Frequent Flyer

Pyper and I flew out of Greenville bright and early Tuesday.  We are still trying to adjust.  It's 9 o'clock in the morning two days later and she's napping after a full morning; we've been up since 5am exploring and playing outside.  

Her 33rd flight out of Greenville was more or less uneventful, she fell back asleep. Our 34th however started with a major tantrum at the boarding gate, which definitely worked to our advantage while getting a seat on the plane. Since Southwest Airlines doesn't assign seats, it's usually advantageous to those traveling with children. When we found the row we wanted to sit in, I took the window, and Pyper was adamant about taking the aisle. I told her that someone might sit between us, and she would have to make a choice, but somehow it didn't come to that. We did watch every other middle seat fill up around us as the doors of the plane closed and we were left with a full row to ourselves. Maybe Pyper has caught on how to work the no-assigned-seat system.  We were happy to have the extra room to climb, jump and sprawl, since it seemed like we were the only ones not sleeping on the flight.  

Thumbs up, it's time to get out of Greenville. 

Upon flying over the State of Washington, we enjoyed the views and witnessed the still lingering smoke the wildfires still burning. It was good to finally touch down, knowing that we would actually be coming "home" this time.  

Our home coming was perfectly routine. Mom picked us up, we picked up Eileen at work, then we went to sushi for lunch, and Pyper fell asleep.

Drama Queen!!! Not another picture mom! She's looking awfully big in these pictures. 

It's been nice unpacking to stay for a while.

Goodbye for Now Greenville

Last Saturday Market for a while..

 

Last gluten free vegan donut for a while...

Last Miss Julia sushi goodness for while...

Last play with my buddy Reese, who is the exact same age as me, for a while...

Last dance party with Auntie Elizabeth and Rudy for a while... 

Moving in the Right Direction

Our downtown Greenville home is empty with the exception of a couple last items thanks to the help of a couple great friends and Gramma. The 16 foot Penske truck is loaded the the ceiling with a nice aft opening for a hammock. Andy is sleeping away at the EagleMed pilot apartment since he's still on night shift.  Pyper and I fly out Tuesday morning, and Andy starts driving Wednesday. 

Since Pyper was born, this is our fourth moving truck rental. While she was in the womb, we moved from Alaska and Oregon as well. So technically we have moved as a family six times in three years. In two and a half years in Greenville we have lived in three locations. We like change; at least we adapt to change well. 

The first time we moved in Greenville. Pyper just turned one years old. 

Gramma watching Rudy and Pyper while we do some heavy moving. Clay and Elizabeth tackling the queen size latex mattress.  

Spending a little time at the library with Gramma before saying bye for now. It was 95 degrees today, so we were looking for a cool spot to play out of the heat. 

Pyper and Daddy in a very empty space. 

Little Gymnast 2.0

What do you want to do today? Gymnastics Pyper exclaims daily.  

Pyper's been doing gymnastics since this last spring.  It's been amazing watching her grow in so many ways.  At first, hanging out with other kids and taking turns was the difficult thing, now it's the mastering of new moves.  It's been a joy to watch her figure out how her body works.  "I looooove the pit!" She always says wrapping her arms around herself, "It's my favorite!"

Handstand work, monkey hangs, and the foam pit.

With Miss Bobby and the rest of her little crew getting the much beloved end-of-class stamps on the feet.

One of the coolest things that have come out of gymanstics is watching her "coach" her monkey how to do all the moves at home. She definitely has a knack for teaching already.  

Blogging while packing....short and sweet or long and summarizing.  Doing my best to keep it up.

Rainy Season

"Doesn't it always rain in Seattle?!" Well, as a matter a fact, no. It's been raining in Greenville for days and days though. It must be that we are channeling the Seattle vibe that makes that glorious vibrant green carpet across the land. I can't wait to fly into Seattle next week for that breathtaking aerial view of the Pacific Northwest landscape that is home! And this time it's to stay, at least for now. 

I haven't forgot about blogging, it's just packing and logistics central at our house with the blog taking a major backseat.  

The last time we moved, 11 months ago, it was a rush job. We rented a truck for the day, drove to our house, an hour away, and within five hours managed to dump everything we owned into the truck and be gone. We had not packed a single thing prior to arriving with the truck. 

So with a one week time frame this time around, I'm feeling pretty good about things. Everything should be in labeled boxes and the move out should be pretty seamless. I'm finding boxes this week that were packed in the last move, so I'm organizing those too.  

Pack on!!!

Trying to keep the monkey busy while the house is in disarray and the toys are slowly packed, in and out of rainy weather, we head to all of Greenville's greatest establishments for kids.

The library is one of our favorite rainy or too hot to play outside activities. Pyper getting her private story time reading by two librarians.  Pyper was the very very first kid to check out and read the How to Loose a Lemur.

Pyper doing her sorting thing on thelibrary  magnet board.

Hate to say it, but Costco does have some good kid friendly qualities - Pyper can run down large empty aisles, ride on demo toys, and have fresh Vitamix demo smoothies.

Let it rain, we can go to the gym.  Here Pyper learns a shuffle from Elizabeth before class, during class she is up front teaching class, and then doing some of her own working out with a pvc pipe.  

There's also the Children's museum for some studio time. Pyper watching herself on the playback; pants have disappeared on the green screen.  

Still at the Children's museum leading out  out the kid's summer camp with Miss Karen.  Nope, she isn't registered  because she is too young, but that won't stop her from joining in on the fun anyway.

Don't worry, we still get our outdoor time too.

Even a rainy day at the market is fun, no crowds and lots of good eating under our tent, and hanging out at Miss Lisa's and Racheal's candle tent.  

After a zoo visit, we hit the cable jungle gym and get completely soaked.

Pyper has her rain gear on, but waits till we change to hit the biggest puddles of course.

After rain, there's also all sorts of little critters to catch.  Here, Pyper and Lydia check out some of the day's catches outside the Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery.  

 Well, not a lot to say, but there's a quick summary of life in the moving lane.

What's on the Horizon?!

He got "the call" last week while we were having lunch with Gramma before heading out to camp in North Carolina.  The call we were hoping to hear from, Horizon Airlines. 

Right now, he's two plus hours into interviewing in Portland, Oregon. Horizon Airlines, which is branded now as Alaska Airlines, conducts a four part interview for its prospective pilots. The first one is a standard HR interview, second is an interview with the Chief Pilot, third is the technical "do you know your stuff" question session, and fourth, a simulator check. No pressure or anything.  

The time between the call and interview was a week, and this fell on an "on" work week for Andy. Lots to do, so little time to get together all the parts. Obtain interviewing attire was the highest priority, knowing that a suit would need to be bought and altered. Then the string of paperwork, which involved updating his log book, getting items notarized, studying for the technical interview and simulator test. Compound this with getting enough, or not enough sleep, all while working 12 plus hour work shifts up to the day of flying out. 

Of all the days to possibly get stuck out for the night, you guessed it, his last day of work. He got stuck in Boston. It was crunch time by the time he got home the next morning to pack, drive to Atlanta, and fly to Portland. 

I've had nervous energy all day. So exciting are the possibilities of moving home, very soon!  I shouldn't even be writing this in case I'd jinx the whole thing, but I need to express this overwhelming rising emotion that is inside me.  With each passing minute, it gets closer and closer to knowing what does lie on the horizon, career wise, family wise, everything.  If it doesn't work out, I'll be a little bummed. But we are in a good spot, and it will be just another opportunity away from something even better. 

So proud of all of Andy's hard work as a pilot, as well as keeping his family's interests in the forefront.  He's the man!!! 

I got a photo and news that things were going well mid afternoon, and he was done with all but the simulator check. 

Of all the photos to send! At least you know sugar is handy for the interviewee. 

Okay, it's 7 and a half hours later...should I be worried?! This is officially killing me slowing.

It's 7:10pm, so 4:10pm in Portland. He got picked up from his hotel at 7am. Either way, what a long day! At least he's not done early, that would mean he failed some part and was asked to leave, I'm guessing.  Hopefully this long of a day is a good sign.  

At exactly 7:19pm ET, I got the text that he "nailed it!!!"  

Andy in his new suit in Greenville on the left.  Andy still looking sharp and excited after a long day in Portland on the right. Lucky shirt and tie did it again.

Of the five guys interviewing today, two were asked to come aboard. One of the candidates missed it in his last minute of the simulator check and two left earlier.  

Looks like we will be heading to the Pacific Northwest soon, see you all around, Gypsies on the move!

Caches, Hornets & Hives, Oh My!

Pyper and I were geocaching in the Spartanburg area yesterday. We were working on the Hub City Geotrail. You need to complete 20 of 25 caches to claim a geocoin. We actually had already done a couple of these, so we felt we could knock it out, especially since it was a quiet Sunday. It's pretty cool feeling like you have the run of the town. It's also nice when you don't feel like everyone is looking your way.  

Pyper on the trail, always some really cool caches, especially ones that are hidden in plain sight.  The first one we found was on exhibit with the rest of the yard art, Pyper found it right away.  

At the end of the geotrail, we were making a quick grab at a park parking lot. Pyper said she wanted to stay in the truck on this one, I couldn't blame her since the temperature was getting uncomfortably hot outside and the air conditioning was devine.  

The cache I was grabbing was hanging off a fence, not concealed, so the easiest kind of cache out there. Out of the corner of my eye I remember seeing a small black thing flying by just as I was unscrewing the top of the container from its lid which was zip tied to the fence. Without any time to think or act, I got hit in the neck with a force that made me scream; I don't scream easily. The first thing I tried to do was swat it away as I made a run for the truck making sure I was clear not to bring anything or any buddies in with me. Yup, I got stung!

At first the sting was just a little red dot with a welt around it, I was feeling fine other than the hurt of the sting. I immediately put lavender essential oil it, as it was the only thing I had handy. About 30 minutes later, my head started to itch, then my ears.  Steadily the itch started taking over my whole body as redness and hives made themselves known. After about an hour, my body was covered.  

When we got home, I first took a Benedryl, then I tried to sooth the itch away with a shower, which did help.  Next I rubbed some chamomile oil all over, and then just laid very still on Pyper's bed trying to keep the itch at bay while she played. As soon as the antihistamines and chamomile worked it's way into my system, I felt great relief, but I was also feeling very drowsy. 

I decided I needed help. Without hesitation Gramma Jody was on her way.  Somehow I got Pyper to bed 5 minutes before Gramma showed up, and I was able to relax and take another Benedryl knowing that Gramma had my back.  We made a game plan in the case things did happen to get worse. There's a fire station down the street; we were going to hop in the car and ring the door bell, figuring it would be faster than a call, dispatch, and wait. I definitely slept better knowing I had great loving help in the other room.  

Not sure if that was the kind of hornet that got me because it seemed more reddish in color at the time, but it sure left a message on my body. That's my side body reacting to the toxins.  

In case your wondering, Andy was stuck in Boston last night with an almost dead cell phone.  

So next on the list is obtaining an epi pen in case the next sting is worse.