Sometimes, I hate this lifestyle

Because being a pilots wife is a lifestyle, isn't it?

And sometimes I hate it.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes I love it.  I love the time that I have in my routine with the kids when K is gone.  But I love him coming home.  Like really love him coming home.  And then that time home with him?  It's wonderful, and needed beyond anything I could ever explain.

But sometimes it's really really hard.

K left early this morning for his first week actually 'on the job' after his 3 week training.

Last night we were reading to the kids together before bed, and Goose made it clear that he was ready to nurse.  So I left K to finish reading to Bug, and took Goose to bed.  After I nursed him, sang to him, and got him down I stepped outside and went to go back into Bug's bedroom.  But I paused for a moment and listened before going in.

K was talking to Bug about having to leave this morning.  It was low so I just caught snippets of what he was saying.

But it was what Bug said that broke my heart.

When there was a pause in what K was saying, Bug simply said 'No go daddy, no go.'

It simultaneously broke my heart and made me smile.  I know it broke his heart too.

I let him have his moment with Bug, and I headed downstairs to finish some things from dinner.

So he told me that he let her he would kiss her good bye this morning.  I knew what time he was getting up (4:40) and what time he had to be out the door (5:15) so I didn't want him to go into her room, I knew it would wake her up.

But I couldn't tell him that.  He needed to make that decision on his own.  And I sure couldn't tell him that he couldn't say good bye to his little girl.

So he did this morning, and she ended up whimpering in bed next to me after he left.

It. Was. Miserable.  I felt so bad for her, so horrible, so sad.

K agreed that he wouldn't do a morning good bye again if he left that early.  It was miserable for him too as he was trying to pry her arms from around his neck while she cried into his shoulder.

So tonight my mom picked up the kids for me as I had a work function that had me out just a little later than normal.  I was home by 6, so in time for dinner and bed.  When I got home mom said the kids had been good.

I swear, within 5 minutes, Bug was a MESS.  An absolute wreck.  Didn't want to eat dinner, didn't want to get ready for bed, do her hair, let Goose get anywhere near to her, let anyone touch her.  I tried talking to her about understanding that she misses daddy, but nothing helped.

It finally ended in bedtime without her normal Curious George episode while we get ready, and with no books.  She earned back a song by letting me braid her hair.

After I get Goose down, I went back into her room and cuddled with her for a bit.  I curled up into her and stroked her hair.  I whispered in her ear that I loved her, and that I knew she missed daddy, and so did I.  She simply curled into me more and laid there.

I hate that every time he leaves it throws off everyone's routine.  I hate seeing what it does to our little girl.  I hate that she can't fully communicate just how it affects her.

And sometimes, I hate this lifestyle.

Gender Roles

So we don't really believe in gender roles in this family.

It's nothing we ever really thought about, or talked about, it just is who we are and always have been.

K loves to cook and clean.  Maybe even a little more than I do.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy both as well.  Let's be honest, if I didn't, then we'd eventually starve while he is gone (or be really fat from eating lots of fast food) and my house would be condemned because it would be so gross.  (don't worry, it's not :-))

I enjoy mowing the lawn, doing 'work' around the house.  I've done lots of tiling job, some plumbing, lots of painting, I've helped to lay lots of pergo type flooring, etc etc.  I really really enjoy it actually.  Put it this way, I was the one who tiled part of my parents house by myself (a small part, but whatever) when I was around 6 or 7 months pregnant with Goose.

And I'd bet that the majority of pilots wives are similar, after all, we have to deal with all the crap while our pilots are away.

So anyways.

One of the difficulties of being a pilots wife is sometimes fitting all that crap in.  Especially with 2 kids.  It's really exhausting sometimes, and sometimes I really don't want to do it, and put something off as long as possible.

So we've actually had a lot going on recently.  My best friends wedding, then her reception 3 weeks later back home in T town.  My friend's angel babies 4 birthday party.  Finding a new daycare, preparing to move the kids to said new daycare.  Lot's of craziness going on at work.

So, mowing the lawn.  I actually enjoy doing it.  But I'd enjoy it even more if I could be like 'hey K, I'm gonna go mow the lawn, so have fun playing with the kids while I do so.'  But that's not the reality.  I'm mowing because he's gone.  So I'm doing it in the evenings, after the kids are in bed, after the dinner dishes are cleaned up, and before I shower and do whatever else needs done.

Yeah.  That kinda sucks sometimes.

I've figured out how to make it work for me though.  I break it down into 2 nights.  I'll do the front lawn one night, the back lawn another.  It helps to break it down, and as long as I time it right (and don't leave, you know, days and days between the 2 halves) then it actually works out really well.

So I mowed the front lawn 2 nights ago.  It wasn't too long so I was able to mulch it, which was nice. But I choose the front lawn that night because the back lawn was already longer, and mulching couldn't happen.  And it was a day I took a PTO day to spend with the kids, to take them to meet their new teachers, and I ended up feeling like crap.  Dizzy, headachy, stuffy, sinusy, etc.  And the kids were HORRIBLE.  ALL DAY.

So I picked the easy way, and did the front lawn, and didn't bag it but mulched instead.

So tonight I had to do the back lawn before you know, the neighbors or the city called to see if we were still alive.  Cause it was long people.

But the backyard always needs cleaned up first, you know, chairs, the kids pool, toys, and all that fun stuff.  and the pool needed emptied of course, which I can't just dump it, I feel like I need to use the water to water the gardens, so as not to waste that precious resource.  (timing here is interesting, as T town (my hometown) just had some severe water issues recently with some pretty serious toxins in the water supply.  Like they couldn't even boil it.  Fun times).

So I take care of cleaning up and get to mowing.  As I'm working, I'm writing this post in my head, enjoying myself even though I was SO ready to be chilling watching TV.

And the mower starts putting and coughing halfway through.  And I'm begging and pleading like the dang thing is one of my kids, NOT to run out of gas.

And like our kids so often do, it ignores me.

It puts it's way right to not moving anymore.

And in my non gender role gender moment, I had to call K and explain that like another child, it didn't listen and ran out of gas.

And I had NO idea where the gas was.  In fact, I was just HOPING that there was more gas, as I was looking at half mowed, half long hair looking back at me.  And silently I hung my head while laughing at myself that as I was writing this post in my head about gender roles, I had to call K to tell me where the gas was.  Gotta love moments like those.

Needless to say, by the time everything was done, I finished the last bit of mowing without really being able to see what I was doing, and where I was needing to go.

Always love moments like these :-)

The Pilot Changes

So K was working for a local regional carrier.

And the mainline that that regional carrier did their thing for, well, they closed their hub here.

So the regional carrier ended up losing flights in the mix.

So K went from being domiciled here, to being domiciled in Washington DC.

And he still had lower seniority, so he was only getting a couple of nights worth of hotel room paid for.  And crappy (non) routes as he was getting put on reserve.

So that meant no per diem.  And we had to cover his crash pad.

Seriously people, we were paying for him to work.

It was getting more and more stressful.

So, he went looking.  Well, not really, but he talked to someone that he knows that works at DPJ, and she talked to the Chief Pilot for him.

Interview happened.  Job offer happened.

So, he took it.  Got a raise, became home based.  He's no longer nervous about being 'stuck' in this type of job, he thinks he can still move up to a mainline.

He'll have an 8 day work schedule.  Tuesday to Tuesday.  Consistent, which is NICE in this industry.  I know there will be trips that last longer, and the yearly training will be in his off time, but who cares.  I'll take it.

I told him it didn't matter to me, as long as it didn't harm our family and it made him happy.

So he's currently almost through his 3 week training.

Since I start back to school soon, I'm curious to see how he handles both kids, daycare pick up, dinner, and bed time, when he is home.  It'll be interesting as he's never really had to do it before with both of them.  My mom is going to watch them when he's working on my class days.

I am SO ready for him to be home.  Some days have been easy and others tough.  That's how it goes and I'm OK with that.

But I miss the man.  Oh do I miss him.

I can't wait for his return!!

Sweet moments

Now that K is flying, the kids and I are settlinb into a routine. Some days are easier than others, but we are workingit out. So tonight they were both pretty laid back at bedtime. We got through our routine and I tucked Bug in and went to put goose to bed. Like every night, he was uber excited to nurse. He doesn't nurse often these days, and if it's not sleep time will typically refuse if I offer. But at bedtime he loves it, and tonight was no different. It was incredibly sweet as my typically overactive, never sit still, no cuddle time toddler snuggled into me and happily nursed, sighing with contentment. Our routine is that after i get goose down, i go in and sing bug one more song. She is so much a daddys girl these days it's unbelievable. So tonight after i finished our one more song I got up to leave. In her sweet little girl voice she simply said mama, and reached out her hand. She asked me to rub her back and snuggled into me. I had things to do. Instead I sat and cuddled with my little girl. Because these moments won't last, and my little girl deserves her mama's time. So I hung out while she winded down, holding my hand the whole time. These sweet moments make my day, mean the world to me.

Pilot's Wife?

Yes, I’m still a Pilot’s wife. It’s true, I am :-) We've been both lucky and unlucky since K lost his job 2 years ago as a Flight Engineer on a 727. He didn’t have the hours to get another job for a carrier of any kind. He got his pilot’s license in his 30’s and got the job as an FE because he already worked for the company as an A&P Mechanic and they LOVED him. So he remained unemployed during our move, and then took a few months to spend at home with his little girl, whom he had been gone from 21 days a month for her entire life (sometimes more; during training). So a year and ½ ago he went back to work, but as a flight instructor. Then a year ago he added in some corporate flying on the side, but then that became his ‘main’ job in August of this year. Last summer he was never home. He committed to being home one weekend day and one evening a week this summer, and did that. He just kept chasing the new hour requirements for his ATP. (for those of you non-aviation followers, it’s something required to fly as a Captain/Co-Captain by commercial carriers) It sucked. He kept saying ‘there’s going to be a shortage of pilots and they’ll have to revise the laws’ for months. Then, they FINALLY DID!! He had just barely the right amount of hours for the Revised ATP (R-ATP), and happens to have a degree in aviation from a university that is in the process of getting their approval to be used towards the R-ATP. That is still in process, but in the interim he got hired on by United Express. They are desperate for pilots, so they hired him knowing that they may have to pay him to sit at home until the University’s approval comes through. So a month ago he started training. The first part of training was local, so he was home every night, but laaate every night, and helped get the kids ready for the day in the morning. So they were seeing him for maybe an hour a day during the week (that is rushed of course) and maybe 2 hours on the weekend. Then on Sunday he had to go out to Seattle for his Sim training at Flight Safety. Goose is doing fine with it (10 1/2 months already!!), but Bug, well, she’s not handling it so well. Daycare has mentioned many times over the past 2 weeks that she is sad or emotional during the day. I know it’s because she misses K. She does good most of the time at home with me, and is typically pretty happy, but I know it’s because I’m around. Luckily he got domiciled here at home. Low man on the totem pole we figure he’ll get a lot of 5 day trips in the beginning (that’s their longest stints). I’m good with that, but I’m worried about Bug. For those of you left out there following me that are Pilot wives, any suggestions on helping a 3 ½ year old handling daddy being gone after he WAS home? I feel so bad for her, it’s heartbreaking. And now she wants me more than him, which is sweet for me, but tough on him. We will Skype for sure when we can, but any other thoughts are appreciated. On an awesome note, United Express has flow through to United, which is K’s carrier of choice. So hopefully a handful of years from now he’ll be working for United! AND just because……. I AM SO EXCITED FOR NON REV BENEFITS!!!! (except the first bunch of times I use it will be Kid Free until I am a semi pro at handling it LOL) Any suggestions on non reving? :-)

Quick Updates

K is driving!  I'm So excited!

H went into labor on her own yesterday, shortly after I spoke with her.  In just under 4 hours of labor, and such a quick progression that she went pain med free (and she didn't want to LOL), she delivered beautiful baby P at 9:28 in the evening.  She was 7 lbs, 4 ozs and 20 inches long.  Please keep this family in your prayers, as I know the first 31 days are going to be very difficult for them, while they get past the point that they lost their angel baby. 

Last, a situation that I'm not sure I even ever complained about, our management company for our home that we are renting out back in T Town.  We ended up receiving notice that they were changing companies, and due to the way our contract is written it allowed us an out.  So, I sent them a term notice this morning and we will begin collecting rent directly from the renters in December.  This management company gave us problem after problem after problem... we had to hound them to collect our rent checks to pay mortgage, they wouldn't go over and fix things that needed fixing (including a leaky roof!!!) so we had to get contractors on our own (even though our contract with this company dictated that they were to fix these items), so you can get an idea of how horrible they were.  SO, we are going to be done with them!!

Yippee for keeping the good news coming!!!

Happy Friday!

(could I possibly put any more !! in this post???)

Oh the life of a pilots wife.... and TTC

So, we have a crazy month ahead of us. K is supposed to be released tomorrow, after being gone for 17 days. We're excited, to say the least.

Then.

Because there is always a Then with a pilot. He calls today to verify his rental car for tomorrow, and they tell him that they can't get it yet. Because, they haven't filled an overtime spot that they posted yesterday, and K is low man on the totem pole. Hello Junior Assigned - again - for the 8th month in a row. Junior Assigned basically means he just gets the crap that no one else wants, and is forced into it, which means more time away from home. They can keep him up to 20 days a month before the union contract stipulates that they have to send him home if he asks. Needless to say, if he's not done by Tuesday, he's going to ask.

Why?

Well, crap. We moved less than a month ago, and he left almost right after the move. So it's just been Bug and Me. I'll bet you can guess how much of my house still needs unpacked? Yep, lots. Not that it's a HUGE deal, we're getting by, and I try to get at least a little done every day.

However.

Let me tell you about my week coming up. I work everyday, until at least 5 - like normal. Then Monday and Tuesday evenings after work we are meeting up with potential babysitters (since we have no one else here to watch Bug, it's about time I have someone when needed!) Wednesday afternoon for work we are going to a ball game (I know, tough day), but who knows when I'll make it home from that. Thursday evening we have a work function that includes spouses...at a ball game (lol). Hence, the need for the babysitter. Then Friday, Nana (my mom) and one of K's friends are coming into town. Saturday my best friend C and her daughter are coming, as well as another friend A as well as K's mom and sister. Almost all of them are staying with us.

Yep, house NEEDS to be unpacked. At least mostly. One of the extra beds isn't even put together yet!!!

Sunday, we have Bug's baptism and a gathering for her birthday.

Monday Monday Monday - my little girl will turn 1!! I took the day off, and some of those out of towners coming in will be staying over too. I'm so excited! So much fun!!

So, why the TTC part? Well, we all know when K's job can keep him up to 20 days a month, it's gonna be a bit tough to make another baby through treatments. I'm not stressing about it yet, but I did have to change one of the appointments for next month from the 16th to the 17th because his travel is on the 16th. I told him he had to really kiss scheduling butt to make sure that he IS HOME for the appointments.

I left a message on Tuesday morning for the third office, and it was a double message. One to try to get them in my network as they are not, and two to set up a consult. Guess what? They haven't called me back. K and I agreed that if they can't call back for this, then how would we trust them with the important calls? So, we're just not going to see them unless we absolutely do NOT like one of the other offices/docs. It sucks because it's the office that came recommended to me. My friend loved the doc, but we all know that means nothing when it comes to the office staff. I refuse to have a crappy office staff at my fertility clinic. There are way too many emotions involved, way to much money being spent, and too much stress as it is - I'm not about to add a stressor of crappy office staff into the mix.  So, we'll do these first two visits and go from there!

I've spent a little time over the last few days putting together the gist of our IF history. Not just the basics (like when and what) but the details as much as I could find... what meds, the dosages, how long, dates... number of follicles, level of hormones, etc. I'm amazed at the amount of info that I still had! Not that they won't still need to get the records, but I'm pretty impressed with myself! I'm hoping this will help the consult go smooth!

OH - I almost forgot! Bug's been cranky lately (remember my inconsolable post?!) and a third tooth finally broke through last night! It's barely broken through, so sleep last night was still crappy, but I'm hoping that it'll be better now - even if only for a little while! She is so taking after me and being different already... First tooth was lower left, second was lower right. So, one would think that her third would be an upper, right? Nope, not my girl. She's got another on the lower left. Yep, three teeth - all on the bottom!!

Here's to being happy it's Friday!!

~Emms

Calling all pilot's wives... with children!

How do you make it all work, if you also work?  I am a manager, and have to travel.  So far, we've been able to make it work because the travel has been to Toledo (where my MIL lives) or Cleveland (where my parents live) and they were able to watch Bug. 

However, Wednesday night K got called in for a flight, leaving that night and getting home today (Friday).  Problem was, I was supposed to leave for work at 5:30 in the morning (had to travel about 2 1/2 hours away) and daycare doesn't open until 6:30.  I ended up having my portion of a presentation switched so that I would go last.  I literally was waiting in the parking lot at daycare when they opened, had already filled out the form (took one home the night before) and just dropped it all off and hit the road.  It was stressful, and depending on what I was traveling for, may not work out the way it did in the future.

I have no other family around, and am just starting to make friends here, so none that I would feel comfortable (yet) calling and asking for help with the baby while I travel....

So, how do you make it work if/when you run into situations like this? 

Tough Weekend

K is gone 16 - 20 days a month.  So for this month, this was weekend number 2.  Luckily he'll be home this Friday night.

So, why was my weekend tough?  First of all, it was just one of those weekends.  I was tired and a little moody.  Maybe this is my body 'cycling' even though I still haven't started my PPAF.

The sleep issue's started a couple of weeks ago.  With Bug being sick, she just wasn't sleeping well.  Then it carried over after she got better.  Back to waking up anywhere from 2 to 4 times a night, and it would be a lot of her tears when she did wake.  I would try everything, and the only way to get her back down was to nurse her.

So, then last week she started eating less and less solids.  She typically loves her solids!  But she would take a bite or two then clamp her mouth shut tight and refuse.  Then crying would happen if I tried too hard to get her to eat them.

So, Friday night, poor Bug hardly slept.  So, Saturday morning started out early, and with me being exhausted to begin with.  She refused to eat ANY solids, and was just cranky in general.  At naptime she refused to go into her crib.  To the tune of screaming bloody murder ~ I can't believe no one called the cops it was so loud and angry!  This would even happen after I got her to sleep and then put her in the crib.  Finally, I just held her so that she would get a nap (after 30 or so mins of trying, and realizing that if I tried any longer she would decide that she wasn't gonna sleep anymore).  Same thing happened for the second nap of the day.  Lunch and dinner she again refused solids.  During all this time she wanted to nurse still, which is good.

By the time Saturday evening rolled around, after we went to mass, I was talking to K and was just an emotional wreck.  I don't have any friends really where I live as I haven't really had much of an opportunity to meet people after we moved.  So that ended up playing into everything and I ended up in tears.  K, who is the best hubby either, proceeded to get ahold of my best friend back home, C, and had her call me.  We talked for quite a long time, and I felt so much better afterwards.  It's just so tough when I'm tired and could use 30 mins of me time and K is gone, you know?

I don't want to complain, I wouldn't trade this for the world, and sometimes I feel bad when I let it get to me, after all we went through to get our miracle.  But I recognize that when you are in serious need of some sleep and me time, it can get a little overwhelming, and I think that's just what happened this weekend.

Add in that we are trying to get our house back home rented out, and in the meantime find a house here to rent and get out of an apartment.  The apartment was good at the time, but we need more space and a backyard for the dog.  So I'm trying to look on the weekends when K is gone because we only have until the end of June.  So, add in just one more stressor LOL.

Sunday was a duplicate of Saturday.  Up real early, didn't want to nap, didn't want to eat solids, etc.  Cranky.  Last night she was up every 2 hours.  Yep, my almost 9 month old decided it was time to be up every 2 hours again.  Then, since she was so tired, she decided to sleep in a little bit, til about 6:30, of course, on a day that I can't sleep in because I had to get ready for work!!

Sigh.  That's just how it goes somedays.  My mom is coming to visit us this weekend, which will be nice.  She wasn't going to come since K will be home, but this Thursday is my bday, and K and I thought having her here would allow us to go out and have a nice dinner, just the two of us.  Plus, we are in SERIOUS need of a new car, so she can go with us and watch Bug while we test drive.  Put it this way - when I bought this car I just KNEW that I would never be blessed with a baby.  So, I bought a 2 door, Honda Civic SI.  Fun car, I love it.  But, it's 2 doors, and TINY.  So, I am starting to struggle with back aches, and tennis elbow/carpal tunnel or something like pains in my arms from the way I have to twist and turn to get her in the car.  Which also means I still carry her in her heavy car seat, because otherwise I would have to put the car seat on the ground next to the car to put her in it, then put it back in the car.  Really, just not an ideal situation.  But, we finished our taxes yesterday and thankfully now will have a down payment!!

Well, gotta get back to work now.  Missing my Bug and can't wait to get home to see my crankster, so the quicker I can get stuff done the quicker I can get outta here!

~Emms

Eats on Feets, and other stuff

I promise I'm still here!  It's been crazy around here for a bit.  Kev has been working, so that's been crazy. 

Bug was sick, poor little thing.  She had pneumonia!  It's really scary when they get that sick.  Luckily she didn't have to go to the hospital or anything, but her left lung was pretty full.  Luckily we caught it in time and a round of antibiotics did the trick.  She is a reflux baby, and it seems as though she is fighting congestion constantly because of it.  I always know to give it a week.  So I did.  But then at the end of the week none of our tricks or meds were helping, and she seemed to be getting worse.  So I took her in and the pneumonia was there!  UGH.  But, she's feeling SO much better now! 

My mom (nana) was in town this weekend.  We were having my uncle do our taxes, but he only got hers done, boo.  Oh well, I'll get ours done later I guess!  But it was nice because Mom helped quite a bit around the house getting things done that were in dire need of being done, and we got to see some family.  My cousin has two little one's, the youngest is not quite a week older than Bug.  It was so neat to see the differences between the two.  My Bug has some chunky cheeks!  As it turns out, just like her mama had when I was little.  A family friend posted a picture of me on FB, I mighta been around 5, and Bug is a duplicate!  She really is my mini me!  I always knew she was, but that just made it seem that much more obvious.

I bring up Eats on Feets because my freezer became full again.  So, I contacted the mama that I donate to for little S, and offered her up some milk.  Turns out, her freezer was full too!  YIKES!  She's been doing really well with her breastfeeding, and only needing to supplement an ounce or two every feeding.  I am SO happy for her!  But with that being said, my freezer started to bust at the seems, so I had to find me another mama in need of donations!  I had received a message back at the beginning of the year, right after I had donated quite a bit to S, from a couple of mama's.  There had been one that had been working on getting her supply up, and her daughter, B, was about the same age as S.  (OK, that's a lot of letters, are you keeping them all straight?!)  So, I contacted her and asked if she was still in need of donor milk.  She was, and was very happy that I had contacted her!  It took us about 2 weeks to meet up, as she lives about an hour and 1/2 away.  But, this weekend we did it.  They were driving up on their way through to do a family function. 

So, have I mentioned before that donating milk feels like a drug deal going down?  Because if I haven't, it does. 

So, we planned on meeting in the parking lot at Starbucks near my home.  I told her to let me know when they were about 40 mins out, so that I could gather up the milk.  She did, and so I pulled ALL the milk out of the freezer, bagged the oldest for her, but the newest on the very bottom, and the oldest that was left in the drawer of the deep freeze.  This way it is easier to reach and doesn't get buried underneath the newest that I freeze daily.  So, it was nice out and my mom had just made it into town.  We bundled up Bug, and walked up to Starbucks. 

When we were just about there, I texted her and let her know so.  As we are walking through the parking lot, this man starts walking towards us with a smile on his face.  As he gets closer, he waves, so we wave back.  'I wonder if that's her husband' I say to my mom.  So he calls out 'Are you Mandi?'  I say 'I sure am, you must be S's hubby, I'm sorry, I don't know your name!'  He laughed and introduced himself, then took the cooler and one bag from my mom to carry the rest of the way to their car.  When we made it, S and I gave each other a big hug.  It's such an experience to do this.  We gave them the bags of milk and they quickly put it in a cooler.  We chatted for a bit and even laughed about how it felt like a drug deal.  After all, it is liquid gold! 

We also talked about how it was that some mom's could make so much milk (me) and others don't make enough.  As she pointed out - at least some of us that do make an abundance are willing to donate it to those that do not!  We chit chatted for a bit longer, and then she got on the road with a promise of more milk in the future. 

One thing that was different about this one was she insisted on sending me some milk bags.  I let her know clearly that it was not something that she had to do, as I was going to buy the bags, pump the milk and freeze it regardless.  But, I also said, I wouldn't turn them down.  So I got a message a couple of days later asking for my address so that she could have some shipped to me from Amazon.  I haven't received them yet, but it is such a sweet thought on her part that she would be willing to send them my way to help out.

Needless to say, I cleaned out over 400 ounces from my freezer.  Then I brought home all the stuff that was backing up my work freezer (oops LOL).  I'll bet that it doesn't take me but another 2 weeks to replace all I gave away.  Wow.  Guess my two mama's will get an offer of milk at the end of the month/beginning of April!! 

So, Kev and I are going to Toledo this weekend to get the house ready to rent out.  The economy is so bad there that we cannot sell it (even though it's got so much going for it!!).  Everyone wants to offer so much less than we owe, and the bank won't agree to take it.  Ugh.  So, rent it out we will do.  But, of course, being a pilots wife.... we had to change our plans up.  I was going to go tomorrow, but now not until Saturday.  I'm taking some time off the beginning of the week to take care of things here after we get it all here.  Ick.  Should be fun ha ha. 

Another day down, and my little bug is almost 8 months old! I can't believe it! 

Here's to a happy and healthy day :-)
Emms

The life of a Pilot's wife....

I know, crazy!  Two posts in one day after almost 2 weeks!

So, I called Kev at lunch today and he didn't answer.  So I turned my ringer up to hear it if he called back, and promptly forgot that I did so.

So, 3:00 rolls around and we have a weekly conference call with a lot of departments within my company in regards to expansion efforts.  We have been talking, so we are NOT on mute.  Can you see where this is going?  Suddenly, out of nowhere, my phone rings, loudly, and the sounds of Uncle Kracker singing 'Smile' fill the room.  Kev's ring tone.  I hit mute on the conference phone and hurriedly ignore the call.

Oops.

The entire room erupts into laughter. 

So, the meeting ends and I go listen to my voice mail.

'Man (one of his pet names for me), Um, I did what I wasn't supposed to do.'  He sounds all forlorn, and after our conversation today where he told me first that we were moving to China with no internet or computer and then he said he was going to throw the computer out the window, so I got worried.  I said he wasn't allowed to throw the computer out the window.  Don't get me wrong, his frustrations with this computer are justified.  However. 

Can we all see where my thoughts went?  His laptop just died and we need to buy a new one, please tell me he hasn't killed the desktop too!!!

Focus on the message Mandi.  So I do.  'I answered the phone.'  For a moment I think to myself 'why is that not OK?' Then my mind reminds me that I am a pilots wife.  Answering the phone when you shouldn't means one thing.  He has to work.

'And I have to fly out tonight.'

Oh man, I got him for less than a week!  So I call him back, and luckily it's just for tonight.  He should be back sometime tomorrow.  Which is nice because afterwards I realized that I almost had to cancel going to my girls weekend.  That woulda been a bummer!  I'll fill you in on the Girls Weekend after it happens this weekend.

So, he was awesome.  He had already called daycare and let them know that I would be there around 5ish instead of him picking her up around 3ish.  He took the dog out so that I don't have to worry about it too much.  Oh yeah, and he brought my keys to me at work as I forgot them this morning and therefore had a car key but no house key.  That was why he got called, I just know it.  It's like washing your car to ensure that it rains!  I forgot my keys so he wouldn't be home!

Oh well, I do love my alone time with Bug.  We do a lot of bonding :-)