Back to school stress

Fall back to school season is always one of the hardest times for me. I love sending accumulating all the goods, cute fall outfits ( so hard to find outfits for 90 degree days in fall colors though!), and seeing everyone’s first day photos. But every year it brings up significant anxiety for me when I have to fill out the emergency contact forms. We don’t have any family nearby- just two cousins who live six hours away each- and we’ve never found those close family friends I’ve always wished for. I have a few neighbors and acquaintances who have said I could use them but it seems like such a huge task to ask of someone- “will you pick my child up from school if I’m unconscious from a car accident and take care of them for who knows how long until their dad can fly back?” Or “Can you make medical decisions for my child, or children, in an emergency situation?” Maybe I’m just overthinking it, partially because of where I work, but those seem like some heavy responsibilities to ask of someone you don’t know well. And every year I have to face the fact that we still haven’t found those friends we click with well enough for me to think “of course I’ll put so and so.” I know my heart would feel well more settled if we had a plan in place for our children if something were to happen to both of us. But again it’s such an awesome responsibility to ask someone to raise our kids, and get to know them and spend time with them so they aren’t strangers, if something happens to us. I think it’s something I will eternally struggle with.

In other news, we survived the hurricane with no major issues. A was able to get home to us ahead of time to help prepare and wait. And wait. And wait. I am thankful that his company allows him time off with no issues and I hope they continue to do so.

Owning the skies

I recent read the book The Skies Belong To Us about hijackings in the 1960’s and 1970’s in America. It was so fascinating! I was born in the late 1970’s and grew up flying. I remember when anyone could go through airport security and all the way up to the gate. At our local airport, I remember how each gate had it’s own individual scanner to go through. I remember being a teen, coming home from a conference in another state and walking off the plane to find my mother sitting at the gate having guessed that was the flight I was on because I hadn’t had time to call her ( from the old school payphone, with a calling card...) prior to take off.  I vaguely remember a few news stories about hijackings as a young child. I remember seeing passenger alert signs at airports listing a few airports in Africa that didn’t have passenger screenings and how those passengers could enter the air system. I know my dad saw some of those hijacked planes while at work as a mechanic at a major airport.

It was amazing to read about how many hijackings there actually were; how commonplace it had become. There were even multiple hijackings on the same day! And how poorly planned some of these attempts were- hijackings that required plane changes due to distance and airlines having to borrow planes from other airlines to accommodate. It was also amazing to read about how complicit the airlines were with it - caving to every demand and fighting against passenger screenings because they thought the passengers would revolt and stop flying. Little did they know... At one time one could simply arrive at the airport, board a plane, and then purchase a ticket once onboard. With no screening. Mind blown! At one point in the book it mentioned that one of the pilots being hijacked was upset- because he had just been hijacked the month (week?) before! I can’t even imagine flying in that kind of atmosphere. I guess knowing that the airlines would comply, at least the Americans- check out Operation Entebbe for the Israeli response- made it feel less dangerous and more like a minor annoyance. And possibly less angst inducing for the wives. I can’t even imagine.

Overall, it was a really interesting read, the story of one particular hijacking interspersed with the history of hijackings in general. It was easy to get through and definitely left a lasting impression.

Speeding through

Here it is already February! There have been so many times that I meant to post but got caught up doing something else and just never got around to it. That’s the story of all our lives though, isn’t it? Everything is moving along. A was able to bid far below his seniority for December and had not only our week of vacation off, but over a week for Christmas off as well. It may well turn out to be his last Christmas at home for a while, so that was nice. We took our first family vacation in several years to Orlando to do some holiday activities. I got sick the weekend befor the trip but refused to go to the Dr or Urgent Care and consequently spent the entire week popping ibuprofen to handle the high fever and burning sore throat. No man-colds for me! I finally caved when I was still acutely I’ll a week later and went to the Urgent Care with a 102 fever. After much testing I was diagnosed with pneumonia and possible post strep. After a few days extra off work, I went back and promptly picked up a cold which then lead into an ear infection. One chink in my armor and everything opportunistic hopped in! I finally recovered just before New Years and luckily no one else ended up sick. It was so nice to have A home to help. Just as I got well, A cane down with nfluenza A. We caught it quickly, got him on Tamiflu and he recovered in about three days, just in time to take care of the two out of three kids at home who then caught the flu. We’ve finally all recovered!

A had been in the program to get preferential hiring from a major airline and in December finally got word that he was accepted pending completing his Bachelor’s degree. He had been hoping he would be an exception to the rule (why? I don’t know) but was denied.  So he has 12 months to finish his degree. He *should*have been working on it already and knew it was a requirement but still. So we spend most of December tracking down transcripts and getting him enrolled in a program. He’s now working on a BS in Psychology. It’s a self paced program that has a tuition discount program through his airline. He’s known pilots who made it through in 6-7 moths, but at the rate he’s going, he’ll be lucky to finish by his deadline. Although A seems to think otherwise. So we’ll see. I know the thought of guys below him in seniority going over before him burns him, so hopefully that will be good motivation for him.

I was thinking the other day about how lucky A is to have a job he can walk away from instead of having to deal with the same people day after day. It came about on a particular Monday morning when I was dreading having to rehash a difficult conversation with a parent. It bugged me all weekend that I knew what was coming. A on the other hand completed his two-three hour flight and then done. He closes the flight and walks away, hopefully never to have to deal with it again. I on the other hand spend day after day with the same people, plugging away at the same problems, until they finally discharge. Sometimes it’s more exhausting than rewarding.

I’m still waiting for that magic day when everything falls into place.