Faux Traffic Controller

I got back from the FAA Academy on the 11th of April...about two and a half weeks ago. Since then work has constituted computer work, watching the happenings in the Tower, and lots of book work. Today I studied LAWRS all day; that's 'Limited Aviation Weather Reporting Station' for you non-FAA folk. It's a whole lot of weather junk that I have to memorize which I won't ever need to be able to recall (so I'm told).

I really want to get through all of the classroom stuff so that I can go and start the job I've been working toward for the last 17 months. It's an exciting time, but also a trying time. We've had to exercise patience the whole way through this thing, and it doesn't look like it's going to end any time soon.

Nonetheless, we continue on. Glad to have a stable job, and glad that we are all healthy and happy.

The Pee Pee post

I took the kids to the park this evening while Jenny was at Enrichment Night. I thought it would be fun to play hide-and-go-seek, so Porter and I counter while Ethan and Haley went to hide.
Once we found Haley, she squeezed her legs together and started doing the potty dance, yelling that she need to go potty. I told her that we would head for home and stop at a friend's house on the way if it was that urgent. She suggested that she just go in the bushes so that we could stay and keep playing. I told her no and that we needed to leave now if she hoped to make it home with dry pants. All of the sudden she stopped dancing and yelling and said 'Okay, I don't really need to go.' I thought she had just pretended to need to go so that she could go in the bushes (she's weird like that). Porter and I went to count again so that Ethan and Haley could go hide. When we finished counting I turned around to look for the kids. Across the park and in the bushes I saw a little white bum pointing right back at me. She was half hidden behind a tree and obviously trying to hurry things along. I pretended not to see her. Once we came around to where she was hiding and Porter found her she looked at me quizzically and said 'Dad, my pants are wet in the back. I think it started raining.' I could not get past the dead-pan look. Hilarious.

I gotta keep an eye on that one.

Food Storage

First off, I believe in food storage. I know that had we had a year's worth of food, our recent experience with unemployment could have been much less painful (and humiliating).

Today in Church we heard from an older couple on the topic of "How food storage can bless us." This couple had been serving in the Church Cannery over the last two years and had some valuable insights into food, its storage, and why in the world the Church makes raw wheat available to its members.

We have made it a family goal to amass a viable supply of food that we can rely on should we delve back into unemployment. Neither I nor Jenny have a very good track record of storing food. We have made several attempts after similar talks in church and subsequent trips to the cannery. However, powdered milk, potato pearls, and dried beans never seemed to catch on at our house. So lieu of those things, we have a 6 month supply of fruit leather, toilet paper, and applesauce. Actually, I have to assume that we're not the only ones who don't favor the food selection that the cannery offers because the couple who spoke in church today related a story of a gentleman who buys bunches of food to give to widows. I kid you not that they said: and he has found ways to cook the food too.

As Jenny and I were talking about food storage during our trip home from OK, I had a epiphany. I realized that if we ever hoped to store food in a meaningful way, it would have to be food that we would actually eat (read: not from the cannery). So we decided to start buying extra rice, chicken broth, crackers, spaghetti sauce, etc. each time we go to the store. This way, we can rotate in the older stuff, replace it with fresher products, and never have suffer through another can of dried apple slices.

We actually acquired some chickens this week as part of our food storage effort. I'm thinking that it will be a way to teach the kids some responsibility, while having the added benefit of farm fresh food in our back yard. We'll see how it goes. I like the idea, and it doesn't seem too hard to care for them. Don't be suprised, though, if I start offering free chickens.

One more day...

So, I passed the first (more difficult) portion of my final exams for the FAA Academy today. I am very pleased and very grateful that it went so smoothly. I still have the second part tomorrow, but it is much easier than the first, and I feel confident that I will pass without issue.

For the last week, or so, most of the student in my class (myself included) have become progressively more nervous about the tests. This stems from the ruthless practice of firing students who do not pass. So, for those of us who have a family to support and slim prospects of subsequent employment should we not pass, the pressure is pretty hefty. For some the pressure has become so intense that they were visibly shaking for the two days prior to the final.

I admit that I got caught up in the nervousness, until Thursday night when I had a hard time sleeping. Since then I have tried to separate myself from the rest of the class to ease my nerves; which seems to have paid off.

The one thing that I came to realize is that my family and I will be okay no matter what. I came to peace with my preparations for the final, and the resulting outcome. I knew that if I failed the final it was because there was something better for me/my family waiting.

Once I accepted the possibility of a worst-case outcome, and realized that we could survive it, my nerves calmed and I was able to perform up to my ability. Fortunately, it looks like we won't need to consider the worst-case this time...

Oklahoma Reflections

Being away from the family for so long has given me some great time to reflect. I have gained a greater appreciation for Jenny, and for the phenomenal companion she is. I have learned that what I miss most about my kids is their spontaneous affection. There have been many times when I wanted to give a hug, or when I needed some nice snuggles. When days have gone bad all I've wanted was for Jenny to hold me. I guess I'm not much different than they are in that regard. I'm sure Jenny would submit that we are much more alike than just that.

In my alone time (which I get a lot of lately) I usually go out for a walk. More often than not, my thoughts turn to my family and I think about where we are in our lives and the direction that we're headed together. Every time I let my mind wander like that I realize how grateful I am to have a wife who loves me and to be the Dad for some of the best kids I've ever met. I am head-over-heels for Jenny, and I am excited every day to live more of my life with her!

I can't wait to go home and show each of them how much I love and missed them.

- A