Gotta Love Flying

So this past weekend I jump seated down to LA for kicks and giggles. I woke up Saturday morning, got ready, and arrived to the airport 19 minutes prior to the flight departing. Security, check. Boarding pass with the gate agent, check. Captains permission for the ride, check. The flight was super wide open (like 1/3 of the way full) so finding a seat, check. Chatting with the flight attendants? Check. 15 minutes into the flight, I decide its time stand up and chill in the back with the rest of the crew. Being that I'm getting a free ride, it's common courtesy to ask if they need help with anything. The lead FA asks if I want to hand out peanuts, and by all means yes! It was really interesting to see peoples reaction of a guy dressed up like a captain handing out peanuts. Some people got a kick (these foreigners were asking for more and more peanuts.. funny stuff) and others... well had something to say. "Are these going to have salmonella in them?" anycase, good times on SWA. The ride back was just as quick through security and fortunately I got on (arrive 19 minutes at the airport prior to push). It was oversold so time to go up front and occupy the jump seat.

Simply Darling...

...is what my little Ryder is! A couple of the darling little things he has said in the past couple weeks....

As I put Ryder in the car...
Ryder: "My going to drive today mommy."
Me to Ryder: "Baby, you're not old enough yet."
Ryder: "But, I'm 16 now!"

He's the shortest sixteen year old I've ever seen.

Ryder frequently tells me how pretty he thinks I am. In fact at my cousin's Bar Mitzvah last month it was what he told everyone he met. They'd say Hello Ryder! And he'd say, "My mommy's pretty!".

Smart kid with good taste, obviously!

A couple weeks ago as Ryder and I went for a walk Ryder said, "Mommy, you're pretty!"
Me: "Awww, thanks cutie, you're handsome!"
Ryder: "NO, MOMMY!" Totally serious with his finger pointed at me, "I'm not 'hamsome'! I'm Luke Skywalker!"

I'm going come up with a saying that the best photograph is the one that's missed. Fortunately for me, that was not the case yesterday. I had my camera with me and it had just finished raining so I ended up firing off a few shots before the courier arrived. I'm really pleased with the results and with a little more indebth understanding of post editing, it could be an amazing shot. Lemme know what you think.

Hmmm frustrating it is when your aircraft does not work right. Enroute to my destination this morning, my heater failed ( it was about -8 Celsius outside), parts of my ice protection failed and I was lucky to be in and out of icing conditions. Thankfully the flight wasnt too long, so I was able to get on the ground as soon as practical. The aircraft is grounded, for obvious reasons, and either way I wouldn't fly it out till it's fixed. Good times.

Another update along the lines of flying in icing. After the accident of flight Colgan 3407, it became a abrupt reminder to review ice flying. The aircraft I operate do fly in icing conditions and are certified to, but that doesn't mean they are invincible to ice flying. Understand that its not fair to speculate the cause of flight 3407, so the only real opinoin I'll give on said accident is, that I'll read what the NTSB report shows and that will be my opioin. I don't have any facts to be able and suppliment what happened. In anycase, God bless those directly and indirectly involved. This is a hard hitting accident to the aviation community and the familys involved.

There's No Place Like Home

BIG-EXCITING news!!!! The search for a new-close to civilization-home is up!! Ryder and I will be moving next weekend!!!

I could not be more excited about this house I found in Folsom! It is brand spankin' new, energy efficient, has a semi-sweet view from the front bedrooms and my bathroom...don't get me started on how absolutely amazing my new jacuzzi tub in my bathroom is. Oh, and did I mention the walk in closet? Yeah, love it!

We are close to bike trails, the gym, shopping, parks (in fact, there is a little kid choo-choo train that comes to my neighborhood and gives rides up the hill to the park. How cool is that???) and the zoo. Oh how fabulous it's going to be when the grocery store is 2 minutes away rather than the 30 that I drive to get to one now!

The back yard is small and low-maintenance, perfect for my little monkey and me.

So, now all I have to do is get moved. I will admit, the thought of moving is quite the daunting task considering it is open enrollment at work and I am working like 60 hour weeks right now. Not to mention I haven't moved in four years and I know I still have a bunch of Josh's stuff here too. A lot of stuff to do, and go through. But a great opportunity for some de-cluttering and a fresh start.

Yeay!!! for my new house!!!