Overnight!

Yes, this past weekend I went on my first 'real' overnight since I gave birth to Caden almost 4 years ago. I say first 'real' one because I was forced on a overnight when Caden was about 9 months old...I had traded my trip down to a turn (a trip that goes out and back within the same day), but they overflew me. Anyway, I wasn't able to get rid of this trip...plus I secretly wanted to keep it...so I had to work it. I know Shawn would have liked to have me home for the weekend, but it was a great little break. Besides the break, I also got to meet Cricket of Fantastic Five and her family!

Shawn joked that that was the only reason that I wanted to work the trip...just so I could meet one of my bloggin buddies in person. That was something I was looking forward to, but I just thought it would be nice to 'get away' for a night. I also thought it would be fun for Shawn to be able to spend some time alone with the kids.

The trip wasn't the easiest one in the world, but I worked with a great crew. In my industry, there is rarely a time that you work with someone you know. There are over 1500 flight attendants based in PHX, and I could probably count on my hands the number of flight attendants that I have flown with more than once. With that in mind...you never know if you are going to get along with your crew. I have to say that even though it was only a 2 day trip...I loved my crew. Lena was absolutely so fun to talk with, and Tonya kept us laughing with her giddyness from her new relationship. I would have loved to have dinner with them that night, but I was lucky enough to have Cricket come and pick me up to have dinner with her family.

Shawn finds it kinda strange that I read complete strangers blogs. I guess it can seem strange, and sometimes I find myself wondering why I am so interested in a strangers life...but I am. I actually have quite a few 'blogging buddies'. I have no idea how I found their blogs, but I have, and am drawn in by stories about their families. It makes me feel like I really know them, and would love to meet them all in person someday. So I was so excited when I was going to have an overnight in Cricket's town. I left a comment on her blog asking if she would like to meet...I felt like a kid again....hoping she would say yes. When she responded that she would love to...I was so excited.

Our plane was running late so we got in later than we had planned, but we were still able to meet up. We decided that we would eat at the Golden Corral. With her 3 kiddos it is easier to go to a place where they can choose what they want to eat. The food was actually really good, and I had a fabulous time.

I have to say that I was a little nervous at first. You never know if the person will be the same in real life as you picture them...but I was soon put at ease before we even left the hotel parking lot. Our conversation just seemed to flow. I felt like I was meeting up with an old friend. Emma, Brigham & Reed were as cute as can be. It didn't take long for them to try to get me to do things for them...you would have never known that they had just met me. In fact, when it was time to leave Brigham asked his mom if I could come spend the night.
The Doc had drove the kids in a separate car so Cricket was able to bring me back to my hotel. We ended up sitting in the lobby and chatting until a little after 10:30 pm. She is such a doll, and I am so thankful that I was able to spend some time with her. Hopefully, someday we can meet up with the whole family. Her Brigham and Reed are about the same age as Caden and Sydney. I think they would have a blast together.
It was a really nice refresher to work a full trip. I actually think that I may want to do it more often...not too much, but maybe once per quarter. I think it is a great break for me and the kids get to have some great 'Daddy' time. Shawn was a trooper, and did lots of fun stuff with them. He even helped pick up the house, and arranged a sitter for us so we could go on a date when I got home. I really do love my honey. He is fantastic!

Training Days

Today one of my friends graduated from Flight Attendant Training! She asked if I would come to her graduation and present her with her wings. I thought it was really nice that she thought to ask me. Graduation is in another state so in order to go I would need practically the whole day. At first I debated because I didn't know if I wanted to spend the whole day flying there and back. Then I decided it would be kinda nice to have the day to myself. I would be able to get some reading done on the plane, and have uniterrupted 'me' time. I arranged to have my brother watch the kids, and I was off.

The flight over was nice. I got in a little nap, and was able to do some reading too. I haven't 'sat' to read a book in a while. I usually do my reading while I am working out on a machine at the gym. There were others on the flight that were going to graduation too. We all chatted a bit, and that passed some time. Before I knew it we were at our destination. We all got on a shuttle that took us to company HDQ.

It was great to see Kristin. I think that she was really happy, and I can only imagine how thankful she was to have this all over with. There were a few company officials that gave some motivationl speeches, and then I was able to give Kristin her wings. There were 4 other people that were from my training class there, too! I hadn't seen them since our graduation almost 7 years ago! Then on my flight home, the flight attendant working the flight was also from my class! I had a great time catching up with Elisa. It is amazing how much time has flown.

As I look back on my days in training...I can only say that I am glad that part is over! I went through training when I had only been married for 4 months. We celebrated our 5 month anniversary while I was there. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my entire life. Up until training, Shawn and I had never gone a day without seeing each other, and then I had to be gone for 5 weeks!

The training itself wasn't too bad. I am a pretty good student. I tend to remember things easily, and so I didn't have a very hard time learning the things that I needed to. I met so many wonderful people while there, but I was so glad when it was all over. I really had to sacrifice alot when I decided that I wanted to become a flight attendant. Being away from Shawn was very hard. He struggled with it alot, and so did I. I missed my two best friends getting married to each other! Then when training was over, I learned that I would be based in another state! I shed many tears while I was there. I questioned whether or not I made the right decision. Was it worth everything that I missed out on. I kept pushing through because in my heart I knew that once I got past all this hard stuff I would be thankful for the decision.

I really enjoy my job. I love the variety that it brings. I love meeting new people, and going to new places. And you just can't beat the flexibility. The flexibility is what made me want to become a flight attendant in the first place. I knew that once I had children, I didn't really want to work much. I want to be home with my kids, and as crazy as it sounds...this was the job to have. I bid a full schedule every single month. I then trade, and give away my trips in order to stay home. When my children get older I will still have a great job that I can work as much or little as I like.

So far, I have been very fortunate. I have been blessed to spend the majority of my days with my kids. I work turns (trips that go out and come back within the same day), and have only been on one overnight since Caden was born (that is 3 1/2 years!) Since I am no longer nursing, I am actually thinking about going on a two day here and there just to get a break from the kids. I think it would be a little refreshing to have a night all to myself. I feel so lucky to be able to have such a great job.

I hope to be able to keep my job indefinately. As crazy as it sounds, I think it is one of the best jobs that a mom could have. Where else can you continue to get raises, attain seniority, but don't have to work very much. It is a great thing to fall back on if anything were to happen to Shawn's job. All I have to do is hop on the computer and pick up a trip. It really is a blessing, and I am glad to say that I am so thankful that I am a flight attendant.

Whirlwind of a week!

Okay, okay, I know I have been slacking yet again! I have really wanted to post stuff, but just haven't had the time. Last week was CRAZY! I finally feel like I can breathe again. Forgive the long post, but I need to get this all down so I don't forget!

On Monday, it was my turn to have the kids for the kid swap. It turned out pretty well. Caden, Kent, Mallory, Sydney and Eldon had a lot of fun together. Six hours wasn't really that bad, but I didn't have a second to do anything but play with them. This is one thing that I like about the kid swapping. For once, I really have to focus just on the children. I don't do anything for me...I just spend time with them. We play, we laugh, and we have a good time. It does come with some craziness also.

The three older kids are on the road to diaperless days. They are all doing really well, but this day was a doozy! To top it off in the morning I had Syd in underwear in the morning because she had a yeast infection and I was trying to "air" her out. Right before Karyn showed up with her kids, Sydney pooped in the underwear -- that was #1 of cleaning poop out of pants. Shortly after the kids were there...Kent pooped in his pants (#2)! Then later that day Caden decided he wanted take a turn so he did his business in his pants *joy* (#3). Kent was so excited to be here today he had multiple accidents... So by the time Karyn got here he had gone through all his changes of clothes, and only had a shirt and underwear! Like I said...whew! Overall they are doing lots better, and I will have them again this Friday.

It does sound like alot of work, and some people may think that I have absolutely insane for wanting to do this, but it really is working out. Karyn is an absolute doll to work with. It is so refreshing to get a "no strings attached" break every other week. And as time goes by we will get a better grip on doing more constructive, and imaginative things with the kids.

On Tuesday and Thursday's Caden has Joy School. Joy School is a pre-school co-op that is taught by different mothers. The curriculum is based on different Joy's ie. Joy of the Body, Earth, Honesty & Communication etc. We also teach a little Kindergarten preparedness. I really like the program, and Caden absolutely loves it! I am in it with about 5 other mothers. So that means that I teach the kids once every 5 weeks. This was my week!

It is always fun when we have Joy School at our house, but by the time they leave our house is a wreck! It is amazing what 6 little 3 & 4 year olds can do in just 2 hours! To top it off it was raining on one of the days so they were confined to the inside. Usually they do the majority of the playing outside, and it keeps my house somewhat manageable, but lets just say that I am glad that my week is over and I won't have to teach again for another 5 weeks!

Some other fun news is our upcoming Family vacation. Now before you think that we vacation all the time, and have lots of money...we do not. It just happens that we just got back from our Anniversary trip, and this deal feel into our laps.

My sister, Nancy, is also a flight attendant. After our trip we were over at their house for dinner. We were talking about how fun it would be to go on a trip together. We really wanted to go on a Disney Cruise. We chatted about it for a while, but just kinda dismissed it because we figured it wouldn't happen for a while. A couple of days later we got an email from Perx (the interline travel agency) that had a screaming deal for a Disney 11 night Mediterranean Cruise in May! She called me immediately and said that they were going to book it. Shawn had to talk to his boss to see if he could get the time off, but we really wanted to go!

In the mean time we needed to get all of our passport stuff in order. Shawn's passport is expiring in May. Mine wasn't going to expire, but it was still in my Maiden name...so that needed to be changed. Our kids didn't have any...so that is when the adventure began. I went to the file to get the kids birth certificates. I have a file for each one of us that has all of our "important" papers. I found Sydney's, but when I went for Caden's both his birth certificate and social security card were missing! I racked my brain trying to figure out where it could be! It was so frustrating! If I couldn't find them I would have to drive down to vital records, and wait in line to get a new one! For days this past week I looked everywhere. With all the kids around this week...yes my house was a mess, but not that messy! I searched and searched, and finally conceded that on Friday morning I would wake up and drive down there to get a new one.

That night before I went to bed, I got down on my knees and prayed. I asked Heavenly Father to help open my mind so that I could remember where I had put the documents. When I got up in the morning, I got the kids their breakfast and thought I would look in the files one last time before we headed off for vital records. I sat at the desk, and thought I would go through all the files just in case they got stuffed in the wrong file folder. I started at the front and went one by one. Half way through it dawned on me! A few months ago I had to use his birth certificate and social security card to register him for something and I had put it in a different folder to bring it there! I ran to the pantry, and lo and behold it was stuffed there in the back. I hadn't even thought to look there because I had organized it recently! Heavenly Father is an amazing person! He really does answer our prayers! Even it is for the simplest thing of finding a birth certificate!

On Friday the Elder's Quorum (group of men in church) and their families came over to our house for a shin-dig. It was an "Incredible" Movie night. They brought a projector and then taped up a sheet to our back wall and we watched Incredibles and had popcorn, candy, and licorice! It was a blast, and I can't wait to do it again!

On Saturday we got to make the trek to the post office to process, and submit our passports. It was to open at 7:30. I wanted to be down there by 7 so we wouldn't have to wait too long, but with kids...you never seem to get there when you want to. We did get there before 7:30, but there was already a line formed. Those are the times when I would just love to say...excuse me, but I have 2 children that aren't going to last very long...could we cut :) Instead we were polite, and waited. In the mean time, Caden said he needed to go potty...there was no bathroom. So I told him to wait. Sydney proceeded to scream whenever Caden got near her or cry whenever I walked away for a second even though Shawn was standing right next to her! When we finally got up there we were told that we would have to expedite them because it is taking 10 weeks instead of the usual 6 weeks to process! That meant that we had to pay $60 additional for each passport!!!! That was frustrating, but I guess it is better to be safe than to be sorry! We need them by May 25. So two hours and a whole lot of money later we were finally done! Now we will just have to wait to get them in the mail!

We did actually book the cruise, and are really looking forward to it. It will be the only family vacation that we will take this year. I am excited to be able to spend time with Nancy and her family. I hear that Disney Cruises are the best, and who could beat the ports that we will be going into! The only place in Europe that I have been to is Madrid, Spain (we went there for our honeymoon...my husband served a mission there.) The cruise starts in Barcelona and then goes to several places throughout Italy and France!!!!! This will be an unforgettable experience!

Sunday, was a little quieter. We went to church as usual. In the morning I got a call from the music leader in Primary (class for the little ones). She was ill and wanted to know if I could fill in for her. I was happy to do it...this was my previous calling (job) at church. Every thing went okay at first. Caden just started going to primary this year, and had never been there when I was teaching. I have to say that I was disappointed when I first got released from my calling, but I now know it is for the best. Caden was terrible! He didn't want to sit in his seat because he wanted to be by me. When I made him go sit down he began to cry. Then through out the whole time I was teaching the music he cried off and on. They had to take him out of the class several times so that he would not distract the other children! Why does our children act so differently when we are around!?

It truly was the week of having visitors at our house! It was fun, but had me completely and utterly exhausted! This Monday I got to drop my kids off at Karyn's, and get some things done, and I finally feel like I am accomplishing something! I think that I will actually be able to post a Tackle it Tuesday today...I am hoping to do my laundry room...so check back later!

Flight Attendant

My sister and I are both flight attendants and she sent this to me the other day. It is actually a commercial for NicoDerm, but anyone who is a flight attendant can relate to this. She is actually doing what we play out in our minds when we are at work. So enjoy...hopefully it will make you laugh as much as I did.