I’m wasting sleep time trying to think of a title

If I type fast I'll still be able to make my goal of being in bed by 8. What has my life come to... I've had to get up around 4 the last 3 mornings and I'm tired of it. It's sad when you think - if only I could sleep til 5:30.

I'm in Syracuse. I was in Portland this morning. It's nice because it is not hot as Hades here. I went running yesterday and ended up walking most of the way. I don't know what the problem was. Today I managed to run the whole thirty minutes, but had to keep concentrating on how much I liked having muscles in my thighs to counteract the "I hate running" thoughts. I had two cups of instant mashed potatoes for supper tonight. They were good, but I would've rather had a steak, asparagus, brocoli, squash... Real food basically.

The other day a man got on one of my flights. I recognized him and assuming he was one of our pilots I made some comment to him along the lines of what are you up to? Then the more I looked at him, the more I figured he wasn't a pilot (I think he was too old). I had to figure out how I knew him so I asked his name and it turns out he was my boss's boss when I worked for the contractor. I then remembered that I hadn't really liked him when I worked for him so I slapped him... Not really. When I was in Europe I accidently sent an email to him that was meant for a friend of mine. I hope he didn't remember that. He's kind of old so I'm sure he forgot :-P. Small world isn't it?

Today I had a little girl on the flight back from Portland. She was asleep with the top of her head against the back of the seat so her neck was sticking out at an odd angle. Her eyelids were about half open and her eyes were darting back and forth. I couldn't stop laughing - partially cause she looked funny and partially cause it made me remember when Joy was little and used to sleep with her eyes open.

I have more to write but I have too much to do before bed. I'll be home in about 19 hours. Yay.

Keep on rockin' in the free world

Thanks to a crazy idea Angela put in my head last night I signed up for a 10k in November. Now the pressure is on. It's kind of exciting as well. There's no turning back or chickening out now.

I met with the girls in my small group from church tonight for the first time since the summer pretty much. We discussed what we want to study in the fall. We're looking at a book in the Old Testament since those seem to be the more forgotten, less studied ones. They also seem to have the coolest stories in them. Those OT people were crazy :-P. I had a good time talking to them and have realized that if I'm going to know and be known by these people, it's going to take a more direct effort. In a group situation I typically don't try to have my story heard (usually cause I can't make myself be heard) but if the small group is going to serve its purpose I need to be willing to be transparent and intentionally put myself out there.

Today I went up to Atlanta to look at a house some friends proposed I live in. I really want to move into the city and keep telling myself I'll do it when I get my debt paid off, but I think there's a fine line behind being wise about paying things off and letting it control my life. It turned out that this wasn't going to be the best situation for me, but it was good for me to start thinking about the next step.

Otherwise I did a lot of chores today. Laundry, bank, groceries, cleaning. I have to leave for work in 6.5 hours so I should probably get some sleep.

lazy, lovely Sunday

I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that it's Sunday already. This means my weekend is almost over and I'm still exhausted. I've had a relaxing day off so far, but I seem to have a lot weighing on my mind. There are so many decisions to be made and problems to be solved, and none are the easy kind.

Friday night when I finally got off work I had the pleasure of attending a mac'n'cheese bakeoff at my friend McCaine's. One of the things I enjoy about her is her inventive ways of socializing. Sometimes I feel like my life is incredibly dull and predictable. We also watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics which were a sight to behold. Another thing I like about McCaine is the extreme volume of her voice, and her wild enthusiasm for things (including Michael Phelps). It's nice to be around people who get such pleasure out of life.

Saturday, after sleeping as long as I felt like, I made my way to the pool de J where I was working on my tan. Then I went to the gym de J and was working on my fitness. I haven't run in a long time (this heat is infernal), but still managed to start the week 9 running program (5 min walking, 30 min running, 5 min walking). It wasn't even that painful at all. I think the only way I'm going to be such a slacker about running is to sign up for a 5k or something. I've lost enough weight where my clothes are comfortable again so that pressure to run is off, but I know if I don't keep running the weight will be right back. Plus I feel so much better when I'm active.

After the sun and run, we picked up sushi and sat on the floor of his balcony and ate. The sushi was really good. I think the portions should've been bigger. I love the rolls with the mayo sauce on them. We had another roll with unagi and avocado that had some kind of tempura inside. The combination of flavors and textures was delightful. Then it was ice cream with blueberries and raspberries for dessert.

Some of the books I've been reading lately, combined with what's going on (or not going on) in my life, and conversations I've had have led me to the conclusion that I need to be more purposeful in my living. I need to read books that I will learn from. I need to write with the purpose of becoming a better writer. I need to fill my time with things that will make my life better and more meaningful. It's funny how a book on writing can provoke so much thought. There is so much clutter and wasted words and time in my life. I don't know if I'll ever become a real writer, but I do know that I definitely never will if I'm not writing purposefully.

These are some of the things that have been occupying my mind lately and making me tired. The wonderful lunch my mama made is also making me sleepy. I should follow my daddy's lead and take a nap.

Currently reading : On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction By William K. Zinsser

As long as we get there eventually, right?

I'm in Providence and holding my breath that the flight my mama is on actually leaves. She's been sitting in Boston all day and it makes me fret that she could get stuck.

Today was supposed to be an easy day, and it was, except it was about 2 hours behind schedule. This morning I was in Daytona Beach, but because our overnight was only 15:47 we had to stay at the hotel near the airport instead of by the beach where the 16+ hour overnights stay. It was fine though. I had a nice, free breakfast at the hotel, then spent a while out by the pool. It was really hot outside but the water was perfect. One of my passengers yesterday gave me an interesting book that I started reading. I've also been reading "On Writing Well", which is highly recommended for anyone who wants to be able to write well. It makes me much more aware of the things I read and write. I'll write more about that later.

I had funny passengers tonight who kept talking about the air lounge that is upstairs on the plane. One guy told the one next to him that the stairs were in the back lav, and asked why I didn't just check the flight cause they have wireless in the lounge. I also had an old couple who gave me a little hope for long, happy marriages. The man would always hand her things to her. He opened her peanuts before his. I asked her if he always took care of her and she said for 62 years. I said that was a good reason to keep him around. He said that I hadn't asked why he kept her around - so I did. His answer was because she was the perfect wife. They were really cute.

I have to go to sleep cause we're on short rest tonight and have to leave the hotel in less than hours. Looks like she'll make it to Atlanta. Very nice.

Currently reading : Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion By Sara Miles

hey - you - get off of my cloud

I can't believe it's my Sunday already. I have to go back to work tomorrow and am not a fan. It's been really good to have some time off. I wish I could say my room reflected that I've had free time to do things, but it still looks the same. Maybe in a little while I'll do something about that.

I had a very musical weekend. Friday and Saturday I worked at the amphitheater. Rick Springfield was the performer. I'm still amused by the energy that people put into adoring him. He's old. He's a soap opera star. He isn't that good of a musician. On Sat I worked with a lady who works at the sponsoring hotel. She said that all weekend there have been women just waiting in the lobby to get a glimpse of him. Seriously people - he's not that great. He does have big biceps, but from where I was that was the only outstanding thing about him. He's very dramatic. People would give him bouquets of flowers and he would strum his guitar with them sending clouds of petals flying everywhere. Then he'd throw the used up stems back to the crowd. He came out onto the floor where they had tables set up and stood on a table and performed. At one point he took someone's phone from them and started calling people. I don't know if he's assuming that they're going to be like "OMG Rick Springfield used my phone!" and then have it dipped in gold or framed or something. It was altogether very amusing.

Sunday morning we sent mother dearest off to Joy and she made it without too much pain. She was waiting in a long line in Boston to check in for the Cape Air flight when some really rude man came barging to the front of the line. He was stepping over old ladies' things and generally thinking he was the bees knees. A few minutes later they called his name for the flight. It was John Kerry. Hmmm... Father dearest and I enjoyed food she left for us - stuffed squash, green beans, rice, chicken and oatmeal cookies. Such good food. My mama doesn't just make green beans. They're amazing. She puts garlic in them and who knows what else. But they're awesome. Michal made the varsity volleyball team (Good job Michal! :-D) at her new school and is on a beach trip with them so we missed her at lunch.

Sunday evening I picked Jamie up at the airport and we made a little last minute journey to see Journey with Amie and Ryan. I then realized that I should've brushed up on my 80s music because I'd barely heard of Heart, much less knew any of their songs. We watched in amusement as hundreds of 30 and 40 something year old women got their groove on to Heart. I will admit, it was pretty good. Journey came on and I heard all the songs I knew, plus a bunch from their new album which I didn't care about at all. Their current lead singer is a small, young Asian guy with long straight hair and tight red pants. He didn't seem to fit in with the band at all, but he sounded just like the original singer so I guess that's what matters. There were good times had by all.

Later, we met up with J at Waffle House, who had just returned from his two week jaunt on the west coast. It's been a while since I visited the WH but it was just as wonderful as I remembered.

Monday I took Jamie to the airport to go back home and took my car by the shop to find out why my new brakes are making such strange noises. They can't seem to figure it out, which doesn't really make me happy, but he said they won't fail or anything. I spent the rest of the day down in Ptc helping a friend of ours caulk and paint their house.

I'm going to eat some cottage cheese and fresh peaches and think about getting stuff done today.

The world was moving and she was right there with it

I just woke up from the second night of sleep I've had in my bed in 11 days. It was nice. I really needed it. I don't think I realized how much my erratic sleep schedule was messing with my head. I feel better now. I'm very, very hungry though. Who wants to bring me lunch?

Yesteray after I got home from my nap I slept for about 5.5 hours. I had a lot of dreams but the one that stood out the most was when I had to have surgery on my ankle. The first day they cut my foot off and I had to go around on crutches. Then the next day they reattached my foot and I had this perfect line around my ankle where they reattached it. This reminds me of my childhood when my dear older brother used to tell me that they cut my head off and sewed it back on. I never could quite figure out how they got my head under the sewing machine, but when you're 4 you can't expect to understand everything. I also dreamed I had surgery on my hand and in my dream I couldn't grab anything cause it hurt too much. So when my phone started ringing to wake me up I was scared to grab it and answer it cause I thought it would hurt.

Yesterday I did the same thing I've done every afternoon I've been home all week - nothing. I've spent far too much time in my room. I need to get out of here today. Problem is, everywhere I go costs money in gas and there aren't that many places to go that aren't miserable in this heat.

Last night I worked at the Rick Springfield concert. I didn't have any tables to serve such I just helped everyone else out with the concession stand and in the bars. I was really tired and the heat was sucking my life out, so I can't say it was the best night of my life. It was funny cause everyone was waiting for him to play "Jessie's Girl" all night and it seemed like every song started out sounding like it was going to be that one. Some of my coworkers were thinking he was doing that to tease people, but my real guess is that he only knows about 4 licks and uses them over and over. I'm back there tonight but I think we have a couple tables to serve so hopefully the night will be a little better. I have to go buy some new shorts to wear because I seem to have lost weight and my shorts are making me look like a plumber now.

Matt and Molly left yesterday to go to Rome to start a 7 day cruise on Sunday. It's going to be an empty, quiet house for the next long while.

I'm still copying my old blog over and got to this day two years ago this morning. It's kind of fun to look back and see what was going on. I do kind of wish I wasn't so vague about certain things so I could have a more accurate record. Maybe I can figure something out.

You don’t have to wear that dress tonight

Or any other night for the next 4 days.

I just made it home from a crazy night of flying. There will be no avoiding sleep today. I've closed my dark curtains in my room and in a minute I'm going to sleep as long as I feel like it.

I knew last night was going to be rough when, at about 4pm, we were in the middle of our third torrential downpour for the day. My flight at 8:30pm was already delayed. When I got to work it was delayed further because we were waiting for the plane to come in from Syracuse. It finally arrived around 10:30 and I went out to get the plane ready. A ramper comes up and tells me he thinks our flight is canceled. This seems too good to be true - not that I want to strand anyone in Atlanta - but I'd like to sleep in my bed. Turns out, there was a bad storm in Jacksonville, NC where we were headed and their weather system and runway lights were down. Flight canceled.

The captain and I get on the bus to go to our cars around 11 and about halfway there he gets the call that we have to go to Augusta. Their crew timed out. Fair enough. I knew it was too good to be true. Augusta is only about a 30 minute flight and I had just had a cup of coffee before we got canceled, so I was going to be awake for a few hours. Turns out, that flight was supposed to leave at 6:35pm. Whenever it finally left it was waiting in line to take off and the crew timed out. Sucks for them. We eventually landed in Augusta a little after 1am. Everyone was nice because they had been told we had returned to the airport to take them to Augusta, and they were just happy to get there.

We got in the taxi to go home and our driver started complaining immediately because there isn't another flight coming in all night and he hasn't made any money (it's 1:30am dude. Sorry). As we drive to the hotel my ever so polite captain asks him if the van is stuck in overdrive or does he just want waste gas... My captain is one of those guys that talks constantly about anything. They talk about that for a while and within a few minutes my captain has figured out that based on an 8% fuel savings by not using overdrive, the cab driver could save at least $1000 a year. Greeeaaaat. It's 1:30am. Who cares?

Then as the first officer and I are sitting in the back looking at each other in amazement at the ridiculousness of the conversation, the driver starts telling us how dangerous Augusta is. He said he had a passenger once who asked him to pull into an alley. The driver said "I reached down like I was scratching my leg and pulled out my .38. I turned to him and told him, get out of my van or I'll blow your head off." He proceeds to explain how he told him he had just gotten back from killing people in Iraq and this guy wasn't any different to him. If he didn't get out of the van he'd kill him. He said "I know you have a gun in your belt. If you want to live get out of my van." The guy evidently didn't believe him so he said he'd give him 5 seconds to find out if he was bluffing or not. It's now 1:45am, and I can't believe I'm hearing this story. It's time for bed. It's time to get out of this crazy man's taxi. Thankfully we didn't ask him to pull into an alley, and none of us had pistols in our belts so we made it out alive. The world is full of all kinds of strange people.

Three hours later we were loading up to go back to the airport, and now I'm home. Sleepy time.

And on to the grapeless Vineyard

One of the things I love about visiting Amy and Shane is the breakfasts Shane cooks. After a crazy couple of days I woke up Sunday morning to the smell of bacon, eggs, and pancakes. The Whites definitely know how to make people want to come back and visit :-).

Adri, Mo, Katya, Charity, and I all headed to the Boston airport around 9am. I was a little nervous because we were each trying to do completely different things. Charity needed to get back to Atlanta. Katya was flying on a buddy pass to Frankfurt and we wanted to change it to go via Cincinnati. I needed to buy a ZED fare (discounted ticket based on distance) on Cape Air and try to get a flight to Martha's Vineyard. I was worried Charity wouldn't get a flight at all because they were full. I was worried Katya wouldn't make it to Cinci or that she wouldn't get first to Germany. I was worried the ZED fare wouldn't work, never having used one, or that the flights to MV would be full.

I finally got both girls checked in and purchased my ticket, which has to be done at a Delta counter, and headed over to find Cape Air. This is when I discovered that I hate the Boston airport. It has 4 terminals - A, B, C, and E - and instead of being set up all in a nice row like Atlanta, they're in a circle. There's a shuttle that runs between them, but after waiting 10 minutes I decided to walk. I walked from A to E which was easy enough. Then to go from E to C you have to go through what seemed like the old airport graveyard. It was hallways covered in tiles from the 50s that had empty baggage carousels and lots of empty rooms. It seems that when they decide they no longer like a part of the airport, they just build a different terminal.

A very long walk later I found the Cape Air counter. They were very friendly and told me there was space on the flights. They also asked me how much I weighed and weighed my rollaboard and laptop bag. This should've been a sign that I wasn't going to be on a big plane. I finally got to the gate and had to wait an hour cause I had just missed the 1pm flight (they leave on the hour, every hour). When they started calling for boarding they would call section 1 passengers 1-8, then section 2 pax 9-17. I then looked out the window and saw the little fleet of Cessnas. I figured out that depending on how many tickets were sold they were take 1-3 planes every hour. Each plane carried 9 passengers and 1 pilot. We finally went down to board the plane and the captain told us that a plane had just run off the runway in MV so the airport was closed!!! I figured it was par for the course for my weekend travels. Thankfully it was temporary and we began boarding shortly thereafter. They asked if I could take the seat up front. I sat in the seat behind what would've been the First Officer's seat. Then the captain turned around and asked if I would mind sitting in the front since someone was going to have to! I kept trying not to laugh because it seemed like a joke almost. I couldn't believe that I was riding on such a small plane, nevermind in the right seat. It gave me a new appreciation for when people get on our planes and are amazed at how small they are. Though in our defense our cabins are at least pressurized and we do fly actual jets at normal speeds and altitudes. It was really fun to ride in the front as we took off after a United 757. We had a great view of Boston as we took off and never got so high that we couldn't see the beautiful houses along the coast. About 35 minutes later we were in Martha's Vineyard.

Joy picked me up at the airport. It was really great to see her happy, smiling face. I really had no idea what to except when I arrived on the island. I didn't know how big it was or what the terrain was like. We drove for about 10 minutes through a lot of trees until we finally got to Oak Bluffs, which is where Joy lives and works. The house she lives in is a beautiful house painted in shades of lavender and blue. I was amazed at how many perfect little gingerbread style houses were everywhere. We dropped my stuff off at the house and went to Pomodora's, the Italian restaurant where she works. There I met a lot of the people she had told me about. Everyone seems to love her, but really, who doesn't? One of the cooks made us a great salad with different types of meat, cheese, olives, peppers and dressing.

Later in the afternoon it started raining so we slogged over to Joy's friend Kiera's family's house for a barbeque. Even in the rain everything was beautiful. It was the nice kind of warm summer rain that I love. Everywhere we went we stopped along the way to say hello to different friends. Kiera is Irish and her uncle lives on the island. She is here for the summer working and has become good friends with Joy. Her parents were in town for the week to visit so most of her friends had managed to get the night off work and spend the evening together. Joy's Brazlian friends, Alex and Jean Luca, cooked steaks for everyone. Instead of serving them to each person on plates, they would slice them in strips as they came off the grill and we all sat around on the porch eating. It was a really nice evening.

The next day Joy and I went to the beach for a little while before I had to get the bus to the airport. I was surprised by how clear the water was. I have very little experience with New England beaches and have always had the impression of the cold, dark, possibly dirty Atlantic. As many of you already know, this is far from the truth. Unfortunately I slept late and only got to spend about 30 minutes there before it was time to go to the airport. The bus took longer than we had been told so I missed the flight that I was hoping to make. The next flight didn't have any seats on it. By the time I flight came along with seats on it it was 5pm. I was looking at the flights from Boston to Atlanta and they looked terrible. I was really worried about getting back in time for my trip that started at 8:30 this morning. I didn't want to get rid of it because it had a long overnight in Fort Walton Beach and I needed the hours. But when 5pm rolled around, there was only one more flight out of Boston, and two naps came up in open time I had to trade it. This gave me another day and a half to get home without any penalty.

I decided if I was going to be stuck somewhere I'd rather it be the Vineyard with Joy. I got on the bus and went back to the restaurant where she was working and surprised her. I ended up hanging out there until Kiera's parent's came in and we ate dinner together. Kiera's cousin BJ is four and was so amusing. I had told him on Sunday night that I didn't have a belly button, so he was going around pulling up people's shirts to check for belly buttons. He pulled up Kiera's dads and came back to tell me "Jared has a belly button and it's kind of gross." That's pretty much how he was the entire time.

After we ate and all the kids got off work we went wandering around the town. Joy has a really interesting combination of friends and it's fun to be around them. We ended up at a place called the Island House and danced until it closed. Joy won a bag, tshirt, hat, and flip flops for being such a good dancer :-). After that place closed we were standing on the sidewalk trying to decide what to do when three guys came along and started talking to our group. One was wearing a shirt that said something about Iraq veterans against the war. He started into his campaign, explaining to us their three goals and how they intended to implement them. Alex seemed pretty interested, but I'm a little wary of any sort of fanatic. I believe in causes and I respect people who are passionate about things, but I like to meet someone who can wait more than 5 minutes of meeting you before getting on their soapbox. In our attempt to get away from these guys we started walking toward the beach. That didn't work and they came with us. Joy, Kiera, and I started wading into the water. Joy had told me about this algae they have there that lights up when you disturb them. When you walked into the water in certain spots it was like clouds of pixie dust surrounded your legs. Sometimes it looks like lightning bugs in the water. We were enjoying this amazing sight until one of the veterans decided he wanted to swim properly and took all this clothes off and ran into the water (stirring up loads of lovely algae, I'm sure). Thankfully he warned us so we didn't have to see anything too traumatic. Not five minutes later though, the cops came along and informed us it was time to call it a night. It was kind of annoying because there weren't any signs posted saying the beach was closed. We weren't doing anything besides walking in the water (except for naked guy who the police quickly spotted). It was a beautiful night though and we had a great time. I'm glad I got stuck there another day.

And so the journey began...

I'm sitting in the Martha's Vineyard airport, yet again, waiting for a flight to take me to Boston where I will try to catch a flight to Atlanta. This is hopefully the end of a trip that I wasn't sure was going to begin.

Friday I got up at 4:20, flew back from Providence, and did a Memphis round trip. On the way back from Memphis I had a proper celebrity on my flight. It was Robert Plant, lead singer of Led Zeppelin and famous solo artist. I did not recognize him by sight (there are very few singers I'd actually recognize by sight) but one of the rampers told us he was on the flight and from there he was easy to pick out. The British accent elped, plus the curly ponytail, and cool but not over the top jewelry. I never said anything to him indicating that I knew who he was. I always feel weird approaching celebrities. But I did chit chat with him a few times. He had a good sense of humor.

After we got back to Atlanta I, like the heartless flight attendant I am, dumped our wheelchair passenger off the plane so I could run over to the next gate, meet up with Charity, and try to make the flight to Portland, ME. They cleared me for the flight, but since I was going to have to wait several hours in Portland, and Charity didn't get on, we decided to just wait in Atlanta together. This ended up being a good decision because we were waiting forever. There were about 5 more Boston flights and another Portland. I almost got on the next Portland without Charity, but once I got on the plane they realized someone couldn't count and there wasn't actually a seat available for me. Thanks to Charity's refusal to give up and Adri's willingness to pick us up in Boston whenever, we finally got on the last flight to Boston. At this point I had been in one airport or another for about 17 hours. I was seated between two quiet, friendly people, but it seemed that the rest of the plane was full of crying babies and obnoxious children. There was a girl sitting behind me, who was at least 10 years old, who sobbed and wailed because her mother's reading light was bothering her. I was so tired I folded over on my stomach and slept for a while.

We finally got to BOston and in the car with Adri, Mo (Adri's roommate), and Katya (Mo's girlfriend) around 12:30 or so and set off for the great north. Amy and Shane had left Portland earlier to go set up the campsite and get ready for rafting the next day. We finally arrived in West Forks, ME around 5am. It was starting to get light already. We parked near some cabins and walked through misty, good-smelling woods to the field where the tents were. We were all in a tired daze and weren't really sure which tents we were supposed to sleep in. Shane finally heard us and came out and told us where to sleep. Turns out, they had barely gotten back to the campsite. They had been across the street earlier in the evening and our rafting guide was attacked in a bar. Shane tried to intervene and got scuffed up as well. Black eyes and police reports ensued. Sounded like an exciting evening, but I'm glad I missed it. I finally fell asleep dreaming of the bird-like mosquitos that were hovering around my head and any piece of uncovered flesh and slept a few hours.

The actual rafting trip the following day made all of our pain and suffering up to this point completely worthwhile. We left the campsite around 10am and rode up to the top of the river. The day was perfect. The sky was blue with the occasional puffy white cloud and the sun was warm but not hot. As we got in the river and started through the rapids we found that the water was really nice (you all know how I love cold water). The river was rough enough to get your heart pounding, but not so rough that you thought you might actually die. Our guide was a regular New Englander who liked to yell and scream at us. His command for us to stop paddling was "good" which I have decided is the stupidest way of telling someone to stop. Sometimes it sounded like "ok, good, stop" other times it sounded like "good job, keep it up". After we got through the rough stuff we went swimming for a while. The water was so clear you could see your feet down below you. I learned how to pull someone into the boat and took pleasure in feeling strong and powerful heaving people out of the water. We had left a cooler halfway along the river and ate lunch sitting on some rocks with our feet in the water. Our guide gave Charity some guiding lessons and before we knew it she was bossing us around as well (oh wait, she always does that... hehe). We had such a good time in the sun and the water. It was a wonderful day.

When we finally made it back to Portland that night Shane, Amy, Charity, and I decided since Charity had never been to Portland before we needed show her the town. After driving all the way from MA the night before the rest of the crew decided resting was more important (understandably). It was so nice to be able to go out in Portland at night without wearing a jacket and snow clothes. We went to a few places we'd been to before and ended up at a bar with a huge outdoor patio and a live band. The main draw, though, was the super size Jenga games they had. I think it's a genius idea. People enjoy playing. People enjoy watching. It's an easy way to keep people occupied for hours. While we were watching one of the games I recognized a pilot I'd flown with a few months ago who was there for the overnight. It was pretty bizarre that we happened to be in the same place at the same time considering how many pilots we have and how many bars there are in Portland. It was a good time. charity is the Jenga queen. We finally went home and crashed at Amy and Shane's.

It is now time for my flight to Boston so I will have to tell about the rest of my journey later.

Currently reading : Her Last Death: A Memoir By Susanna Sonnenberg

Oh my darlin’, oh my darlin’, oh my daaarlin’ Clementine

Except Clementine's in my stomach. I'm on my fourth one today. They're practically my favorite orange. The facts that they're easily peelable, the size of a golf ball, and ever so tasty make me want to eat them all the time. And also the fact that I bought a whole bag of them on Sunday and am realizing if I don't eat them all they'll go bad. I've also eaten almost a whole box of strawberries and a plum today. I seriously overestimated my fruit consumption, but am determined not to let it go to waste.

I'm in Rochester, NY and it is just as exciting as I hoped and dreamed it would be. We got here an hour late because of weather in Atlanta and had 4 babies on the plane, of which no less than 3 were screaming at any given time. Add that to the fact that my fellow flight attendant's fuse was getting a little low and you can imagine how much fun my last 3 hours have been. A man asked me if we had any antihistamines or nasal spray cause the lady next to him had a cold. I told him all we have is pain killers. Then he asked the other flight attendant who gave the same response. Then the man persisted in asking if either of us had any personally. I suppose if I had had some tylenol cold I would've shared it, but nasal spray? I think not. I should've lent her my tissue that I just blew my nose in.

I was wondering why I was feeling loopy and why the room seemed bizarre and just remembered I took my last ambian hoping it would send me into a deep and dreamless sleep until the morning. That last sentence took a lot of effort and back spacing. Good night all!

Because I don’t want to pack

I don't want to pack. I have to pack for two separate trips and it's overwhelming to the point of not doing anything at all. I did just have the brilliant realization that I don't have to fit it all in my suitcase for the next four days, which helps a little bit, but not enough. I'm doing a four day tomorrow, then going immediately to Maine to go rafting, and then hopefully after that going to Martha's Vineyard to say hello to Joy.

Today I did a dayline. I had some really stupid people on my flights. I had a lady get on and ask me where 12A was. I said "It's row 12", and I pointed to the number over row 1. She then proceeded to go through the cabin and stop and look at each row number as she went past. I don't know if she thought we were going to sneak 12 in after 6 or mix the numbers up for kicks or what. Then another lady got on. I was already unimpressed by the vast amount of fast food that her family was dragging on board with them, so when she said "Is row 10 in the front?" I couldn't even dignify it with a response. Once again, we in the civilized world number things for a reason. And in our civilized world counting typically begins at 1 and proceeds upwards IN ORDER. When I went through the cabin I got to her and she was holding her seatbelt and repeating over and over that she didn't know how to work it. Once again, for all of you people who laugh when we do the demos, some people can't seem to figure it out. They check their brains in their bags. They were also smelly people. Not the "I don't wear deoderant" kind of smelly. Just the "I don't shower or wash my hair regularly". Can you tell I had an amazing day? I had four different sets of smelly people today. One was plain old BO smelly, one group of 4 was curry smelly, and the other two were the generally unwashed kind. It's very sad to me to see/smell that.

I did have some friendly people, but my first round trip was to Nashville and very short so I really only had half the customer interraction. I had a man start talking to me while I was serving. He said he liked my name and had wanted to name is daughter Grace or Constance(????) but his wife vetoed it. Then he asked me when my birthday was. He said his wife is in to birthdays and star signs. He said he could usually guess when people's birthdays were, but evidently he still didn't peg me as an Aquarius. He also told me that guys that were born in late September were good matches for me. Funny that I know several born then and am not a good match with any. I told him he was out of his mind and his wife should stop wasting her time on that crap... Not really :-P Then there was the creepy starer in 1D. One of the first lessons in Man School needs to be that looking is flattering but staring is just gross and creepy.

I started reading the first Harry Potter today. I figure 10 years later (or whatever it is) I should get with the times. So far so good.


Currently reading : Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) By J.K. Rowling

the start of a new week

Tomorrow is the beginning of another week of flying. Unlike my easy three day week last week, I'll actually be flying 5 days this one. Imagine that - working every day of the week! Sometimes I envy people who go home to their own beds every night and have nice normal lives. Sometimes I pity people who sleep in their own beds every night and have nice normal lives.

This weekend was way too short. It was nice being off during the day on Friday, which isn't my norm, but I worked at the amphitheater for some play that night, and did a dinner catering last night. The catering was ridiculous. It was for some lady's 60th birthday party and her daughter, who had organized it, was sooo demanding. I almost snapped when she started telling me how to serve sodas... If there's anything I know something about, it's serving sodas (unfortunately).

My brakes have decided to leave me. I've been meaning to get them fixed for a long time, but it's hard to negotiate leaving my car somewhere for long enough to get them fixed. I'm taking it in while I'm away on Tuesday, but all weekend I had to get chauffered around. It was kind of nice cause I don't like driving sometimes and cause then I got to spend time with whoever was driving me around. J did the honors yesterday and took me to my haircut. Then we went to Jersey's pool for the afternoon. Today the parents did the honors and we went to check out a potential house. We aren't sure about how much work the house would need, but I'd almost get it for the land around it. It reminds me of our Roscoe Rd house (property-wise) which was the most beautiful area we've lived in. Who knows if anything will come of it, but it's interesting.

Tonight I did laundry, made my room walkable, and watched True Life about these two girls who are compulsive shoppers. It made me feel much better about my money problems. Nothing like looking at people whose lives are disasters to feel better about yourself. That's all for now. I'm going to try to rise and shine and get stuff done before work in the morning.

if only work was always like this

I love doing three day trips. It was crazy and wonderful to realize yesterday, on day two, that today was the last day of the trip.

We just got back from Nassau. It was a nice overnight and instead of avoiding it like I've done before, I think I'll try to go back. I usually don't do international overnights if they're less than 14 hours or so (Nassau is 11), but since the airport is small and customs is a joke I think I can deal with it. The hotel is actually a Wyndham Resort and is really nice. My crew and I sat on beach chairs on the beach last night for an hour or so and just enjoyed being near sand and water. I'd love to see more of the area. The water was beautiful and we came in as the sun was going down which made it to die for :-P. I love the blackness of the people and how everyone is so relaxed and friendly.

The night before we were in Key West where the people aren't as much black as they are ridiculously tan. The locals all seem to have their brains fried, and you can see every imaginable (and some you'd rather not imagine) type of person. Three of us went out and about and had a jolly good time. For once, it was below 1000 degrees and the humidity was only 97% instead of the usual 125% person. I am evidently a beast because I sweat so much (thank you, Captain).

My prime disappointment with this trip has been that at both hotels, which are known for their king beds, I got full or queen. I know this may seem silly, but I love those beds so much. I feel towards king sized beds like I feel toward showers - a kind of unusual degree of love and enjoyment :-P. There's just something fabulous about knowing I can lie in any direction and still be completely on the bed. Oh well... Maybe next time.

If anything else amusing has happened in the last few days, I don't really remember. I have another 2.5 hours to entertain myself before I do one more round trip to Burlington, VT - then home!

On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese, I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed.

The advertisement at the top of my myspace page just now said "Music lessons= happiness". It made me laugh. Let me tell you, when I took music lessons they brought me more stress and tears than very many other things.

Tomorrow is my Monday. The thing that makes me happy though is that my trip this week is only 3 days. It also makes me happy that I'll be in Key West tomorrow night and Nassau Wednesday night. I don't know what it is but three day trips seem so much shorter than four days. I almost feel like I don't need to pack anything (but I am anyway).

Today was a fun day off. I got to have lunch with J before he went to work. It's hard to beat Chick-fil-a and a good looking man. But then I hung out with Michal and Mama the rest of the afternoon. I also went to the library and checked out the first Harry Potter book. I haven't read any of them and feel so behind the times. Michal had her second lesson learning to drive a manual car. She is doing quite well, though sometimes it makes me laugh a little to realize I'm teaching my baby sister to drive. She is already driving an automatic around which is strange enough. Then we did some shopping which just wore me out. I ran over a snake on the way home, thinking it was a piece of tire, and it made me feel bad and gross.

There has been lots of other stuff going on but I haven't felt like writing. I'm trying to do a better job of keeping up with my friends and family. I realized the other day how little I know about most of my friend's (and some of my family's) lives right now and it really bothers me.

I ran yesterday and intend to do so at least several more times this week. I also talked to my bosses today about some money issues and got more that I thought might be owed me so is another thing going well. It seems like life is a constant struggle for balance. If you are doing well work and money-wise, it seems you neglect relationships. It's hard to do all the good things you want all at the same time. I focus on eating well and exercising for a while, and then I fall completely off the wagon. I am good about calling people and writing and then I get distracted for months. I wonder why we're that way? Now I'm going to focus on getting a good night's sleep so I can be refreshed when I get to Key West tomorrow.

flying hiiiiigh

I'm sitting in Atlanta. We just got back from Montreal and have a 3 hour break before we go to Burlinton, VT for the night. I'm happy cause that's one of my favorite overnights. I wish we were spending 17 hours there instead of in Providence, RI tomorrow night. Someone is sitting a few chairs down from me in the lounge snoring. It amuses me. I should be sleeping because I am le tired, but alas, I am not.

Last night in Montreal I started week 8. This week is a 28 minute run in between two 5 minute walks. I ran four times last week, and am determined to run at least 3 times this week. I have set a weight goal for the end of the month. I'm excited to reach it.

Monday night I went with Jamie to the Dave Matthews concert at Lakewood. It was my first DMB concert. I was impressed by several things. First was obviously the band. It's nice to see a group where all of the musicians are so talented and work so well together. I'm sure this is part of why DMB is so popular. It seems most of the time you have one or two people who have the talent and keep things going, but they are all amazing. Second, I was amazed by how much weed people were smoking. I seriously thought I was going to get stoned just standing there breathing. Third was the crowd. It seemed like Jamie and I were the chaperones for a frat party. I haven't seen that many drunk/stoned children in a long time. Everyone was very enthusiastic though. We stood for at least 3 solid hours. The place was packed. We had a great time. I have to thank Susan for not being able to stay in Atlanta all weekend and thereby making it possible for me to be Jamie's stand-in date :-).

Back in the saddle

I'm back at work after six wonderful days off. I'm still exhausted and am looking forward to the wonderful hotel room in Key West this evening. I got home from Buenos Aires about 5:30 Sunday morning. I went home and went to sleep and was so tired and asleep that even in my dreams I was tired and couldn't move. I got up and had lunch with the parents but was feeling pretty lousy. I was coughing and my whole body hurt. Not sure how much of the aching was due to spending 10 hours on a plane. That night I had my usual fever breaking dreams and woke up with wet sheets from all the sweat - so I'm assuming whatever I had went away then. I'm still kind of achy, but not nearly as bad.

Yesterday I hung out at the pool with J. The weather lately has been amazing and almost makes you forget how brutal Atlanta can be. After that we went running, shopping and cooked supper. It was a really nice evening and we got to sit on his balcony and watch the reflection of the sunset off the buildings in Buckhead. Such a beautiful night.

When I travel I have the problem of not writing during the trip, and when I get home it's so much to write about that I never do. I did that with Puerto Vallarta, but don't want it to happen this time, so I'll try to write about it in bits and pieces.

My first impression of Buenos Aires was from the back of a taxi. I feared that I would die before we ever reached the city. Roya and I arrived in Buenos Aires around 7:30am. We'd had a nice flight (both in Business) and were ready to take on the world. Her friend, Alfredo, met us at the airport and we got in the cab to go to the hotel. Because of the traffic it made a 30 minute ride almost twice that long. I spent a lot of the trip looking down or anywhere except at what was in front of us. In Argentina there is total disregard for the lines on the road. Everyone is weaving back and forth. If you pull up at a light where there are three lanes, but there's room to squeeze in between two of the cars, they'll make four lanes. The driver would come up behind and between semis like they wouldn't squish us completely flat if we got in their way. Roya tried to video it but it was so stop and go and unpredictable that it was difficult. I'm glad to say that we survived, but I think that it was the most scared I've ever been in a car in my life.

It must’ve been love, but it’s over now

I said that I would write from Buenos Aires so here it is. I'm packing to leave. It's been an amazing trip. We haven't stopped going since we got here. I'm exhausted, but have had the time of my life. I'll write all about it either on the 10hour flight home that I hopefully make tonight, or when I recover from my sleep deprivation.

You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em

If you ever have a friend who really wants to have a child and you don't think they're ready make them watch episode after episode of John and Kate + 8. I know it's children in excess, but just watching it stresses me out. It's like having a daycare 24/7 and not getting paid for it. It also seems to me that John and Kate can't stand each other. Good birth control in my opinion.

Today I'm in Grand Rapids. Last night was Augusta. Yes, it's as thrilling as it sounds. I'm back on the 50 which hasn't been terrible, but I'm realizing that I work better when I have someone else to work with. I've been really tired, which hasn't helped me be a super fun fantastic flight attendant. Tomorrow I have five legs. Then I go to my car, dump my work clothes, get my play clothes, and fly to Buenos Aires. Right now I'm still too busy and tired and anxious about getting both Roya and I in first class to be excited. Okay, maybe I am a little bit.

This past week was a whirlwind. I worked a lot, had recurrent training, saw lots of out of town friends, had a real date, and worked some more. Adri and Mo were in town from MA so we went to the laser show at Stone Mountain. I might just be a big party pooper, but I think it's kind of cheesy. I don't like cartoons either though, so that might be part of the problem. It was still lots of good fun seeing everyone and the weather was perfect for being out under the sky. Jamie and Susan also both wandered in from their respective hick states to add to the festiviti. We crashed Adri's house on Friday night and had a 1477 and apartment family gathering.

I had a passenger yesterday who has flown over 2 million miles on Delta since the early 90s. He told me he's been in planes that have been struck by lightning 3 times. I was shocked and amazed. Shocked cause I've known people who've been struck once, but never three times. Amazed cause I have been curious what happens and obviously he wasn't damaged or killed.

Today I ran again. I was really on a roll for a while there. Then the running got harder and the weather got hotter. I've really flaked out. Now I finally finished week 6. It's only taken me a month. It was a 5 minute warm up with a 25 minute run. That's the longest I've run, without stopping, in a long time. Maybe ever. I ran super slow, but I finished it, and now I can at least move on to week 7.

My goal now is to be asleep by 8 or so. Now What Not To Wear is on so I'm not going insane. I'm going to work on a budget - finally. I think that realistically I can have my debt paid off by the beginning of December. Now that the end is in sight it makes me more motivated to do it (hence the microwave meal I just ate).

Hopefully next time I write it will be from about 5000 miles away.

Oh yeah, the concert I worked Saturday night was Kenny Rogers. There were some ladies there who had been to over 1000 KR concerts! It was really sad. I can't imagine who has nothing better to do with their lives than go to his concerts. It was extremely cheesy and his super hot wife came up on the stage with his twin 3 year old boys and they sang some rap song... I can't believe people paid lots of money for that. After the amazing pre-concert that Jamie and Jonathan put on Kenny just didn't impress me :-).

The rest of the story

I know I already blogged once today, but I'm much more awake now. I just got home from having dinner with some of my buddies. It was a good time. It's nice that the older we get, the more open we're able to be with each other. I often dream about what it would be like to be able to be completely honest with everyone about everything. I'm not talking about telling someone their pants really do make them look fat. I mean being able to tell anyone anything about myself and not be worried about what they think. In thinking about this I realize that I probably would have to draw the line somewhere. Some things I don't tell people because I'm ashamed, and if I stopped being ashamed of anything then I feel that would be bad. But other things are good to tell. If for no other reason than for someone to learn from and have a good laugh at my stupid mistakes.

That being said, it was nice to be able to tell my parents something terrible and stupid I did and them not banish me from their house :-D.

I will now tell the drug test story. If you're offended by stupidity, alcohol, drugs, or vomiting you might not want to read it. I would like to preface this by saying that throughout my college years, and especially while I was living in Europe, I was constantly exposed to weed. People offered it to me but I was never interested. It might've been because alcohol was still a new thing to me and enough for me to deal with. It might've been that I'd been raised to think that drug use is not a good way to spend your time or money. That it's not good to let something control your mind. I also saw that all my friends that smoked were dreadfully dull when stoned. All those reasons made me never interested. That is, until one night about 3 years ago when I was sitting around being bored and stupid and drinking and someone offered me a joint. I took it but just took one puff on it, and as Bill Clinton claimed, I don't think I even inhaled. I didn't feel anything spectacular, and that was the end of it. Or so I thought.

During this time I had applied for a job at my current airline. Things began moving at an unexpected pace and within 5 days of my first interview I was going for my second one. After the second interview they gave me some paperwork and told me to go for a drug test. Everyone had already told me that once they drug test you it means you have the job. Then they'd always joke and say "Unless you fail the drug test (thigh slap. ha ha.)" I didn't think I had anything to worry about since it was about a week and a half earlier, but I called said weed provider just to confirm. I was then informed that it can stay in your system for up to 30 days. This is the part where my day starts to get really terrible. Anger, panic, worry, and tears all ascend on me like the plague.

The next person I call is Adri. If she doesn't know an answer, she can find it. I also call Jamie, who at this point I was still only on phone internet basis with (look how far we've come :-D). He's another answer finder. He also works in the same type of field where clean drug tests are a good thing. Between the two of them I'm directed to GNC where I purchase one of those detox drinks. (Side note here: doing stupid things is expensive.) It's about a gallon and grape flavored. I've also purchased a big bottle of OJ and cranberry juice - items also said cleanse one's system.

[Just so you know, as I write this I question why I'm actually telling anyone what an idiot I am. But it's been a while and now at least I can laugh at my own stupid mistakes. I think so anyway...]

I begin drinking these different concoctions. The detox bottle said you have to pee at least 3 times before you take the test. I'm still in my interview finest and am now trying to figure out how I'm going to drink all this and then kill enough time for it to pass through me. It's not as easy as it seems. I went to the thriftstore down the road and wandered for a while and peed some. I was feeling terrible physically. I was feeling terribly mentally cause I was so worried about passing the test and so ashamed of myself for doing something so stupid. My stomach finally took over and decided that enough was enough and my really expensive detox drink, as well as what seemed like gallons of OJ and CJ came back up. I can't imagine what someone would've thought as the lady in the business clothes pukes in the thriftstore parking lot in the early afternoon. I must've been a sight to see :-P.

The puking helped me realize that the nonsense had gone on long enough and I better just take the test. As we can see, I passed and now that is all just a distant, silly memory.

I would say that the moral of the story is not to smoke weed. If for no other reason than because you never know when you'll have a major job interview and need to be drug tested. And if you do, the grape flavored drinks are absolutely disgusting. I also learned that my stomach cannot hold several gallons of liquid and evidently my organs cannot process fluids as quickly as I drink them.

This may be shocking and appalling to some of you. Some may not be surprised. I hope at least you're amused, and can take comfort in the fact that I suffered for and have learned from my mistakes. :-P

I will amend this by saying that Jamie and I were actually real life friends at this point. He reminded me of this because shortly thereafter when I was doing my first trip I went to his house at 6am cause I didn't have a suitcase and used his. it's hard to keep up with how long this joy ride of a friendship has been going on :-).

My eyelids should diet. They’re so heavy...

I just got home from doing a nap. I should probably take a nap since I only slept 5 hours, but I haven't managed to get to that point yet.

I had a productive, busy, hard working weekend, but it was nice. I worked at the amphitheater Fri and Sat and saw some people from the previous concerts. I really like working there and I like the people I serve. It also helps that most of them are really generous. Some lady tipped me for taking her beer bottle up to the bar and popping the lid off of it. I was worried cause when I got in the car Saturday night I counted my money and thought I had lost a twenty. I checked around in the car and even drove back to see if if was where I had parked, but it was gone. Then yesterday when I got in the car to leave my parent's house it was sitting right next to my seat... It made me happy. I hate losing money.

I got my phone replaced a couple weeks ago because the camera on mine had broken and it was still under warranty. Since then I have discovered the key to making my battery last. It seems my phone works much better when it isn't full of pictures. Now instead of barely lasting a day, the battery lasts several days. It's amazing.

Father's day was really nice. My mama, Michal, and I made a big salad with all the good stuff on it that my daddy loves. It was so good. Then we sat around and talked all afternoon. I told them the real story behind my ASA drug test. Now, three years later, it's funny. I'll write about it when I'm not so tired. I figure since my parents know then it doesn't matter who else knows. Church was also really good. There is hardly a Sunday that I leave there without feeling like I learned something and/or was challenged.

I have recurrent training this week so I'll be home every single night. It's weird. Tomorrow I work really late and already have stuff going on most nights, but it's still kind of nice to not be on the road.