Marry Me, Fly for Free!

I got a 6:00 wake up call on Saturday for a day trip. I got there at 7:30, surprising my crew who weren't expecting me until 8:00. Like I've said before, even though I have two hours to get there, it's just easier to get there as soon as possible... not easier for me, but it helps the rest of the day not to be thrown off for everyone else. I was joining up with a Salt Lake City based crew, because one of the FA's had woken up throwing up that morning. They were fun!! We did a Cedar Rapids turn, then a Wichita turn, so it was nice to do more than just one round trip for a change! The Captain was super nice and the whole crew was awesome. I have been extremely fortunate to work with decent people on my trips so far.

I was the FA up front, so Shambray did the announcements and I did the demos. While I was getting the demo equip't ready, the passenger briefing card felt a little thicker than usual... I opened it up to find a sign taped inside that said "Marry Me, Fly for Free"... I cracked up! Turns out my Captain had put it in there, and he was like, "how did you find it??!" I told him it felt thicker... he didn't think so. Apparently one FA said she smelled the marker when he tried it on her. He told me to ask Shambray about the time they flew together on the CRJ 200 (where there is only one FA). Turns out he had taped that sign on the back of her beverage cart, so while she was going down the aisle to do her service, people could see it. Someone finally told her it was on there, otherwise she would have had no idea!!

We got back and they called the other FA, who said she was feeling better and would join up with them for the rest of the trip. I was glad she felt better but bummed I couldn't continue on with them, they were cool. They invited me to have pizza with them that night but I found out Crew Support scheduled me for a turn with an early report time Sunday morning so I skipped out on that and came home and slept.

Sunday I had a horrible time getting to the airport... had to wait almost 30 minutes for the train, then the train was going no more than 10 miles an hour (no joke). I wondered if I would even get there. It's never taken me more than an hour from my front door to our crew lounge, and I'd given myself an hour and a half. Well, by the grace of God I got there and wasn't late. We were going to Des Moines, Iowa, and I saw that we were out of the C concourse, which is a hike from our crew lounge... and since it was so early, the shuttle wasn't running. Fortunately, I met up with Daravy, the other FA on the trip with me (it was only her second trip - so that was unusual for me to fly with someone who's been out of training for less time than I have!). We got our exercise in and chatted along the way. She was cool to work with, and after our turn we were sitting at the airport on ready reserve until 3:00 so we got to hang out some more. Going to Des Moines I met an Australian couple who are now living in America, but turns out they were ministering in PNG for a couple of years in the late 70's. That was awesome! Had a good chat with them.

Well, I have to back up now to Friday, the beautiful day I had to relax and get caught up on rest. Kelsey and Hope Scott were coming into Chicago for a short layover, and Kim, their mom, had written to me saying that maybe I could meet up with them. We were hoping I could surprise them but Kim hadn't told me where they were coming in from... I ended up finding Kelsey's phone number and got ahold of her right before their plane left from Baltimore. It was too bad it couldn't be a surprise but at least I got the right flight details and found them ok! It was so fun to see them again!! They were on their way to an MK Re-Entry seminar in Buffalo. We grabbed a bite to eat and got to spend about an hour and a half together before they caught their next flight.

Today I am just chilling at home (my place in Chicago, that is) and hoping not to be called out for a trip. I have the next three days off, so am going to try to fly home to California tonight. Can't wait!