Progress

Steve is sweeping out behind the fridge right now, as we get everything ready for our new fridge to be delivered sometime tomorrow.  His biggest gripe was that when he built the place, he didn't put a valve to shut the water off going to the freezer for ice, so he had to go down into the crawlspace tonight to turn off that water valve, and will have to go back down tomorrow to turn it back on.  He said he's annoyed he wasn't smart enough to do that back then.  The cats came over and were curious and freaked out by the crawl space, and Kaylee looked down there, but nobody else will go down there.  I mentioned that if a serial killer was coming after me, I'd fight or die right there vs hiding down there.

Kaylee came to lunch with us today, which was nice.  Afterwards, she and I went to the BMV so I could get my driver's license renewed.  It expired on my birthday next month, and I didn't have the federal version with the star that you'll have to have to get on an airliner starting 2020 or so.  The last time I tried to do that, I didn't have the right paperwork, even though I followed the website.  This time I knew better, so I was prepared. I was in and out in 20 minutes or less.  I have my new temporary, and it's even the right kind now finally. 

Kaylee and I also went to her orthodontal appointment.  They filed her teeth, and told her she needed to go to Fishers (Indy) next month to maybe see about them scanning her mouth and adding a fine-tuning tray to fix a small gap in her teeth.  So we got that done too.

When we got home, Kaylee wanted me to do an e-learning video with her. They didn't have school again today, so they had to do homework in each class via the iPad.  For choir, she had to turn in a video of her practicing the choreography for one of her upcoming songs, "Transylvania Mania".  She didn't want to do it by herself, said that was no fun.  So she spent a little time teaching me a section at a time, and we ran through it a couple times, and then we both danced it and recorded it and she turned it in to her teacher.  I didn't have the choreography down great, there was a lot of it, it was my first time, but I kept up halfway.  She said her teacher would get a big kick out of it, and we had fun doing it.  I was sweating like crazy.  That's some good exercise, I tell you.  No, I don't have a copy of it.  If I did, I don't know that I'd post it.  But it was still fun.  ;)

Arctic One

Last night after I posted, Steve went next door to help close up and such, and on his way back home, he wiped out on the ice in the driveway and went down hard.  He landed on his back, his head slammed down on the ice/gravel, and he hurt his head in two places, his leg, his arm and his hand.  When he came in, he was pretty bloody.  He almost passed out but managed not to, which is good, because it was super cold out there and I would have assumed he was inside next door for quite awhile.  He seems to be okay today, just sore.  I was worried about his head, because you could see it was a really hard hit back there.  He said he was concerned when it first happened, because the whole world was blurry.  Then he figured out that his glasses (and hat) had gone flying off his face/head when he hit the ground.  For a second there he was quite concerned though! I'm glad he seems to have gotten away from that wipe-out with nothing but some scrapes, bruises, and soreness. Could have been worse!

Kaylee spent the night in Greentown with a friend, and had a two-hour delay today, so Steve ran her backpack out to her school this morning, and she borrowed her friend's clothes for school today.  She drove home today and did all aright, and we had some good conversations about ice, and nasty winter driving.  Don't turn on your windshield wipers until you're sure they're not frozen to your windshield.  Go top off your car with gas.  Watch the brakes or abrupt steering on ice.  She did great.  She said Mrs. E had already checked in on the girls and asked them how much gas they had, and when Kaylee said "half tank", Mrs. E told her to go top off right now today anyway.  I'd texted her the same thing.  So all us old people were just looking out for the youngsters during this freaky freezing record.  :)

As the temps drop here, the schools already called it an "e-learning day" tomorrow.  No school at school due to the severe temps.  We're looking at -45F windchills, with record low actual temps around -17F.  Homeless people have places to hide out, and I'm honestly bothered by the wild cats out there.  Where can anything living go outside and still survive those temps?  We have angry kitty with the bent ear who always looks mad, and a blind kitty, who is super friendly, who both hang out in this neighborhood.  I haven't seen them in days, and I'm kinda worried about them.

It's literally warmer in Alaska and Antarctica than it is in Indiana.  That's just stupid crazy.  They're telling us not to let the temp drop at night, or it won't be able to get back up.  That in most houses the temps will fall to the mid/low 60s even though the heater is running non-stop, because the systems here aren't designed for sub-zero temps.  To set your heat up higher than normal before the cold kicks in so that when it falls it will stay warmer longer.  Yay.

I have an official "flight bag" for one of the first times.  It has way more pockets and zippers than I need, it's bigger than I need or want, really, and I feel a little bit like either a student pilot overcompensating or an airline pilot wannabe.  But it's a good bag, and if I do it right, I can just throw my wallet in there on trips and leave my purse behind, and just have one bag, plus it has a compartment for an emergency change of clothes and personal supplies.  I keep a "go" bag in the 340,  in case I get stranded somewhere, but now I can get rid of that bag and just carry this flight bag in whatever plane I'm in.  I always liked my smaller warbird bag better, but everything was just thrown into the bottom of it, basically. This has more compartments so I have it organized a little better, at least once I remember which of the 72 zippers has what behind it...

Hunker Down

Kaylee had school as normal today, while it snowed and rained and sleeted.  She is getting some good driving practice in on these less than stellar conditions.  Today she went back to Encore practice, and once there, a dad called in to Mrs. E and told her the roads were a mess, and she canceled practice and sent everyone home.  Except by then, the roads covered in that rain and sleet had already frozen.  One of the other dads slid off the road three times on his way from Kokomo to Greentown.  Now he may stink as a driver, I don't know, but it's obviously slick.  So she's decided to stay in Greentown with a friend overnight.  It won't be much better in the morning, with temps of 5 degrees, but at least it won't be dark too.  And maybe some of the main roads will be better off.

Steve got a lot done out at Kokomo again, and after lunch I got a fair amount done too.  I got my exercise in.  That's harder than it was last time.  I'm trying to get in about 2 miles of walking before or around lunch, and then whatever other walking I get in during the day is a bonus.  I've only had two days this month where I didn't make that goal, so that's pretty good.  But I weigh more again, almost what I used to, and now my feet and legs and hips are having a harder time with the exercise.  When I first get up in the morning, or any time I sit for very long, my feet/legs/hip hurt a little and I stumble around a few minutes.  I look forward to having the weight back down, which will help with that, I'm sure, but for now, just moving it around takes more effort than it used to.  I also do some arm, leg and ab exercises, but some of the things they want you to do, aren't happening.  I can't just drop into squats or hit bent knee stuff, or burpees, without hurting my knees, too.  I've always had weak ankles and knees, and they aren't any better now.  lol  So I've been modifying what I need to in order to not hurt myself, and trying to keep walking every day even though it doesn't feel so good sometimes. I feel pretty limber once I get in the groove and get going, but I feel stiff before and after, once I've sat down, both.  I don't like that. It's been more than a month since I've been walking, so I hope it starts...smoothing out...soon.  It kind of freaks me out to see myself hobble for the first few seconds when I first get up.  Like an old lady.  I'm still way too young for that.

My driver's license expires in March, which I'm posting now so I'll remember to go do that.  I have to get one of the new "official" ones with a star on it that can be used to board airlines after 2020.  They require information I didn't have last time, so I just got a  normal driver's license before.  Now the deadline is coming up so I have to get the information together and get it taken care of.

My CFI expires this year too.  You can do that one three months early, so I'll probably do that and get it out of the way as soon as I can.  Wish I could do it now while we were stranded indoors for 3 days with wind chills of -45F coming up.  *Yay*

I've gotten a few emails about T-6 training already for next Spring.  The T-6 annual can't start until the Toga is out of the way, so Steve is working on getting that done as fast as he can.  I know the Six will need a new battery, I can tell you that much.  ;)  I'm looking forward to Spring and having it back up, too, so I can go up and do a workout from the front then back seats.

Well, the roads are frozen, the kid is tucked in somewhere else, and we're just hunkered down, trying not to overeat while there's not a lot else to do.  :)

ISSMA Round One

Today was Kaylee's first ISSMA trip of the year.  She doesn't have a saxophone quartet this year, because there's not enough good people left to do it with.  So she did a solo.  I think I told you, she didn't get one of her 3 movements until Tuesday.  She got to practice it with her accompanist Thursday and Friday only.  She got to work with her band director ONCE.  The rest she did on her own, at home, with occasionally some pointers from Steve.  So we were all really kind of nervous about this.

Kaylee worked at Blondie's Cookies this morning until 12:45 pm, then came home and the three of us went together to Kokomo Highschool, where the District ISSMA was being held.  Her time slot was 2:06 pm.  We got there to check in at 1:30 as required, and she went up to the practice room to, well, practice.  Everyone else in there was quiet, or playing quiet instruments.  She looked around, went up to the front, and just started playing the sax, good and loud and confident.  Steve loved that.  We walked down and found where she'd be playing, and then we all went down together a little early.  Her accompanist was there, and her band director, and us, and we were ready before the person/persons ahead of us, so they called her in within seconds of us getting there. 

When she started playing, she was nervous, but she'd practiced enough that she got through it very well.  Six minutes long, three separate movements.  I was so nervous for her, but she stayed on tempo and did great.  Her band director was smiling, and the judge said afterwords "Nicely done".   Mr. Buck (the accompanist) told her he'd been hearing what all was going on in that room and that she should have nothing to worry about.  Band Director asked Mr. Buck who had just helped another girl, "Who do you think I worked with more?  Kaylee or this girl?"  Mr. B said "Kaylee".  Band Director says "Nope. I worked with other girl a lot, she just couldn't pull it together.  I only met with Kaylee once."  They were impressed.

The judge came out with a "Gold" in just a few seconds.  The best score you can get and get gold is 9.5.  The worst score you can get and still get gold is like 13.5.  Kaylee got a 10.5.  Anything from 9.5-10.5 is considered "Gold with Distinction", or a gold star on top of your gold medallion.  :)

So from here, Kaylee moves on to State for her Sax solo.  She has almost a month to get it polished up and a little faster tempo.  Next week is her next ISSMA thing, this time for vocal.  She has both a solo, and a trio.  No Barbershop Quartet this year.  Mrs. E was still mad about how the judges handled everyone's BBShop Quartet last year, and didn't want anyone to do it this year.  And I presume the choir will have a competition soon too.  Assuming she does well at District, then she'll go to State for vocal, too.  So she has a lot going on, coming up!

Cats seem to be doing well, Ann is doing better.  Kaylee is feeling a little better as she's accomplishing these things.  She has straight A's for grades right now too.  I'm cranky because of the winter weather, but otherwise doing all right.  So, as the temps drop sub zero again, we're all hanging on during this no fly zone, and doing our best.  This time of year is always fun when money still goes out but none comes in, especially when the none coming in starts earlier than normal.  :p  Hey, life in aviation...

Kaylee and Mr. Buck, getting ready to perform.

Kaylee didn't want me to take her photo right afterwards, so I took a picture of Steve instead.  ;)

Here's a pic of her medal.  She informed me I turned it backwards, the pin isn't supposed to show.  Oops.  But the medal is still the important part, right? 

Still Going

Kaylee had another two-hour delay today, and will have another tomorrow.  Tomorrow's is for wind chill.  Right now we have 30 knot winds, light snow blowing all over, and temps dropping to single digits again.  Next Thursday they're talking of -15F regular temps, not counting wind chill.  Yowza.

Kaylee said she thinks she did well on her Government test.  She was able to do her first practice with her pianist.  She said the first round didn't go so well, the second round started smoothing out, but she's not consistent or good enough to go yet.  Tonight she practiced for at least a couple hours, which is the most I've ever heard her practice a sax piece at one time, ever.  Tomorrow is her last practice day.  She got a paper done last night, and another one done today.  She's getting it done, a bit at a time.

Tonight we took a few minute and ran next door, where she opened her presents and we had some cake.  Then she came home and worked again for awhile, before two of her friends dropped by for a quick birthday thing of their own.  They brought her a piece of carrot cake from Outback and stayed an hour or so before heading out.  They also brought a dog with them.   Fluffy.  That's not his name, just he's actually fluffy.  They left, she kept working until about midnight, knowing that she had a two-hour delay tomorrow anyway.

We had a new cleaning lady stop in to look around.  It's an Amish lady with three daughters who come with her.  She said they'd be through our house in 1.5 hours the first time, and about an hour after that.  A mini army of Amish ladies plowing through cleaning our house in an hour will be an impressive sight.  We're letting the others go, because they move everything around, leave it in weird spots, and don't actually clean all that well.  The Amish lady will be done in a fraction of the time, with her three helpers, but will charge us half of what the other lady charged us.  So, we'll see how it goes.  She seemed very nice, and I'm sure they're efficient.  They have someone who drives them in a car, as they're not allowed to drive a car themselves.  He waits on them, which is why I presume they got good at doing this fast.  That and they do 4-5 jobs in one day.  The other people could only do 1-2 jobs per day.  These ladies are getting it DONE.  :)

Just a quick photo or two.  This is a little 6" cake, but it's super good, and it has fresh blueberries on top.  You can't read the writing on the cake, but it says "Happy 18th Kaylee".  It's in chocolate, which I took off and put on a plate so you could see it better.  The candles also sparkler a bit, thus that on the photo. 

On that note, I'm pooped.  Bedtime.  Don't have any flights for the foreseeable future, thanks to Mother Nature.  Still tired.  Go figure.

Adulting

Don't tell, but Kaylee started her birthday morning at 6 am lying on the couch snugged up to me under a blanket on the couch.  Her school had a two-hour delay, and all of us woke up early for no good reason.  She requested a birthday breakfast, so I made her my specialty scrambled eggs and cheese rolled into a tortilla, and some mocha coffee, and then she headed off to school.  I went next door for a few minutes, then hit J Edwards to pick up the 36 cupcakes I got for her for school, and took them out to Eastern.  They looked delicious, and she had 8 extra, she said, so I stole one from the bottom tray, to eat on my way home.  I wish I had a picture of them. They were specialty chocolate chip cupcakes, with delicious frosting, chocolate swirls and chocolate chips on top, and gold sprinkle dust.  She said they were a big hit in Encore, and she gave some to other teachers too.  :)

On the way home, I tried to eat my cupcake.  I ended up with crumbs on my shirt, in my hair, frosting on my fingers, frosting on my pants.  I looked like the 1 year old who dug into their first birthday cake.  And it was totally worth it.  Delicious.

After lunch, Steve went out and bought us a new refrigerator.  It'll be delivered next Friday.  I'm actually looking forward to it.  It's funny, the silly things you look forward to.  I've never had a new fridge, what can I say!

Kaylee had after school practice until 7:30 pm.  I texted her, and said whatever she wanted to eat, I'd have it delivered to the house when she got here.  She just wanted crepes and a sweet tea, so that's what we did.  I had crepes, and turkey and corn and stuffing.  I overate today.  I was ravenous today.  You ever have those days?  I did get my walking and exercises in at least. 

However, when Kaylee got home, she was feeling pretty overwhelmed.  She has a test tomorrow in AP Government that she hasn't had time to study for yet.  She has a paper due tomorrow she hadn't had time to work on yet.  She has three movements she has to learn for her saxophone solo for ISSMA by Saturday, and she's practicing for the first time with her pianist tomorrow, and she JUST got the 3rd movement today.  She has to learn it tonight so she can practice it with her accompanist tomorrow.  She only has tomorrow and Friday to practice, before she has to try to go for a gold in the highest class of competition for a solo sax.  She's really feeling overwhelmed.  So while I also have a cake and some presents, and we were going to go next door and celebrate a bit, she just didn't have the time or the ability to relax and enjoy it tonight.  So we postponed while she got to work on her stuff.

In the meantime, my girl is an adult.  *sniff*

Errand Day

This is going to be a "today I" list. 

I stopped at the post office on the way to lunch, and had a full box and keys to two packages for Kaylee.  Today was my first day back to lunch in a long time, like a good week or so, and Ty made fun of me because he said "Here I thought you didn't come to lunch yesterday because it was too cold outside, and then I'm walking outside and I see this Aerostar come flying over the top of my head, yanking and cranking around!"  I said "Huh, must have been Nathan."  And he says "And then I go to the airport and you know what I saw?"  I said "Nathan?"  He said "NO.  I didn't see you either, but everyone out there ratted you out."  lol 

After lunch, Steve and I went to Lowe's to look at refrigerators.  The maintenance hangar fridge went out, so we're going to take ours out there, and buy a new one ourselves.  Our fridge is older than our marriage, it was here before I was, and is still running just fine.  But it'll be nice to have a new one.  We'll even get one with ice and water in the door, you know, like they started doing 20 years ago probably?  ;)  We're getting "black stainless steel" which should look good in here.  The only appliances left in the house from before I came along now are the stove/oven, and the washing machine. 

From Lowes, Steve and I parted ways.  He went to the airport and worked on projects, and I ran a system of errands designed to be the most efficient path possible.  I went from Lowe's to Glenndale, Glenndale to the bank on Dixon, right past Kroger where I got fuel for $.20/gallon off thanks to my rewards card, straight on to Panera to pick up soup for Ann, across the street to UPS to drop off a package for Steve.  Then home, because I had 4 glasses of iced tea at lunch and I needed to go to the bathroom, and get Ann her soup.  Then back out to Kohls to pick up something for Kaylee, then three doors down to Party City to pick up a card and some plates and gift bag.  I forget what I did after that.  Fed the cats.  Twice.  Did the dishes.  Do you care?  Not really. 

Steve was pleased with his productivity.  Kaylee was pleased with what she got done today.  I was pleased with what I accomplished today.  Now I feel like watching some TV and going to bed so I can wake up early and make Kaylee a Birthday Breakfast.  She'll be 18 years old, a legal adult, tomorrow morning.  She can vote, buy cigarettes, get a tattoo, join the military, get a piercing...and the funny thing, the only one of those she has any intention of doing is voting.  And maybe getting another ear piercing.  ;)

Deep Freeze

I've been walking and watching my eating for about 3 weeks now.  I'm down about 5 pounds.  What's discouraging is that it takes three weeks of walking and eating carefully to do that, and one big meal and I'd probably be right back where I started.  But it's better to be headed in the right direction than the wrong one, anyway.  I wish you could do something drastic to drop it all off and then just be able to do a little bit like this to maintain.  So does everyone else in the world, I know.

It was brutally cold today.  Steve went out to the airport and got a bunch done, then went to lunch, while Kaylee slept in (MLK Day), and I woke up early but wanted to stay home and warm.  But the guys needed to start some work on the Aerostar, compressions, oil change, etc., and to do that it needs run.  So I went out after lunch, and took it up along with Michelle B's dad, to go on a little flying jaunt.  I don't know how long we were up, not super long, and back down in the bitter cold.  It was pretty, clear blue, and lots of white around.

Pizza was for dinner tonight.  With the current attempts at being better, I included no breadsticks, no dessert brownie cookies, no meat, and no thick crust.  It was still good.  At least it's not just salad or something.

Kaylee's birthday is in 2 days, and we're not really doing anything.  That seems really wrong.  She couldn't come up with anything she'd like to do. She's busy from 8 am to 8 pm on her actual birthday, and that next weekend she has ISSMA for sax and vocal.  She's stressed out trying to get ready for all that, plus she is in musical rehearsals and has to have lines memorized and such.   I got her some cupcakes to take to school, but they won't be ready in time on Wednesday, so we'll do them Thursday.  I'd like to do something special for her--it's her 18th birthday--and nobody including her can think of what, or when.  I brought up taking her and some friends to Indy to a musical, or to Chicago even. She didn't bite on it, and didn't want to spend the money. She knows she's going to Oregon in the Spring.  Help! I need inspiration...and I have like two days to come up with something beyond a cake (I got that).

I didn't get any air shots since I had a guest on board and we talked the whole time, but here are ground shots of the hangar and parking area.

Captivity, Day Two

Not really, it's not that bad out.  Well, the back roads are, but I assume the city is fairly all right.  We didn't get buried by a lot of snow, but we did get some snow, ice, and a lot of wind, and that wind has been the biggest problem, blowing closed runways and some roads. 

Kaylee made some homemade hot chocolate for a school project yesterday, so we all got to enjoy the benefits of that.  It was a perfect time for it, too.

Steve made pancakes, bacon and eggs this morning, so that was pretty awesome too.  If you're going to be indoors for a weekend, it's important to have enough good stuff to eat.  :)

Kaylee hasn't been dizzy since, although she said her head did feel a little funny staring at a screen for very long.  I still don't know what that was, but am concerned it'll hit again when she starts dancing/maneuvering a lot again.

Steve's been busy cleaning the snow off of the back sidewalks, front sidewalk to the house, keeping things cleared off.  He came back in and said that our neighbor across the street had used his snow plowing machine to clear off the sidewalk in front of our house, our driveway entrance, and Ann's sidewalk all the way up to her door.  That's amazing these days, and we so appreciate it.  I'm going to see about getting him a gift certificate and a thank you card.  You don't see neighbors like that anymore.  Pretty great!

I'm a moderator on a Facebook aviation page that has about 48,000 members.  One guy kept posting aggressive, mean, political posts, attacking another guy, which is against the page rules, so a different moderator muted him (so he can't post) and deleted the offending posts.  The guy went ballistic on Private messages.  So I wrote him to try to soothe things down.  He went off on me too, and ended up threatening to sue my Commie Left-Wing self for First Amendment violations.  SO much wrong with what he's saying that it's just...funny.  He said it would cost me $10,000 to hire a federal lawyer and blah blah blah.  I ended up not communicating with him any more, after being very careful about what I said anyway, but I'd like to see any lawyer file a suit for him against me, a volunteer moderator of a group, who did not see or delete his posts, nor did I mute him, nor does it have anything to do with First Amendment rights, and he made posts clearly violating the posted rules of the private group he was in.  Gooood luck to him.  Two of the other moderators are worried about him costing them money.  I could not be less concerned about that.  I just think he needs anger management counseling, honestly.

Well, we're just trying to get stuff done around here, relax a little, enjoy the down time, appreciate the day.

Cured

I don't know what Kaylee had, but she kept down her last meal of the day, the first food she'd kept down all day, and then went to sleep on the couch in the living room.  When she woke up in the morning, she felt weak and wobbly, but no longer dizzy or sick.  She held off until about 11 am, then she went ahead and went back to school.  She was fine.  Weak, but fine.  We have no idea what happened, why, what cured it, nothing.  It was just weird.  I'm really grateful she's better today though.  Every time she lifted her head, moved her eyes around, sat up, ate, anything that involved movement, she threw up.  No good, no good at all.  So glad she's better today, though!

We're hunkering down for the day or two we'll be housebound while this next winter storm comes through.  I have enough of the basics, and it'll only be a couple days anyway.  But Saturday is when it all comes in, supposedly 4-7" of snow, 40 mph winds, a glaze of ice.  Then Sunday the temps drop to the teens, and Monday the temps drop to sub zero.  So the snow and ice won't have a chance to melt off for awhile, which will probably take the airport out of consideration anyway.  The cold would do it for me too on Monday.  No need to fire up airplanes in -10F actual temp.  No need to drag ME out in -10F days either.

It's a good couple of days to do laundry, set up a flight bag, clean up a few things, organize a few things, fill out my insurance form that Walt sent me for his T-6, and wait to find out about the B-17.  James said it's been delayed but they're hoping for an update in the next week.  I wish I could be getting some Twin Beech time in here, but the weather is not cooperating.  Naturally.

Oh.  I got a notice that the WASP Wing CAF T-6 groundschool is required for the pilots, being held Feb. 23 & 24th, in Texas, of course.  I could not go, but then I won't be able to fly the plane.  I might not be flying the plane anyway.  But they're combining it with the groundschool for the B-24, and said to sign up there.  I look at that, and it says you have to be a member of the B-24 squadron to attend their groundschool.  Their website says they're the groundschool for the B-24, C-45 (or Twin Beech, which I will also need, for our own Wing), and T-34.  It does not mention T-6.  I don't know whether I should go or not, if I can do the groundschool for T-6 and C-45 at the same time, if I'd have to pay to join the squadron like they say to take their groundschool, and the main problem...Richard-Head the Jerk is the one in charge of this.  I'm not super interested in attending a groundschool he is teaching.  In fact, I'm not much interested in being around him at all.   So, I'm torn.  If I don't attend, I remove any chance I had of flying the WASP T-6 again for anything they're doing.  If I do, it'll cost a lot of money to get and stay there in Texas for a few days, I still am unlikely to be flying the Six anyway, and I may have to deal with Richard-head again in a less than positive capacity.  I'm also going to be alone amongst a bunch of the B-24, C-45, T-34 CAF pilots that I don't know.  That's hard for me.  I wish I was better at schmoozing and socializing, and sometimes I wish I wasn't the fish out of water.  If I was an older man, it would be easier to blend in and disappear and just get the job done.  :)

I did enjoy getting Walt's T-6 insurance form to fill out though.  It gives me something very Spring-like to prepare for and look forward to.  We are preparing for warbird flying.  That makes me smile.

Dizzy

Ann is doing well.  She's getting stronger faster, sleeping great, and feeling much better, these last few days.  It was one month ago tonight that we had to run her to the ER.  I'm so grateful she is turning the corner and getting back her mojo.  :)

On the other hand, Kaylee was sitting at home on the couch, turned funny, rubbed her eye, sat up, and was overwhelmed with vertigo.  Steve and I were at lunch and she called me and asked me to please come home because she couldn't move.  I got home, and soon after, she started throwing up.  We've lost track of how many times she's thrown up since then.  A dozen, most likely.  Any time she sat up or rolled over or moved.  Sometimes even if she didn't move.  She has a serious case of vertigo.  When she'd drink water, eat crackers, anything that went in came back up.  I tried to get her a Dramamine, but it did nothing.

Today her school was canceled for weather, but her Encore group was still going down to Indy to sing the National Anthem to open the NBA game for the Indiana Pacers.  Kaylee tried three times to get ready, to get up.  She got up and put on eyeshadow, and threw up.  Got up and put on deodorant, and threw up.  Got up to try to brush her hair, threw up, and called in and said she couldn't go.  No way she could ride on a bus down to Indy and back in a group, sing, watch a game, when she can't sit up or stand up without throwing up.  She is pretty unhappy about missing this.  The group went down, warmed up, got to be on the floor with the players, got a group photo taken with them, which will be in the display case at school, which she will not be in, and got to sing.  The Gaithers were even there at the game.  So, she is confused, as to what on earth could be causing this, and so disappointed that it just whapped up at her out of the blue and incapacitated her.  She has musical practice coming up, and just can't be sick for very long.  None of us has any idea what caused it or what to do about it.   One person suggested "moving the crystals in her ears" by hanging her head backwards off the bed and rolling around slowly, which we did, which made her throw up again, twice, but hasn't seemed to help.  So I don't know what's wrong or why, but ugh.

I have a video of the kids singing at the arena.  I don't have any video but on Twitter which none of you has, or maybe one, and Facebook, which hopefully most of you have.  So here's the Facebook link to the video.

The only positive is this last time that Kaylee got up to go to the restroom, she actually didn't get sick.  She was still super dizzy, but at least she didn't throw up the spaghetti (no butter no sauce) and crackers and water she'd gotten down.  She's about to have to get up to brush her teeth and put in her Invisiline, something she hasn't been able to wear all day because she kept throwing up.  Here's hoping she makes it okay, and that she feels better tomorrow...

Minion

Last night before I went to bed, that Minion was in the kitchen staring at me, creeping me out.  So I got an idea, and moved it in front of Kaylee's door, so that when she got up in the morning she'd come out and see it standing there.  It made me chuckle as I went to bed.  Later in the day I asked her if it got her, and she laughed and said it certainly startled her.  She took it to school, and they had a two-hour delay for weather.  Meredith loved it and hauled it around the school all day.  At one point it got away from her and floated to the ceiling, and they had to call a janitor to get it down off the ceiling.  It caused much hilarity throughout the day.  She also had her first musical practice, and got her script.  She already has it all marked up and highlighted, and has to have her first scene memorized next week.  She said after Act 1 Scene 3, she's in every scene for the rest of the musical, and usually at least has one line.  She's so excited about this whole thing, it's fun to watch her get excited about it.

Tomorrow after school Encore is traveling down to Indy and they will be singing the National Anthem at the Indiana Pacers NBA game.  We wanted to go.  I've never seen an NBA game, and I want to see her sing at it, but unfortunately we were really busy and distracted at the time when we had to get tickets, so we missed it.  I'm kind of bummed...somebody better take photos/video for me.

I'm doing these exercises too, can't remember if I said that already.  Day 1 is arms, Day 2 is legs, Day 3 is abs, Day 4 is cardio, then you rotate through.  You're supposed to do so many reps of 5-6 different exercises, then rotate that 3-4 times each.  I can do the reps of the 5-6 different exercises...once.  It's like 10 of these, 15 of these, 5 of these, etc. for 5-6 different moves.  I've got one time through each in me.  After that, I had sore arms.  And legs.  And abs.  Hey, you have to start somewhere.  ;)

Here's photos from Kaylee's Minion.

This was my view around the corner of this thing staring into the living room.

And closer...

How I positioned him for Kaylee to see when she came out of her room

When Mr. Minion floated away to the ceiling and got stuck at school and required a janitor to get him down.

Birthday girl with her Minion

Would You Like Ice With That?

Poor Kaylee.  She got up early, then saw she had a two-hour school delay, and went back to bed.  She got up at the appropriate time, but when she saw it was 7:45 am, she got mixed up, and thought she was already going to be late for school.  After she left, annoyed and upset, my phone went off and said "School is canceled for today. It's an E-Learning Day!"  I tried to call her, and text her, but being the good girl that she is, her phone is on standby and in the back seat while she drives.  She got all the way to school before finding out she had no school today, and if she had school today, she'd have been way early for it.  lol  So she drove back home.  ;)

Later this afternoon, Kaylee and I went out to the Party Store, where she picked up a 3.5' tall "Minion" balloon for her friend M's birthday tomorrow.  This thing is huge.  She will be pretty mad if they don't have school again tomorrow, because she's dying to give it to M and make her carry it around at school all day tomorrow.  lol

I had a dental appointment, and I was in the chair for a solid hour getting numbed, needled, drilled and filled.  I have a new temporary crown while they get my permanent one made.  It was really pretty stressful.  Dentistry...ugh.  It hurts, it smells, it's uncomfortable, and I have someone in my face, crammed in my mouth, for an hour.  I hate everything about it, and it hits almost every neurosis I have in one.  If he had a pet spider on his shoulder and a dirty bathtub behind him, that would cover it all.  My jaw still hurts, at almost 1 am here.

I came home from that, and rested for a little bit before taking the 340 over to Muncie.  I needed to decompress for a bit first.  The airplane needs to go over for maintenance, and today was not the best weather day, but it was the best weather day we are going to have for at least a week.  So I ran it over there.  Meanwhile, Steve and Nathan had flown to Stuart, Florida today.  They were going to be back around 5:30 or so, so we agreed they'd just pick me up at Muncie.  It ended up taking them about an hour longer than expected for whatever reason, so I hung out at the FBO and waited for them, had some coffee, and even chatted with an airport bum and a line guy.  They dropped in, we got some gas, and headed for home.

It was a scuddy day around here, 400-500' overcast most of the day.  It was also super icy, but fortunately the tops of the clouds were at like 3700'.  So I climbed up on top of them, went to Muncie, then descended through the ice on an RNAV approach in.  I hand flew it, to keep myself sharp, and was listening to ice ping off the plane.  I took a second to look around at the ice, and popped the boots as it was accumulating pretty well.  Found the runway, made my landing, and took some pictures of the ice that built up just on one approach in.  The Cheyenne didn't get as much ice coming in, but it did pick up a fair amount on the approach back into Kokomo.  I sat in the back and watched out the window.  Pretty interesting, really.

So, photos from today.

Kaylee and her giant Minion balloon.

One of its eyes is bigger than her whole head.

This is what it looked like on top of the cloud layer today.  Beautiful, clear.

Skimming along on top of the clouds.

Ice on the spinner of the 340

On antennas and such.

Engine cowl

Underneath dangly things getting iced over.

And this is what it looked like on the ground underneath that layer.  Bleh.

A little side spinner action.

Nathan and Steve up front in the Cheyenne.

Cheyenne's windshield wipers are a little icy

Cheyenne nose

Head on

Wingtip light

Outside Air Temp (OAT) tube.

Side view of the OAT tube

I pulled the cap of ice off the wingtip light.  The slight heat from the LED lights melted the ice into a smooth sheet on the inside.  It was pretty cool, actually.

I almost thought about trying to save this.  lol

So that's the photos of mostly icy stuff.  It's pretty looking.  Not to be trifled with, but pretty.

Winter Has Arrived

Getting all the way into mid-January before we got our first real snowstorm or even real cold temps, that isn't bad.  But it looks like it's going to go downhill from here.  This whole week we're looking at cold, sleet, and another system moving through of snow this weekend.  Yay. 

I lost most of the weekend; I didn't feel well.  I slept so much on Sunday trying to feel better that I was up until 3 am watching a Rocky Marathon trying to get sleepy.  ;)  Sunday was the only day I didn't get my walking in, though.

Kaylee drove to school today with a two hour delay.  She said the snow was blowing around so much she couldn't see very well and had a couple close calls, but she made it.  These are the things to make a parent nervous.  But she has to gain the experience somehow. You can't just drive in perfect conditions all the time and become a better driver. 

Kaylee is still pumped about being main cast.  She has three outfit changes, and they met for the first time today. She's back out there tonight for Encore practice, 6-9 pm.  Busy girl.  Busy happy girl.  :)  Now we feel like we can relax again.  So stressful waiting to find out such things of high importance to a high school senior young lady!

I flew the Cherokee 180 today on a second test flight to check out the engine and a few other things.  The airport got all 8" of snow out of the way by Sunday, and all our hangars plowed out in front of too.  Pretty impressive!  The Cherokee doesn't have an N# plate inside so I just called it "Cherokee somethingorother" on my initial call, and "Cherokee" from then on.  The airspeed indicator and VSI were wonky, but everything else seemed to run fine.  It started well at least, after being without any preheat in sub freezing temps. 

Steve and I worked on the Toga a little bit after that, removing bolts from the left wing.  He was below, tapping them out, and I was inside, trying to grab the bolts and washers ($30 per washer) and stop them from falling down a hole I couldn't get them out of.  Out of 12 bolts and 12 washers, I lost one bolt and one washer, and Steve thinks he can get them back later.  I don't really have the graceful fingers to do that job without some loss, and crawling around in there reaching in a little hole is hard, even with little hands and fingers.  But we got the job done. One more thing accomplished for the day!  I really shouldn't be a mechanic though, this I do know.

At home, while Steve went next door and Kaylee went back to school for Encore practice, I got my exercise in.  Walking, and some weight bearing exercises I've added.  I've only had a salad and a bowl of cereal to eat thus far today, but I'm not hungry yet.  I presume that will be around 11 pm.  ;)

After lunch we stopped at Kroger to pick up my next order of groceries.  I ordered them Saturday, felt icky Sunday, so scheduled to pick them up today after lunch.  Perfect timing, super easy, and we have what we need.  I ordered online, paid with one click of the button, drove to the store, called and told them I was there, they came out and put them in the car.  They also have online coupons associated with the items, and you can just take advantage of the coupons right there.  No more cutting out coupons, I can just do it all digitally.  It's nice.  Weird, in a way, but nice.  :)

Photos from today.  A rare day of blue skies.

Snow piles

Glenndale Airport dressed in white

Glenndale Airport

The inside of the Toga where I was trying not to hurt myself or anything in there, or drop bolts or washers.

Winter, Apparently

I wasn't home much today.  I left around 8:50 am to go to the airport to go to Pennsylvania with Nathan and a fellow named Greg, in the Aerostar,  We got on top of a layer of clouds and cruised there with a nice tailwind, and I came home down low to avoid the resulting headwind, by myself.  Read a book on the way home in peace and quiet, something I'm liking more and more.

Ran and got some lunch, back out to Kokomo for a checkride prep flight until 6:30 pm.  Home again, time to rest.  It's supposed to be a crappy a day tomorrow as far as weather, we're looking at 5-7" of snow.  We'll see what we actually get.  I don't trust these guys any more.

Kaylee texted us at 3 pm that she was nervous, and the director hadn't posted the list yet, and had two different lists where she wasn't sure who she was going to put where in some spots yet.  At 3:15, Kaylee texted us the list, and I tried to find her name on it.  That was stressful.  ;)  She got Minnie, which is main cast, #3 on the list of female main cast.   It's not a huge main cast part, but it is main cast.  She's also in the dance scenes, which she really wanted to be in too.  So, she's pleased, and I think we'll all be able to sleep better tonight.  ;)

Blue skies, on top.  Somewhere in Indiana, Ohio, W. Virginia, or Pennsylvania.

Callbacks and Kentucky

Bright and early, Dustin and I launched for Frankfort, Kentucky.  While we were on final, I looked around and realized that I've been here before.  I don't know why, it wasn't MBros, and I don't know in what, although I've got the RG in my head.  I've definitely been there.  It's bitter cold today, wind chill around 4-8 degrees. My fingers were numb under gloves pulling the plane in and out.  But once in the plane, with the heater running, on top of the clouds, we were warm and comfortable, and it was a nice view.

We were going there because the company had a likely job at a private company there--Buffalo Trace.  That's one of the bourbons we have on the deck.  So I joked with Steve that I hoped Dustin brought me back some samples.  But Dustin was there to collect samples, of sludge, to test, so I had to qualify that I didn't want THAT kind of sample.  He didn't come back with either type of sample after all.

We weren't on the ground for long.  Dustin brought me back a Jimmy John's sandwich, and we headed home to a fierce headwind.  When we got home, I put the plane away in the nice blasty cold wind, then dragged out a Cherokee 180 that needed test flown, and took it up.  That was one of the saddest Cherokees I've flown.  That was one old girl.  No brakes on either side, just the hand brake. Weird door latch.  Torn up back seats.  Wonky Airspeed indicator and VSI.  Suuuuuper old.  But it ran just fine, at least.  I flew around until snow showers and low ceilings were moving in and I had to land as I was losing visibility in the pattern.

Kaylee's callback auditions were tonight.  She was again very pleased with how it went.  She was able to read for Dolly twice, and then the rest of the time she read for Minnie.  She said she sang pretty well, but Casey sang better.  She also said Casey had obviously gone home and practiced Dolly from the same places she had, because when she got back this time, she was doing Dolly exactly like Kaylee had been doing it, like Barbara Streisand had done it in the movie.  So she'd finally gone home and done some homework, and she is probably going to get that part.  Kaylee never got to read for the #2 lead, and that's probably going to Meredith.  She said she did a great job on Minnie, the #3 main cast, and she thinks she's held onto it and will hopefully and likely get that part.  She came home excited and upbeat, that her and her friends have good chemistry for the play, and that if it comes out this way, they'll have fun with it and enjoy it.  Now all we have to do is wait for two days to find out for sure if she made it in.  I might have fingernails and a stomach lining left in two days.  ;)

So, one AIRMET (Airmen's Meterological Information) says Moderate turbulence between 16,000' and 38,000'.  The next AIRMET says Moderate turbulence below 16,000'.  Why didn't they just say "Moderate Turbulence from the surface to 38,000'?" 

Morning light on the cloud tops on the way to Kentucky

This Blackhawk was coming in as we were leaving.  It was pretty cool, a little distracting.  Female pilot, was neat to see maneuvering right in front of us.

This was our code on the way home.  Good thing we're not superstitious! 

Drama Mama

The call-back list was posted this morning, and Kaylee was on it, so she'll be going back Wednesday for the rest of the auditions.  She is probably being called back for Minnie.  Another girl, named Molly, is also being called back for Minnie.  There are so many variables and factors in all this, that I do not have confidence in anything as far as what she'll end up with. It could be anything, or nothing.  Today a 'friend' of hers told her that he thought it was "cringy" how she had so many lines memorized, and was looking out at the audience, and had spent so much time memorizing the parts.  That it was embarrassing and weird, basically, that she went for it.  She told one of her closest friends what this friend had said, and her friend (who is competing for main cast, and Dolly in fact), basically agreed and said it made her laugh a little.  This set Kaylee back a little and hurt her feelings a bit.  It was okay for previous "leads" in a play to come to auditions having prepared and practiced so much they knew the lines, but when she did it it was "cringy".  She said she was very proud of that audition, that she knows she did a really good job on it, that it's the best audition she's ever done, and that she did it right.  She doesn't believe it was embarrassing, but it bothers her that other people would see it that way.  I told her they were jealous, that it wasn't her fault that they hadn't prepared as well as she did, and that she did exactly what you're supposed to do if you're going to be a professional, or a star, or the best at something.  You combine talent with a whole lot of preparation, hard work, and practice, and then you go up there and blow everyone else out of the water who didn't do that.  And then they will try to drag you down, get in your head, sabotage you, make fun of you, and otherwise bring you down to bring themselves up.  I begged her not to let them get in her head for call-backs Wednesday, but to go back out there and put it all out there again.  She said "Even if they're going to make fun of me, huh?"  And I said you bet.  Don't limit yourself because of their interpretation.  Whatever comes of it, whatever parts happen, politics and hierarchy have just as much to play in this as talent.  But don't be less than you can be because of some jealous person.  I was proud of her.  I hope she stays the course and does another job that she'll be proud of, and doesn't let them diminish her. *Whatever* happens after that, whatever part she ends up with.  Minnie is a high pitched ditzy girl who squeaks.  It's an annoying to the listener role, and not super big, but it's main cast, so here's hoping she at least gets that...or that maybe a miracle will happen at callbacks and Mrs. E will be so impressed she'll change her mind and give her a shot at one of the other two truly main roles, Irene or Dolly.  Kaylee would make a good Dolly, I tell you.  :)

We feel really blessed today, because we think that we solved Ann's medical issues, with the doctor's help.  She was having a really awful day, and I wrote up a timeline of exactly what was happening, when, symptoms, medications, the whole ball of wax from the last 3 weeks, and Steve drove it out to the doctor's office and spoke to them in person.  While doing that, the doc realized that she had been pulled off of a medication by the hospital, that she needed.  She said "I've been treating her for years, and I know she needs this medicine!"  She ordered it at CVS, I picked it up within the hour, and she should start feeling better soon, a little more each day!  What this really brings home to me, is that medications are so critical for us all to keep an eye out for on ourselves and loved ones.  Medication errors can be deadly.  Richard was given the wrong dosage of a medicine, and it was 10 times what he should have been getting, and it hit him horribly.  Now Ann was over-prescribed a medication that caused her heart rate to plummet, and then she was taken off of a medication she actually needed to keep taking.  All by good, well-meaning doctors who were mostly doing the right things, for the right reasons, but with unintended consequences.  Just a reminder to us all, that if something isn't looking or feeling right, one of the first places to look is medications.  So glad to finally have an answer and solution.  :)

Tomorrow I've got a trip to Kentucky, and then hopefully am back in time for a student at 2 pm, for checkride prep, then test fly a Cherokee, then hear how Kaylee's callback auditions are going.  Busy day!  I should go to bed.  ;)

Mondays

Christmas is gone from the house.  Steve took Sunday and got everything down--tree, outside lights, inside stuff, all of it, and out to the garage, pretty much by himself, which is a huge job.  It's good to have the deck and house back to normal, too, though.

We had the most beautiful weekend, with temps so warm I didn't even have a jacket on, in sunshine.  We got some flying in on Saturday, and Sunday we just stayed home and worked around the house.  But I truly enjoyed this weather in January.  It makes days like today more palatable.  Today the sky was gunmetal grey, the winds kicked up high, it spat rain, the clouds hung low and dirty looking, it was just a bleh kind of day.  It's hard not to let my mood reflect the sky's mood some days.  I may be a Pisces, but I seem to be more attuned to air than water.  ;)

Ann was having a great day, then got sick at the end of the day.  I wish we could learn why, what is going on, and fix it.  :(

Kaylee had auditions tonight.  She was really proud of how she did, said she nailed Dolly.  She also did the best job on "Millie", and the director seems to be pointing her into that role instead.  She's annoyed because she feels she had a better performance than the other two girls who seem to be being considered for Dolly, but both those girls have had main cast roles before, and Kaylee hasn't, so it's a little guessing that the hierarchy would have one of them get it instead whether they were better or not.  I don't think it should be that way, I think if you can outperform someone, you should get the role.  But what do I know.  If Kaylee does get Millie, she will at least be main cast, the smallest role of the three leading ladies, so that will meet that goal, at least.  She worked really hard on Dolly though, and one of the other two girls didn't practice a thing on it, and sings flat every time.  The other girl DID practice, and her mom is the head of the boosters, who does all the work for ticket sales, setting up stage, etc.  This is why I don't like politics....

I think she finds out callbacks after school tomorrow, which we're both assuming she at least gets a call back (THAT would be bad!), and then performs again Wednesday, to finish making up the director's mind.

I had a school board meeting tonight that was loud, long, and involved a bit of an argument.  That's always fun.

Well, busy day tomorrow too.  Shall try to sleep.

Singing

After school today Kaylee had the singing and dancing initial audition.  She said that the dancing went well, that Mrs. E complimented her group of girls for "excellent footwork".  She put lots of facial expressions into it and went for it.

After school, Kaylee practiced her song a couple of times, and then took a nap and didn't sing again, to save her voice.  At the auditions, she was one of only three girls who picked this particular song to sing, which is probably a good thing.  You stand out more.  When it came time to sing, she was nervous because normally she would practice non-stop, and this time she couldn't.  The opening notes played, and then you belt out the first line, and she says she hit it, and heard it, and knew she'd hit it, and she just ran with it from there, and felt really good about the song.  :)  She says she hit one note a little sharp, but other than that she felt it was a strong performance.  She's picky on herself, so if she felt good about it, I felt good about it.  :)

Monday is the acting auditions, and she says she is *ready* for that.   I know she is, I've heard her in there practicing, and she has entire sections memorized.  She's working hard for it!

I'm sitting here watching a bit of a show called "My 600 lb life".   I have next to me a cup of hot tea, and one chocolate cluster that I saved up for a treat.  I've been getting my walking in, I've been watching food again, and seeing this poor woman bedridden, over 700 lbs now, using the restroom on a pet pee pad on her bed because she can't get up, is making it hard for me to eat that chocolate right now.  I'm managing it during commercials, mind you, but let's just say it reinforces that 1) it's never too late to start doing better again, 2) it could be much worse, and 3)

I didn't intend on that being so giant, and I can't figure out how to make it small, and yet it kind of works, too.  I don't even know what to say, other than after hearing her story, I feel pretty blessed again, in all of life, not just my health, which is quite good, but in my family, in my home, in my friends...in everything.  Trust me, we are definitely blessed.

It was a beautiful sunset tonight.  Fire reds across the sky.  I flew just before the reds hit, and was disappointed I wasn't up for the grand finale of the day, didn't get a photo of this one.  It was amazing.  This one will just have to live in my memory.

Me and a fella in the 172RG this afternoon.  Speaking of size, I just realized, you can see me sitting up against the door as much as I can, because he's over in my seat too.  Look at the seat backs.  Any time we fly together, he is pressed up against me the whole time.  Every time he moves his arm, he's rubbing it against my side and my arm. You can see his arm on my arm and my shoulder hunched up.  I have a very hard time with that kind of contact, let alone constant contact, and I'm realizing one of the reasons I tend to get kind of grumpy during these lessons.  I feel trapped and smothered.  It'll get better when he gets good enough I can scoot my seat farther back and don't have to be right on the rudders.  I'll work on losing a few inches again myself and get a little more room in my own seat.  :)