The Rerouted Skytress

Happy 1st Anniversary to The Rerouted Skytress! This Wednesday will mark the first time I pushed the “Publish” button for my blog. Oh boy. I can’t tell you all how overly scared and nervous I was to push that button. I had never written a blog before. I had no idea what I was doing. I watched as many YouTube videos as I could to figure it all out. Of course, the YouTube videos made it all seem soooo easy. However, when I sat down to create my blog it wasn’t sooooo easy for me. I had an antiquated iPad. No one on YouTube was using an antiquated iPad to blog. I know. Crazy! Believe you me, I searched long and hard for that one person that was using my generation iPad. But, never underestimate what a Skytress can do…..especially with little information or understanding. Yep, we really are miracle workers. Amazingly, I did figured out how to build a blog on my old iPad. Well,..I should say, I figured out enough things to make the blog look presentable. I still don’t know how I did it really. It definitely helped that everyone was in quarantine. I had nothing better to do than to click on my iPad for hours. On the evening of April 7, 2020 I sat in my basement and pushed the “Publish” button. To my amazement I actually published my first blog! When I got positive responses from my family and friends a short time later, I was elated. My blog had taken flight. Now 52 weeks later, here we are!

I decided when I first started writing my blog that I would publish it only when I felt like it. I wasn’t going to stress out about having a set schedule for posting my blog. Skytresses and Skyters loathe stress. For those of you who have been faithfully reading my blog, you know I have been routinely publishing it on Monday evenings. I try to publish The Rerouted Skytress around the same time every week. Yep, sort of like an actual flight schedule. Not a strict flight schedule. Skytresses and Skyters loathe strict schedules. We are more “ish” people. You know, “ the flight departs 6-ish”. Somewhere along the way I decided I was going to post a blog every week for a year. This was not always the best decision. COVID-19 rerouted this Skytress right out of the skies. Many weeks I wondered what I was I going to write about. Thankfully, I don’t just have varicose veins from flying over 30 years. No, I have 30 years of Skytress stories. Thankfully, I also have family and friends. So, whether they wanted me to….or not. I’ve shared their stories too.

I loved the early days of writing my blog. I would write downstairs in the evening in my brother’s man cave while either the Cowboy Channel or the Hallmark Channel was on in the background. I discovered some of my best writing happened late at night when everyone was in bed. Unfortunately, I also, discovered some of my most inspirational writing came to me while I was in bed, too. Just as I was about to fall asleep, a clever phrase or thought would pop into my head. I was constantly jumping out of bed to jot down a line or word on a piece of paper. Early on I learned to write things down quickly. If I waited too long the perfect sentence or thought was gone. Oh, I cringe when I think of all those delightful sentences you all have missed. Yes. Simply because I was too lazy to get out of bed to write it down. Whoops. Sorry.

Last week’s blog got posted on Monday….if you were in the Mountain or Pacific times zones. If you were in the Eastern or Central time zones, well, your Monday blog post was in a holding pattern. You see, I was flying Monday and I didn’t get to the hotel in Birmingham until after midnight. Yes, I know there is a feature to set my blog post be published at a scheduled time. Only, I haven’t used it yet. I’m sure I will eventually get around to learning how to use this feature. After all, I figured out how to set up a blog site on an out-of-date iPad. Last week, however, I used the tried and true method of pushing the “Publish” button. I knew from my last Birmingham layover that they had a strong internet connection. So, I wasn’t too concerned about posting my blog when we got to the hotel. I, also, knew from my last Birmingham layover that I needed to throw a few extra things in my Skytress survival bag. Last time I had a Birmingham layover I didn’t have a hair dryer or even a plastic glass to drink out of. Darn you COVID-19! Thanks to my curly hair I survived without a hair dryer. But, I wasn’t willing to do another Birmingham layover without drinking my club soda and lime in a cup. I know. I can be so highfalutin at times. To my delight as I was signing my crew in at the hotel, the lady at the front desk asked us if we needed a hair dryer. Gosh, she must have been a Skytress in a previous life. We didn’t have to ask her for one. She also asked us if we need a coffee maker. Seriously! She was either a Skytress in a former life or an angel in this life. When I got to my hotel room I had to laugh. There was a hair dryer and a coffee maker in the room. There were also plastic glasses and paper cups. I surmised the hotel was starting to get back to normal. Or else, they just got tired of airline crews asking for these amenities and put them back in the hotel rooms. If the truth be told, it’s probably a little of both.

Last week was my first time flying as the Skytress In-Charge during COVID. Fortunately, I had a wonderful crew and the passengers were extremely nice. Even more fortunate, I didn’t have to be at the airport at 445am to catch a flight to Atlanta. No, I got to catch the 10am flight! What a treat. I did have to learn a few new Covid-19 PA’s for my trip. Well, I didn’t really have to learn them. I just had to read them. I’m sure you are thinking this seems easy enough right? Wrong. Whoever wrote the PA’s must have a vendetta against Skytresses and Skyters. The PA’s are awful, awful, awful. The new PA’s are supposed to be more streamlined, too. But, they really aren’t. Eventually, I just made sure I hit the major points and winged the rest. Skytresses and Skyters are obviously great at winging things. Gee whizz, I couldn’t resist typing that last line. Another beautiful thing happened on my trip. I got my Omaha Christmas ornament. Remember my trip with Ron and the emergency we had on the airplane? Remember how Ron collected magnets from cities that meant something to him? Remember how I collect Christmas ornaments from cities that mean something to me? Remember how Ron got his magnet to commemorate our adventurous trip together, but, I didn’t have an ornament? Wow! I’m asking you to remember a lot. I’ll try to remember not to do this ever again. Anyhow, when we landed in Omaha last week we had to go out into the gate area while the airplane was being fogged. So, I went to the itty-bitty gift shop in the airport. I immediately saw the Omaha magnets and thought of Ron. Amazingly, on another display I saw Omaha Christmas ornaments. There was even a selection to choose from. Imagine my delight. Imagine my dilemma. I scrutinized each ornament. I wanted to pick the perfect one. I know the lady in the gift shop thought I was a Lookie Lou just killing time until our airplane was sanitized. I mean who buys Christmas ornaments in March? Well, I do. I proudly walked up to the register with my ornament. I chose an ornament with “Nebraska” on it and not “Omaha “. I worried about this for a moment or two after I bought my ornament. Then I decided I’ve only flown into Omaha for the past 30 years. When we start flying into Lincoln and North Platte, Nebraska, I’ll reconsider my “Nebraska” Christmas ornament choice.

I’m going to give you all a moment to grab a tissue. I have some difficult news to pass along. You may have to grab a box of tissues. Here it goes…I won’t be posting my blog weekly for awhile. My plan is to post a blog twice a month for the next few months. Sorry. I’ll wait until you finish crying. Sadly, my Birmingham trip was my first trip back from vacation. Unfortunately for me, I don’t have vacation again until September. I’m, also, not planning to take any more company leaves because of COVID-19. Yes. I’m going to be a full-time Skytress for awhile. Like how I said for “awhile”? I chuckled at that, too. Yep, I’ll be a full-time Skytress until my next vacation in September. That’s five consecutive months of flying. Yikes! You better hand me some tissues! I’m not going to lie. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed dabbling as a Skytress this past year. I loved my company leaves ,as much as, my many weeks of vacation. All the time away from flying has made it easier for me to post my blog weekly. Fortunately, your loss will actually be your gain. I will have current Skytress stories to pass along. Yippee! Hey, in-flight beverage services return on April 14th. We are, also, eliminating the blocked middle seat on May 1st. These two changes alone should provide me with ample passenger and crew stories to blog about. Of course, I’ll still throw in a couple Oldies, but, Goodies stories every now and then. These stories aren’t Oldies, but Goodies stories for nothing!

Speaking about oldies, but, goodies. I have to update you on my Mom. Don’t worry. She won’t get mad I wrote that. Remember her nickname is Goodie. The oldie part? Well, let’s chalk that up to bad parenting. She really should have taught me to respect my elders better! My Mom is another reason I am not going to be writing a weekly blog. No, she didn’t ground me for referring to her as an oldie. Unfortunately, my Mom hit a bump on the road of life the other week. Actually, she hit the inside of the garage. She’s okay. But, she gave up driving right then and there. This was before we knew the brick fell off the outside of the house, too. But, that’s another story for another blog. Several days later my Mom ended up in the hospital with cellulitis. She was released from the hospital five days later. Unfortunately, she had another hiccup in life when she got home. My sister and I are tag- teaming to care for my Mom 24 -hours around the clock. It’s all good. My Mom took care of us 24 hours around the clock when we were younger. It’s time we reciprocated. I would love to spend more time writing my blog. But right now between flying full time and taking care of my Mom, writing a weekly blog isn’t feasible. Maybe once Mom is able to do more for herself and I am back in the swing of the Skytress life, I’ll go back to a weekly blog. Until then….we will meet back here on this blog site twice a month.

I’m incredibly proud of myself for posting 52 consecutive weeks of The Rerouted Skytress. I’m excited to push “Publish” on this blog post. One year of blogging is something to celebrate. Well, at least it is for me. It does help that I am a Skytress. We celebrate everything! When I wrote my first blog post, I referred to Ron’s card he gave me that said, “Let’s have a great trip”. Well, I am having a great trip blogging. I have no plans to stop writing. I hope you all continue to join me on this crazy adventure. Thank you for being part of this great trip this past year. Your comments and encouragement have been beautiful blessing to me. I couldn’t have soared this long without you. You are the best crew this Skytress could ever hope to fly with. So, Happy 1st Anniversary to you all, too!