wind that was supposed to get worse as the day progressed. I thought if I got out there in time, I could practice in the T-6 before the high-ish winds and rain hit, so that's what I did. Of course it took longer than normal because I couldn't be pampered today since I was on my own. ;) The Cub was in the way in the front of the hangar, so I pulled it out and chocked it off to the side. There was a battery charger hooked up to the tug, so I took it off and drove the tug out of the way, hooked up the T-6 and s-l-o-w-l-y pulled it out of the hangar so as to not scrape the Cheyenne or the door, unhooked the tug and put it back into the hangar, added the two cases of oil to the baggage compartment for weight and balance, closed up the back, took out Nathan's helmet and got mine, did the preflight, pulled through the prop, and finally I was ready to go.
I took off, and just to get into the swing of things I flew over my house (at several thousand feet above, nothing 'funny' here!), where I knew Steve and Kaylee would hear me. I saw them come out, and Kaylee jumping up and down and some waving, so I did some wing "waving" back, went out to the country and did a few maneuvers, then decided to practice some TOLS (take offs and landings). The winds had picked up by then, gusting around 20 knots, were forecasted to go up to 25, but it was never more than 30 degrees off the runway, so it was a good stepping-stone practice day for me. Putting everything away is harder than taking it out, but fortunately that went really smoothly as well and I got the T-6 backed into its' parking spot safely on the first try, everything else moved back in place, got a late lunch and came on home feeling like I'd accomplished something at least.
I read this on an aviation board and it made me laugh out loud. See, C-152s are one of my least favorite airplanes. They are tiny, you can only fit 1.5 people in there unless they are tiny, it's underpowered and slow and not in a good way like the Citabria. ;) So this guy wrote the below, and it cracked me up. It just goes to show you, everything is a matter of perspective. "As to turbulence issues, here's the deal: the 152 is NOT for wimps who can't handle a bit of buffeting in return for great sensitivity on the controls, roll rate and overall responsiveness. If I want to ride in a slug I'll take a 767. 152s are for real men, and real women. One other thing: they better replicate WW1 combat experience than, say, Warriors or Bo's." Great sensitivity on the controls? C-152s are airplanes for "real men and women"? Replicating WW1 combat experience? Whoa. That still makes me grin. Hey, whatever makes a person happy is fine by me! :)
Kaylee talked on the phone to her grandma for I don't even know how long. I kept asking if Grandma might be done talking yet, but Kaylee would frown at me and run away. She was just in chatty mood apparently. Grandma told her directions on how to make one of those paper thingies where you fold it and ask it questions and pick a color and number and it "answers" you; I have no idea what to call it. So we made one of those tonight, and Kaylee is in heaven. Thanks for the directions Mom, I didn't even know what to call the thing to google directions on how to make it. It worked perfectly and Kaylee is Quite Pleased. :)
Steve and Kaylee played outside for awhile, started up the motorcycle and Corvette to warm them up a bit, played Frisbee, let the cats out to play for awhile, and will be doing the camp-out-under-her-tent-in-the-front-room gig tonight as well. We had homemade steaks, fried potatoes and corn for dinner, and it's been a nice Saturday for all, I'd say!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Rambling
After I took Kaylee to school this morning, I went to the post office and two banks, then ran out to Sam's Club then Target in order to pick up some things for Glenndale. I got back to the airport around 11, so Steve and I went up in the Citabria. He wanted to do some flying from the back seat, so we went up and made a few of those circuits, until it was time to come in so as to not miss lunch. You can't miss lunch around here!
Steve and I later left the airport to go to a Parent/Teacher Conference for Kaylee. The teacher had very nice things to say. She said that Kaylee just excels in imagination, creativity, writing, and story telling type things. I guess she often uses Kaylee's stories "full of descriptive words and phrases" as examples for the other kids. She says Kaylee is a very fun-loving, dramatic, artistic, affectionate girl and she could easily imagine her writing children's books some day, that she'd be good at it anyway. We came back and told Kaylee her teacher had said she needed spanked three times a day every day, and Kaylee just blew us off and said "Oh, she did not! She likes me!" :)
We came back to Glenndale, and this time I took Kaylee up in the Citabria with me. She started
off a little cautiously, but she did well. She wanted to do runway checks, takeoffs and landings, and nothing else. So that's what we did. Her feet reach the pedals sort of, but not enough to actually be able to push on them, so I still have to do the rudders for her, and she handles the ailerons and elevator. The first takeoff and landing I talked her through, I ended up helping a tad at the end, but the last one she did, she did the full takeoff without me touching anything but the rudders, and the last landing she did I only took it after she got it down. We'll work on it this summer some. :) I took a few pictures that I put up on her site. Here's one of the two of us. Look at Kaylee's face-she is concentrating because she is the one doing the flying back there. :)
There was a news thing in aviation that just made Steve and I both shake our heads. A private pilot with 320 hours and an instrument rating took off in his shiny Cirrus airplane. He didn't get his door shut, and when it popped open after he took off, he freaked out and found it "extremely distracting". He hadn't turned his autopilot on yet (only being under 800 feet in the air so far), started to have trouble flying his airplane straight, so he hit the "Level" button, which is no kidding a big red "Easy" button like from Staples, which takes and makes the plane nice and level for you if you can't do it yourself. Then he decided that it might take too long and that he might crash, so he pulled the parachute on his plane, which came down safely, destroying the plane, but he walked away. Welcome to the newer, safer generation of pilots. The ones who can't fly without a Garmin 1000 panel, an easy button, an autopilot and a parachute, and heaven forbid something not go according to plan. The inexperienced pilots with the shiny new planes who have more money than ability and think they're amazing because of all the gizmos they have in the plane who then go on to get themselves into trouble because they can't actually fly; basically, simply, bottom-line fly. This sounds harsh, I know, but a door popping open is not a new phenomenon. It happened to Chuck in the Baron, and hey, he kept on flying, came around and landed, and all was well. Happened to me a couple of times. Happened to Nathan, to Steve. It happens. It's not a big deal, unless it's winter, at which time it's just rather cold. I am glad that he walked away safely, absolutely. If he hadn't had the parachute on his plane, he'd probably have lost control and might not be here today. But I'd much prefer pilots actually be pilots, not just button-pushing drivers not in charge or control of their machines, for the safety of not just them, but everyone else. (This isn't a new phenomenon...why do you think Bonanzas used to be called "Doctor killers"? Newish pilots with more money than ability getting into bigger, faster planes that they are too busy to be able to stay proficient in. Not new, but still frustrating.) *sigh* Anyway.
I'll end on a Friday Five to answer:
1. Would you return to high school life for a week? Why or why not?
**Oh heavens no. No way, no how, no thank you, No. Why not? Are you kidding me? No.
2. Who were you in high school?
**Laurie. Bookworm. Shy. Quiet. The invisible girl when I was lucky. Unpopular but I usually had one close friend to hang out with. :)
3. What was your favorite high school hangout? What did you do there?
**We didn't really do the "favorite hangout" thing. We would go to various fast food places and hang out while we ate, or mostly we would go over to each other's houses and hang out there. We'd watch movies, stay up all night on the weekend, eat cookie dough, listen to music, solve all of the world's problems and occasionally come up with some bad ideas of our own. :)
4. What were your favorite three songs in high school?
**I really have no idea.
5. What was the craziest thing you did in high school?
**Um. Lots of sarcastic comments and answers come to mind, from the real answer, to "getting a 'C' in math". But I do believe I will just...Pass. ;)
Steve and I later left the airport to go to a Parent/Teacher Conference for Kaylee. The teacher had very nice things to say. She said that Kaylee just excels in imagination, creativity, writing, and story telling type things. I guess she often uses Kaylee's stories "full of descriptive words and phrases" as examples for the other kids. She says Kaylee is a very fun-loving, dramatic, artistic, affectionate girl and she could easily imagine her writing children's books some day, that she'd be good at it anyway. We came back and told Kaylee her teacher had said she needed spanked three times a day every day, and Kaylee just blew us off and said "Oh, she did not! She likes me!" :)
We came back to Glenndale, and this time I took Kaylee up in the Citabria with me. She started
off a little cautiously, but she did well. She wanted to do runway checks, takeoffs and landings, and nothing else. So that's what we did. Her feet reach the pedals sort of, but not enough to actually be able to push on them, so I still have to do the rudders for her, and she handles the ailerons and elevator. The first takeoff and landing I talked her through, I ended up helping a tad at the end, but the last one she did, she did the full takeoff without me touching anything but the rudders, and the last landing she did I only took it after she got it down. We'll work on it this summer some. :) I took a few pictures that I put up on her site. Here's one of the two of us. Look at Kaylee's face-she is concentrating because she is the one doing the flying back there. :)There was a news thing in aviation that just made Steve and I both shake our heads. A private pilot with 320 hours and an instrument rating took off in his shiny Cirrus airplane. He didn't get his door shut, and when it popped open after he took off, he freaked out and found it "extremely distracting". He hadn't turned his autopilot on yet (only being under 800 feet in the air so far), started to have trouble flying his airplane straight, so he hit the "Level" button, which is no kidding a big red "Easy" button like from Staples, which takes and makes the plane nice and level for you if you can't do it yourself. Then he decided that it might take too long and that he might crash, so he pulled the parachute on his plane, which came down safely, destroying the plane, but he walked away. Welcome to the newer, safer generation of pilots. The ones who can't fly without a Garmin 1000 panel, an easy button, an autopilot and a parachute, and heaven forbid something not go according to plan. The inexperienced pilots with the shiny new planes who have more money than ability and think they're amazing because of all the gizmos they have in the plane who then go on to get themselves into trouble because they can't actually fly; basically, simply, bottom-line fly. This sounds harsh, I know, but a door popping open is not a new phenomenon. It happened to Chuck in the Baron, and hey, he kept on flying, came around and landed, and all was well. Happened to me a couple of times. Happened to Nathan, to Steve. It happens. It's not a big deal, unless it's winter, at which time it's just rather cold. I am glad that he walked away safely, absolutely. If he hadn't had the parachute on his plane, he'd probably have lost control and might not be here today. But I'd much prefer pilots actually be pilots, not just button-pushing drivers not in charge or control of their machines, for the safety of not just them, but everyone else. (This isn't a new phenomenon...why do you think Bonanzas used to be called "Doctor killers"? Newish pilots with more money than ability getting into bigger, faster planes that they are too busy to be able to stay proficient in. Not new, but still frustrating.) *sigh* Anyway.
I'll end on a Friday Five to answer:
1. Would you return to high school life for a week? Why or why not?
**Oh heavens no. No way, no how, no thank you, No. Why not? Are you kidding me? No.
2. Who were you in high school?
**Laurie. Bookworm. Shy. Quiet. The invisible girl when I was lucky. Unpopular but I usually had one close friend to hang out with. :)
3. What was your favorite high school hangout? What did you do there?
**We didn't really do the "favorite hangout" thing. We would go to various fast food places and hang out while we ate, or mostly we would go over to each other's houses and hang out there. We'd watch movies, stay up all night on the weekend, eat cookie dough, listen to music, solve all of the world's problems and occasionally come up with some bad ideas of our own. :)
4. What were your favorite three songs in high school?
**I really have no idea.
5. What was the craziest thing you did in high school?
**Um. Lots of sarcastic comments and answers come to mind, from the real answer, to "getting a 'C' in math". But I do believe I will just...Pass. ;)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Close but No Cigar
What a gorgeous day. Calm winds, blue skies, nice temps. I had one flight this morning with a student, practicing emergencies among other things. Practicing emergencies can actually be a little fun...much more fun than the real deal. ;) I'll "pull" the engine, which does not mean shutting it down for real (uh, any more anyway) and the person has to remember what to do and then attempt to make a safe landing where they said they were aiming to land. In other words, it's kind of like pool-you have to call the pocket for it to count even if it ends up in a good spot. None of this "I'll land there. Oops, not going to make it, I'll land there instead. Okay, maybe I'll land there." stuff. :) In Indiana you almost have to aim at a bad landing spot, because we have nothing but fields up here and if you keep your head on even halfway straight you will likely be just fine. I also like to practice somewhere near an airport and have them actually take it all the way to the landing, because nothing teaches you how to not waste time, add in your drag or get sloppy with your airspeed like thinking you have your "field" made only to wind up a half mile short in the woods unless you add in power that you wouldn't have had in a real emergency. Everybody overestimates their glide distance because we're all used to operating under power. That's why we have people practice these for flight reviews and their license and such...so if you have to land in the Hudson River some day, you'll actually make it instead of hitting the Jersey shore. ;)
While I was up flying, my phone went off over and over and over-I had something like two voicemails and 8 text messages all in a short period of time. I thought that was strange, but I was waiting to get down prior to taking care of them. So we taxiied up to the hangar, where I saw a police car parked by my car. Huh. That on top of the messages was enough to make a person briefly wonder 1) who died or 2) what does someone think I did? I real quick looked for any 911 texts and saw nothing...found out later that the officer is actually one of our new flight students who had come down and taken off in the other plane with Ty. Whew. ;)
Kaylee made it to within a few inches of the top of the rope at gymnastics today, but her arms went noodly and she started sliding down the rope. She got rope burn on the inside of her legs, but she stopped herself and made it down without falling. She was talking about how her arms were sore and her legs hurt, and I said "I know, gymnastics isn't for sissies, is it!" She laughed and said "NO!"
---------------------------------
"Don't just make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up." ~Thomas J. Watson, Sr
"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere." ~Unknown
While I was up flying, my phone went off over and over and over-I had something like two voicemails and 8 text messages all in a short period of time. I thought that was strange, but I was waiting to get down prior to taking care of them. So we taxiied up to the hangar, where I saw a police car parked by my car. Huh. That on top of the messages was enough to make a person briefly wonder 1) who died or 2) what does someone think I did? I real quick looked for any 911 texts and saw nothing...found out later that the officer is actually one of our new flight students who had come down and taken off in the other plane with Ty. Whew. ;)
Kaylee made it to within a few inches of the top of the rope at gymnastics today, but her arms went noodly and she started sliding down the rope. She got rope burn on the inside of her legs, but she stopped herself and made it down without falling. She was talking about how her arms were sore and her legs hurt, and I said "I know, gymnastics isn't for sissies, is it!" She laughed and said "NO!"
---------------------------------
"Don't just make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up." ~Thomas J. Watson, Sr
"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere." ~Unknown
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Cheerfully
For some reason gray hairs came up, and Kaylee was making fun of Steve's and said "Mommy doesn't have any". Then she paused, got closer and said "She does TOO have some. Hey, look at all those!" I can't see any good reason to dye it though. I mean, I found my first gray hair at 18 up there, so it's not like it's new, and I don't have the time, desire or money to be going to a salon every 6 weeks or however often you're supposed to go to maintain that, which means I wouldn't, which means I'd end up with roots that would look worse than if I just left the natural sprinkling of additional color alone in the first place. My hair already has black, brown, red, and blond in it depending on where and when you look, so what's a little silver to go along with that? But it did bring to mind another reason I don't mind it. There's a guy hair color commercial on tv where this guy splits into two selves, one all dark and one all gray, on the same couch. The gray-haired him says "gray says experience" and the brown-haired guy says "brown says energy". Then they merge, and the secretary takes off her glasses and glances approval at the salt and pepper look he now has, as he states "Now I look like I know what I'm doing while still being young enough to do it". (or something close to that). So there you go. I don't mind looking old enough to know what I'm doing and young enough to still properly get it done. ;)
I've never dyed my hair, I actually like it the way it is, but Kaylee is going to be all over that as soon as I let her. Every Halloween she insists on wearing a different hair color-she was pink for awhile, longer than we expected in fact since "temporary" doesn't mean "temporary" on blond-headed children, thanks for that warning folks, blond for the princess, she was a redhead for Arial, she went black for goth girl, and she is always asking me when she can get a perm
and/or dye her hair. She wants to change her hair like a clothing accessory and she's chomping at the bit over that and earrings both. :) My girly girl. :)
Speaking of my girly girl, I got her cheer pictures back today. It's funny, she looks exactly the same as last year in everything but her hair. Even her pose is similar. In the group photo she is the only girl not looking at the camera, but she has a nice smile on. I've taken her out of cheer for a bit here, and she doesn't seem to mind having the Monday off at all, which is good.
I keep running into the same Bible verse in weird places. Isaiah 40:31. "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall soar on wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." I don't remember where all I saw the verse yesterday, but one place was on the Caringbridge website for Alan Henley, the AeroShell formation pilot who became paralyzed after taking a fall while playing with his children in his basement. His wife posted that verse yesterday on the site they use to keep people up-to-date on his health. Then today it came through in a blog entry someone else wrote, and just now I paused writing this to brush my teeth, and when I was done I picked up a magazine in the bathroom, assuming it was an aviation one as they almost all are, but instead found it to be the magazine from Cedarville College (now University) which I attended just before flight school. I thumbed through it just now, the theme was flying higher, including a reporter who got to go on a Blue Angels flight (lucky thing!) and on the last page was Isaiah 40:31 written out again. When people would ask me even as a young teen what my "favorite" verse in the Bible was, this was it. There was a tradition that I can't exactly remember (having slept since then) at the church I attended for a couple of years in high school that involves signing the basement wall with your name, the date, and the Bible verse that meant something to you. That's what I chose. By that point I had already been saving up my money in a giant hot pink crayon bank to take flying lessons some day, and the verse mentioned strength and wings and flying like an eagle, imagery I could find peace and comfort in. I guess the verse is following me this week for some reason, and the associated messages that were written out with the verse were a positive and uplifting (so to speak) reminder which I have appreciated. :)
Kaylee is trying to learn her 3 sections for Awanas tonight and she's not in the mood so it's giving her fits. Or she's giving me fits. Or something like that. :) I guess we'd better go study together. Too bad one of her verses isn't Philipians 2:14. ;)
I've never dyed my hair, I actually like it the way it is, but Kaylee is going to be all over that as soon as I let her. Every Halloween she insists on wearing a different hair color-she was pink for awhile, longer than we expected in fact since "temporary" doesn't mean "temporary" on blond-headed children, thanks for that warning folks, blond for the princess, she was a redhead for Arial, she went black for goth girl, and she is always asking me when she can get a perm
and/or dye her hair. She wants to change her hair like a clothing accessory and she's chomping at the bit over that and earrings both. :) My girly girl. :)Speaking of my girly girl, I got her cheer pictures back today. It's funny, she looks exactly the same as last year in everything but her hair. Even her pose is similar. In the group photo she is the only girl not looking at the camera, but she has a nice smile on. I've taken her out of cheer for a bit here, and she doesn't seem to mind having the Monday off at all, which is good.
I keep running into the same Bible verse in weird places. Isaiah 40:31. "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall soar on wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." I don't remember where all I saw the verse yesterday, but one place was on the Caringbridge website for Alan Henley, the AeroShell formation pilot who became paralyzed after taking a fall while playing with his children in his basement. His wife posted that verse yesterday on the site they use to keep people up-to-date on his health. Then today it came through in a blog entry someone else wrote, and just now I paused writing this to brush my teeth, and when I was done I picked up a magazine in the bathroom, assuming it was an aviation one as they almost all are, but instead found it to be the magazine from Cedarville College (now University) which I attended just before flight school. I thumbed through it just now, the theme was flying higher, including a reporter who got to go on a Blue Angels flight (lucky thing!) and on the last page was Isaiah 40:31 written out again. When people would ask me even as a young teen what my "favorite" verse in the Bible was, this was it. There was a tradition that I can't exactly remember (having slept since then) at the church I attended for a couple of years in high school that involves signing the basement wall with your name, the date, and the Bible verse that meant something to you. That's what I chose. By that point I had already been saving up my money in a giant hot pink crayon bank to take flying lessons some day, and the verse mentioned strength and wings and flying like an eagle, imagery I could find peace and comfort in. I guess the verse is following me this week for some reason, and the associated messages that were written out with the verse were a positive and uplifting (so to speak) reminder which I have appreciated. :)
Kaylee is trying to learn her 3 sections for Awanas tonight and she's not in the mood so it's giving her fits. Or she's giving me fits. Or something like that. :) I guess we'd better go study together. Too bad one of her verses isn't Philipians 2:14. ;)
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tuesday's Snapshots
I woke up this morning to a student-cancelled flight due to impending winds (that never really got as bad as they were supposed to get), gray skies, and the below video to bring a little cheer. The high quality version is here-I uploaded it to Google so a few people on a slow connection could still see it, but it won't let me embed it here for some reason, so here's a link to that. :) To cover the basics, the airplanes include Nathan's Checkertail Clan P-51 and T-6, and the polished/yellow T-6 that Tim S. loaned to us for awhile as Nathan's was being finished up. The people in the video: Nathan D. is the big red bobble head up front, I'm the girl you see here and there in the airplanes and the little red bobble head in the back, Jim Z. is the white bobble head, and Duane C. is the gray bobble head. The video clips were taken by me, and the photos were taken by me and Trey C. The video itself was created by/put together by Justin G. The song was the one I most often listened to in my headphones with my portable tape player on my way to the airport to take primary flight lessons as a 'kid'. Anyway, I thought Justin did a nice job on the video, thought I'd share. :)
Kaylee had a pretty good day. She's been wounding herself a lot lately though. At the airport last weekend she wiped out on her scooter on the concrete and got a nasty scrape on her arm. It scabbed over nicely, but yesterday she fell off her bed and hit that arm again, hard enough to make it start bleeding enough that I had to put an actual pad on it, not just a bandaid. Her ear infection is under control now that she's been on antibiotics for a few days, but she still has to finish the 10-day antibiotic course. Her allergies have been a little better today too, but I'm half afraid to not give her the allergy med tonight since her waking up in the middle of the night unable to breathe at all is just not fun for any of us. She's doing well in school, is enjoying her after school activities, and is on course for finishing her book for Awanas. She's a good girl and lots of fun to hang out with. :)
After ballet today, she begged for some ice cream because we hadn't done that or had any at home in ages. I said okay. She took a bite, frowned, took another bite, leaned in and whispered "Mommy, this tastes wrong." So I took a bite, and she was right, it had serious freezer burn. She looked at me and said "I know, I know, I have to eat it, don't I." I said no, of course not, not if something is wrong with it. When I told her I was going to ask the lady for a cotton candy smoothie instead for her, she said "You can DO that?? You'd do that for me?" She's never seen us send food back or complain-apparently we've never had anything wrong with our food before around her. :)
First the NCAA championships take over my shows, and now Obama's press conference is. I wish the basketball was on ESPN where it belongs, and perhaps the press conference can be on CNN/Fox/MSNBC or whatever regular channel exists for people who are in the mood for political pontificating. *sigh*
Kaylee had a pretty good day. She's been wounding herself a lot lately though. At the airport last weekend she wiped out on her scooter on the concrete and got a nasty scrape on her arm. It scabbed over nicely, but yesterday she fell off her bed and hit that arm again, hard enough to make it start bleeding enough that I had to put an actual pad on it, not just a bandaid. Her ear infection is under control now that she's been on antibiotics for a few days, but she still has to finish the 10-day antibiotic course. Her allergies have been a little better today too, but I'm half afraid to not give her the allergy med tonight since her waking up in the middle of the night unable to breathe at all is just not fun for any of us. She's doing well in school, is enjoying her after school activities, and is on course for finishing her book for Awanas. She's a good girl and lots of fun to hang out with. :)
After ballet today, she begged for some ice cream because we hadn't done that or had any at home in ages. I said okay. She took a bite, frowned, took another bite, leaned in and whispered "Mommy, this tastes wrong." So I took a bite, and she was right, it had serious freezer burn. She looked at me and said "I know, I know, I have to eat it, don't I." I said no, of course not, not if something is wrong with it. When I told her I was going to ask the lady for a cotton candy smoothie instead for her, she said "You can DO that?? You'd do that for me?" She's never seen us send food back or complain-apparently we've never had anything wrong with our food before around her. :)
First the NCAA championships take over my shows, and now Obama's press conference is. I wish the basketball was on ESPN where it belongs, and perhaps the press conference can be on CNN/Fox/MSNBC or whatever regular channel exists for people who are in the mood for political pontificating. *sigh*
Monday, March 23, 2009
Nothing At All...
I had a flight this morning in the 172 down at Sheridan for a bit over an hour. It was a fairly windy day, good practice for the student doing ground reference maneuvers, crosswind landings, etc.
I have stared at this for awhile now and still have nothing of import to discuss. So I'll pass on something a (usually liberal) comedian for a joke list thing I get wrote:
I read the following quote from Jay Leno this morning, "Sen. Chris Dodd, after first denying it, now admits that he's the one who eliminated the provision in the stimulus package that outlawed excessive bonuses. Coincidentally, he just happened to receive $280,000 from AIG in campaign contributions. What are the odds of that?"
At first I didn't believe it, but I looked it up on an independent news site (not that I don't trust Jay Leno's joke writers) and it's true!
In my opinion those billions of dollars shouldn't have been handed out if the first place. BUT...what the government is doing is criminal-it's called the old "Bait and Switch."
First you say, "Sure you can give all your executives the bonuses you promised them. Don't worry, it's your money." Then you come back after they've spent the money and say, "By the way, we're going to tax you at 90 percent on any bonuses paid. No, no such tax law exists, but don't worry, we'll write one."
These guys strike me as silent movie villains. I'm surprised black top hats and twirly mustaches are not more in vogue in Congress.
I have stared at this for awhile now and still have nothing of import to discuss. So I'll pass on something a (usually liberal) comedian for a joke list thing I get wrote:
I read the following quote from Jay Leno this morning, "Sen. Chris Dodd, after first denying it, now admits that he's the one who eliminated the provision in the stimulus package that outlawed excessive bonuses. Coincidentally, he just happened to receive $280,000 from AIG in campaign contributions. What are the odds of that?"
At first I didn't believe it, but I looked it up on an independent news site (not that I don't trust Jay Leno's joke writers) and it's true!
In my opinion those billions of dollars shouldn't have been handed out if the first place. BUT...what the government is doing is criminal-it's called the old "Bait and Switch."
First you say, "Sure you can give all your executives the bonuses you promised them. Don't worry, it's your money." Then you come back after they've spent the money and say, "By the way, we're going to tax you at 90 percent on any bonuses paid. No, no such tax law exists, but don't worry, we'll write one."
These guys strike me as silent movie villains. I'm surprised black top hats and twirly mustaches are not more in vogue in Congress.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Nothing Special...
I woke up with a few sore muscles and hair that wouldn't comb out easily even with an extra dose of conditioner. Good ole T-6. :o)
While some of my muscles are pleasantly sore thanks to the manhandling one has to do at times in the T-6, a few others are sore thanks to some exercise I've been doing on the side. Nothing too exciting, don't worry, but the last couple of weeks I've been working on improving some stamina/strength areas. I'm starting to notice a difference, actually.
Steve and Kaylee slept in her "tent" in the front room last night, and woke up and made eggs for everyone for breakfast. Well, Kaylee did have a brownie or two first. They hung out outside with a fire and the cats, until Dulce got a little too much wild in her and quit listening to where she wasn't supposed to go. They were going to go hiking today, but Kaylee just wasn't feeling up to it today.
Kaylee asked me why I ate the center brownie out of the pan, and I said "because it's the gooey-ist!" Then we got into a discussion as to why the edges of something bake crispier than the center of something. She always turns questions into science lessons-she is a very curious girl. And that's a good thing!
Tonight Steve was asking her if she would take care of him when he got "old" and couldn't do it himself. She eewed and told him no way, and even when she was reminded that he changed her diapers and cleaned/cleans up plenty of her gross messes, her response was "I was a baby, I didn't know, I couldn't help it!" Then she informed us that she would pay for a nurse, and I think her exact words were "I would pay money; I would pay good money for someone else to do that." So we know where we stand. ;)
I'm not sure I'm ready for the next week to begin already, but since I don't have much choice, I guess I'll enjoy the rest of this evening and go from there. :)
While some of my muscles are pleasantly sore thanks to the manhandling one has to do at times in the T-6, a few others are sore thanks to some exercise I've been doing on the side. Nothing too exciting, don't worry, but the last couple of weeks I've been working on improving some stamina/strength areas. I'm starting to notice a difference, actually.
Steve and Kaylee slept in her "tent" in the front room last night, and woke up and made eggs for everyone for breakfast. Well, Kaylee did have a brownie or two first. They hung out outside with a fire and the cats, until Dulce got a little too much wild in her and quit listening to where she wasn't supposed to go. They were going to go hiking today, but Kaylee just wasn't feeling up to it today.
Kaylee asked me why I ate the center brownie out of the pan, and I said "because it's the gooey-ist!" Then we got into a discussion as to why the edges of something bake crispier than the center of something. She always turns questions into science lessons-she is a very curious girl. And that's a good thing!
Tonight Steve was asking her if she would take care of him when he got "old" and couldn't do it himself. She eewed and told him no way, and even when she was reminded that he changed her diapers and cleaned/cleans up plenty of her gross messes, her response was "I was a baby, I didn't know, I couldn't help it!" Then she informed us that she would pay for a nurse, and I think her exact words were "I would pay money; I would pay good money for someone else to do that." So we know where we stand. ;)
I'm not sure I'm ready for the next week to begin already, but since I don't have much choice, I guess I'll enjoy the rest of this evening and go from there. :)
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Rumbles
Kaylee woke up around 1 a.m. crying that her ear hurt really bad. I gave her some Motrin and rubbed it for awhile, but she woke up again in the middle of the night in pain, and woke up this morning in a lot of pain. She said her ear was popping, stuffed, and hurt terribly bad every time she swallowed or anything. Ear infection.
Steve had a meeting at Glenndale this morning, and I drove to the pharmacy to pick up the antibiotics for Kaylee's ear infection, which is orange flavored even though Kaylee insists it tastes like "paint". :) She gets 3 doses a day for 10 days, and is oh so thrilled about it!
I brought her hat with us to cover her ears, and went out to the airport to hang out for the day. Steve came out when he finished his work at Glenndale, the kids played in the other hangar, rode bikes and scooters and all that good stuff, and four-five guys all worked on getting an internet issue resolved.
At the end of the afternoon, I took the T-6 up for the first time in 4 months. You know, 600
horses sounds pretty good in the Baron. 2000 horses sounds pretty good in the Cheyenne. But other than the 1495 horses in the Mustang, not much sounds better to me than the 600 horses behind the round engines. Mmm hmm.
I really don't know how long I flew. I did some steep turns, slow flight, stalls, "dutch rolls" (or whatever you want to call it depending on who you are), and came in and did some takeoffs and landings-short, wheel, mostly 3-point. I half expected to revisit my recovery skills after the hiatus, but I was mostly pleasantly surprised. A little wandery on my first rollout, but otherwise it felt pretty good for where I am. I just wore my Bose headset instead of the helmet because there was nobody in the plane with me and I didn't have to worry about hearing, and I wanted to feel the breeze on my head. I didn't have a hair scrunchie with me though, so when I'd have the canopy open, that had to look pretty funny with all this hair sticking straight up. The workout felt really good, and I think my mood improved about 60% in a two-hour time frame.
I put up a few photos on a page that has miscellaneous pictures I took in the Citabria yesterday and pictures Justin was kind enough to take of me in the T-6 with his cellphone today...
I could have kept going a lot more, but Steve, Kaylee and Chuck were all down there waiting on me so they could go home, so I came on in. :) We closed things up, headed home and had dinner, I made gooey brownies that are only half baked for me and Kaylee (and Steve gets the crunchier edge pieces) and tonight Steve and Kaylee are doing their camping out in the front of the house together thing. I have been invited, but I don't want to step on tradition. It has nothing to do with having a king-sized bed all to myself for a night. Nope! ;)
Steve had a meeting at Glenndale this morning, and I drove to the pharmacy to pick up the antibiotics for Kaylee's ear infection, which is orange flavored even though Kaylee insists it tastes like "paint". :) She gets 3 doses a day for 10 days, and is oh so thrilled about it!
I brought her hat with us to cover her ears, and went out to the airport to hang out for the day. Steve came out when he finished his work at Glenndale, the kids played in the other hangar, rode bikes and scooters and all that good stuff, and four-five guys all worked on getting an internet issue resolved.
At the end of the afternoon, I took the T-6 up for the first time in 4 months. You know, 600
horses sounds pretty good in the Baron. 2000 horses sounds pretty good in the Cheyenne. But other than the 1495 horses in the Mustang, not much sounds better to me than the 600 horses behind the round engines. Mmm hmm.I really don't know how long I flew. I did some steep turns, slow flight, stalls, "dutch rolls" (or whatever you want to call it depending on who you are), and came in and did some takeoffs and landings-short, wheel, mostly 3-point. I half expected to revisit my recovery skills after the hiatus, but I was mostly pleasantly surprised. A little wandery on my first rollout, but otherwise it felt pretty good for where I am. I just wore my Bose headset instead of the helmet because there was nobody in the plane with me and I didn't have to worry about hearing, and I wanted to feel the breeze on my head. I didn't have a hair scrunchie with me though, so when I'd have the canopy open, that had to look pretty funny with all this hair sticking straight up. The workout felt really good, and I think my mood improved about 60% in a two-hour time frame.
I put up a few photos on a page that has miscellaneous pictures I took in the Citabria yesterday and pictures Justin was kind enough to take of me in the T-6 with his cellphone today...
I could have kept going a lot more, but Steve, Kaylee and Chuck were all down there waiting on me so they could go home, so I came on in. :) We closed things up, headed home and had dinner, I made gooey brownies that are only half baked for me and Kaylee (and Steve gets the crunchier edge pieces) and tonight Steve and Kaylee are doing their camping out in the front of the house together thing. I have been invited, but I don't want to step on tradition. It has nothing to do with having a king-sized bed all to myself for a night. Nope! ;)
Friday, March 20, 2009
...Has Sprung
Spring has officially arrived today, and I'd say just in time. I probably had about two weeks left before devolving into my "Jack Nicholson at the end of his stay at The Overlook Hotel" impression.
You think I'm kidding...
I wonder if I can take the several hundreds of pounds of salt out of my trunk now. Eh, better not. Mother Nature doesn't always cave gracefully to the calendar.
After lunch I had a couple of flights down at Sheridan, so I
took the Citabria. I'm not sure how many months it has been since I flew something with the 3rd wheel in the back instead of the front. I ended up doing some maneuvers in the air on the way there, and did three takeoffs and landings to get legally passenger current in taildraggers again. And a few more because I felt like it. And because the Citabria makes it so easy to look good. ;) Then I had two lessons-one in the 180 and one in the 172 (for my logbook)-and finished up flying around 5:30. I took the Citabria home, my iPod in my ears as I wandered over the still-barren-looking landscape at about 1000' above the ground, just looking around and relaxing. I arrived back to a deserted Glenndale and put her away with a pat on the cowling. It's good to have her 'home'.
We're a little low on food around here right now, so I was scrounging in places I haven't visited in awhile looking for a snack. I found our basket of various nuts, opened a bag, took a bite of slivered almonds, and it was terribly bitter. I turned the bag over, and it said "Use by 07/02/04". Huh. So. I wonder if five years past the expiration date is really that bad? I told Steve that if I collapsed, to dig the almonds bag out of the trash to take to the ER with me. ;)
Kaylee got to go "Around the World" in a math showdown at school today, which means she "won" multiplication challenges. Does anyone else remember that? You stand next to a desk, the teacher flashes a math card, whoever says the right answer first moves to the next desk, and the goal is to get 'around the world'? Anyway, that was a good accomplishment for her, because she does well at math, but she's not fast at it. I was always good at that quick reaction stuff like Bible drills and Around the World. Kaylee is more deliberate. She just won't be pushed, and will sit and figure it out and make sure she's right, and if you try to get her to go faster, she'll say "Don't rush me!" So she was pretty pleased with herself to have gotten "around the world" today. :)
And so ends another week in Casa Kokomo...
-----------------------------
I always have liked Mark Twain:
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."~ Mark Twain
"Bringing up a family should be an adventure, not an anxious discipline in which everybody is constantly graded for performance." ~Milton R. Saperstein
"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all." ~Helen Keller
And in the "boy isn't that the truth" category,
"The thoughtless are rarely wordless." ~Howard W. Newton
You think I'm kidding...
I wonder if I can take the several hundreds of pounds of salt out of my trunk now. Eh, better not. Mother Nature doesn't always cave gracefully to the calendar.
After lunch I had a couple of flights down at Sheridan, so I
took the Citabria. I'm not sure how many months it has been since I flew something with the 3rd wheel in the back instead of the front. I ended up doing some maneuvers in the air on the way there, and did three takeoffs and landings to get legally passenger current in taildraggers again. And a few more because I felt like it. And because the Citabria makes it so easy to look good. ;) Then I had two lessons-one in the 180 and one in the 172 (for my logbook)-and finished up flying around 5:30. I took the Citabria home, my iPod in my ears as I wandered over the still-barren-looking landscape at about 1000' above the ground, just looking around and relaxing. I arrived back to a deserted Glenndale and put her away with a pat on the cowling. It's good to have her 'home'.We're a little low on food around here right now, so I was scrounging in places I haven't visited in awhile looking for a snack. I found our basket of various nuts, opened a bag, took a bite of slivered almonds, and it was terribly bitter. I turned the bag over, and it said "Use by 07/02/04". Huh. So. I wonder if five years past the expiration date is really that bad? I told Steve that if I collapsed, to dig the almonds bag out of the trash to take to the ER with me. ;)
Kaylee got to go "Around the World" in a math showdown at school today, which means she "won" multiplication challenges. Does anyone else remember that? You stand next to a desk, the teacher flashes a math card, whoever says the right answer first moves to the next desk, and the goal is to get 'around the world'? Anyway, that was a good accomplishment for her, because she does well at math, but she's not fast at it. I was always good at that quick reaction stuff like Bible drills and Around the World. Kaylee is more deliberate. She just won't be pushed, and will sit and figure it out and make sure she's right, and if you try to get her to go faster, she'll say "Don't rush me!" So she was pretty pleased with herself to have gotten "around the world" today. :)
And so ends another week in Casa Kokomo...
-----------------------------
I always have liked Mark Twain:
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."~ Mark Twain
"Bringing up a family should be an adventure, not an anxious discipline in which everybody is constantly graded for performance." ~Milton R. Saperstein
"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all." ~Helen Keller
And in the "boy isn't that the truth" category,
"The thoughtless are rarely wordless." ~Howard W. Newton
Taken at Oshkosh...
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Do I Detect A Heartbeat There?
Another peaceful night passed here as the Zyrtec helped Kaylee get some sleep. She still woke up and then promptly stuffed up again this morning, which still tells me it isn't 24 hour coverage, but like I said, I'm grateful that she can finally rest at night. The first night she took Zyrtec, I went to check on her before I went to bed sometime after midnight, and I couldn't hear her breathing at all-and usually she's a heavy breather. I stared at her for awhile and couldn't see anything either, so I poked my finger under her nose to feel her breath. I know, it's not like SIDS hits 8-year-olds, but YOU try to go to sleep after you wonder why you couldn't hear/see your daughter breathing after they took a new medicine the first time and you didn't check. She'll be 16 and wiped out after a busy day of teenager stuff and I'll look in on her and probably still stick my finger under her nose and make sure she's okay. What can I say?? ;)
She had a spelling test today which she aced. Words like "languages" and I just forgot the rest of the words, but it's at a level now where if she asks her dad to spell it for her, he may or may not be right without spellchecker. ;)
The airplanes we have that are operational are very busy this week finally! I had a flight this morning at 9 with someone, and then the airplane was booked solid after me all day until 7:30 p.m. And it's a good day for it, too, even if a little chillier than it has been. The schedule is coming alive as Spring brings forth the inner airborne addicts from hibernation.
The skies over Kokomo are once again being menaced by a Citabria and a T-6. The Citabria was finished up and flown yesterday and brought home today by Chuck, and Nathan finished up and got the 6 in the air yesterday too. Chuck generously offered to let me fly the Citabria home, but a man deserves to fly his own airplane first when it's been down for two months, you know?
But I am cooooming.
She had a spelling test today which she aced. Words like "languages" and I just forgot the rest of the words, but it's at a level now where if she asks her dad to spell it for her, he may or may not be right without spellchecker. ;)
The airplanes we have that are operational are very busy this week finally! I had a flight this morning at 9 with someone, and then the airplane was booked solid after me all day until 7:30 p.m. And it's a good day for it, too, even if a little chillier than it has been. The schedule is coming alive as Spring brings forth the inner airborne addicts from hibernation.
The skies over Kokomo are once again being menaced by a Citabria and a T-6. The Citabria was finished up and flown yesterday and brought home today by Chuck, and Nathan finished up and got the 6 in the air yesterday too. Chuck generously offered to let me fly the Citabria home, but a man deserves to fly his own airplane first when it's been down for two months, you know?
But I am cooooming.
Muhahahaha. 
I Hope You Dance
I rarely post forwards whether I like them or not, but this seemed like a good one to post anyway, since it fits along with my "2009 Quote of the Year" theme. :) I don't know the author.
-------------------------
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had already been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, 'How about going to lunch in a half hour? She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain.' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves for when all the conditions are perfect! We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Billy toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'
When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord. My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-Decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now.....go on and do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask ' How are you?' Do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi?
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift......Thrown away..... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
'Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!'
-------------------------
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had already been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, 'How about going to lunch in a half hour? She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain.' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves for when all the conditions are perfect! We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Billy toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'
When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord. My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-Decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now.....go on and do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask ' How are you?' Do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi?
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift......Thrown away..... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
'Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!'
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Hodge Podge
The Zyrtec worked-Kaylee slept all night with a clear nose. It is supposed to work for 24 hours and she was already stuffed and sneezing again this morning...but she got her first full-night's sleep in awhile, for which we are all grateful!
In the Depressing Files, the Ferry company that helped save people's lives on the Hudson River after the US Airways 1549 made an emergency ditching is now probably preparing a lawsuit against US Airways. Why? Because they are frustrated that they aren't getting enough recognition from US Airways for their role in the rescues, and to recuperate their costs from the rescue. I'm...I'm not even going to comment any further.
Awhile ago on the news, there was video footage of a huge fight that broke out at a highschool (I don't remember where) basketball game. Apparently a ref made a call, somebody got mad, a punch was thrown, and the stands emptied and arms were waving and people were pushing, punching, pulling, etc. It's not funny at all. The only commentary I ever heard on it was serious, about the state of our schools, kids today, etc. But one thing did kind of hit my "you have a weird sense of humor" button anyway: all these guys were trying to fight with one hand holding up their pants. The gangsta (or wannabe) style of having their pants loose and below their hips with their boxers sticking out of the top meant that drawers were dropping all over the place, people would try to run and trip on their own pants, they were hauling pants up with one arm and swinging with the other, and I'm sorry, but that was just funny. I decided that perhaps that dumb fashion fetish just might have some merit after all. It's pretty hard to fight with your pants around your ankles. World peace attained by overly baggy and ill-fitting clothing. We might be on to something here...
I had another news story that wasn't funny at all
that I can't get out of my head, but when I got home from lunch, I saw this in my in-laws' garden, and suddenly I didn't feel like talking or thinking about anything ugly. When I have t-shirts, sunshine, birds, and the first flowers of spring, what can I do but relax and enjoy it for awhile? When Kaylee came home from school, she went right over there, touched the flowers, sat on the ground by them, smelled them, and even "helped" a couple of the closed ones get a little more opened up. She is happy to see Spring too, even if it is killing her sinuses.
I enjoyed the "quotes of the day" that came in today, too:
"All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous, unpremeditated act without benefit of experience." ~Henry Miller
"There never was a winner, who wasn't a beginner." ~Denis Waitley
"I learned...that one can never go back, that one should not ever try to go back--that the essence of life is going forward. Life is really a One Way Street." ~Agatha Christie
"The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch." ~Jim Rohn
In the Depressing Files, the Ferry company that helped save people's lives on the Hudson River after the US Airways 1549 made an emergency ditching is now probably preparing a lawsuit against US Airways. Why? Because they are frustrated that they aren't getting enough recognition from US Airways for their role in the rescues, and to recuperate their costs from the rescue. I'm...I'm not even going to comment any further.
Awhile ago on the news, there was video footage of a huge fight that broke out at a highschool (I don't remember where) basketball game. Apparently a ref made a call, somebody got mad, a punch was thrown, and the stands emptied and arms were waving and people were pushing, punching, pulling, etc. It's not funny at all. The only commentary I ever heard on it was serious, about the state of our schools, kids today, etc. But one thing did kind of hit my "you have a weird sense of humor" button anyway: all these guys were trying to fight with one hand holding up their pants. The gangsta (or wannabe) style of having their pants loose and below their hips with their boxers sticking out of the top meant that drawers were dropping all over the place, people would try to run and trip on their own pants, they were hauling pants up with one arm and swinging with the other, and I'm sorry, but that was just funny. I decided that perhaps that dumb fashion fetish just might have some merit after all. It's pretty hard to fight with your pants around your ankles. World peace attained by overly baggy and ill-fitting clothing. We might be on to something here...
I had another news story that wasn't funny at all
that I can't get out of my head, but when I got home from lunch, I saw this in my in-laws' garden, and suddenly I didn't feel like talking or thinking about anything ugly. When I have t-shirts, sunshine, birds, and the first flowers of spring, what can I do but relax and enjoy it for awhile? When Kaylee came home from school, she went right over there, touched the flowers, sat on the ground by them, smelled them, and even "helped" a couple of the closed ones get a little more opened up. She is happy to see Spring too, even if it is killing her sinuses.I enjoyed the "quotes of the day" that came in today, too:
"All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous, unpremeditated act without benefit of experience." ~Henry Miller
"There never was a winner, who wasn't a beginner." ~Denis Waitley
"I learned...that one can never go back, that one should not ever try to go back--that the essence of life is going forward. Life is really a One Way Street." ~Agatha Christie
"The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch." ~Jim Rohn
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy Green Day
We are neither Irish nor Catholic, and really I can't find a good reason to celebrate St Patrick's Day other than it's fun for kids to get involved with shamrocks, green clothes to avoid being pinched, green foods and drinks, and a reason to do something different for a day. Hey, it works for Kaylee. ;)
Apparently when you are 8, if you can't sleep because you can't breathe, nobody else can sleep either. Not that I blame you. Poor Kaylee, she's so miserable with allergies right now. Even if I give her medicine, she wakes up almost suffocating. The last two nights were particularly bad, and she comes into our room, trying so hard to be quiet and to be considerate and just needing somebody to help her get back to sleep, mouth breathing and all. This morning she was propped up in our bed, sneezing and snuffling for hours, getting no real sleep. I looked at the clock at 6:43 and she was still awake. She fell asleep, into a deep, hard sleep for the first time, just after 7 a.m. I was supposed to wake her up 15 minutes later, but I couldn't do it, so she got a 30 minute good sleep and had to rush around to not be late for school, all of which she handled like a champ. Poor girl. She's going to be exhausted by the end of today, particularly since this is the second bad night, and about 4th not-so-great night in a row. Frankly, Steve and I are probably going to be exhausted too, but how can I complain when at least I can breathe?
Since I was running late and my flight this morning was cancelled (so I didn't have to), I didn't get ready in time, so I went forth into the world in full homeless-looking mode. I may not care to be cutting edge on my apparel or appearance, but I generally at least try to go in public in normal clothing, with hair and teeth brushed and make-up on. Not today. After I dropped Kaylee off at school, where I stayed in my car, I walked directly into a small store in sweats and a t-shirt with sunglasses partially covering the fact I have no makeup on, hair akimbo, and I purchased Zyrtek, which is supposed to be the best allergy medicine on the shelf today. It had better be for that price. I about choked. But if it will help Kaylee get a full, restful nights' sleep, it's worth it, because the other stuff I'm trying is not working for her. Of course I knew the lady behind the register at the store, who said "Good morning, Mrs. Stants" and would have gotten a tip if cashiers got tips, for pretending to not even notice my atypical state of disarray. Thanks, Sue. ;)
This morning, after I hauled 50 some pounds of dead weight out to the kitchen this morning, I set a glass of green milk in front of it. She saw it, looked up, slowly smiled, and said "WHAT is that??" I told her it's green milk for St. Patrick's Day, and she shook her head and said "You're crazy." Then she paused, looked in her cereal bowl and said "You didn't do that to my cereal, did you?" (No) She drank it all and liked it though. ;) When I picked Kaylee up from school, I handed her a
bouquet of suckers tied with a green ribbon, and she loved that. That was the end of her good day though. She was pale, listless, weepy for "no" reason, and just flat out exhausted. I tried to get her to take a nap when she got home, but she refused, even though her eyes were red and burning and she sat on my lap and just cried "and I don't know why, Mom!" For once I told her that if she wanted to cry for awhile, that was fine with me. She claimed that her head was killing her, so I gave her some Motrin, and 45 minutes later she still felt horrible. After I got her to close her eyes for 7 whole minutes, have a snack, and lay down on the couch, she finally started to feel a little better and wanted me to take this picture of her sucker bouquet before she ate a "flower" out of it. :)
I thought this was kind of funny-back in the days when flying the airlines was more than just "self-loading cargo" to flight attendants...this is a rapping flight attendant, and he does a pretty good job with it!
Apparently when you are 8, if you can't sleep because you can't breathe, nobody else can sleep either. Not that I blame you. Poor Kaylee, she's so miserable with allergies right now. Even if I give her medicine, she wakes up almost suffocating. The last two nights were particularly bad, and she comes into our room, trying so hard to be quiet and to be considerate and just needing somebody to help her get back to sleep, mouth breathing and all. This morning she was propped up in our bed, sneezing and snuffling for hours, getting no real sleep. I looked at the clock at 6:43 and she was still awake. She fell asleep, into a deep, hard sleep for the first time, just after 7 a.m. I was supposed to wake her up 15 minutes later, but I couldn't do it, so she got a 30 minute good sleep and had to rush around to not be late for school, all of which she handled like a champ. Poor girl. She's going to be exhausted by the end of today, particularly since this is the second bad night, and about 4th not-so-great night in a row. Frankly, Steve and I are probably going to be exhausted too, but how can I complain when at least I can breathe?
Since I was running late and my flight this morning was cancelled (so I didn't have to), I didn't get ready in time, so I went forth into the world in full homeless-looking mode. I may not care to be cutting edge on my apparel or appearance, but I generally at least try to go in public in normal clothing, with hair and teeth brushed and make-up on. Not today. After I dropped Kaylee off at school, where I stayed in my car, I walked directly into a small store in sweats and a t-shirt with sunglasses partially covering the fact I have no makeup on, hair akimbo, and I purchased Zyrtek, which is supposed to be the best allergy medicine on the shelf today. It had better be for that price. I about choked. But if it will help Kaylee get a full, restful nights' sleep, it's worth it, because the other stuff I'm trying is not working for her. Of course I knew the lady behind the register at the store, who said "Good morning, Mrs. Stants" and would have gotten a tip if cashiers got tips, for pretending to not even notice my atypical state of disarray. Thanks, Sue. ;)
This morning, after I hauled 50 some pounds of dead weight out to the kitchen this morning, I set a glass of green milk in front of it. She saw it, looked up, slowly smiled, and said "WHAT is that??" I told her it's green milk for St. Patrick's Day, and she shook her head and said "You're crazy." Then she paused, looked in her cereal bowl and said "You didn't do that to my cereal, did you?" (No) She drank it all and liked it though. ;) When I picked Kaylee up from school, I handed her a
bouquet of suckers tied with a green ribbon, and she loved that. That was the end of her good day though. She was pale, listless, weepy for "no" reason, and just flat out exhausted. I tried to get her to take a nap when she got home, but she refused, even though her eyes were red and burning and she sat on my lap and just cried "and I don't know why, Mom!" For once I told her that if she wanted to cry for awhile, that was fine with me. She claimed that her head was killing her, so I gave her some Motrin, and 45 minutes later she still felt horrible. After I got her to close her eyes for 7 whole minutes, have a snack, and lay down on the couch, she finally started to feel a little better and wanted me to take this picture of her sucker bouquet before she ate a "flower" out of it. :)I thought this was kind of funny-back in the days when flying the airlines was more than just "self-loading cargo" to flight attendants...this is a rapping flight attendant, and he does a pretty good job with it!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Speak of the Devil
We are having a Maintenance Hades these last several months. Almost every airplane we have is and has been down for maintenance of one form or another, from the expected but still arduous annuals (yearly inspection where they take the plane apart and inspect every single thing, for all of our safety, thank you), to the unexpected and arduous like bearings tearing up engines, fabric work that took almost a year to get done elsewhere only to find out it was nowhere close and had to be brought back here and done by our own guy, to surprise split fabric on another plane to engine problems on our busiest trainer, and that's not a fraction of the maintenance issues at the moment. These things are time consuming and expensive, and anyone good at math can see the problem: how do you cover the cost of labor and parts (and insurance and hangars and) on maintenance on airplanes when said airplanes which have been grounded for maintenance for awhile are the source of income needed to cover the cost of labor and parts (and insurance and hangars and)?
So our busiest 172 had to be grounded and have its engine basically overhauled, and while it is down we doubled up on our other 172 down at Sheridan and shared it at both places. This is where I went today. I was to fly with a student this morning, then leave her there and fly the airplane up to Kokomo where it was scheduled most of the rest of the day to fly. I got to Sheridan to find a note on the radios where the last guy who flew it said the radios had failed. I was okay with that for this flight since it was just a local flight and radios aren't required, but of course the real determining question of the scope of the problem is "what's really wrong"? What's wrong was a dead battery-the plane wouldn't start. I got Jeff, who is a very helpful fellow indeed, to hand-prop the airplane for me, and we watched, and everything seemed to be charging and working properly. My student and I flew off into the sunrise (well, morning anyway) for less than an hour, only to find at some point that instead of charging, the battery was now discharging for some reason. I shut down everything electrical that I could to conserve juice for a radio and the flaps, but by the time we made it back to the home drome, the electrical system was dead. That's just beautiful. Nothing huge, but another perfect flying day and one of two remaining trainer planes "up" brought to a halt by random maintenance gremlins.
All that to say, this all shows that the system works. Before you get in an airplane, you do a preflight, and you visually inspect the airplane to find issues before you get in the air. You do a "run up" to check things like the engine so you can find potential issues before you get in the air. You do annual inspections and 100 hour inspections so you can find problems while a person is still on the ground. The reasons our planes are "grounded" is because of careful pilot checking and thorough maintenance work that discovered things that needed fixed before they became a problem for anyone flying. That means we are all doing our jobs. Though my electrical problem seemed to be fine on the ground, it would not have been (and was not) dangerous if/when it fitzed in the air. We have two airplanes for hire right now that don't even have electrical systems at all in them. It just means you get to enjoy flying at its most basic-wind and engine noise. :) But bottom line is that the system works.
Speaking of bottoms, I'm still wondering why bicycle makers have 4-inch-wide seats that people with 4-foot-wide rear-ends (okay, exaggeration solely for effect) are supposed to comfortably sit on. I still vote for a John Deere seat on my bike. ;) I found my muscles in pretty comfy shape even after the ride, which goes to show that...Indiana is in fact very flat around here. ;)
Speaking of seats, we appreciated and laughed at the big box of toilet paper that was sent our way this week. I know I let us get down to one roll; your contribution will make sure that doesn't happen again for awhile-thanks. Smart-alecks. ;)
Speaking of...body waste..., the TSA initiative that I've been ranting about (LASP) is getting a lot of flack in the political realm, thank heavens. Congresspersons, Senators, local politicians everywhere are saying that this is a very bad deal and that the TSA should "try again". I'm half afraid that the end result will still be really bad, but will be so much better than this...Gestapo version of things, that we'll all find ourselves like little sheep nodding our heads and thanking the TSA for what they end up doing, bad as it may be, just because it wasn't this LASP. You know, like when I got a little banged up once, and when my Mom came to pick me up I had bruises and such all over and my arm wrapped in a sling, and she walked in and was horrified at how I looked, so I whipped off my sling and said "ta-da, my arm is fine!" which made the rest look not quite as bad even though it really was still kind of bad looking? Something like that. ;) Anyway, it's not dead in the water yet, but at least everyone isn't just nodding and agreeing with this atrocity in the name of (false) "security".
Speaking of halcyon, (well, I am now anyway), Kaylee had a good day at school, nothing too exciting. I sent in a bottle of vanilla extract I got for her yesterday that she needs for a project they are doing tomorrow-they are baking something to send to soldiers in Iraq. (When I got the vanilla, it was $.98 for the generic big 8 oz. bottle. Or you could get the gourmet vanilla extract for $10.00 for 4 oz. Let's see. $1 for 8 oz. or $20 for 8 oz. :O That had better be some seriously good flavoring for somebody else's baked goods.) She came home and has been playing outside on her playground for a long time. She even brought the cats out to play with them and let them enjoy the sunshine too. My door to the deck can stay open, the windows on the deck are open, I can hear the birds chirping, the chains jingling, and Kaylee singing to herself on her swing, I just saw a squirrel go by my window with a chocolate chip cookie in its mouth (??), Steve is off flying in our one remaining available trainer, and at the moment, It Is Good.
So our busiest 172 had to be grounded and have its engine basically overhauled, and while it is down we doubled up on our other 172 down at Sheridan and shared it at both places. This is where I went today. I was to fly with a student this morning, then leave her there and fly the airplane up to Kokomo where it was scheduled most of the rest of the day to fly. I got to Sheridan to find a note on the radios where the last guy who flew it said the radios had failed. I was okay with that for this flight since it was just a local flight and radios aren't required, but of course the real determining question of the scope of the problem is "what's really wrong"? What's wrong was a dead battery-the plane wouldn't start. I got Jeff, who is a very helpful fellow indeed, to hand-prop the airplane for me, and we watched, and everything seemed to be charging and working properly. My student and I flew off into the sunrise (well, morning anyway) for less than an hour, only to find at some point that instead of charging, the battery was now discharging for some reason. I shut down everything electrical that I could to conserve juice for a radio and the flaps, but by the time we made it back to the home drome, the electrical system was dead. That's just beautiful. Nothing huge, but another perfect flying day and one of two remaining trainer planes "up" brought to a halt by random maintenance gremlins.
All that to say, this all shows that the system works. Before you get in an airplane, you do a preflight, and you visually inspect the airplane to find issues before you get in the air. You do a "run up" to check things like the engine so you can find potential issues before you get in the air. You do annual inspections and 100 hour inspections so you can find problems while a person is still on the ground. The reasons our planes are "grounded" is because of careful pilot checking and thorough maintenance work that discovered things that needed fixed before they became a problem for anyone flying. That means we are all doing our jobs. Though my electrical problem seemed to be fine on the ground, it would not have been (and was not) dangerous if/when it fitzed in the air. We have two airplanes for hire right now that don't even have electrical systems at all in them. It just means you get to enjoy flying at its most basic-wind and engine noise. :) But bottom line is that the system works.
Speaking of bottoms, I'm still wondering why bicycle makers have 4-inch-wide seats that people with 4-foot-wide rear-ends (okay, exaggeration solely for effect) are supposed to comfortably sit on. I still vote for a John Deere seat on my bike. ;) I found my muscles in pretty comfy shape even after the ride, which goes to show that...Indiana is in fact very flat around here. ;)
Speaking of seats, we appreciated and laughed at the big box of toilet paper that was sent our way this week. I know I let us get down to one roll; your contribution will make sure that doesn't happen again for awhile-thanks. Smart-alecks. ;)
Speaking of...body waste..., the TSA initiative that I've been ranting about (LASP) is getting a lot of flack in the political realm, thank heavens. Congresspersons, Senators, local politicians everywhere are saying that this is a very bad deal and that the TSA should "try again". I'm half afraid that the end result will still be really bad, but will be so much better than this...Gestapo version of things, that we'll all find ourselves like little sheep nodding our heads and thanking the TSA for what they end up doing, bad as it may be, just because it wasn't this LASP. You know, like when I got a little banged up once, and when my Mom came to pick me up I had bruises and such all over and my arm wrapped in a sling, and she walked in and was horrified at how I looked, so I whipped off my sling and said "ta-da, my arm is fine!" which made the rest look not quite as bad even though it really was still kind of bad looking? Something like that. ;) Anyway, it's not dead in the water yet, but at least everyone isn't just nodding and agreeing with this atrocity in the name of (false) "security".
Speaking of halcyon, (well, I am now anyway), Kaylee had a good day at school, nothing too exciting. I sent in a bottle of vanilla extract I got for her yesterday that she needs for a project they are doing tomorrow-they are baking something to send to soldiers in Iraq. (When I got the vanilla, it was $.98 for the generic big 8 oz. bottle. Or you could get the gourmet vanilla extract for $10.00 for 4 oz. Let's see. $1 for 8 oz. or $20 for 8 oz. :O That had better be some seriously good flavoring for somebody else's baked goods.) She came home and has been playing outside on her playground for a long time. She even brought the cats out to play with them and let them enjoy the sunshine too. My door to the deck can stay open, the windows on the deck are open, I can hear the birds chirping, the chains jingling, and Kaylee singing to herself on her swing, I just saw a squirrel go by my window with a chocolate chip cookie in its mouth (??), Steve is off flying in our one remaining available trainer, and at the moment, It Is Good.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
In Which We Enjoy A Spring Day
It was a beautiful day-it still is, in fact. Steve got the bikes all ready, tires pumped up, and secured to the Jeep, and around lunch time we drove out to Kokomo to pick up Kaylee's bike and helmet from the hangar, then went on to a little bike trail 
out by Cassville. It's called the "Nickel Plate Trail", and it was formerly a railroad which was taken apart and replaced with a gravel walking path, and then eventually paved for a walking/biking path. It's a very nice trail that wanders in the middle of nowhere back there, sometimes through farm fields, sometimes through woods, sometimes through the middle of small towns I never knew existed back there. I believe it goes all the way to Peru (uh, Peru, Indiana for you non-Hoosiers). We ended up taking it for three miles in, giving us a nice six-mile bike ride. Kaylee wanted to keep going, but we warned her that you don't ride until you get tired, because then you still have to get all the way home. It worked out that 6 miles was about the perfect distance. She was just starting to wear down, and we made it back while she was still having fun. We took water bottles, and I took my camera, of course, and it was just a beautiful day for a nice ride.
I did notice that taking photos while riding one-handed was a little trickier than I remembered it being, and I about fell over when I took my own picture. I went up ahead and tried to ride handless for awhile where Kaylee wouldn't know what I was doing, but I wasn't overly successful. Age, lack of practice, and a shift of weight and center of gravity all didn't help. ;)
We even ran into an airport guy out there on the trail on his bike too, so that was pretty wild. The trail was mostly empty, but there were hikers, joggers and bikers making use of it here and there. When we first started out, I had to laugh because there was a woman jogger ahead of us, and she'd stop and walk, then jog, then walk--and it was taking us a Long time to catch up to her. We weren't exactly burning up the pavement to start with there, but we picked up the pace later.
We got back to our Jeep and got everything secured, and stopped at Steak-n-Shake on the way home for that lunch we never had. They serve mac & cheese now, which excited her greatly, until they brought the plate out. She looked at it, looked at me and said "I expected a little more on the plate." It did look like a tiny serving compared to any other restaurant, but it ended up being actually an 
appropriate amount of food, instead of enough for three kids, like usual.
We came on home, and Steve set up the fire pit in the back yard and had a friend over, and we had a nice little outdoor relaxation. Mostly. There is an idget who has a 4-wheeler with a serious noise issue who ran back and forth in the alley behind our house. It was so loud we couldn't even hear each other talk, and he just kept going back and forth back there. Other than Mr. Considerate though, it was lovely. We enjoyed the fire, the blue skies, the almost-60-degree-day, the cool drinks and good company...
out by Cassville. It's called the "Nickel Plate Trail", and it was formerly a railroad which was taken apart and replaced with a gravel walking path, and then eventually paved for a walking/biking path. It's a very nice trail that wanders in the middle of nowhere back there, sometimes through farm fields, sometimes through woods, sometimes through the middle of small towns I never knew existed back there. I believe it goes all the way to Peru (uh, Peru, Indiana for you non-Hoosiers). We ended up taking it for three miles in, giving us a nice six-mile bike ride. Kaylee wanted to keep going, but we warned her that you don't ride until you get tired, because then you still have to get all the way home. It worked out that 6 miles was about the perfect distance. She was just starting to wear down, and we made it back while she was still having fun. We took water bottles, and I took my camera, of course, and it was just a beautiful day for a nice ride.I did notice that taking photos while riding one-handed was a little trickier than I remembered it being, and I about fell over when I took my own picture. I went up ahead and tried to ride handless for awhile where Kaylee wouldn't know what I was doing, but I wasn't overly successful. Age, lack of practice, and a shift of weight and center of gravity all didn't help. ;)
We even ran into an airport guy out there on the trail on his bike too, so that was pretty wild. The trail was mostly empty, but there were hikers, joggers and bikers making use of it here and there. When we first started out, I had to laugh because there was a woman jogger ahead of us, and she'd stop and walk, then jog, then walk--and it was taking us a Long time to catch up to her. We weren't exactly burning up the pavement to start with there, but we picked up the pace later.
We got back to our Jeep and got everything secured, and stopped at Steak-n-Shake on the way home for that lunch we never had. They serve mac & cheese now, which excited her greatly, until they brought the plate out. She looked at it, looked at me and said "I expected a little more on the plate." It did look like a tiny serving compared to any other restaurant, but it ended up being actually an 
appropriate amount of food, instead of enough for three kids, like usual.We came on home, and Steve set up the fire pit in the back yard and had a friend over, and we had a nice little outdoor relaxation. Mostly. There is an idget who has a 4-wheeler with a serious noise issue who ran back and forth in the alley behind our house. It was so loud we couldn't even hear each other talk, and he just kept going back and forth back there. Other than Mr. Considerate though, it was lovely. We enjoyed the fire, the blue skies, the almost-60-degree-day, the cool drinks and good company...
Saturday, March 14, 2009
"We Are Sparks to Light the World"
I woke up this morning too early, fell back asleep, then rolled over and looked at my clock after awhile and realized that 1) my alarm never went off and 2) it was only 15 minutes away from the time Kaylee and I were supposed to be on the road for her Awanas Sparks-A-Rama games which were being held 50 minutes away. I later looked, and the alarm was set properly, but I think someone bumped the volume knob all the way off. Nobody else was awake, so it's a very good thing I woke up early on my own. So I woke up Kaylee, threw some cereal at her, ran through the shower, took my makeup with me in the car, and we were on our way, on time.
We arrived just when we were supposed to, Kaylee got her red "Bible Baptist Sparks" shirt to wear, I found a seat in the stands, and the festivities began. There was a session of welcoming, announcements, and the local pastor got up and gave a short message about "running the race" and doing your best, while having good sportsmanship. In these games, kids who stomp their feet or show bad sportsmanship lose points for their teams, and unlike many sporting events, there is no 'trash talking' on the floor or in the stands by the parents. That doesn't make any team want to win any less, and the winner actually gets a trophy plaque, so it's not just a 'feel good' game, but you can be competitive and do your best with a little dignity at the same time, which is a little refreshing to see these days.
Kaylee's team kicked hiney. They beat the next closest team by
20 points and won almost every event. I ended up sitting in the section where most of an opposing team's parents were, the team that came in last place in fact, and there I am the only one cheering on "red" who is creaming everybody else. I didn't feel guilty, either. ;)
Kaylee did great. She got all the way around the circle without dropping the beanbag off of her head, didn't get hit with any balls during "dodge ball", didn't let balloons hit the floor on her shift, etc. As a second-grader, this is her last year as a "Spark" and the last year she'll do these "Sparks-A-Rama" games. She had a blast, and she did very well, and she got to win big, so she had a very nice morning.
On the way home we were both starving, so we stopped at Wendy's where we both tried out their new fish sandwich. Not bad.
Steve wasn't able to go with us because he needed to attend the funeral of one of the airport guys, Dave G., who passed away last week from aggressive cancer. Kaylee needed to keep her commitment to Sparks, and at least one of us needed to go to Dave's funeral, so we divided the duties. I of course took some photos of the games, which you can see on the bottom half of her "March 2009" page.
This is the perfect, gorgeous weekend. Temps almost up to 60 tomorrow, light winds, blue skies. I think it's making me crankier than the cold gray did, because I can't do anything with it. *sigh*
We arrived just when we were supposed to, Kaylee got her red "Bible Baptist Sparks" shirt to wear, I found a seat in the stands, and the festivities began. There was a session of welcoming, announcements, and the local pastor got up and gave a short message about "running the race" and doing your best, while having good sportsmanship. In these games, kids who stomp their feet or show bad sportsmanship lose points for their teams, and unlike many sporting events, there is no 'trash talking' on the floor or in the stands by the parents. That doesn't make any team want to win any less, and the winner actually gets a trophy plaque, so it's not just a 'feel good' game, but you can be competitive and do your best with a little dignity at the same time, which is a little refreshing to see these days.
Kaylee's team kicked hiney. They beat the next closest team by
20 points and won almost every event. I ended up sitting in the section where most of an opposing team's parents were, the team that came in last place in fact, and there I am the only one cheering on "red" who is creaming everybody else. I didn't feel guilty, either. ;)Kaylee did great. She got all the way around the circle without dropping the beanbag off of her head, didn't get hit with any balls during "dodge ball", didn't let balloons hit the floor on her shift, etc. As a second-grader, this is her last year as a "Spark" and the last year she'll do these "Sparks-A-Rama" games. She had a blast, and she did very well, and she got to win big, so she had a very nice morning.
On the way home we were both starving, so we stopped at Wendy's where we both tried out their new fish sandwich. Not bad.
Steve wasn't able to go with us because he needed to attend the funeral of one of the airport guys, Dave G., who passed away last week from aggressive cancer. Kaylee needed to keep her commitment to Sparks, and at least one of us needed to go to Dave's funeral, so we divided the duties. I of course took some photos of the games, which you can see on the bottom half of her "March 2009" page.
This is the perfect, gorgeous weekend. Temps almost up to 60 tomorrow, light winds, blue skies. I think it's making me crankier than the cold gray did, because I can't do anything with it. *sigh*
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Not Princess...Queen
I stayed up a little too late last night, making the morning come too early to suit me, but once I got in motion, I stayed in motion just fine. (Whatever was making me so drained all the time only lasted a couple of days.)
After lunch, where I made a pretty mess by knocking my full drink over onto the table at Subway, Steve, Nathan and I flew the RG over to Muncie. It's nice to have the guy who has been instructing the most out of it-my spouse-sitting right there next to me to help me do everything right. ;) Then Nathan let me fly the Cheyenne home from Muncie--he's such a nice guy sometimes, but don't tell him I said so. ;) A little air time is always good for the spirits. Well, mine anyway.
Kaylee was telling me all the reasons she had a good day today. She got to go to "centers" (where they go play when they get their work done), she didn't miss any recess at all for talking too much, and she had fun playing with her friends. I high fived her for it, then I said "I got to go fly airplanes today, so I had a good day too." She looked at me in an unimpressed fashion for a second (hey, you know most kids would be pretty stunned if their mom picked them up from school and told them that!), then shrugged and went with it and gave me a high five too. Then she said "So what was bad about your day?" I told her in general something I hadn't enjoyed about the day, and she said "Well, I used the wrong 'their' on a spelling test and I even KNEW it was supposed to be 'their' and not 'they're'. Argh! That's what was bad about my day."
On my way to taking her to gymnastics, I made a bank run, and "Bohemian Rhapsody" came on. Well, one time a long time ago, in a fit of strangeness, I re-enacted the "Wayne's World" car scene to that song to Kaylee. She thought I was pretty insane, and then decided she thought it was pretty funny. So since then it's a bit of a tradition, which is normally not really too much of a problem. Today, however, I'm probably glad I don't know what the bank tellers and customers inside were thinking as they watched our arms waving around, mouths open wide and singing, and eventually head banging and air drumming while waiting for our transaction to be completed. Not very mature at all, I'm afraid. If you want to know how strange we look-it's fairly similar to this, except we are much better dressed and have much neater hair. A much cooler car. And I'm an almost middle-aged slightly fluffy "soccer" mom who looks even more ridiculous. And Kaylee and I are both laughing the whole time. And I don't pick up strange people off the street. Other than that though...(please feel free to skip if you are unfamiliar and/or weren't a teenager in the 80s/90s, because I freely admit it is reeeeeally strange. I claim parental insanity for my defense...)
After lunch, where I made a pretty mess by knocking my full drink over onto the table at Subway, Steve, Nathan and I flew the RG over to Muncie. It's nice to have the guy who has been instructing the most out of it-my spouse-sitting right there next to me to help me do everything right. ;) Then Nathan let me fly the Cheyenne home from Muncie--he's such a nice guy sometimes, but don't tell him I said so. ;) A little air time is always good for the spirits. Well, mine anyway.
Kaylee was telling me all the reasons she had a good day today. She got to go to "centers" (where they go play when they get their work done), she didn't miss any recess at all for talking too much, and she had fun playing with her friends. I high fived her for it, then I said "I got to go fly airplanes today, so I had a good day too." She looked at me in an unimpressed fashion for a second (hey, you know most kids would be pretty stunned if their mom picked them up from school and told them that!), then shrugged and went with it and gave me a high five too. Then she said "So what was bad about your day?" I told her in general something I hadn't enjoyed about the day, and she said "Well, I used the wrong 'their' on a spelling test and I even KNEW it was supposed to be 'their' and not 'they're'. Argh! That's what was bad about my day."
On my way to taking her to gymnastics, I made a bank run, and "Bohemian Rhapsody" came on. Well, one time a long time ago, in a fit of strangeness, I re-enacted the "Wayne's World" car scene to that song to Kaylee. She thought I was pretty insane, and then decided she thought it was pretty funny. So since then it's a bit of a tradition, which is normally not really too much of a problem. Today, however, I'm probably glad I don't know what the bank tellers and customers inside were thinking as they watched our arms waving around, mouths open wide and singing, and eventually head banging and air drumming while waiting for our transaction to be completed. Not very mature at all, I'm afraid. If you want to know how strange we look-it's fairly similar to this, except we are much better dressed and have much neater hair. A much cooler car. And I'm an almost middle-aged slightly fluffy "soccer" mom who looks even more ridiculous. And Kaylee and I are both laughing the whole time. And I don't pick up strange people off the street. Other than that though...(please feel free to skip if you are unfamiliar and/or weren't a teenager in the 80s/90s, because I freely admit it is reeeeeally strange. I claim parental insanity for my defense...)
"Make voyages! -- Attempt them! -- there's nothing else!"
~Tennessee Williams
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
cHump Day
Eh, what a day.
Let's see, good stuff.
Um...
Uh...
Congratulations to Anita and Matt on the birth of their fifth child, their beautiful daughter Joanna!
Kaylee had a fun day, came home and has four sections ready for Awanas tonight. She's in such a good mood she's bouncing off the walls and driving me and the cats both buggy. ;)
I sent off the registration form to participate in a formation clinic. It may or may not work out to fly in it, but I've got some studying to do and if it doesn't work out to fly, I'll still get to ride along and sit through the briefings. I really enjoy formation. The view up there can not get any better than that. Of course the view is much better when you are just riding along and someone else is doing all the work. ;)
That pretty much covers the neutral to positive aspects of today, so I'll end on a few quotes and a nice formation video.
*Edited to add*, after I sent this, I got out the iPod and practically jogged on the treadmill for a mile and a half to burn off some negative energy, which left me feeling better. Then on the way home from dropping Kaylee off at Awanas, this guy in a yellow truck kept revving his engine and looking over at me at a stoplight. I of course ignored him. But then he tried to shoot in front of me when the cross-street stoplights turned red, anticipating the green. Unfortunately for him, he forgot about a delay due to a turn arrow and had to stop. His reflexes were terrible. Our light finally turned green and I smoked him. As I glanced at him in my rear view mirror, I smiled and felt even better. (No animals or children were harmed in the filming of this event, and at no time did I exceed the posted speed limit or bend any traffic laws. He was just slower off the block than he thought he was.) And then I got home, microwaved a piece of free chocolate cake I had gotten from Half Moon yesterday for my birthday, and ate warm gooey chocolate. That pretty much topped off my reserves, and cHump day has turned around nicely at the end. ;)
-----------------------------------
"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly." ~Richard Bach
"As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey." ~Thomas A. Edison
"Worry is negative goal setting." ~Brian Tracy
"Do not give any time to your past, you can't change what happened 5 minutes ago." ~Jan Ruhe
"Being serious isn't all that important. What counts is knowing what to be serious about." ~Author unknown
Let's see, good stuff.
Um...
Uh...
Congratulations to Anita and Matt on the birth of their fifth child, their beautiful daughter Joanna!
Kaylee had a fun day, came home and has four sections ready for Awanas tonight. She's in such a good mood she's bouncing off the walls and driving me and the cats both buggy. ;)
I sent off the registration form to participate in a formation clinic. It may or may not work out to fly in it, but I've got some studying to do and if it doesn't work out to fly, I'll still get to ride along and sit through the briefings. I really enjoy formation. The view up there can not get any better than that. Of course the view is much better when you are just riding along and someone else is doing all the work. ;)
That pretty much covers the neutral to positive aspects of today, so I'll end on a few quotes and a nice formation video.
*Edited to add*, after I sent this, I got out the iPod and practically jogged on the treadmill for a mile and a half to burn off some negative energy, which left me feeling better. Then on the way home from dropping Kaylee off at Awanas, this guy in a yellow truck kept revving his engine and looking over at me at a stoplight. I of course ignored him. But then he tried to shoot in front of me when the cross-street stoplights turned red, anticipating the green. Unfortunately for him, he forgot about a delay due to a turn arrow and had to stop. His reflexes were terrible. Our light finally turned green and I smoked him. As I glanced at him in my rear view mirror, I smiled and felt even better. (No animals or children were harmed in the filming of this event, and at no time did I exceed the posted speed limit or bend any traffic laws. He was just slower off the block than he thought he was.) And then I got home, microwaved a piece of free chocolate cake I had gotten from Half Moon yesterday for my birthday, and ate warm gooey chocolate. That pretty much topped off my reserves, and cHump day has turned around nicely at the end. ;)
-----------------------------------
"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly." ~Richard Bach
"As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey." ~Thomas A. Edison
"Worry is negative goal setting." ~Brian Tracy
"Do not give any time to your past, you can't change what happened 5 minutes ago." ~Jan Ruhe
"Being serious isn't all that important. What counts is knowing what to be serious about." ~Author unknown
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Happy Birthday To Me
It was a rainy, quiet day around here, but I don't mind, because at least it's warm-ish. :)
Kaylee took a specially decorated cookie to school with her today to give to her teacher, and waited on eating her decorated cookie for our party tonight. That's amazing restraint for her!
I walked into lunch at Half Moon, and the waitress made a comment about the "birthday girl", so I shot a look around at the table like "oh no you didn't". She reassured me that they don't do anything crazy there, no saddles, no hats, no group singing, but I do get a free dessert out of it. NOW we're talking. ;)
If you're waiting for me to whine about being another year older, you'll have to wait for a different year, because 37 just doesn't seem old to me yet. On the other hand, I went to the store because we were down to one roll of toilet paper. $50 later worth of supplies, I got home without any additional toilet paper. I'd blame it on advancing age, except, well, okay, maybe it is advancing age. ;)
This afternoon I went online and downloaded or saved off or printed off as much information as I could about formation flying. Weather, airplane and time permitting, I may be participating in one or two formation clinics this year. I have the main manual, but I went looking for specific requirements for specific groups and such. That thar is a lot of information to swallow, let me tell you. :) Anyway, when I was looking around the main website, a website I've never been to before in my life, I found a photo I took! I don't have any idea where they got the photo from, but on this website was one of my photos from the back of Nathan's Mustang flying over the Indy 500 in formation with two other Mustangs. Well, however they got it, I'm glad they liked it. I liked it too. lol
Tonight Kaylee decorated our dining room with a festive theme, and set out milk, ice cream, the specially decorated cookies with a candle sticking out of the middle of mine, a donut with another candle sticking out of it, and a bag of presents for me. She hid on top of the dryer, and when they called me into the room, she leaped out and yelled "surprise!" They sang, I made two wishes, we ate, I opened my presents. She gets SO excited about birthdays, she just loves them. She's a sweetie...
Thank you to everyone who called, emailed, texted, sang, sent cards, facebooked, etc. me today. It was lovely, and I enjoyed the birthday wishes. :)
Kaylee took a specially decorated cookie to school with her today to give to her teacher, and waited on eating her decorated cookie for our party tonight. That's amazing restraint for her!
I walked into lunch at Half Moon, and the waitress made a comment about the "birthday girl", so I shot a look around at the table like "oh no you didn't". She reassured me that they don't do anything crazy there, no saddles, no hats, no group singing, but I do get a free dessert out of it. NOW we're talking. ;)
If you're waiting for me to whine about being another year older, you'll have to wait for a different year, because 37 just doesn't seem old to me yet. On the other hand, I went to the store because we were down to one roll of toilet paper. $50 later worth of supplies, I got home without any additional toilet paper. I'd blame it on advancing age, except, well, okay, maybe it is advancing age. ;)
This afternoon I went online and downloaded or saved off or printed off as much information as I could about formation flying. Weather, airplane and time permitting, I may be participating in one or two formation clinics this year. I have the main manual, but I went looking for specific requirements for specific groups and such. That thar is a lot of information to swallow, let me tell you. :) Anyway, when I was looking around the main website, a website I've never been to before in my life, I found a photo I took! I don't have any idea where they got the photo from, but on this website was one of my photos from the back of Nathan's Mustang flying over the Indy 500 in formation with two other Mustangs. Well, however they got it, I'm glad they liked it. I liked it too. lol
Tonight Kaylee decorated our dining room with a festive theme, and set out milk, ice cream, the specially decorated cookies with a candle sticking out of the middle of mine, a donut with another candle sticking out of it, and a bag of presents for me. She hid on top of the dryer, and when they called me into the room, she leaped out and yelled "surprise!" They sang, I made two wishes, we ate, I opened my presents. She gets SO excited about birthdays, she just loves them. She's a sweetie...
Thank you to everyone who called, emailed, texted, sang, sent cards, facebooked, etc. me today. It was lovely, and I enjoyed the birthday wishes. :)
Monday, March 09, 2009
More Mondays
Kaylee came wandering out of her bathroom this morning whining "Mommmmmy, there's a giant black spider in my bathroom, and he just walked into my closet." I responded with a "gross!", to which she said "Well, go kill it!" I told her I wasn't killing it, no way. Of course that was a job for the father figure. I heard things sliding and dropping and banging in there while apparently Spidey gave him a chase, and he came out with paper towel in hand declaring victory and admitting that was a bigger, gross one after all. I had the creeps for a good 15 minutes. This is one of about only three reasons winter is any good at all--spiders are at a minimum when it's cold at least. Yuck.
Unfortunately, I lost my morning. I've been so tired the last couple of days. I got home from taking Kaylee to school and fell back asleep until an unreasonable hour, and after lunch I had to fight off sleep again. Not sure what the deal is there, but I found out at lunch today I'm not the only one of us who is running rather lethargic. Not that knowing that helps me get up any better in the morning, but hey. :)
Kaylee couldn't stand it any more, and just HAD to give me a birthday present early. She was talking to Steve in there for a long time, and when he came out, he said that he already talked to her a lot about it and that she was insistent. Come to find out, Kaylee decided to give me a large chunk of the money she has saved up over the last several months, and she could not be talked out of it. Steve debated on telling her she just couldn't, but she really, truly wanted to, so we let her make that decision herself. It was a big gift, and very sweet of her...
After dinner, she and I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and she wanted to decorate a couple. So I took food coloring and white icing, made purple icing, got out the sprinkles, and she doctored up a couple of cookies. We did our usual tradition of each eating one ball of raw cookie dough, too. Yum. And no, I am not willing to give up raw cookie dough on the off chance of salmonella. I've made it 36 years 364 days eating cookie dough just fine, and I'm drawing my line in the Safety vs. Security Sand right there. ;)
Tomorrow I'm supposed to fly with a student, but we'll see if the storms we are supposed to get will allow that or not...
Unfortunately, I lost my morning. I've been so tired the last couple of days. I got home from taking Kaylee to school and fell back asleep until an unreasonable hour, and after lunch I had to fight off sleep again. Not sure what the deal is there, but I found out at lunch today I'm not the only one of us who is running rather lethargic. Not that knowing that helps me get up any better in the morning, but hey. :)
Kaylee couldn't stand it any more, and just HAD to give me a birthday present early. She was talking to Steve in there for a long time, and when he came out, he said that he already talked to her a lot about it and that she was insistent. Come to find out, Kaylee decided to give me a large chunk of the money she has saved up over the last several months, and she could not be talked out of it. Steve debated on telling her she just couldn't, but she really, truly wanted to, so we let her make that decision herself. It was a big gift, and very sweet of her...
After dinner, she and I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and she wanted to decorate a couple. So I took food coloring and white icing, made purple icing, got out the sprinkles, and she doctored up a couple of cookies. We did our usual tradition of each eating one ball of raw cookie dough, too. Yum. And no, I am not willing to give up raw cookie dough on the off chance of salmonella. I've made it 36 years 364 days eating cookie dough just fine, and I'm drawing my line in the Safety vs. Security Sand right there. ;)
Tomorrow I'm supposed to fly with a student, but we'll see if the storms we are supposed to get will allow that or not...
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Actually, most of it is missing us, barely. We've had warnings for severe thunderstorms and tornado watches today, lots of gusty winds and a little rain, but per usual, to the north and south of us both is what is getting hammered. Of course as I was typing this, we lost power, after which I spent a good 10 minutes rebooting modems, routers, computers, four clocks, televisions, a few lights and the dryer, only to lose power again. *sigh* It sure is quiet in the house with everything electrical off and no humming, beeping, ticking, whirring, etc.
I woke up this morning at the reasonable hour of what used to be 8 a.m. but thanks to "Springing Forward" was now 9 a.m., cancelled a flight due to poor weather, read up on a few things, and waited for everyone else to wake up. I hadn't even eaten lunch yet when I found myself lying on the couch, huddled under a "Hello Kitty" blanket, cuddling with an 8-year-old who was watching Kid TV, and I woke up about two hours later after what can only be called a Wicked Nap.
After I left, she buried herself in a massive pile of her own stuffed animals, and spent a little time there until she decided she was buried alive and sprang forth. ;)
We three then entered into Wicked Straightening Mode. I cleaned up one cat pee and five cat puke spots off of my carpet to start with, then Steve and Kaylee hit the front of the house, taking down their campsite, picking up her room, etc. while I hit the back of the house, laundry, dishes, yadda. Mission House Pick-Up, Accomplish...ing.
Now that the storms have passed, Kaylee is outside swinging in the sunshine and just laughing. She told me yesterday that when it's always cold and dark, it makes her feel all bummed out, but when the sun comes out she feels happy. I hear you, girl! You know, I've enjoyed these Spring-like temperatures the last few days; I just wish they weren't accompanied by gale-force winds. What I am waiting for is four forces to come together all at the same time. Nice temperatures, normal winds/weather, a functioning airplane out of maintenance, and money for gas...because the last Wicked Thing that is coming is a serious case of the Wicked Twitchies.
-----------------------------
"What is laid down, ordered, factual is never enough to embrace the whole truth: life always spills over the rim of every cup." ~Boris Pasternak
I woke up this morning at the reasonable hour of what used to be 8 a.m. but thanks to "Springing Forward" was now 9 a.m., cancelled a flight due to poor weather, read up on a few things, and waited for everyone else to wake up. I hadn't even eaten lunch yet when I found myself lying on the couch, huddled under a "Hello Kitty" blanket, cuddling with an 8-year-old who was watching Kid TV, and I woke up about two hours later after what can only be called a Wicked Nap.
After I left, she buried herself in a massive pile of her own stuffed animals, and spent a little time there until she decided she was buried alive and sprang forth. ;)
We three then entered into Wicked Straightening Mode. I cleaned up one cat pee and five cat puke spots off of my carpet to start with, then Steve and Kaylee hit the front of the house, taking down their campsite, picking up her room, etc. while I hit the back of the house, laundry, dishes, yadda. Mission House Pick-Up, Accomplish...ing.
Now that the storms have passed, Kaylee is outside swinging in the sunshine and just laughing. She told me yesterday that when it's always cold and dark, it makes her feel all bummed out, but when the sun comes out she feels happy. I hear you, girl! You know, I've enjoyed these Spring-like temperatures the last few days; I just wish they weren't accompanied by gale-force winds. What I am waiting for is four forces to come together all at the same time. Nice temperatures, normal winds/weather, a functioning airplane out of maintenance, and money for gas...because the last Wicked Thing that is coming is a serious case of the Wicked Twitchies.
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"What is laid down, ordered, factual is never enough to embrace the whole truth: life always spills over the rim of every cup." ~Boris Pasternak
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Kaylee's Day
Kaylee spent the first half of her day outside with Steve. They played ball, she swept out the garage, he fired up the motorcycle and Vette and she helped him, and they let both cats outside and Kaylee did a great job watching them and making sure they were safe and secure. At one point a big gust of wind blew through, and both cats came tearing across the yard and back into the living room like their tails were on fire. She played on her playground, and they just hung out and had a good morning.
After lunch, Steve took Kaylee to meet Nathan and crew at McDonald's PlayLand, and from there they went to the hangar, rode bikes, rode on scooters, she got out her rollerblades for awhile and did that, and had a fun day. It was almost 70 degrees today, so it was perfect for some fun outdoor activities. I threw her in the bathtub, and tonight they are doing a little camp-out up front. She's had a great day of one-on-one time. :) When she finally went to bed, she fell asleep hours earlier than she normally would. Wearing out your 8-year-old...priceless. ;)
"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we are not really living. Growth demands a temporary surrender of security." ~Gail Sheehy
"Look around you-life is happening Now. Life doesn't wait for you to get your feet back under you." ~Unknown
After lunch, Steve took Kaylee to meet Nathan and crew at McDonald's PlayLand, and from there they went to the hangar, rode bikes, rode on scooters, she got out her rollerblades for awhile and did that, and had a fun day. It was almost 70 degrees today, so it was perfect for some fun outdoor activities. I threw her in the bathtub, and tonight they are doing a little camp-out up front. She's had a great day of one-on-one time. :) When she finally went to bed, she fell asleep hours earlier than she normally would. Wearing out your 8-year-old...priceless. ;)
"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we are not really living. Growth demands a temporary surrender of security." ~Gail Sheehy
"Look around you-life is happening Now. Life doesn't wait for you to get your feet back under you." ~Unknown
Friday, March 06, 2009
Brightly
Sixty-five and sunny-yep, that works for me!
Kaylee had an uneventful day, just school, cleaning up a few things, and going to her Awanas practice tonight.
I had a nice relaxed day myself, just doing errands, going out to the airport for lunch, doing a little work, running a few more errands. You know, just life. One of our airport guys passed away yesterday, Dave. He had brain cancer and went downhill quickly. He chose to stay home, and came out a couple of times for lunch while he could still get around. We got the message last night. He always called me "Laurie" even though I'd never been introduced to him that way, and the last thing he ever said to me was on his way out the door from lunch one Friday when he stuck his head in and said "Laurie, go do something, even if it's wrong." (But Steve says no, not if it's wrong...). You might keep his wife in your prayers-they've been married I believe 50 years now, and I can only imagine losing a life partner must be incredibly difficult.
On a lighter note, this article kind of makes me smile, as does the term "cynically hostile" and the irony in the last line of the story:
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Optimists Do Live Longer
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Optimists live longer, healthier lives than pessimists, U.S. researchers said on Thursday in a study that may give pessimists one more reason to grumble.
Researchers at University of Pittsburgh looked at rates of death and chronic health conditions among participants of the Women's Health Initiative study, which has followed more than 100,000 women ages 50 and over since 1994.
Women who were optimistic -- those who expect good rather than bad things to happen -- were 14 percent less likely to die from any cause than pessimists and 30 percent less likely to die from heart disease after eight years of follow up in the study.
Optimists also were also less likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes or smoke cigarettes.
The team, led Dr. Hilary Tindle, also looked at women who were highly mistrustful of other people -- a group they called "cynically hostile" -- and compared them with women who were more trusting.
Women in the cynically hostile group tended to agree with questions such as: "I've often had to take orders from someone who didn't know as much as I did" or "It's safest to trust nobody," Tindle said in a telephone interview.
"These questions prove a general mistrust of people," said Tindle, who presented her study Thursday at the American Psychosomatic Society's annual meeting in Chicago.
That kind of thinking takes a toll.
"Cynically hostile women were 16 percent more likely to die (during the study period) compared to women who were the least cynically hostile," Tindle said.
They were also 23 percent more likely to die from cancer.
Tindle said the study does not prove negative attitudes cause negative health effects, but she said the findings do appear to be linked in some way.
"I think we really need more research to design therapies that will target people's attitudes to see if they can be modified and if that modification is beneficial to health," she said.
And she said while a pessimist might think, "'I'm doomed. There is nothing I can do,' I'm not sure that's true," Tindle said. "We just don't know."
Kaylee had an uneventful day, just school, cleaning up a few things, and going to her Awanas practice tonight.
I had a nice relaxed day myself, just doing errands, going out to the airport for lunch, doing a little work, running a few more errands. You know, just life. One of our airport guys passed away yesterday, Dave. He had brain cancer and went downhill quickly. He chose to stay home, and came out a couple of times for lunch while he could still get around. We got the message last night. He always called me "Laurie" even though I'd never been introduced to him that way, and the last thing he ever said to me was on his way out the door from lunch one Friday when he stuck his head in and said "Laurie, go do something, even if it's wrong." (But Steve says no, not if it's wrong...). You might keep his wife in your prayers-they've been married I believe 50 years now, and I can only imagine losing a life partner must be incredibly difficult.
On a lighter note, this article kind of makes me smile, as does the term "cynically hostile" and the irony in the last line of the story:
-------------------------
Optimists Do Live Longer
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Optimists live longer, healthier lives than pessimists, U.S. researchers said on Thursday in a study that may give pessimists one more reason to grumble.
Researchers at University of Pittsburgh looked at rates of death and chronic health conditions among participants of the Women's Health Initiative study, which has followed more than 100,000 women ages 50 and over since 1994.
Women who were optimistic -- those who expect good rather than bad things to happen -- were 14 percent less likely to die from any cause than pessimists and 30 percent less likely to die from heart disease after eight years of follow up in the study.
Optimists also were also less likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes or smoke cigarettes.
The team, led Dr. Hilary Tindle, also looked at women who were highly mistrustful of other people -- a group they called "cynically hostile" -- and compared them with women who were more trusting.
Women in the cynically hostile group tended to agree with questions such as: "I've often had to take orders from someone who didn't know as much as I did" or "It's safest to trust nobody," Tindle said in a telephone interview.
"These questions prove a general mistrust of people," said Tindle, who presented her study Thursday at the American Psychosomatic Society's annual meeting in Chicago.
That kind of thinking takes a toll.
"Cynically hostile women were 16 percent more likely to die (during the study period) compared to women who were the least cynically hostile," Tindle said.
They were also 23 percent more likely to die from cancer.
Tindle said the study does not prove negative attitudes cause negative health effects, but she said the findings do appear to be linked in some way.
"I think we really need more research to design therapies that will target people's attitudes to see if they can be modified and if that modification is beneficial to health," she said.
And she said while a pessimist might think, "'I'm doomed. There is nothing I can do,' I'm not sure that's true," Tindle said. "We just don't know."
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Blown
Dulce loves it when Spring hits too. She is out on the deck pacing around the windows with her nose to the crack in the door just waiting for us to open something. So today I opened some of the windows, and she ran along the ledge sniffing the air like it was food to a starving person. Meanwhile, Roadie is totally freaked out at the sound of the wind (it is seriously windy today) and has hidden in the opposite end of the house. Crazy cats.
Today was Kaylee's first day of Level Two gymnastics, and she was actually a little nervous. She came out of her room late at night to talk to me about some of her concerns, and she talked about it more in the car on the way to school the other day, and yet again on the way home from school today. That's really unlike her, so we just talked about what to expect, what she could do if certain things happened, and so forth. She went in today and had a great time, none of her fears came true, and she even started learning new "moves" that she thought were neat. I'm watching her go up into a handstand and fall backwards and land with her back arched and then collapsing upside down because she hasn't learned how to land yet, and it looks like she's going to break her neck. I didn't tell her that. But she did great, likes her new coach/teacher, likes the size of her class, and likes the new stuff she is learning.
On the way home from school, Kaylee also said that her teacher (jokingly) wished for the days of paddling to come back. Kaylee said that Mrs. H told them that in the old days, they used to PADDLE kids in SCHOOL if they weren't good, and used a big board, and that if they got spanked at school they'd get it at home, too! When I told her that was the way it was when I was a kid too, she was just shaking her head. It was just hard for her to imagine getting spanked in school. I told her I never got spanked at school though. I was a good girl, thank you! Besides, hearing that huge wooden paddle whistle down and crack on Michael's backside and watching him waddle back into the room all red-faced and red-eyed was enough incentive for most borderline troublemakers to quash the urges. :O
Michaele took this picture, I don't remember when, of her husband dressed up in "farmer" garb with a show shotgun (fake), and he pretended to shoot me down when I flew down the runway...chasing off deer. Later they PhotoShopped it to give me two flaming engines, and I thought that was pretty funny. Since I just ran into the picture again, I thought I'd stick it up. :)
Today was Kaylee's first day of Level Two gymnastics, and she was actually a little nervous. She came out of her room late at night to talk to me about some of her concerns, and she talked about it more in the car on the way to school the other day, and yet again on the way home from school today. That's really unlike her, so we just talked about what to expect, what she could do if certain things happened, and so forth. She went in today and had a great time, none of her fears came true, and she even started learning new "moves" that she thought were neat. I'm watching her go up into a handstand and fall backwards and land with her back arched and then collapsing upside down because she hasn't learned how to land yet, and it looks like she's going to break her neck. I didn't tell her that. But she did great, likes her new coach/teacher, likes the size of her class, and likes the new stuff she is learning.
On the way home from school, Kaylee also said that her teacher (jokingly) wished for the days of paddling to come back. Kaylee said that Mrs. H told them that in the old days, they used to PADDLE kids in SCHOOL if they weren't good, and used a big board, and that if they got spanked at school they'd get it at home, too! When I told her that was the way it was when I was a kid too, she was just shaking her head. It was just hard for her to imagine getting spanked in school. I told her I never got spanked at school though. I was a good girl, thank you! Besides, hearing that huge wooden paddle whistle down and crack on Michael's backside and watching him waddle back into the room all red-faced and red-eyed was enough incentive for most borderline troublemakers to quash the urges. :O
Michaele took this picture, I don't remember when, of her husband dressed up in "farmer" garb with a show shotgun (fake), and he pretended to shoot me down when I flew down the runway...chasing off deer. Later they PhotoShopped it to give me two flaming engines, and I thought that was pretty funny. Since I just ran into the picture again, I thought I'd stick it up. :)
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Over the Hump
The warmer temps are coming! Today was still a sweatshirt day, but the sun was warm and the sky was blue and I almost felt human again. It's supposed to be in the 40s tomorrow, and the 50s Friday, almost 60. I'll take it.
I got all the end of the month billing stuffed, licked, stamped and sent out into the world, got a few errands run, and enjoyed a nice lunch at Half Moon with friends. After lunch, many of us went out to Kokomo where Steve had a flight with a student, and I got to left seat (fly) the Cheyenne to Muncie, with Nathan. Advancing the throttles on 2000 horsepower is always going to be on my list of favorite things to do. ;) Ty came in a Cherokee 180 to pick us up, and we had a nice, leisurely flight home. Boy, I've missed the sky...
I was going to have a trip tomorrow for/with someone, but the lack of an available airplane cancelled that idea. Just about everything we've got is down for maintenance, but the good news is that the few that aren't down for maintenance are at least fairly busy flying again on these precious few and rare doable days. I'm obviously not the only one who has missed the sky. :)
Kaylee earned another green jewel at Awanas tonight and is pleased about that, Steve is off talking to new student prospects and having a flight lesson here and there and is pleased about that, and I am doing laundry and dishes and straightening up, and I am pleased about that because 1) it needs done and 2) ...I got to fly today. ;)
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"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." ~Dr. Adrian Rogers
I got all the end of the month billing stuffed, licked, stamped and sent out into the world, got a few errands run, and enjoyed a nice lunch at Half Moon with friends. After lunch, many of us went out to Kokomo where Steve had a flight with a student, and I got to left seat (fly) the Cheyenne to Muncie, with Nathan. Advancing the throttles on 2000 horsepower is always going to be on my list of favorite things to do. ;) Ty came in a Cherokee 180 to pick us up, and we had a nice, leisurely flight home. Boy, I've missed the sky...
I was going to have a trip tomorrow for/with someone, but the lack of an available airplane cancelled that idea. Just about everything we've got is down for maintenance, but the good news is that the few that aren't down for maintenance are at least fairly busy flying again on these precious few and rare doable days. I'm obviously not the only one who has missed the sky. :)
Kaylee earned another green jewel at Awanas tonight and is pleased about that, Steve is off talking to new student prospects and having a flight lesson here and there and is pleased about that, and I am doing laundry and dishes and straightening up, and I am pleased about that because 1) it needs done and 2) ...I got to fly today. ;)
-------------------------------
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." ~Dr. Adrian Rogers
Pants on Fire
The "Today Show" had a segment on parents lying to their kids. One of the ladies said that 84% of parents on a poll admit to lying to their kids, and she paused and said "I think that number is more like 100%", to which the expert responded "Or they are lying to themselves." Really? The examples they used ranged from "Don't suck your thumb or it will fall off" and "If your seatbelt isn't on, the car won't start" to "That's really chicken you're eating (not fish)". Funny, I've never lied about stuff like that. In fact, her first grade teacher told all the kids in Kaylee's class that if they picked their nose and ingested it, their teeth would rot and fall out, and she brought a picture of a kid with a mouthful of diseased teeth to school to "prove" it. I told Kaylee that wasn't true and why the teacher said that. If I wanted her to put her seatbelt on and she was reluctant, I said "Please put on your seatbelt", and when she got old enough to complain about it, I told her it was the law, kept her safe, and I wasn't moving until she was in. If she doesn't like fish, I tell her she's going to eat some of it anyway because that is what is for dinner. Is that so hard? They claimed that if Daddy is laid off, you don't want to scare the kids and tell them that they might end up homeless, pulled from all their schools/activities, and put up for adoption, but should stick with either a lie or maybe basic info like "Daddy's office closed." Really?? You don't think that maybe that second thing, the basic, simple truth might be the best idea after all and that it doesn't have to terrorize them? They said that when you're caught in a lie, you just tell them that you were telling them that to protect them or for their own good. Does nobody remember what it's like to be a kid, totally trusting the adults in your life and 'knowing' that they have the answers and are the people you know will tell you the truth? Why on earth lie? "Expert" approved or "everybody does it" or not, I can't do it, I can't look at her looking up at me completely trusting and lie to her, even about stupid stuff, even about hard stuff. I want her to know that if she asks me, I will tell her the truth. Kids will some day realize that the car in fact will move whether the seatbelts are clicked or not, that their thumbs will not fall off no matter how much they suck on them, their teeth won't rot out if they eat snot, and that this is in fact fish they are eating, not chicken. And they will wonder, if you lied to them about all that silly stuff, what else are you lying about? Rightfully so, too. Kids are not stupid, and they need somebody to tell them the truth, somebody they can trust to do that in this world, somebody who respects them enough as people to tell them the truth. Carefully and thoughtfully. The expert said "I call it (something else) instead of lying, because I don't like that word." Well, guess what? That's what it is, and I don't like it either. Not 100% of parents are regularly lying to their children, or themselves if they deny doing it.
And people get up in arms about "kids/teens these days" lying. Huh, I wonder why. After all, it's okay as long as we think it's harmless or silly and it's done to make parenting/life easier, right? If we can't handle the parenting challenge of getting them to put on their seatbelt without lying to them about why, if that's too hard of a conflict to face, how are we going to handle the real issues later on? Bigger lies? When you tell your now teen that they have a high likelihood of devastating their lives if they become sexually active, that they could end up with an unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases etc, and you mean it this time, they might not flash back to "if you suck your thumb for too long it will fall off" or "the car won't move without seatbelts" or "eat that and you'll lose all your teeth", but do you really think things like that aren't a foundation leading up to a point where they now say "Right, ma, gimme a break, I'm sure it's not that big of a deal"?
It's not enough to tell kids not to lie if we are going around lying to them and justifying it to them as for their own good. That's almost as logical as spending our way out of debt. ;)
And people get up in arms about "kids/teens these days" lying. Huh, I wonder why. After all, it's okay as long as we think it's harmless or silly and it's done to make parenting/life easier, right? If we can't handle the parenting challenge of getting them to put on their seatbelt without lying to them about why, if that's too hard of a conflict to face, how are we going to handle the real issues later on? Bigger lies? When you tell your now teen that they have a high likelihood of devastating their lives if they become sexually active, that they could end up with an unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases etc, and you mean it this time, they might not flash back to "if you suck your thumb for too long it will fall off" or "the car won't move without seatbelts" or "eat that and you'll lose all your teeth", but do you really think things like that aren't a foundation leading up to a point where they now say "Right, ma, gimme a break, I'm sure it's not that big of a deal"?
It's not enough to tell kids not to lie if we are going around lying to them and justifying it to them as for their own good. That's almost as logical as spending our way out of debt. ;)
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Photo Challenge
I was tagged by Cat awhile ago on a Photo Challenge, and I just saw it. I may be late, but I'll do it anyway. :) "Open your pictures folder. Open your sixth folder of pictures, choose the sixth picture and write something about it."
Okay, let's see...yep, that'll work out somewhat normally. :)
Okay, let's see...yep, that'll work out somewhat normally. :)
My 6th folder was "Loaner T6 May 08", and this was the 6th photo. The guy up front is Nathan, the chick in back is me, the airplane is a loaner, and that's good, because this was the start of a short-lived tradition (that had better not come back!) of about one out of every three landings thudding, thunking, bouncing or otherwise unpleasantly arriving. (Just kidding Tim, it wasn't that bad, really. Well, except for one.) ;) Perhaps a person should be happy with two out of three landings being "not too bad", but...no. At least not until you know how and why you're making the okay ones and it quits being either luck or an accident when it works out. ;)
Cat also did the 6th folder from the bottom and the 6th photo, so that would be...
This would be the "KayleeFairyVampire" folder. Hmm, maybe I should fake it and put a sweeter-looking photo up and pretend it was the 6th? Naaaah. This is she. :)
The meme says I'm supposed to tag six other people to do the same thing, but I don't feel like it--so if you want to do this exercise, go for it, and let me know so I can go look. :)
Today was fairly uneventful. Kaylee learned a section for Awanas tomorrow and learned her words for her spelling test Thursday ('instruments' and 'percussion' are two of the words on her list for the week). I made my fourth trip to the same bank in a 24 hour period. Yesterday on my 3rd trip in an hour (don't ask), the teller said "You've got to be kidding me!" Today I was hoping I'd have a different teller, but no, I pulled up and she said "YOU again! I'm going to have to ban you!" At least Kaylee got a red sucker out of it today. Yesterday Kaylee was complaining a bit because she got an orange "Starburst" candy piece for doing a special assignment, and she doesn't like orange. Then she mentioned that she had oranges for lunch too, and goldfish for a snack, which is also orange. So we go to the bank after school, and the teller gives her an orange sucker-her 3rd out of 4 choices preference. We cracked up at that one, and decided she was just having an orange day. She was grateful to have a "red" day today. :) Steve is flying, working, and finishing off end of the month stuff, and the cats are doing just fine. There, that ought to cover everyone in the house. ;)
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