It’s easier when it’s by choice

As a pilot’s wife we are used to being alone a lot. We plan for the times that husband is scheduled to fly and fill that time in with activities, chores and whatever to not feel the gaping hole he leave behind. All the while the pilot is at work busy doing what he needs to do and what he loves to do, but still missing the comforts of home. It is a balance that you reach after years of being married to a man who is on the road and away from home for more than six months a year. Continued in Relationships

Strenths and weaknesses (survey)

People are made up of a intricately woven fabric of characteristics and just as when we select a fabric we all have our preferences, silky to rough, fine and refined to harsh when we select a mate what one woman finds to be a strength another may see as a weakness. I collected all of the strengths and weaknesses that each survey participant listed and posted them in the survey - Lets talk about personality and your Pilot section. Because each individual is just that a collaboration of unique characteristics there is not a generalization as to what are shared characteristics of pilots besides maybe the one that 9 of us listed and that was  smart. Each pilot's partner seemed to have a their own picture of where their pilot excels and where they may struggle. I organized them in alpha order for ease of editing in the future. Check out the Survey page for details on how we see our pilots.

The whie knight

As a pilot’s wife you learn that despite your and his best efforts sometimes you have to do the tough things by yourself. I planned 6 weeks in advance son’s shots. He does better with daddy there and I really hate taking him all by myself, so I try to plan dentist and shot visits with daddy.

Today is the big day we are going in for the last three that son needs and then we are done until he turns 13 yrs.  So as I mentioned I planned this appointment on Mr. Right’s day off, six weeks in advance and would it not figure that a bank of fog comes by and decides that the coast of Louisianan is the best place to chill out and thus it hangs out; all day yesterday and today cutting Mr. Right off from entering the land and keeping him stranded on a platform. (bummer for all involved, but what can you do) Cont in Hanger Rats

Just could not resist

This was posted on one of the wife group boards I frequent and I just could NOT resist sharing it here.

Chuckle for the day ;0)

Gift ideas for Pilots

Picture is courtesy of BZ Winter Break

Every year this comes up somewhere on a blog or a discussion board “What are some good gift ideas for pilots?”

Well here is what I cam up with as suggestions. I won’t tell you what I got mine … well because you know he can read. However here are some things that have been flying around blogs, pilot wife girlfriend groups and what I thought of in general.

iPad

Camera

Gloves for pre-fighting

Air plane hallmark ornament

A nice watch

I got one of these for Mr. Right and he loves it, it is sun battery rechargeable.

Lunch box is another idea that wives rave about you can get it at ebags.com

Sun glasses

Suitcase

Walet

Multitool
Books - pilots do a lot of waiting arround ( a kindel maybe?).

Ms Santa Claus suite – this picture is from amazon.com I thought it was cute. He  may also appreciate a more revealing lingerer but I figured you all can look that up yourselves.

Airplane

Mypilotsote.com - there you can find just about anything from fun knickknacks to clothing and of course all of the accessories like headsets, pilot knee boards and so on. I never am sure if buying him things he needs for work is fair because the stuff is work related not necessarily a fun Christmas gift but on the other hand if they love their gadgets why not.

A simpler time – has some very neat old aviation posters, propellers and airplane models. I just think their pin ups are beautiful and the gifts are very classy.

Sporty’s is another place to find some great ideas.


Such as this glass set

All in all you know your pilot and Christmas is about giving from the heart so have fun and if you are stuck I hope this post got your creative juices going.


Few additional ideas that came about are:


A painting or framed picture of the 1st aircraft your pilot soloed (one of my favorites it is so thoughtful)
A tie clip - of the airplane model your pilot flies. Aerospace jewelry is one place to get them I never used them but click here for their link
A magazine subscription

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas

I decorated my home with all of my Christmas things. As I was decorating and pulling things out from the 7 Rubbermaid tubs I thought: "I have a very nice collection of Christmas decorations". My decorations in many cases are gifts from family and friends and each and everyone has a special meaning. I collect snowmen so the theme is predominately snowmen with a few Santas here and there and of course my nativity. Since pictures are worth a thousand words here are my favorite decorations.

 My Nativity

 This Santa holds a special place in my heart and he is gorgeous

 I think he is my favorite Snowman

 My huge cookie jar

 Little cookie jar

 Dining room table simple and lovely

 My breakfast room table - the table cloth is from Poland it is so cool

 My Angel - she just needs a tree now

My winter village.

Now that the decorations are up and I am about halfway done Christmas shopping and Mr Right is all done Christmas shopping I am looking forward to baking cookies and the big surprise for the little man that is coming next weekend. Ohhh I just can hardly wait. 

Go, turn and stop

While returning from my in-laws house tonight, Mr. Right and I were discussing the subject of driving. Very recently actually since we sold my Ford Escape and Mr. Right bought me the 2012 Mazda 3 Touring (Max) I have been very on the edge while he is driving. I have only had the car for a month and I absolutely love it, I LOVE it. But … when he drives I am very tense and jumpy, I get freaked out on turns and I do the whole shriek, air suction thing when we are coming up on another vehicle, this is a very new reaction since I used to never get nervous and I trust him completely while he drives his truck, flies an airplane or a helicopter so what gives in Max?
Continued in Relationships

The antici......................................pation

Yesterday Mr. Right was coming home from an 8 day hitch, we were both very excited to see each other. Usually he flies all day until down time and I don’t hear from him until the call or text that usually reads: “In the truck ETA 9:30 I hope”. Yesterday he flew his butt off early in the day and by 2:30 pm I got a text letting me know he was sitting on the beach and should be released soon. I was at the time at his parents’ house, hanging out with mom.

You know when your pilot is bored waiting for release or a flight when your phone becomes overwhelmed with sill text. Continued in Relationships

General statistics (Survey)

To have some general statistics I asked that everyone participating to share some general information about themselves. I thought that these were some of the factors that affect partners (wives/ girlfriends) of pilots such as how much time the pilot is away on monthly basis or annually, does the wife or girlfriend work outside of the home, how new or established is the relationship, how new or established is the pilot in his career. I think that all of these factors affect how we responded to the survey questions. More importantly I think that such factors as age, length of relationship and how long the pilot has been flying commercially and especially how much he is gone affects how we react to every day joys and challenges, how we raise our children and how we react to our pilot. So check out the data in the Survey.

Wives worry, then we cope – that is what must be done (Survey)

 So many people say: “Oh it must be so exciting being married to a pilot?” – it is - not always the good kind of exciting. For the big jet pilots and the helicopter pilots even though some of the dangers are different (the heli pilots don’t really worry about terrorism acts, even though there have been kidnaping incidences many many years ago) there is still that pesky weather to worry about and unexpected maintenance issues. So as I received this picture from Mr. Right I thought “This is a perfect time to do the “Are you afraid or worried when your husband is flying?” and how do you cope bit of the survey”.

I know he is not flying in this crap - see the oh so safely tied down helicopter above? Well the scary thing is that he is out there on the oil rig just hanging out with all the other guys who have to weather the weather with him and find shelter in the metal  buildings on an long stem suspended over the angry ocean – not a great bed night story.

I am hoping that all is well while the most terrifying scenarios play out in my head so how do you deal with them apples? So many of us have worries and here is what they are. Cont in Survey

My Thanksgiving table

Once you marry there is a joining of traditions and after so many years the trials and errors come together to form a tradition that is just yours. This was our 14^th Thanksgiving together as a married couple. I pretty much have the turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggies, Wessel down. I am experimenting with yams and breads. So this is what we did this year for our Thanksgiving.

Of course the stuffed turkey – I use my mother –in-laws stuffing, which is her mother’s stuffing and it is a very simple yet yummy stuffing that to the whole family screams Thanksgiving and serving a turkey with any other stuffing is sacrilege. It is white bread with onions, celery and spices –mm mmmm delish. The turkey is a slowly roasted bird that has been stuffed, rubbed and injected with butter, it is juicy and golden and yummy.

Mashed potatoes the simple is good sometimes. I make the simplest mashed potatoes, potatoes butter and milk, little bit of salt. I make them to taste and they are always creamy and smooth, since I mix them with the mixer until they are fluffy.

Yams this year was another experiment. My husband does not like yams, I love yams and would like for him to share with me in the yam yumminess. My father-in-law makes the yams with butter and brown sugar, very simple very sweet very good, this year’s recipe was from food.com (here) and it had wonderful flavor from the mixed in nutmeg and Scotch – he was not to excited. My friend makes a yam casserole that Mr. Right just loves but it has pecans and  am very allergic so I need to find a way to make them as yummy and crunchy minus the pecans. There is always next year.

Green beans – Just plain steamed green beans with a bit of butter, son’s all time favorite.

Homemade rolls – I love bread, it is my weakness and lately I have been getting into baking breads from scratch. I don’t have a bread machine so I do t the old fashion way. Bread is funny it takes patience and more patience but then when it comes out of the oven and fills your home with that fresh bread smell it is worth all the effort. So this year I tried a new recipe again from food.com and the rolls were very good diner rolls, on the sweet side but fluffy and delicious.

Cranberries – all about the canned jellied cranberries

Wassail – I got this recipe from a friend and this a Thanksgiving must in our house and totally our tradition as neither of us have had Wassail when we were kids. It is just the perfect mix of apple juice, pineapple juice and honey with some lemon. It just warms your heart.

Apple pie – classic apple pie, I have yet to find a recipe where the crust is just flaky enough but this one was good sweet and flavorful absolutely mouthwatering with vanilla ice cream.

Pumpkin pie – over the years I have tried many different recipes from fresh pumpkin to canned pumpkin and everything in between and our favorite is by far the Libby’s canned pumpkin baked from the back of the can recipe with homemade crust.  

Every year I think about how to improve and add to our Thanksgiving feast, trying new squash recipes which I am yet to discover one that is not bland and boring or mixing things up but there are some staples without which it is just not Thanksgiving dinner. I am glad that we did ours a little early so that Mr. Right could enjoy all they traditional dishes, we will do it again on Thursday there is no such thing as too much celebrating.

Holiday's a knocking (Survey)

Image courtesy of google

I know that with the Holidays just around the corner many of us wonder how to celebrate when our pilot is away. Should we wait and celebrate when he returns or celebrate together before he goes to work? Should we celebrate on the actual holiday regardless if he is or isn’t at home?

In our family we will be celebrating twice this year once this Sunday before Thanksgiving so that daddy can be a part of a Thanksgiving dinner and enjoy the meal with us, and once on the actual Thanksgiving day. So it will be double the fun double the yum.

I have asked this question in the Children section of the survey – How do you compensate when daddy is away on special occasions birthdays, holidays ect? I think it is appropriate to pull the wisdom from this particular section right now since Thanksgiving is just few days away. Survey

Survey is preparing for takeoff

Please bare with me while I compile and organize the result. As per so many of your requests I will post what I have a little at a time and want to share as I am creating this so that all of you can have some input if there is something you want to see or if you have a better idea of presenting the results. For ease of sharing information please post your comments to Pilot Wives Share this is for all of us so please feel free to share your thoughts. I am still collecting surveys and will continue to do so. I have posted a little today and the page will grow as I add more and more from the survey. I want it to be easy to read and view so there will be charts, tables and bullets as well as little narratives. I am very excited about this and can’t wait to see this survey take shape. So have fun with me ;0) and visit the NEW page Survey

Survey this and that

It has been a year since I began this survey project (well at the end of this month). My original goal was to collect 100 surveys in a year and then publish the results of how the life style affects the wives and children. The time is upon me to make some decisions about this survey. So here is where I am and what I am thinking about.
I have 23 completed survey so 77 short of my goal, however the surveys I have have some amazing wisdoms in them that I would like to share and I feel guilty just storing this information on my hard drive. I thought about maybe continuing to collect the surveys and publish what I have up to this point. I would create a separate page on this blog and post the information I gathered this far, then as new surveys come in I would update the page. There are benefits to this and there are also negatives.
The benefits:

• Results would be posted
• Information bank would continue to grow
• As the industry changes the survey would change
• The survey would be a living reflection of what is happening in the industry
• Having some things out there may encourage other wives and partners to add their few cents

The negative side of this:

• Some of the later surveys maybe skewed by the information that is published
• Since there is no end to collecting the information this will not be a very scientifically accurate survey (but I really don’t know that it matters)

So since this is for all pilot wives and not just for me. What are your thoughts on publishing now yet continuing to collect. Penny for your thoughts.

Krakow

Krakow was one of our favorite cities in Poland. My husband's number one so much so that he is very excited to go back and spend a little more time there next time we are in Poland.
A little history lesson on this awesome city. Krakow was Poland's Capitol for oer 500 years, it has been in existence since the 7th century as a settlement and then grew into the most amazing science and art center in the country. The architecture is amazing and the history can be felt everywhere you turn. Cont. in Poland -Polska

Pilot gone makeover guru

When we bought the house we live in we hated just about everything inside with the exception of the layout, location and exterior. We worked very hard to get the house to the way we liked it, added a wall here, replaced all flooring and repainted just about every wall in the place and now outside as well. The last three breaks Mr. Right has been back to full time remodel mode in the house.
First came the siding. When we returned from Europe the siding was is horrid shape. A section of it started to buckle before we left, but due to the crazy drought the buckling siding started to fall off the house eeep.

So my Mr. Right got onto a ladder and replaced it then repainted the entire house. Behold it’s glory.

After the outside was all done and oh so perfect (I go outside to stand in the street just to stare at it – once in a while but still). We inherited a chair snuggler and thus came the library remodel. Mr. Right and I are big readers he reads history books, I read trash novels that teach nothing but are fun and entertaining. Sometimes I wish I had the determination to read the knowledge filled books he reads but frankly I read for entertainment and the thought of having to read the dry dry sad history books make me want to cry, so I just listen to his stories and learn this and that from him (I am bad I know). Anyway back to the library with ever growing number of books we were looking to expand and this is what it was before.

After we sold the couch and the snuggler arrived we went searching for book shelves and this is the result of our efforts. Ok being honest his efforts and my observation from afar as I figured most of there hard cover “ancient” texts are his so let him select their “home”. As long as I get to snuggle by his side in front of the fire and read all is well. So without putting it off any further my Pilot – home makeover guru built this.

I love love love it it is so cozy and warm and relaxing. Ahh and the timing is just perfect with winter just around he corner.

Halloween, move, project

We have been on the move move , move. Let me share some fun pictures from Halloween and our pumpkin carving, then I will fill you in a bit on my parents-in-law move to Texas and my project.
We had a pumpkin carving event at our house. It was great we had wonderful snacks such as ghosts and witch hats and witch fingers, we made them the day before see Halloween preparations. Cont. In the life of the whirly Wife

Halloween whish from daddy

So yesterday I found out that daddy was going to beach in for the night, it is very rare anymore that he comes on land during his hitch. Usually once he goes out he stays off shore for the duration of his hitch anywhere from 7 to  whatever days. So as it was, Mr. Right was coming in for one night and son and I have been missing him since we were doing a lot of fun Halloween things without daddy, this year. We decided to pop over for a quick visit.

While son was busy playing with the new air-suction thingy gun daddy bought him daddy gave me this to hide and give to son today.  Cont in Hanger Rats

Halloween preparations

These are my ghosts being frosted for their "graves"

As I mentioned in my previous post my son loves Halloween. He is super excited about being a race car driver this year and going trick or treating with his friends. Since he loves loves this holiday I thought it would be fun to have some theme food around. My friend and her family came over today to do some fun deserts so that we can eat them tomorrow while carving pumpkins. Continued in Hanger Rats

Looking for balance ...

I will be the first to admit I am spoiled by Mr. Right. I rarely work, and I do it mostly to get out of the house – when he is home. I work so rarely that when I told one of my friends that I should go in to substitute teach he looked at me puzzled and said “You have a job? Really?” I know – and this is a very close family friend. Anyway  ...  Cont. In the life of the Whirly Wife

Fun day at the zoo

I had a reall great time playing with my camera today at the zoo. The kids had a blast at all the different exibits especially the monkeys. It was a much needed break in my crazy little life here in Texas. Enjoy the pictures I loved taking them.