Goodbye Sweet Summer!

It's been tough not taking any pictures this week. I have been so busy that I haven't had a chance to do anything leisurely, like grab my camera and run outside for some gargeous shots of anything that moves! I took these pictures at the beginning of the summer. Look how green and beautiful everything is before the severe heat sets in! Some of these shots look like they could have been taken in the fall, such as the wheat picture. And I am tickled with the texture my camera can pick up on the cement wall and in the leaves. On the downside, when I take pictures like these, John uses them as proof against me that I don't need to upgrade to a digital SLR Canon EOS Rebel XSi. It's on my wish list, just in case he changes his mind. In silver. I think he will come around eventually, especially if we win the lottery in the next few years. Now, if we only played the lottery...

Conference Sunday

Though it's very abnormal for a pilot to boast, I must give in for just a few minutes. Why? Because I made homemade pumpkin cheesecake that was absolutely insane. It is a running joke within my family that all I can bake are brownies to put with ice cream and caramel sauce (by far my favorite dessert in the world). Though I take these accusations as a compliment, I thought I would prove them wrong by making something completely different for us to enjoy during Conference Weekend.

We invited T'liese and Joe over for the entire day to watch Conference in our home. They provided breakfast by making delicious chocolate-chip pancakes. If I had ever tasted them in my life, it had been years and had been shamefully forgotten. We watched the first session of Conference, which was especially a treat for me because I didn't get to participate in any of the Saturday sessions thanks to work. We visited for the couple of hours before the afternoon session got underway. I put a candy dish out and we nibbled on T'liese's fruit platter, but we were attempting to save room for dinner. About an hour before Conference came to a close, I fired up the oven to bake my homemade Chicken Pot Pie that I had concocted the previous evening. It was heavenly! I love comfort food, and it made me feel like it was fall (despite the temperature being almost triple digits outside).

After dinner, to let things settle before enjoying a yummy dessert, the boys played Worms on the Wii while the women watched and cheered. Is it wrong to condone aggressive violence by little worms blowing each other up on a game? They are almost too cute to mind! Just for the record, the pumpkin cheesecake made all of our wildest dreams come true. It was simply perfect, with a gingersnap cookie and pecan crust, thick and creamy cheesecake, and a delicious blend of spices and pumpkin perfectly sweetened. Thankfully I have a few more months of getting away with making it again. It was too good to only experience once!

Now my boasting is finished...

Does Anyone Have a Hydraulic Switch?

You know it's a bad day at work when you miss watching General Conference in hopes that your airplane will soon be ready to fire up and go home. Late Saturday afternoon, during our final engines runs, the mechanics discovered a small leak in one of our hydraulic switches. We have been trying to find a part for three days, with no luck yet. I cried on the drive home because I was so bummed!

On the plus side, the airplane DID get a sponge bath. My baby is all clean and sparkly. Kinda like being all dolled up with no where to go!

Hopefully a part will be located soon. We had a trip scheduled today, so this wasn't good news for anyone. Nothing could be done about it. Now it's just hurry-up-and-wait. Story of a corporate pilot's life!

But it DOES make me feel better seeing my baby all clean and sparkly.

Dinner Surprise

It's been a killer week at work, despite being at home. I have spent all day, everyday at the maintenance hangar in Mesa watching the mechanics complete the inspection on my baby. It is starting to look like something that can fly again! Friday night was late because we were trying to get everything done so we could just fly it home Saturday morning after a good airplane bath. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. So I was on my drive home, bummed about airplane progress and worried what I was going to feed my hungry man when I got home.

I arrived to an empty house. Just a few minutes later, I heard John's keys unlock the front door. Though he wouldn't let me see, I could tell he had been grocery shopping. He made me go to my room (I felt like a kid again!) and wouldn't let me come out until the delicious smells were about to drive me crazy! He set the table, bought me fall flowers, and made me salad and chicken pasta. Can it get any better than that?!

For a man who claims he can barely make toast and macaroni and cheese, he done did real good! I slurped it up! It was nice to have a hectic day come to a close with a warm meal and dishes I didn't have to wash! He's a keeper!