Frightening Friday
Daughter Casey dressed up at work for Halloween--as a really bad--or really sloppy--Nurse (with a Grey's Anatomy reference, 007.) 
Be afraid, ya'll...be very afraid!
Happy Halloween!
Daughter Casey dressed up at work for Halloween--as a really bad--or really sloppy--Nurse (with a Grey's Anatomy reference, 007.) Winefest Weekend in Charlotte
"Weekend in Charlotte I" was off to a slow start last Friday. Up at 5 a.m. for an 8:30 departure to Charlotte, I settled into my seat on the plane for the 59 minute flight. We taxied out towards the runway and the Captain came on the PA and told us that there was a 10 minute ATC (Air Traffic Control) delay. No problemo--I was not on a time schedule and just got comfy for a few zzzzzzs.An hour and forty minutes later, the Captain finally makes another announcement. There is a fuel imbalance, and he's been working the problem, and he's sorry he didn't update us sooner but he had been really busy....(riii-igghht! Take 20 seconds and let us know what 's going on next time, Captain!)
Fuel tanks are in the wings of the airplane--so a fuel imbalance is a big deal. The young woman sitting behind me was using her cell phone. She said to the person she was on the phone with (I'm not making any of this up!) that the plane was "out of gas, and the Captain had to put it in neutral and roll back to the gate." (rolling my eyes)
We arrived in CLT 3 hours late, and I checked into the hotel. We had reserved a two-bedroom suite and the hotel had oversold it. They ended up dropping the room rate significantly, and giving us two adjoining rooms--which was even better. Two women sharing a bathroom = t-r-o-u-b-l-e!
Shelby had to work later than originally planned, so I took a nap waiting for her to make the drive from Columbia, SC. I was awakened by some idiot "woo-hooing" outside my room. Well, that idiot was MY idiot--Shel had arrived and woke me up in style!
She started the weekend right--with presents!!
She brought me these cat ornaments--they are darling and I love them!!
And these tile magnets she found in Spain...or Portugal, she couldn't remember!
In our normal fashion, we poured ourselves a glass of wine. Nice, normal sized glasses, right?? Nope!!
These are what we call "Shelby glasses" Really big 'uns! Gives new meaning to "I only had one glass of wine"
After our Happy Hour, we went across the street and had a nice dinner.
Next morning, we had a quick breakfast and the headed to the Concord Mills Mall...one of those "outlet" malls. (I don't know how "outlet-y" these places really are--it is really just a big mall with a lot of stores in it.)
We shopped and got silly...
We were both relieved that the muu-muu was too big....
Lunch break...mine was in an itty bitty glass, and her beer was in a "Shelby glass!"
It has jets of water that you can adjust, sort of like a horizontal Shower Massage.
They had some music playing on the headphones, which is good, because the water was pretty loud when it got up around your shoulders. Once you are set up with the music, they close the lid, leaving only your arms and head sticking out. The blue tarp thing is enclosed, so you don't get wet, and the thing starts up like a car wash. Sorta....
It was okay--I'm glad I tried it, but doubt I'd do it again.
After that, we headed over to Chili's for...well, you know...
More shopping--we looked at a lot of stuff--tried on a lot of clothes--and didn't buy very much. In fact, Shel noticed that while the mall was very crowded, not many people had shopping bags in their hands! We did manage to both buy the exact same LBD (little black dress) from Ann Taylor that was on sale and looks fabulous on us!
Then we stopped one last time--this time at Starbucks--before heading back to the hotel--we were exhausted!We walked across the parking lot for a very late dinner--it was 9:30 when we got there!
Then we stayed up till the wee hours of the morning, yakking, watching the Sex and the City movie, and yes, having wine!
The next morning...okay, I'm lying...the next afternoon, we had a very late breakfast at Cracker Barrel (and made a new friend while we we
re there, Brady, our waiter! Hee-ey!)
re there, Brady, our waiter! Hee-ey!)And I found out people eat grits with sugar in 'em! I was shocked! Both Shelby and Brady eat them with sugar. I thought the only way to eat grits was with butter, salt and pepper. And maybe cheese. But, sugar? That was new to me!
A quick shop at BJ's Wholesale Club and Shel was off for home. I had already looked at the flights for that day, and unless I wanted to take the 6:00 a.m. flight, I wasn't going home until Monday. And that was no problem!
Heading back to the hotel, I received a text message from my friend Steve, a Captain at American Eagle. When I found out he was also in CLT for his layover, I was happy to meet him for dinner--he lives in St. Louis and we never see each other anymore--only talk on the phone! So, it was a really nice way to top off the weekend!
With all the shopping, eating, and hotel spending we did, it should have gotten the economy in Charlotte jump started. Of course, we'll do it again soon. We have to--it's our civic duty as Americans!
Monday update
Just home from a "Girl's Weekend" in Charlotte, NC (CLT). I'll post my pics tomorrow--until then, Shel posted a fine piece about ourThe view from my office...
Ever since I was a little kid, I have loved watching planes fly. Take-offs, landings or just slicing through the sky and leaving contrails, I love it all. When I am working a trip, I love it when I have the time to look outside and see the geography. One of the places I enjoy flying into is Salt Lake City (SLC) because of the surrounding salt and mud flats, the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch Mountains. The flats are strangely beautiful to me.
I also love taking off and landing in Anchorage (ANC)--the landing because of the stunning scenery of the snow-topped Chugach mountains, and the Cook Inlet. And taking off there because it has always been at night for me, so that adds another dimension. The last time I did, I saw the Northern Lights--beautiful and eerie. It's a very different geography than we have here on the East Coast, and I don't get to see it often. Actually, most of the airports out West are cool to look at when we are landing because of the mountains--they are so jagged there! *This picture of the Northern Lights isn't mine, it was "borrowed" from the Internet...
These are the Smokey Mountains early one foggy morning after taking off at 0600 from Chattanooga, Tennessee (CHA). I love the way the fog lays in between the mountains. These Eastern mountains are what I see more frequently--very soft looking mountains, compared to those in the West.
As Flight Attendants, one of the most common questions we get from our passengers, at 37,000 feet, two-and-a-half hours into a five hour flight is, "Where are we?" or "What state are we over?" The answer is, "I don't know." (It isn't one of the classes we take at the Flight Academy.) We could guess, but your guess would be as good as mine. (At my regional airline, I could--and did--call the cockpit very easily and ask the question, but it really isn't something I can do at my major airline now.) A couple of years ago, I was being a smart aleck it came back and to bite me, as it usually does! One of the most frequently used approaches to land in Chicago (ORD) is coming in
over Lake Michigan--which is a huge body of water. We were over the Lake, and I was preparing the cabin for landing when a passenger asked me "What ocean are we flying over?" I playfully replied "The Pacific." and winked. I thought he knew I was kidding with him until I heard him say to his wife, "I didn't know Chicago was so far west." Oops! My bad! Of course, I turned back around and told him it was Lake Michigan and for him to quit pulling his wife's leg--hoping to save face for both of us!
This is the view through the window of one of the airplane's doors at sunrise.
Snow and ice--somewhere over the Midwest.
Me, on a ferry flight--a flight where the plane and crew are being repositioned, without passengers--sitting in the extra jumpseat in the cockpit.
Another ferry flight--this one heading East one morning.
I haven't flown since the end of August--I am recovering from my surgery (don't make me show you those pictures!) I am getting antsy and miss flying. And, I don't go back to work for another month. So, thanks for walking down "Memory Taxiway" with me today!
That Girl
Anyone remember Ann Marie? She was the main character in the sitcom "That Girl" which ran for 5 seasons on ABC starting in 1966.Ann Marie was the quintessential "it girl." She was beautiful, funny, independent, compassionate, polished and polite. She was the girl you wanted to be your daughter, sister, or best friend.
Here's a walk down memory lane:
"Hailing from the small New York town of Brewster, (where she originally worked as a meter maid), Ann is determined to make a big show-business success for herself in New York City (even though she is convinced that she has a rotten name for an actress.) Luckily, she's blessed with luxurious brunette hair, a sparkling smile and a perky personality, not to mention a fabulous apartment and a colorful wardrobe filled with mod dresses, flashy earrings and funky sunglasses."
So, I want to update "That Girl" for the new millinium. It reads like this:
"Hailing from the Wilmington area in Delaware, Taneesha is determined to make a big success for herself in Washington, DC. In addition to her business acumen, she's blessed with beautiful brunette hair, a sparkling smile and a perky personality, not to mention a fabulous apartment and a colorful wardrobe filled with mod dresses, dangly earrings and cool sunglasses."
Taneesha is pulling off her new life in Washington with such aplomb! Originally in D.C. as a Flight Attendant--she was my 1 of my 2 roommates in training--Taneesha left the airline to pursue a life here on the ground. My 20-something friend is determined to be successful and build her career and find love here in our nation's capitol. (So, if you know anyone who we can set Neesh up with, send him my way....)
Neesh and I had lunch today, and I always leave in such awe of her! It's not easy moving to a big, bustling city where you know very few people. She is settling in very nicely, in a gorgeous apartment in the city that she is slowly but surely furnishing and decorating.
She is beautiful, funny, independent, compassionate, polished and polite. She is the girl you want to be your daughter, sister, or best friend.
Taneesha is "That Girl" for our time!
Update on Baby Widline
You may recall this little baby, Widline from Haiti. Widline was one of two babies I helped bring to the US for some much needed surgery, through a group I belong to called Airline Ambassadors. (I posted about my experience here.) Widline, I was told, had a 50/50 chance of making it through her surgeries--they were very intricate and difficult ones.
On the ramp in Port au Prince.
I just checked the Angel Missions Haiti website, and found a new picture of Baby Widline and an update on her progress:
"Little Widline is doing great! In fact, she is ready to return to her family in Haiti. They have been asking about her regularly and are wanting her home. Thankfully, she has recovered well from her surgery and has grown a good bit...though she is still a small little one. Vanessa is bring her back this week when she flies to Haiti. The report I got was she was happy and eating every jar of baby food Vanessa had in her house, so that is good! Wonder if she will like rice & beans? We can't thank her host family, the Bowley crew, enough for all the love and care they provided for this sweet baby. We know how much work it is to care for these sick little babies and how hard it is to let them go again when they must return. We truly appreciate all they did for her! We will keep you all updated on her progress after she returns to her family."
"Little Widline is doing great! In fact, she is ready to return to her family in Haiti. They have been asking about her regularly and are wanting her home. Thankfully, she has recovered well from her surgery and has grown a good bit...though she is still a small little one. Vanessa is bring her back this week when she flies to Haiti. The report I got was she was happy and eating every jar of baby food Vanessa had in her house, so that is good! Wonder if she will like rice & beans? We can't thank her host family, the Bowley crew, enough for all the love and care they provided for this sweet baby. We know how much work it is to care for these sick little babies and how hard it is to let them go again when they must return. We truly appreciate all they did for her! We will keep you all updated on her progress after she returns to her family."
I hope you'll keep the children and their families in your thoughts as well as the folks at the Angel Mission (and on your donation list!)--they do such good work in a country that seems overwhelmed with so much misfortune!
An advertisement...for the Earth!
Do you recycle? Norm and I try to. We have containers for our plastic and glass in the kitchen, our office, laundry room and garage. Until last week, we have had just one container for paper--the one in the garage, and we stash that full of newspapers and boxes we have broken down. Now, we've added one to the office, to try and capture more of the paper from there.Norm takes the Metro (subway) to work everyday--and drives his muy fuel efficient Smart Car. We use those gawdawful CFL lightbulbs (I can't stand the light they emit--it's just ugly, so we don't use them in every lamp.) We turn off lights when we leave a room. I turn shampoos bottles upside down to get every last drop out of them (well, the truth there is that I'm not trying to be eco-friendly--I'm just cheap!)
So, I think we're doing a pretty decent job trying to do our part....
.....until I started subscribing to this newsletter: The Ideal Bite. A short (and sassy) e-mail delivered everyday with a promise of never selling your e-mail address and NO spam. The newsletter gives you a few simple choices of changes you can make in all kinds of categories: cleaning, pets, vacations and yes, even sex. The Bite Team also gives cocktail facts to wow someone at the next party you go to! Here is a little nugget they posted last year:
If 10,000 Biters walk next door instead of driving 10 miles to their next booty call, we'll save the CO2 created by running a vibrator nonstop for 324 years.
So, sign up for their newsletter, impress a fellow party-goer, save a tree, and love your neighbor.
You know you wanna!!
Feline Friday
Today is shaping up to be a quiet, lazy day--even the cats are chillaxin'....they're probably daydreaming of the Caribbean boat life Buffy and Willow lead over at All About Boats.Just make yourself comfortable, ladies....anywhere is fine....
In my best Rodney Dangerfield, "I get no respect..."
Proud to be an American!
I may be out of town on Election Day--just to be safe, I requested an Absentee Ballot, and received it today. I heart
Weekend in Lexington
Norm and I spent part of the weekend in Lexington, VA, for Parent's Weekend at Virginia Military Institute, where my niece, Hollywood attends college. We attended the football game, where the VMI Keydets beat Coastal Carolina University.
And, the visiting team had to be saying "What the hell....?" every time they turned around! There are so many traditions at VMI that one doesn't see at other colleges: the cadets all march down from the school to the stadium, and line up on the field in their Companies; the pure silence across the stadium as our National Anthem was sung by the Glee Club; the cannon used to indicate the start of play during the game; the amazing half-time show, and the push ups--plenty of push ups!! 
One of the fine traditions at VMI, is that every time the Keydets score, the Rats (first year students) must do push ups. And, the number of push ups is determined by VMI's score. So, if the score is 7, the Rats run down from their stadium seats, onto the track which surrounds the field, and they do 7 push ups. Say the next time VMI scores, it adds 6 points to the score...the Rats will run down from their seats and do 13 push ups. And so on...the Ratline that day did about 188 push ups during the game with VMI winning with a score of 47-20. (It's no wonder I overheard one Rat say "C'mon, Carolina, put some points on the board!") It is a sight unlike any I have ever seen--about 400 Rats in their white uniforms running down the bleacher steps and gathering near the end zone to perform a gazillion push ups. I bet more than a few of the visiting team were wondering "What the hell are they doing?"
In this picture, you can see Hollywood--
she's the short one--yeah, right there, the one in white....
At halftime, Shorty was allowed to come and sit with us--but, she still had to run to do push ups each time VMI scored. And, they scored...a lot!
Also at halftime, the Marine Corps Silent Drill Team performed--and the precision of this team was jaw-dropping! I'll spare you my shaky video of the really good stuff--but, here is the VMI Band playing the Marines as they prepared to leave the field. (You Tube has some great video, if you are interested in this team, here is one when they were in Canada. )
Here are Dan, Hollywood and Donna, a proud VMI family!
Later that evening, we met for dinner--and had a great time seeing all of them. It is remarkable how much our little girl (sorry, Shorty!) has turned into a confidant young woman in a matter of weeks at this school. I guess it's all those push ups!!
On the drive back towards Washington, Norm and I stopped at the Naked Mountain Winery. At the restaurant the night before, their 2005 Chardonnay was featured at the restaurant where we ate--and it was delicious! So, we stopped for a tasting and ended up with a case!
We wanted to stop by and take my other niece to lunch on Sunday--Margo attends James Madison University, and we drive right past it on the way home. But, in text messages back and forth we learned she was in Kentucky for a game--she is on the field hockey team. They played Louisville and won! Go Dukes!
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