03/07 3eme semaine/ 3rd week

Semaine passee a reviser les systemes de l'avion a Flight Safety, comme tous les six mois.
Tous ca suivit par un checkride simu, apres seance de panne moteur au decollage, arret moteur en vol, redemarrage du meme moteur, procedures d'attente, perte d'un moteur au decollage d'Aspen et donc, a haute densite altitude, pose sur piste courte, etc...etc...
Si c'est un peu plus facile pour moi apres maintenant 3600 hrs dessus, ce ne fut pas le cas de mon collegue, qui lui etant nouveau sur l'avion n'avait que 100 hrs d'Excel! Pas desinterressant, car il a fait un peu de B737, un avion a qui a priori, il faut vite pousser sur le bon palonnier en cas de perte d'un moteur. Seulement voila, sur les Citation modernes, ca n'est plus obligatoire, puisque nous avons un "rudder bias", systeme qui sait tous de suite quel moteur a perdu sa poussee, et du coup, grace a une boucle cablee reliee a la derive, enfonce le bon palonnier pour nous. Mon copi avait donc l'affreuse tendance de re-pousser sur le palonnier, annulant l'effet de notre systeme donc, et on a faillit se retrouver sur le dos a plusieurs reprises!
Heureusement, c'est pour ca qu'ils sont la ces simulateurs, et on recommence de nouveau dans 6 mois...

Hello all out there in TV land. Did you know that four out of five dentists recommend chocolate to their patients who eat chocolate? No, well, frankly I made that all up and, truly, if you really read it again it doesn't make any sense at all.

So on that note, you know how my week's been going. Ah yee, the land of symptoms. FIRST! I want to say "Thank you" to Thierry for wishing us luck with the final stretch of pregnancy. Now, if only you could buy extra "luck points" off the Internet, that would be so handy dandy.

I don't know?.... Is it harder to start parenthood later in life because you are FULLY aware of just what is coming? You know, the ol' saying that ignorance is bliss. Ah well, too late now. We passed the 30 day return policy on Florence so....here we go!

(If this all sounds like just ramblings then count yourself really smart and intuitive because - guess what?!?!?! - that's what it is! I guess 9 months of sleep deprivation will do that....)

So, let's see. This week I refinished our kitchen table to get it baby proof because it just needed too much TLC to keep her pretty and that will NOT work come baby time. Plus, Richard and I do our hobbies there too and it gets too darn tiring always worrying if we're killing the table.

I also spent some time with some local Mom's groups, the 21st century version of friendship. I guess it makes sense to meet your friends online, since that's where I met el hubbo, found Pepito our dog, and do all our shopping. Imagine one day, you'll just sign onto www.futureyou.com and with a mere entering of your credit card number you can pick your future. Let's see..... Hmmm... I'll take the "slender until she dies" future, thank you.

Florence has been growing, to say the least. The best way I can define myself is as a giant, human pimple just rarin' to pop! (And, oh, what a nicer way of giving birth that would be too! :)) But I am glad, although I haven't seen my toes in three weeks, because it assures me she's growing. And now she even outweighs our adult dog! And I outweigh Richard. Egad! :O

It seems that the final stretch of pregnancy is a nightmare, at least for a lucky few. I seem to have developed RLS, which basically means that you spend all night acting like a dog dreaming of chasing rabbits, which translates into no sleep at all. Then on top of that, my feet burn so bad that I'd honestly have to say it hurts more than apres my car accident of years ago. And trust me, that's saying alot.

The acid reflux has even kicked up more to the point where I can enjoy no food, not even ice cream. And, frankly, that should be against the law.

So all this fun, in betwixt the other signs and symptoms of baby brewing, makes a very memorable experience for Mom. No wonder Mom's hound their kids with chores - it's payback!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So to keep my mind off the misery of being host to a growing lifeform I just continue to work on the lawns and gardens, keep the house all tidy, and do chores and stuff for the family. Yes, it exhausts me no end and some of my female friends think it's just nuts due to my size but I think of it as exercise and, again, as a much needed mental diversion. But I must say that it is humerous to watch a nearly 9 month pregnant woman bend to weed the lawn and scrub a tub.
Oh, behave!

But, more good news, that my misbehavin' placenta seems to have moved into its proper position (did I mention this before? Frankly, I couldn't remember to save my life) so at the very least we do not need to worry about the birth being life threatening just the 18 years afterward!

So on that shiny happy note, I will say adieu. Though, to add another thing, we just watched the March of the Penguins (Le Marche de L'Empereur) and, frankly, why can't humans just lay an egg? I heard no screaming or crying from these mommies. And we're supposed to be the more evolved????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Live long and proper!

03/07 2eme semaine/ 2nd week

Une fois n'est pas coutume, c'est en avion que je suis alle a Estrella faire du planeur cette semaine. 3 hrs aller/retour en voiture, ou 1 hr en C172, la decision fut rapide. En fait, c'est meme beaucoup moins fatiguant!

Les temperatures montent deja entre 32 et 37C, a priori, ca va etre un ete assez long... Pas terrible pour les locaux, mais pas trop mal pour le vol a voile! sommet des thermiques a 7500 pieds, la temperature est plus confortable la haut...

J'en profite avant l'arrivee de Florence. Kate commence a voir des contractions de plus en plus souvent, ce qui veut peut-etre dire que le bebe va arriver bien avant la fin avril. La pauvre a d'autres symptomes, en plus de sa longue liste de problemes, maintenant ce sont les pieds qui lui font mals, les mains qui s'engourdent, et des douleurs dans l'aine. Bref, elle est prete, parce qu'il y'en a marre.

Je me suis mis en conge de la mi-avril a la fin du mois de mai, pour aider Kate apres la naissance, et puis aussi, pour etre sur que je serai present lors de la naissance, au lieu d'etre a l'autre bout de l'Amerique du nord!

Affaire a suivre donc...

Bonjour and !hola! to all of our compradres out there in the world yander. This week was a great week for the simple fact that hubby was abound. For this week we were glad for Richard to have the time to go gliding twice. This first day was not so great wherein he had to fight to keep up in the air. But the second day was tres terrific wherein he climbed to 7500 ft. Not bad for an aircraft with no engine. Granted, it was not the greatest gliding day in the American desert, but for an average day in March in the US, compared to what is going on weather wise around the nation his second day of a bloody miracle. He ended up with about 9 hours of flight time by the end of the week. Pas mal!

As for the glamour and glitz of our lives, insert a myriad of aches and pains for moi, the list of which seems to constantly change and grow as the weeks progress. The big players this week are intense foot pain, numbness in my hands, major relux, and a total lack of sleep (go figure!). My only thought was that whomever invented pregnancy was a man. Undeniable proof that God is, indeed, a man. Perhaps, then, is the Devil a woman, to provide the proverbial balance to the universe at large???? (Oh relax, people! It's just a li'l question.)

We also took another trip to el doctor de babe wherein he stated that all is seemingly well with our little girl though I have been having a lot of pain and contractions lately, the frequency of which had him state that, next time, he needs a call. Wanting to rule out premature labor and all.

The weather is definitely starting the warm. It's always so odd, the start of summer in the desert. You're always a bit shocked by it at first until the weeks roll by and after your 8th straight week of +110 temperatures you've fully relinquished yourself to the heat. Actually, by the end of Summer I love it. Yes, there are much more temperate climates but there is something so utterly unique about the desert. While you're traipsing through the brush during a 121 degree afternoon, watching the li'l lizards as they dash to and from the shade of scrub, it never ceases to amaze the absolute quiet. The desert is like a soul, barren of ego and facade, a quiet poignant place of soulful contentment - like a long, extended exhale of bliss.

Anyway, so we're heartily awaiting Florence's full commencement into our lives. I actually went with Richard on a flight this week, not being able to stand being grounded any longer. Hell or high water, whatever contortioning was required to get in that minute airplane I was determined to do it. It was interesting squeezing my huge belly into the little C152 but it was definitely worth it. I miss being up there, being up there with him. Whatever a man's calling, you can never truly know the man until you go with him into his element. And by shoving my big body into the C152 I was able to again visit that side of Richard that belongs only to the sky. His long, extended exhale born only of dancing among the clouds. And it was absolutely...priceless!

Florence enjoyed the ride, wherein she slept the whole time. We'll make a pilot of her yet.

All for now. Kate OUT!

03/07 1ere semaine/ 1st week

Cette semaine, ce fut de nouveau des vols de la cote ouest a l'est, mais cette fois au sud de la frontiere americaine. Quelques jours passes au Mexique, pour finir dans les Bahamas. Depuis le temps que j'y vais, ca se ressemble un peu, mais il faut admettre que l'eau bleu reste superbe a voir. En fait, cela donne meme envie de mettre un maillot de bain, et d'aller faire de la plongee.

C'est plein de petits ilots, souvent deserts, et parfois une piste dans la vegetation, qui sans doute, sert encore pour le trafic de drogue, assez intensif dans la region.

Un petit secret? J'adorerai revenir ici avec un motoplaneur. Il y'a des petits cumulus qui poussent le long de la cote des iles. Pas moyen d'aller bien loin, mais certainement de beaux vols en perpective, dans un ciel bleu, au dessus d'une eau de la meme couleur. Meme les cumulus en deviennent bleu! J'essairai de vous faire un photo un jour qui montre ca, c'est tres curieux!

Well, howdy, howdy, howdy. Are we all having the time of our lives? Right now, I am heartily enjoying the dear company of my husband. For the week prior, to which this entry is to elude, I spent the entire week in a mad, inpassioned race to complete a multitude of tasks prior to baby's arrival - the ulitmate nesting aventure. I truly tired myself out, bringing myself to near exhaustion, attempting to dot the final, proverbial "I" and put the cross on the final "T" so that I could then, finally, relax prior to Florence's arrival. It was the ultimate act of self-denial wherein I was convinced that there would be an end to the tasks needing to be done, at the conclusion of which I could finally put my feet up and rest, knowing all was right in the Universe. Ah, are we not sometimes our own worst enemy! Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. ;)

So, I cleaned up our front and back yards, wrecked by a multitude of sub-freezing temperatures this winter, dead brush strew all about. Heck, I even used a blower/vaccum. That took about a day. Then I installed knobs on all our cabinetry, pulling out the ol' electric drill, created a new battery tie down for the glider, finished sewing pillows and changing table covers for the baby's room, prepared the post baby updated legal paperwork, painted baby room accents, installed drawer safety latches, etc. etc. etc. etc. Heck, makes me tired just writing it all again! :) :)

But, regardless, I was glad to complete this final dash. And I was glad to continue to work at my normal pace taking care of the homefront, if even for a bit longer, because it postpones the additional burden that will definitely befall Richard once she's born in terms of having to do more around the house, something which I have been trying to heartily postpone since he does quite enough at work, thank you very much.

So, alas, at this point, I can say we are set and now can just wait for her arrival. And so nice that warmer weather has finally settled in for good, with Spring heartily in bloom throughout the desert southwest.

On another note, sending Lubeth well wishes with her back problems and a hearty get well soon to Dad on recovering from his recent surgery. And no worries Dad. The doctor said your breasts will begin to feel real soon. Then in just a few days after you'll be out and about enjoying high heels and lipstick! Three cheers to my brave Father!

Love you Dad! Oh, and you too Mom! And Mary! And Liza! And Abby! And Thor! AndTiffy! And Anne! And Bryan! And all you other bunch of yahoos!!!!!!!!

:OOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Kate Out!

02/07 4eme semaine/ 4th week

Nous sommes alles passe quelques jours a San Diego cette semaine. L'occasion etait que ce sera notre dernier voyage a nous deux seulement, vu que le prochain sera avec Florence.
Malheureusement, nous avions oublie que je suis souvent dans cette ville pour le boulot, que nous sommes reste dans le meme hotel que celui du boulot, et qu'avec une femme enceinte de 8 mois, on ne peut pas faire autant de choses. Du coup, ce ne fut pas autant relaxant que nous avions espere, mais nous en avons profiter pour visiter un porte-avion, c'est quand meme pas tous les jours! Nous voici tous les deux dans le cockpit d'un EC2 HAWKEYE.

This week hubby bubby and I were out and about in the world at large. First, we went to the gliderport, to give sweet Richard a day of being a bird. Wasn't the best glider day on record, but he spent 3.5 hours doing blissful soaring. Kudos to my genius glider pilot husband who was informally elected the "stud of the sky" at our local glider port since, as the two owners said, Richard seems to be able to stay up forever when the best anyone else can do is stay up for just a few minutes. Indeed, since the only reason Richard had to land was because nightfall had come.
Of course, it helps that my sweet husband has been doing this since he was 5.....

Later on in the week, after our latest OBGYN appointment in which Florence and I were pronounced "a okay" we went off to San Diego for what we hoped was a last (final pre-baby), relaxing horrah before Florence made a permanent live and in person visit. However, while we had a good time it was a bit of a bumpy trip as, being eight months along, the in's and out's of travel were difficult for me and, for poor RIchard, a trip to a much visited city during work time, reminded him too much of being on tour.

Needless to say, we returned home with great! enthusiasm. Since we had never experienced being pregnant, we didn't know how hard it would be to travel this late in the game, even to a place so close. However, as when one is sick or just not feeling so good, there is, apparently, no place like home. And for poor Richard, prior to this trip it had been a very hard series of tours at work, not only going to work already fatigued due to my causing his sleep to be disrupted so often, but also due to very, very long days at work (14 hours). What this poor guy and I really needed was just to rest at home and enjoy the creature comforts only being home can bring.

Alas, we learn by doing! :) But we were still able to scratch out some fun, visiting an aircraft carrier and it's historic aircraft. However, mostly, our best times during this trip were just hanging out at the hotel, ordering in room movies and eating overpriced in room food.

Yes, Dorothy, there's no place like home! There's no place like home!

Goodnight.