Sydney in photos

Sydney was amazing. I was so happy that for my week of vacation I was able to head back to my Favorite city and bring Geoff with me. We went to the beaches and ate a lot of good food! We were very lucky to have such beautiful weather the days we were there! I was especially excited to eat my birthday dinner down on the rocks, overlooking the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. If you have not been to Sydney- you definitely should starting planning your trip.
It was also a great coincidence that leaving at the airport I ran into fellow FA blogger- SkyHighBoy! (If you have not checked out his blog you must!) Hopefully I can make it back "down under" in 2010!!!

Jingle Bell Run and Christmas Tree!

Living in NYC, we decided that we wanted to do a Christmas tree this year. Since space is tight, I decided to bring my mini tree up for us. I also got some stockings that say HO HO HO (which i love since HO is Geoff's last name). Here is our little corner of Christmas in my room!!!

I also ran the Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis in Brooklyn. I had never ever been to Brooklyn so I was pretty excited to run my first NYC run there. It was cold but sunny, so it made for a good morning to run. It was only a 5K (something like 3.1 miles...) and I ran it in less time that I thought I was going to. :)







As we all enter this week of holiday cheer, enjoy your time off, time with friends and family... or if you happened to be working- lets all enjoy each other... wherever you happen to be.

Cd trips

Being a Flight Attendant, I have all sorts of crazy schedules for work. Some days I go in at 4am, other days I am working until 1am. Call windows, 4 day trips, out and backs... my schedule gets pretty complicated. Especially when I have to explain it to friends or loved ones...

One kind of trip that we have at my airline is called a CD for Continuous duty. CD lines (line as in doing the same trip for the whole month) go very senior at my base. Every once in a while they need a reserve to cover a CD trip when the line holder is sick, so every once in a while- I get called for a CD trip.

This is basically how a CD is set up- you work the last flight of the day from base to city and the first flight back in the morning from city to base. (example, the last CD i worked JFK to Portland Maine, and the flight back to JFK.) The reason it is called a CD is, we have rest requirements while working. The least amount of rest I can be scheduled for while at work is 8 hours. (Don't forget that those 8 hours include the time getting to and from the hotel). 8 hours rest usually is about 5 hours of sleep while we all know is not a lot. Anyways, CD's do not have that requirement because you are considered "on duty" the whole night. For my CD to Portland, I clocked in at 7:40pm and clocked out the next morning at 7:20am. Pretty nice, right?
Except for the fact that I got 4.5 hours of sleep and was dead tired the next day, it was great!

People love these trips because even though you are tired, you have the rest of the day off to catch up on sleep and do everyday things. You are still working about a 12 hour day (which in reality is normally what I work) the difference is that it is an overnight and a part of it you are sleeping.

Now here is the downfall. Working a CD out of JFK is like playing Russian Roulette. One day goes good, the next is great, and then BOOM- weather hits and there are a few delays, you sit on the runway for a few hours and by the time you land and get to the hotel, you have 1.5 hrs until you meet your crew back downstairs and head back to the airport.

The one thing you can be sure of, if your crew tells you they are working a CD on your flight- you can be sure that your crew is trying to get to the destination as quick as they can!

Sydney post... coming soon

I am still getting over my jetlag and came off traveling Sydney-LA-JFK and then heading straight into a killer 4 day trip (with early reports and 12+hr days).

I will post, but not now. Now I must sleep.

Here is a teaser!

Friend #1

My friend Laura came to visit. (uhm it was actually over a month ago... but I've been real delayed on the blog... my apologies!) I was so excited. I live with 4 other people, 4 pilots... all are MALE. I love my roommates but sometimes a girl wants some girl time. Gossip, bad trashy TV shows, dance parties, runway shows... you know all the things we do when boys aren't around...

It was a whirlwind couple of days walking around Canal St, Chinatown, down 5th Avenue, Top of the Rock in Rockefeller Center, Lower East Side, Wall Street, Soho...
I've decided to try and break up all the Tourist Attractions a bit so I'm not going to the same places everytime someone else visits. Plus, then it can be more like hanging out then a full on sight seeing tour. We can add in a few things like going to the gym and making dinner one night- which is exactly what we did. I had a great time... thanks LA for coming to see me! Plan your next trip soon!!!

Jim and Angel in Central Park

Jim and Angel work with me. They wanted to do a photoshoot and brought along Angel's grand-daughter with us. We decided it would be fun to hit up Central Park for the afternoon... unfortunately it was windy and cooooold. It was fun while we could bear the cold and got a few good shots in before we all decided to call it quits and get some hot drinks and lunch.

Thanksgiving...

I have a lot to be Thankful for this year....

- I was able to keep my job by the skin of my teeth and have not been furloughed
- My family and friends are healthy
- I have a safe and large (esp for NYC standards) apartment with good roommates and do not have to commute.
I can keep going but it might bore you all...

Being not only a flight attendant, but low on the seniority list (which is everything in our occupation) means that I give up and work a lot/all holidays. Every once in a while I may get lucky (like Christmas off) but not often. This was the 4th year I was working on Thanksgiving. The last two years I sat Ready Reserve, which is also what I was scheduled for this year, but I lived and was based in Cincinnati so after getting off late I was able to meet the family for leftovers and to hang out into the evening. This year, there was no way home so I decided to do Thanksgiving a day early.
However- another part of being a Flight Attendant is being flexible. So when I went on call on the 24th I was expecting only an out and back, however... we were short staffed so my Thanksgiving plans were completely bashed when they moved my day off and assigned me a 2 day trip. Instead of getting upset about it, I took the time that afternoon before work to hit the grocery and get Thanksgiving dinner ready.

Geoff is from Canada, and since he is also usually working, he hasn't really ever had an American Thanksgiving. I was going to surprise him with a big spread when he got off his trip on Wednesday. So, I made up my own "Flight Attendant Thanksgiving" so we could still eat that night when I got off work at 10pm. It was a bit smaller than my usual dinner but with the two of it, it was perfect!

I made sweet potatoes
Green bean casserole
Crockpot Turkey and stuffing
and 2 pumpkin desserts- a pie and pumpkin bars with cream cheese icing.

I wasn't too sure how the Crockpot turkey/stuffing was going to turn out but it was so good that i felt the need to share this recipe. For a flight attendant on the move, it saved Thanksgiving and all Geoff had to do was push on and wait for me to get home.


Source: Casseroles and Slow Cooker Meals by Pillsbury

Prep time: 8 minutes
Cook time: 8 to 9 hours

Ingredients:
1 package (6-oz) cubed herb-seasoned stuffing mix
1 cup sliced celery (2 medium stalks)
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning, if desired
1 cup chicken or turkey broth
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
2 lb bone-in turkey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 jar (12-oz) turkey gravy

Directions:
Spray a 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. In a bowl, mix stuffing mix, celery, onion and poultry seasoning. Stir in broth to moisten and then stir in the cranberries.

Spoon half of the stuffing into cooker and sprinkle turkey with salt and pepper. Place over stuffing. Put remaining stuffing around the turkey.

Cover and cook on Low heat for 8 to 9 hours.

About 15 minutes before serving, remove turkey from cooker and keep warm. Stir stuffing and cooking juices until mixed. Cover and let stand about 10 minutes.

Heat gravy on stove.


I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of good food, family and cheer!