Brighton

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Life has been going quite well. Yes, I dropped off the face of the earth, but here I go, posting again. I’ve spent so many layovers in June in Washington. This meant so fun visits into Seattle, but also an amazing hike with my friend and fellow flyer, Jordan. You’ll have to wait on those pictures- they’re at home on my other machine. Tonight I’m in Brighton. I just finished a three-day work assignment today, and I start another one tomorrow.

I have some fun plans in the works- and I can’t wait to tell you more about them as they happen. Two non-work trips are in the making. I’m talking about bucket list item number 72 (Stay for 7 days in New York City) and working toward number 84 (Go to Scotland 25 times) as I have begun to make plans for Scotland 6. I can hardly wait for these two trips! The first, coming up this September.

Even though Scotland 6 won’t happen until next year, I’m going to be able to visit some more places where my ancestors came from. Also, I may have some crashpad roommates joining me for the adventure. I’ve had people tell me before that they’d love to go with me, but nobody has ever followed through. It would be fun to share the journey, but at the same time, I find great value in traveling alone. So no matter what ends up happening, I’m looking forward to another great adventure.

Ok the real reason for this post:

I had an amazing experience at work yesterday, the Fourth of July. I was working a flight from Denver to San Francisco and as I greeted the passengers. Two of the passengers boarded the plane with musical instruments. One carried a guitar, and the other a fiddle. My coworker, Melody, asked them if they’d be willing to play a song on our flight. Much to our excitement, they agreed.

After our completing our service, I got on the P.A. and told the passengers that we had a special surprise. I then called Adam and Jon to the front and asked them to bring their instruments. The played a couple musical numbers- they are amazing! Such beautiful music and both highly talented- they make the perfect duet! Jon asked me to record it on his phone. During the second song, they decided to walk through the cabin. It was brilliant! The passengers ate it up!

I sent them a message later that evening, asking for a copy of the video. Here it is:
For more about Adam and Jon (or to get their CD), check out http://adamageejonsousa.com. These guys are great! I plan on stalking them.

I have never understood while people like to lay out in the sun.

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I don’t get it- why would you sit there like an unemployed, beached whale when the ocean is right there- and it’s so great to actually play in the sea or the pool. I know vitamin D is good for you, but you absorb just as much as if you’re moving around, doing something. Yes, I know you want a tan, but to be honest, that tan doesn’t make you look any more attractive. Once you’re old, you will have so many wrinkles- I don’t even have to mention skin cancer. I just can’t.

Speaking of slowly getting skin cancer, I just got back from a totally awesome Fort Lauderdale layover. The trip started out pretty bad- not only did we have to work a bunch of legs, but it was a P.M. trip. Both of those are horrible things, but the second night (last night), I got to hang out for 18 hours after getting in just before midnight! It was amazing!

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I did swim in the ocean for a while but then ended up going to the pool. It felt incredible to be in the water- I really don’t take advantage of the hotel pools often enough. That needs to change, especially since I’ve lost a little bit of my belly fat. Also, I decided to stop caring if other people like how I look. It feels very liberal. I’m like a feminist except for the fact that I enjoy life and like other people (I’m kidding, if any of my feminist friends are reading this… I probably have feminist friends).

After drying off, I decided to walk down to a mall and get a new power charger thingy for my electronic devices. I bought a Mophie and spent way too much on it. The thing is supposed to charge my phone for 100 hours, though. I had a different, cheaper brand a while back but accidentally left it on a plane- it was never found.

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I got back to Colorado late last night. This morning is all about doing laundry and getting ready for another trip that starts later on today. I was just outside, visiting the ducks, chickens, and dogs… soon, there will be bees as well. I can hardly wait! I just had Rice Crispy treats and herbal tea for breakfast.

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This past week, I started to read Wicked again. I love this book! If you’re not familiar, it’s the story of the rise [and fall] of the wicked witch of the west. Please understand that I’m not a huge reader- so for me to read on my own, is a pretty big deal. When I read this book, it’s easy to understand why the witch turned out like she did. I know that some of you may have the musical in mind, but the book is very, very different. Come to think about it, the only similarity between the musical and the book is the fact that Elphaba and Galinda meet while attending college at Shiz University.

I started the book again because I really wanted to read the next book in the series, called Son of a Witch. This way, Wicked will be fresh in my head. There is so much that happens in the first book, I’m sure that Son of a Witch builds onto it.  I have set a goal, to spend some time in a book every day. We’ll see how long this lasts. I love reading it on my

I have set a goal, to spend some time in a book every day. We’ll see how long this lasts. I love reading it on my iPad because I can read it with a split screen- on one side of my screen is the book, and the other side is a screenshot of a map of The Land Of Oz- this way I can immediately understand where the characters are. It makes it more clear for me and means that I don’t have to constantly turn back to the beginning of the book, which is what I have to do when reading a hard copy.

After having worked the last six days in a row, I’m very thankful to be off for the next four. My plane landed just before 02:00 this morning and after about 2 1/2 hours of sleep at the crashpad, I somehow managed to get myself together and head back to the airport in Denver. The goal was to get home as quickly as possible. As I sat in the airport, waiting for my flight, I found it very hard to keep my eyes open. A nap would have been nice, but I don’t think my employer appreciates it when I nap in full uniform.

My nap came later in the afternoon- and it was a heavy, three-hour affair. Even though I feel rested at the moment, I can’t wait to fall back to sleep tonight! I think it’s going to be a very chill evening. I plan on popping some popcorn and watching a movie. Perhaps I’ll watch The Wizard of Oz.

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This was my chicken-warming gift to Dawn. Chicken-warming is a thing, right?

Tonight I’m back in Brighton, Colorado. I think it’s going to be a good evening- most of the loud roommates are out of the house, and hopefully they won’t be back anytime soon. We all get along just fine, but you can tell that for some of them, this is the first time they’ve lived away from their parents.

For some of them, this flight attendant gig is the first real career they’ve had- it’s taking them a bit longer to grow up. They’re young and they get to travel for their job. Some of them work for a horrible airline, that treats the employees like dirt, but it’s all they know, so they love it.

Here’s the rule: If you’re going to live in a shared living space you need to pitch in every once in awhile. At the very least, make sure you pick up after yourself. I will be the first to admit that sometimes my house gets messy, but there’s a lesson that my dad taught me when I was young- DON’T LEAVE YOUR CRAP OUT FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO HAVE TO CONTEND WITH… or something along those lines. So this is why I do clean house often. You never know when you may have unexpected visitors. Just kidding- nobody visits me. Still, it’s good to clean.

Ok, on to something worth reading: Coming in at number 99 on my bucket list is to visit every single state in the United States. This one is only a matter of time since I only lack 4: Alaska, Hawai’i, Maine, and South Dakota. This has very little to do with my job- growing up, we would drive ‘cross-country from Arizona to South Carolina and each year my dad would drive us to different places. It helps that he was a history professor and needed to hit many of the civil war battlefields.

 

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IMG_7257I had the day off of work, and rather thank spend one whole day at home, I stayed at the crashpad. Today Jeff, my crashpad dad, and I pretended to be farmers. Next to the barn, behind the house, there is a chicken coop. It needed some fixing up, so that was today’s activity. After a quick ride on the tractor with Tatum, we were off to the farmer supply to pick up some chicken wire, some wood chips for the floor of the coup, six chicks, and two ducks.

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IMG_7265Adrian was right out there working with us. This means so much to me since there were a few other roommates who chose to stay inside and not help. He actually made the job more fun, with his sense of humor. I’m enjoying getting to know him a little bit better. You really know who someone truly is when and if they show up to help.

In his own words, “I feel like an underpaid Mexican.” Funny because he is a second-generation U.S. citizen whose parents came from Baja Mexico.

IMG_7273Whiz came out after awhile to inform us that he was there to supervise. The only reason he hadn’t come out earlier is because he was resting from a rather vicious work trip.

Even though we were almost finished by the time he arrived, I still commend him for at least showing up. I know that if we’d have needed help, he would have put on some shoes and helped out. It’s just the kind of person he is.

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Jeff is Dawn’s husband and therefore the “Dad” of our crashpad. The more I get to know this guy, the more I appreciate him.

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6 Chickens

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2 Ducks

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Since my last post, I’ve been on a couple of work trips. Sadly, I have to be in a certain mood to update this blog. Whatever the opposite of writer’s block is- that’s the mood I have to be in. Hmmm, I’ll call it writer’s flow. Tonight I’m in Brighton, Colorado, at my crashpad and am feeling a little bit of the flow, so I’m going to take advantage of the situation and here is an update for you.

Coming in at number 87 on the bucket list is to ride on the Silverton Train. One memory I have from when I was young is listening to my cousin Carrie’s C.W. McCall album for. I’d close my eyes and these songs would transport me to another place and time. They remind me of home. Sadly, Carrie has since passed away but I’m happy to have found C.W. McCalls’ Greatest Hits album on iTunes.