A Walk in the Park...

Last Friday I was having a hard day. Todd had been gone almost a week, and the kids didn't have school. They were driving me crazy! I love my guys, but somedays feel a little overwhelming. I decided it was survival mode time. I bribed them to get their chores done with a promise of slushies and a couple of hours at the park. It worked. It saved my sanity... a little. We played for a couple of hours and they were super glad they got slushies. Nichole, her kids, Teresa and Kady joined us also. It felt good to get out of the house.

Tanner and Masen on the slide

TC (I think he is saying live long and prosper...)

Titus enjoying his drink while playing by the pond

Tobyn also enjoying the ducks...

Tate...I think the theme was ducks...

Later that day I ordered Chinese, had it delivered, cooked a couple of frozen pizza's for the kids, rented a Red Box for the kids and I read a good book 'till wee hours of the morning. It was good for me. Sometimes you do what ya gotta do. It's hard not having our own place, and space, but I am SO grateful for family that puts up with us and helps us out!

Jump-seat

Real quick before I tell my story about jump-seating, training is going well down in Dallas. I just got done with the first week that was indoc, basically the rules and regulation that the company follows. I would go to class for 8 hours and then go home and study for a couple of more. I have put in a bid for Dallas and hoping to find out soon if I get it, chances are good.

Okay now to my story about my first jump-seat experience. Jump-seating is something that airlines do for other pilots/flight attendants to help get them around. It's free for the flight crew to do and you can typically jump-seat on other airlines. I was scheduled to come home Monday after our first test to start a new computer based training program they are doing.

I got to the airport about an hour before my flight and discovered that they had changed the terminal on me. I had to run over to the other side of the airport to get there. I checked in for the standby list and the flight is over sold. I missed that flight and was hoping to get on the next one that left a couple hours later. There are two other guys in my class that are from SLC so we kind of have to fight over seats. One of them happened to get his name on the list first so he got on the first flight.

Our hope at this point is that we can get on the next flight but we're nervous because its over sold and there is 30 people on the standby list. We went and got some lunch and came back to find that the jump-seat was open. My friend was senior to me so he would technically get it. He was nice and let me have it because he had went home for the weekend. His plan was to try and jump on a Delta flight.

So I get the ticket and there is no group assignment to load so I waited for a little before I went and asked the clerk. She tells me that I can load any time I want. I get in line and go down and check in with the head flight attendant (FA) and tell her this is my first time jump-seating and I don't know what I'm doing. She tells me to put my luggage in the middle of the plane. I go put it down there and make my way back to the front (after standing and waiting for all the passengers).

After I make it back up to the front they tell me to go to the very back. I make my way to the back and introduce myself to the FA back there (he wasn't very nice). So I have now idea what I'm doing or where I'm supposed to sit. I proceed to just stand there in the back of the plane looking like a total idiot. I didn't know how to get the seat down. Finally one of the other FA came and got in the other seat and saw how he did it and figured out mine.

By this time we have been taxiing for a couple of minutes. I sit down and now I have to figure out how the stupid seatbelt worked. This other guy starts talking on the phone next to him and I can tell they are talking about me. He points to me and tell me to pick up the phone cause the captain wants to talk to me. I'm thinking that I'm in trouble because I have been standing around while we taxied.

I get on the phone and he asks me if I'm pilot or a FA. I tell him a pilot and he tells me that he is going to stop the plane and I need to come get in the cockpit with him. I was so flustered that I didn't comprehend what he said so I started to work on the seat belt. The mean FA comes back there and tells me I can't sit there because I'm a pilot not a FA. I get up and work my way back to the front while we are still taxiing. I could feel every eye in the plane burning a whole in my back. I start talking with the head FA and she felt bad because she didn't ask if I was a pilot or a FA.

The plane stops and they have to put a cart in the isle and one FA on each side of it while they open the cockpit door. I get in there and the captain proceeds to tell me that pilots and FA don't trade jump-seats all while sitting stopped in the middle of the runway. After the lecture I had to figure out how to work this stupid seat and seatbelt. Things went well after that. So that is my jump-seat story, most of you won't appreciate this story but my pilot friends will.

Todd's First Day

American Eagle Airlines, ERJ

Todd Started his training yesterday. He said things went really well. He is 10th oldest out of 23 students in his class, so that puts him at #10 for seniority. He is "based" out of Chicago flying the ERJ. He will continue with training in Dallas. He is still pretty optimistic that with as much movement as there is in the company he will get Dallas when he is done training. He says all the people in his class are really nice and funny thing is, 2 of the guys in the class are 2 guys he interviewed with at Colgan. Small world. He is excited about getting started. His roommate is another guy from Utah so that's kind of cool. I'm glad things are going and can't wait to continue to move forward.

We still feel like things are falling nicely into place and are SO grateful for that! The plans stays as-is right now, to move to TX between Christmas and New Years, but we'll keep updating for the newest news.

Happy Halloween and other updates!

Seems almost all of my posts lately are updates. We've had a busy month. We enjoyed moving...ok maybe not that so much but we did have a fun Halloween. The boys had fun trick-or-treating with friends. It was POORING rain while we tried to get our candy, but with friends and a car anything can be done! The kids loved being able to go up around my moms house and be with their friends, then we came back down to Teresa's and had fun hanging out with family. What a great night.

TC was an "assassin" (his idea not mine) Titus was Men In Black,

Tate was Spiderman, Tanner was a monster, and Tobyn (who happened to be a very sick little boy that night) was superman.

The end of October also brought the end of Flag Football. The boys had a lot of fun this year playing. It was all of their first times playing this sport. I think it was good for them and they all got to know the basics of the sport. Titus said he loved it. TC liked it but wants to do soccer again next year, and Tate loved it but wants to try baseball. So now we know :-)

TC's team

Titus's (and Todds) team.

Tate's team.

We are all settled into Todd's parents house where I will camp out until he gets back from training. He starts Nov. 8th and it will probably go 6-8 weeks. The plan is, right now, to wait for Todd to get done with training, and move at the end of December to Dallas. Things are looking good, but not official, for him getting Dallas sooner rather than later. We are super excited and still keep praying for things to work out.