Sunday, June 6, 2010

Hopefully the Worst is Behind Us

So we got back a couple of days ago from a quickly planned trip to Asheville, NC where Erik had a job interview for a new call. I was granted unpaid leave for June 1st and 2nd, which gave us four days to make the trip and get back.

The interview seemed to go well, and hopefully the congregation will be letting him know in the next few days if they would like him to come back for a second interview, most likely mid-July. The good news is that the family seemed to like the change in scenery that Asheville would bring - lots and lots of green, and no cow poop smell in the air. The bad news is that to stay at my current airline I would have to commute, and not an easy commute. Brings me lots of stress, but I'm trying not to focus on that for the time being. We are researching my options, though, just to stay as informed as possible.

Due to weather issues in Atlanta, which is the city we flew in and out of, we weren't able to get on our first two flight choices. Erik and the girls ended up spending the night at Van's, while I caught a late night Delta flight to Denver. They treated me very well: a seat in first class and lots of friendly attention. Thanks, guys!

It was vital that I get home that night because I had a stand-alone duty day for June 3rd, and of course I got assigned a LaGuardia turn for the morning of the 3rd. I ended up spending the night in the quiet room in the crew lounge. The good news is that I got to fly in the back with my new friend, Tonya, who always makes flying a lot of fun. The day was very long (8.5 hours block time), but thanks to her it flew by - no pun intended.

But to get to the title of this post, with the worst being the financial nightmares we've had the last six months, thanks to Erik's former congregation refusing to pay him the agreed-upon severance package. My last paycheck was FINALLY a full paycheck, plus per diem, for the first time since December! He has lots of supply preaching gigs lined up for the rest of the summer, and we finally feel like we are able to hold our heads a little bit better above water. I AM hopeful that with these things, plus the new job prospect in NC, that we have weathered the worst and have good things ahead.

And now, though it is 8:30 am and I just got up 2.5 hours ago, it is off to bed soon again for me. I have a two-leg red-eye tonight, and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to survive it awake. With me, sun comes up - eyes open; sun goes down - eyes close. At this point I can only hope that a nice, long Ambien induced nap today will be enough to get me through until our 12 hour rest in Milwaukee tomorrow morning. Nite-nite.

1 comment:

Susan said...

Yay! I'm happy that things are looking up (no pun intended) for you!

I don't know if you're already aware of it, but US Airways has five flights a day between DEN and CLT. I just looked on a map and saw that Ashville isn't too far away from CLT. So it can be done...

And besides, with the new retirement benefit, you will be able to retire in a few years and have full flight benefits! So at least stick it out until then. I have only 27 months to go before I can retire! Woo hoo! (That's not saying that I will...but it is nice to know I have the option.)

And we would miss you too much. :(