Expectations

Welcome 2018.

Sorry I have been absent the last couple weeks, both from my blog and even social media. It was nice to take a bit of time off, but I'm glad to be back.

Christmas was nice, although we had to change plans a bit. See more details on that below.

And New Years was lovely. We hosted a small gathering with kiddos, and it was just what the doctor ordered. Good friends, good food and drink, and lots of laughs. And since we hosted at our house, Steve was happy because that is where he constantly wants to be, especially after traveling around for Christmas. The only picture I was able to get my hands on was this:

The owner of the phone from which we took this picture left it with us, by accident, for about 10 minutes. Steve and I took advantage and left some nice memories of us.

During break, Steve had a 4-day, the kiddos stayed at my parents, and I had three lovely nights to myself. On night one I went shopping. On both nights two and three I hosted people at my house, dear friends present and past. On Friday night, as I was waiting for Steve to come home, I drank wine, did my nails, and binged watched Californication. It's my new favorite. If you want to see boobies, of all shapes and sizes, then this is the show for you. But, I like the fact that the main character is a writer. I love writers. I am a writer. And speaking off...

Wanna know what my new years resolution is? FINISH MY BOOK!

I'm right around 74,000 words, and am actually finishing up the story. I know I have a lot of filler that needs added, even a side story about the First Officer, but at least the bulk of the writing is finishing up. My biggest goal is to have my manuscript in hand on my 40th birthday, which is in September.

Just keep writing...


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The one theme that kept coming up over Christmas break was about expectations.

Raise your hand if all you pilot wives have learned to adjust your expectations because of the occupation of our dear, sweet, wonderful husbands.

I learned my lesson on expectations in high school, my senior year. I went to prom with a friend. He was a super nice guy, and we had a good time. But, I was expecting it to be the best.night.of.my.life. I blew up the expectations of that night so big in my head, that, of course, they weren't meant by the time the evening ended. It was then that I learned that you need to set your expectations, and doing so you won't get disappointed.

One of the best cruises Steve and I went on was one that we booked only 2 weeks in advance. We didn't have time to set expectations, and we had a ton of fun. A runner up to that trip was a quick get-away to Scottsdale, AZ. Again, it was planned with such sort notice that we just went with it...and it was great. Day drunk with pitchers of margaritas, and evening drunk walking back to the hotel while picking lemons off trees.

Probably the best night of my life was New Years Eve, 2000 into 2001 - Budapest, Hungary. I was in Peace Corps at the time, and a group of us PCVs went. We drank champagne straight from the bottle as we wondered the streets, full of happy and awesome people. It was such a fantastic night, and I think it was because we didn't set ourselves up for anything special. As a matter of fact, around 9 o'clock we were all laying on a bed pondering whether or not we should actually go out or not, and still the evening turned out so great.

Those are just a couple obvious examples of how low expectations can make a thing really great.

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On the Saturday before Christmas Steve picked up a day-trip. He checks open time when a trip pops up, and when he gave me the details of this one I told him he had to take it. I typically don't get involved with him changing his schedule, but I was totally his cheerleader in picking this up. He was to fly a charter of his favorite sports team. We had planned to go to his parent's that day, so the trip meant that we would be delayed in our arrival at his parent's house, but this was such a great opportunity. It was his favorite team for crying out loud!

I had great expectations that he would meet the coach, and meet the players. I'm sure he did, too.

Then, he learned there were two planes going...

Steve flew the staff and family. He never met the coach or players. Doh!

Steve had great expectations that he would be home sooner than was scheduled. I told him not expect anything different...but, he didn't listen to me.

The flight attendants, from both flights, were deadheading back with Steve. At one point they had to wait for one more to get on the plane.  Steve was sending me antsy text messages. Turns out he still blocked in 2 minutes early. He just wanted to be 30 minutes early. Expectations.

I think the fact that I manage my expectations is a good thing when it comes to being a pilot wife. I don't get my hopes up on anything, anymore, when it comes to his work. Say, he is due in for the kids program at church, I'll hope for the best but in the back of my mind I always think he could be delayed. Hell, I even made sure I had a back-up plan for the births of our children. There was no guarantee that he was going to be there. Fortunately, he made it home for Ben's birth, and he was on day 2 of FMLA for Cici.


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Well, that's about all that I have in me this week. Sorry. Getting back into blogging may take a bit....a routine will help, if I ever get in one again. This week as been crazy getting back to work/school. The kids went back to school on Wednesday but were off on Thursday and Friday due to the cold weather. Nothing like the panic a working mother feels, when her traveling husband is gone, and you have to arrange babysitting, last minute, and grandparents aren't close.

Stay warm, everyone!!



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