Miscellaneous flying pix....

Just because.

Me going over my preflight checklist in the plane:



Me preflighting:



Straining fuel:


The cockpit:


Right after takeoff, turning crosswind: Actually, I think this the base to final turn. That's because the road below looks familiar and those stacks in the distance are in Kenosha, and on this particular day, I landed on 27. So....Base To Final:


Coming in for a landing. Why do I look high? I looked alot lower on base to final

Two in one day....

Two requests in one day to post. Better live up to the pressure! Then I realized, I have no topic. I thought about doing Top 10 Things I'd Like To Do To_____________: But then figured very few people would care about that. I made a nice little list, but it didn't make the final cut. So, to take a cue from my board, I'm doing Top 10 Things I Can Do. In no particular order.....

1) I can ski. I'm only putting that because I think I'm going skiing on Sat with some boy scouts and so I have skiing on the brain. And when I'm thinking about skiing, there is no room in the brain for anything, or anyone else.

2) I can fly a plane with some degree of accuracy and skill. Nuff said. Here's a plane picture, just because I have nothing else to say about this.

3) I can multi-task really well. After school, this place is a day care with 4-6 kids demanding my attention. At the same time I can work, converse online, and listen to the radio show. All while cooking dinner and cleaning house. But when I'm reading, the whole world is shut off. Another example of when my brain is too full for distractions.

4) What else can I do? Obviously I can't think. Oh! I can do a crossword puzzle in pen and ONLY do the acrosses, and only do one clue at a time without skipping ahead and without making mistakes. So I start with across one and do not move on until that one is done. By the time all the acrosses are done, the puzzle is done.

5) I can teach kids and make them "get" it.

6) I can fill my schedule to capacity and still be bored. So right now I work 3 jobs, take care of a house and 2 kids, watch 4 other kids after school on varying days, lead a Brownie Troop, teach Sunday School, and still find time for friends and for me.

7) I can carry on a conversation with strangers. My Mom taught me this.

8) I can spell really well. HA this is silly, but Jacob was over tonight and he was quizzing me on some pretty whacked words and hoping I would get some wrong. It's because I have a photographic memory, and that helps.

9) Speaking of Jacob, I can use sign language. I learned it in 6th Grade and it stuck with me. Except I told him "dog" instead of "no". But other than that, I get the message across.

10) I can cook. I didn't used to be able to cook but now I can. I kinda follow a recipe but I don't measure. And it works.

And people think I don't know snow....

When I moved to the Midwest, I cannot tell you the number of times I heard "oh, you're from Arizona??? Wait until this winter". I tried to tell them...TRUST ME, I know winter. Well after 10 years back here, the gray endless weeks full of ice and blowing snow has proven to me that I don't know winter....but I can say without a doubt...Midwesterners might know winter, but they don't know snow.

I grew up in a mountain town. My house sat at 7500 feet (it still does ;) which is actually higher than Denver. A half of a mile higher, in fact. Snow is a common occurence, one that does not require Snow Team Coverage on radio and TV, wide spread closures, and drivers with amnesia. Snow meant that the area was going to be covered with anywhere from 6-36", school might be delayed, the plows and Cats would be out in force, and life would go on. You threw your vehicle in 4 wheel drive or strapped on your snow chains, and off you went. The next day, the sun came out, shone for 3 days, melted all the snow, and it started over again.

My Dad was visiting their "summer home" earlier this week and was able to enjoy the peaceful magic of a Flagstaff snow storm. Here's some pictures. What you can't see is the 12000 ft mountain behind the house.

Our Christmas Portrait

Well, did you get to go skiing?

YES!!! Finally. Jeff even went with me! He was worried since he'd had a few bad skiing experiences in college, but this time he started out slowly, I taught him the basics, and he did great!!! We also took a neighbor kid with us, he's 14, only been skiing 6 times, and WOW is he great. Slalom down the hill like a madman, tucked his poles and crouched at the end and rocketed down the hill. It was all I could do to keep up with him! We had several ski races, but he won every time. Still, it was fun and such a rush to crouch down, tuck your poles behind you and FLY down the hill. Jacob would ski straight back into the lift line but I liked screeching to a turning stop and waiting for Jeff to come down the hill.

Near the end of the day, I could tell Jacob was ready for the black diamond (most difficult) run, so I dragged him over to that lift. "I'm not ready for Level III yet, I'm only a Level II skiier" he yelled. I told him he was ready, just trust me. We got to the top and I told him to follow me down slowly, Halfway down the hill, he gained his confidence and took off. I slalomed down after him, saw where he crouched and tucked, figured if a 14 y/o could race straight down a black diamond, so could I. So I did! What fun. You really have to have confidence that you won't fall. If you get nervous that you're going too fast or that you'll fall, you will. Thankfully I didn't fall one single time, which was nice since I wasn't wearing ski pants!!!