In my next 30 years.....

I didn't know that as soon as I turned 30, which I did last month on the 18th, that life was going to get crazy! I applied for a job at Alaska Airlines the first part of October. They had a part time position come open and they don't hire out there very often, so I needed to get my foot in the door if I could even though my kids are still little. I hadn't heard back from them week after week (other than the initial receipt of my application). So, I had almost decided that they had hired someone else until I sent Bruce off on a plane to Wyoming and when I got home, I had a message from them to call them. I did and I passed an interview over the phone and they set up an interview with the manager of the airport for the following Friday. They called me back that afternoon and set up an interview for me to meet with Human Resources in Anchorage the following monday (16th of November). Bruce was still gone and I found someone to watch my kids while I went up for the interview. I guess that if you make it that far, you have got the job, but I didn't know that and was very nervous. They offered me the job and did the drug screening and fingerprinting right there. I started training in Anchorage on the 30th-4th. Bruce was home by then and kept the kids. He brought them over to Anchorage on the 3rd so that he could work on his boat, which is almost done too. I got out of class a day early and he was able to work on his boat more, so that was good. We stayed in Anchorage that weekend. I took the kids to a place called Bouncing Bears. It was a lot of fun. They have a bunch of blow up toys, slides, etc... to play on. Burns off lots of energy and the adults can play too, so it was fun. Our hotel had a pool and we enjoyed that too. We took the ferry home and got here at 1:00 a.m. and I started my on the job training the next morning at 7:30. We work 4 ten hour days (when I work) I am what they call vacation relief, so I only work when someone else is on vacation. So far, I really like it. There's lots to learn and it's exciting to learn something new after so many years of doing a lot of the same things.

My job includes such duties as: driving the tugs, baggage carts, fork lifts, etc..., loading/unloading cargo and baggage from the aircraft, guiding the aircraft in to the load/off load position, fueling the aircraft (eventually), de-icing (eventually). I will also train to cover for the people at the cargo desk when I'm done training for ramp agents.

Bruce has been awesome through all of this. He finishes getting the kids ready for school if I don't get it all done before I leave. He has made dinner a few times, or atleast had it ready to start when I got home. Along with being Mr. Mom, he has also been working on our drywall in the upstairs. We are all done mudding and taping and now just need to sand it and then we're ready for texture and paint. Once that is done, we'll be ready to put in tile and carpet and the upstairs will pretty much be done except for trim. We will finish the chinking before we put everything back together too. So, we have been very busy the past month.

While Bruce was in Wyoming, he put up a steel building in Dubois. We have it rented out to the garbage guys for the next several years. We have been very blessed this past year. We've been busy and life is a little chaotic, but that's just the life we have chosen to live. We'd get bored, I think, if we didn't have atleast 3-4 projects going at a time.

Cody will be here on the 20th for Christmas Break. We weren't suppose to get him until after Christmas, but he called and asked if he could come up for the whole break. So, we were excited that he could come for the whole 2 weeks. My other kids have 3 weeks off.

We were able to go to the Anchorage Temple while up there and that was a wonderful experience. It had been way too long since we were able to go together, so I was excited to get to do that with him.

We are in for a challenging and busy year, but as long as we don't lose focus on what's most important, we will do fine.