I have been reading many blogs (belonging to my friends). Each time I wonder if I have anything interesting to write about. Over the last few years I have managed to move 1200 miles away from all of my family for, at the time, two minimum wage jobs (one for me and one for the hubs) and work 50 hours weeks at that job. During this time I gave birth the sweetest little boy and managed to exclusively breast feed him for an entire year because, yes, I am that stubborn. Surely I have something interesting to write about?
Not only am I the mom to a wonderful two year old little boy (who we appropriately named Jett), I am a pilot at a regional airline where I fly a CRJ 200. It is a 50 seat jet...nothing fancy...but I am still super young in my career and most people in my situation would have already kissed this dream goodbye! I fly at night while my child is asleep. I work 4 nights a week and my shifts are 12 hours or longer.
I am not sure where my day begins or where it ends. Does my day begin in the morning when I get off of a 12 hour shift and arrive home to my two year old son? Or, does my day begin when I tell my son "night night" and leave the house only to start my long night at work? This is a question I can not answer. There might be no answer. Thankfully, my son usually takes a 2-3 hour nap during the day. This is the only sleep I get all day. That is, IF, I can make myself go to sleep. Many days I use this time to catch up on homework (yeah, real grown up jobs come with real grown up homework). Actually, during my 10-12 hours "off work" during the day, I am pretty busy doing everything other than sleeping. I manage to take my son to play dates, do the laundry, pay the bills, clean the house, and do all the other "stay at home" duties. I almost always workout 6 days a week. However, I rarely cook anything fancier than scrambled eggs. I wish I would start cooking, but when? I often feel guilty for not cooking fancy meals. But, those who do not sleep shall not cook. That is the eleventh commandment.
Every night when I get to work, it is as if I am someone else. I am not mopping pee off the floor or wiping a two year old's ass, instead I am flying a freakin airplane (full of real life people) 75% the speed of sound. It is such an awesome job, if only I could sleep at some point! I sometimes wonder how productive I would be on sleep. Would I be a better pilot, a better wife, a better daughter, and even a better friend? Would I be a better mom? The last question is the one that kills me. Would I read more books, go to more playdates, play more trucks, IF I had some sleep?
As nice as being a true stay at home mom sounds, I will have to settle for staying at home all day and working all night. Not having a full time job is not an option for me at this point in my life. If I have to work, I am going to do a bad ass job. That is just how I am. Stubborn. So, I have decided to make the best of it and maybe share a funny story every few days and hope to make someone laugh!
