Rock On, Rickey!

Last night in the dark of the master bedroom way past midnight I apologized to my sweet husband for not doing anything for his 49th birthday. The special day when he entered our world is Feb. 3rd, but he was in Kansas City learning how to use the new glass cockpit on the King Air 250. Flight training trumps birthdays, obviously. And truthfully, I don’t think I could have come up with something to beat his enjoyment level of time in the flight simulator.

The nice people at Flight Safety realized it was Rick’s birthday when they copied his passport for identification. They gave him a Flight Safety polo shirt, a mug and a basket of goodies! See? He wasn’t entirely forgotten. Sheesh.

We couldn’t celebrate early because I was visiting my sister for 13 days, then Rick and I saw each other for two hours before he left for five days in KC. I have no excuse that I can remember for when he got home, but I know we were really busy. REALLY busy.

As our son, Austin, knows from experience, if you travel and are gone on your birthday it is forgotten. Period. He did ask me two months later if I would buy him a new Bible for his two-months-ago special day. I did. I’m the nice mom, remember?

After my apology, Rick replied, “Don’t worry about it, Honey. It’s okay.” My response surprised him as I said, “Okay. Thank you. … … … Don’t EVER forget my birthday!”

We shared a belly laugh and he summarized the comments, “And THAT is the difference between us!”

Happy belated birthday, Rickey! I love you!

When the Cat’s Away…

Rick is in Houston at Flight Safety.  Never in his 9 years of flying for the state has he been this excited about flying the simulator in Texas.  His plane has been grounded since February and he’s been sitting in a cube in the aeronautics department.  I don’t think there could’ve been a greater shock to his system.  From the clear blue skies of AZ… lunch at a different Mexican restaurant around the state every day…. “safety” naps EVERY day…. to sitting in a cubicle doing data entry.  Boy, howdy, does he miss flying.  Rumor has it that flying might resume in the summer.  We’re thankful he still has a job, but this is tremendously cramping his style.

That’s not what I’m writing about, however.  Rick goes to Flight Safety twice a year, giving us the opportunity here at the home front to get down to taking care of business in a flash.  That was Elvis’ motto, if ya didn’t know…. TCB!  Here’s the tail of Elvis’ plane, the Lisa Marie, to show you….

Usually we rid his closet of nerdy, stained, out-of-date and unacceptable clothing items.  We have also emptied the garage of his nerdy, stained, out-of-date and unacceptable items during Flight Safety.  Once we did a room makeover and made the Elvis bathroom.  Rick’s been gone since Tuesday morning and we still haven’t figured out what to do…. leaving not much time… about 28 hours.  But OH!  You should see what we can do with 28 hours!  We’re simply lacking in the idea department. 

Here are the only glimpses of brilliance that came to mind, but they are not ingenious enough to prompt action:  sell his VHS movie collection on eBay, or sell his floor clean equipment that he bought and never used and is taking up 1/5 of the garage where my van should be parked out of the sun in Phoenix, Arizona, …..  see, nothing inspiring.  I also thought of rearranging the living room furniture, but there aren’t a lot of options with the shape of the room.  So, if you have ANY ideas, send them quickly.  The minutes are ticking away.