Crazy Christmas and TRUE LOVE! =)

At the end of November, I was scheduled for a 3 day trip over Christmas... and actually, it worked out pretty well for me. The trip started on the 23rd, with the first overnight in LA. Luckily my parents kinda like me, so Mom picked me up from the airport and brought me home for the night instead of making me stay in the hotel (which, I found out the next day, was without power, and my pilots had to fight to be moved to another one).

On Monday we didn't have to be at the airport until 3pm, so I got together with Tina in the morning and we hung out for a couple of hours. =) Tina went to high school with us in PNG, and is working in Fiji with YWAM. She is just back in Cali for a few weeks to see her family over the holidays. As always, it was great catching up!!! The last time we got to hang out was last year when I was in Fiji...

us in Fiji last year

and now!

Monday afternoon we were scheduled for a Boise turn, and then overnight in Oakland (where they love to send me, especially for holidays!!). On the way to Boise, I had a bunch of passengers who had just come back from a bowl game in Hawaii - Boise State vs. East Carolina. That takes some dedication... going all the way to Hawaii for a football game. Wow. Must be nice! =) The next leg, from Boise to LA, there were some rowdy black guys sitting up front... They had just come back from Hawaii too, except they were there playing. They were four guys from the football team, and needless to say, they kept me entertained during the flight!

two of the guys with their coach

We had a two and a half hour sit in LA before flying to to Oakland. I was a little thrown off when we got there because they didn't give me my usual room, and put me on a completely different floor! ;-) That was Christmas Eve... It wasn't feeling like Christmastime at all...

On Tuesday (Christmas) I woke up at 5am to catch a shuttle to the airport to catch a 6:45am flight on JetBlue to Long Beach. See, we were scheduled to leave from Oakland at about 1pm to fly to LA, but it was just a deadhead. That just means that we're on the flight, we don't work it, but we get paid for it. Sweet huh? That also meant that I didn't technically have to be on that flight, as long as I could make it to LA myself by the time we had to fly out. Soooo... I went home again! What a blessing to be able to be at home on Christmas, even if it was only for a few hours. Our family continues to grow... Abi has been with us for awhile, and then Maria for the last couple years... this year we had another Maria with us. =) We had to initiate her, as it was her first Christmas in America!

Abi and I

Abi, Chris, and me... Chris accused Abi and I of acting like little girls!

Mommy making us breakfast =)
Dad finally grew some hair and it made him crazy

After hanging out at home, we flew the Boise turn again in the afternoon, and then back to Tucson that night. No drama, everyone was cool, no crazy stories to tell. That was a blessing. =) My pilots were very chill and relaxed, which was awesome. I had flown with the FO before, but it was my first time meeting the Captain. On our last flight of the day, we only had 20 passengers back to Tucson. We arrived at about 11:30pm, and I had the next two days off. There are no flights back to LA that late, so I was going to sleep on a couch in our crew lounge and catch the first flight in the morning to go home again. Well, I walked out of the gate, looked across the terminal, and saw a bunch of people waiting for an apparently delayed flight. I looked on the board, and it was the LA flight!! It was been delayed for FOUR HOURS. I went over just as they were boarding, and asked the gate agent if I could jump on. After a little drama with that, I got on the plane and called Dad up to let him know I was coming! I'd be getting in late, and they didn't think the train would still be running (I had parked Mom's car at the park & ride station in Norwalk so I could get home the next day since everyone would be at work). Anyway, I told Dad it wasn't a big deal, and I could just sleep in our crew lounge at LAX... Everyone had to work early the next day - Dad would have to be up at 4am or so. When I landed, I had messages from him saying he was on his way to pick me up and to call him!! It was SO NICE that he would sacrifice sleep to come and pick me up, just so I could come home. An act of true love, for sure. =) When I asked him why, he said, "you're not sleeping at the airport on Christmas night when you can come home to your own bed." Awwwww... =) I think he loves me. =) We finally got home around 1:30am and when I went into my room, Maria sat up and looked at me like I wasn't really there... She said out loud, "am I dreaming?" It was the cutest thing. =)


I had asked if I could sit reserve in LA again after my days off... I didn't think they'd let me on Friday, because I was the only person on call from 4am-4pm, but thought we looked ok for the rest of the days... But I was told no, "we need you in Tucson." Needing me in TUS = sitting around not getting called. Well, as I expected, I did get called on Friday morning, at 5am after getting maybe 2 hours of sleep. I just flew a local - TUS-LA-Boise-Denver-TUS. Been on call all weekend and no one has been called... But they NEED me, right? Even though there are six other people here not getting called? Yeah, it's getting old. And the thing that's a bummer is that it doesn't look like I'm going to get transferred out of here. I ended up putting in a transfer to LA, where I would still be on reserve, but at least I would be on reserve at home where I have friends, family, and puppy dogs to keep me company. =) (I mentioned that I was thinking about Fresno, but found out that they cut back the schedules there and I would still be on reserve there as well.) My schedule for next month stinks, and I'm very frustrated about that. I'm having a hard time making lemonade out of these lemons!

On call for two more days, through the 1st, and then hoping to go home again for two days... Let the fun continue...!