Rob and I spent most of the morning going through information on Alaska's maternity leave, FMLA, Short-Term Disability (CA specific vs. Alaska's), and Alaska's Family leave. It's about as clear as mud, but we're wading through it. I am hoping to take my leave as early as July - that is to fly through June (into my 2nd trimester) and then be done by July. And I think we've got our insurance situation worked out. As soon as I receive the letter stating I'm eligible for COBRA, I can go onto Rob's insurance.
A pregnant flight attendant is not one to be reckoned with. Well, a non-pregnant flight attendant isn't either. Flying, even though I am still early, exhausts me. I try to avoid "helping" with bags as much as possible (only because I am avoiding any heavy lifting). Most people are just fine and can get their own bag in the overhead bin. Not to be rude, but I feel that if you're an adult and you pack your bag, you should be able to lift it into the overhead. If you can't, check it next time or pack less. Simple as that. See, I'm already being cranky and I'm not even flying. Of course the elderly are completely exempt from this. I treat all grandmas and grandpas as if they were my own Nannie and Papa.
This past trip I was on was a lot of work (lots of flying), but thankfully I had an awesome crew. I laughed almost the whole time. Even when I was introduced as "Amber with two A's - that's spelled AAMBER." Or when I was on the beverage cart and the lead flight attendant peaked his head around the curtain from first class to announce to me that my "fried bologna sandwich would be ready in about 5 minutes." Even funnier that the row I was serving thought that sounded good and wanted some too! I was told that "bad girls get pregnant and good girls are expecting." I asked what it meant if you were knocked up. Schooled the flight attendant that was willing to bet money that only 7 presidents were born in Virginia. (Um, it's 8 - don't mess with a Virginian and her history). Joked about names we could use if we had a Christmas baby - Noel, Joy, Holly... Anyway, honestly saying, I truly love my job and not really sure I want to give it up for good. But for now, I am exhausted. On the last day of the trip we had a 3 hour "productivity" sit between flights and I fell asleep with my head on a table. (Fortunately out of public view). And I won't even get into the meltdown I almost had in San Diego when they wanted me to change rooms (after I had checked in) and I wanted to take a nap RIGHT THEN.
We are considering our move back to Virginia and working through those details. (Buy right away or just rent for a while, buying a car to move out there, what area to live in, and are we even going to do it??) Neither of us are totally sure it's what we want, but right now, we're seeing it as a small (teeny tiny) sacrifice, but with a huge payoff. Payoff is family, friends and the ability to afford a HOUSE. Which honestly, we lack in LA. Of course we have friends here, but LA is so large and busy. Everyone is busy. Everyone is spread out. No one actually lives "close" to one another. Everyone has their own agenda. Coming and going and traveling. Especially my friends. As a generalization, LA is flaky. LA is LA. Exactly how it is on television. Not the materialistic environment we want to raise children in. But we love the southern California weather and we LOVE living by the beach. We love that there so much emphasis put on healthy living and exercise. Almost all roads have bike lanes, you constantly see people out jogging, biking, rollerblading, surfing, skateboarding. It's easy to eat good, fresh food with a farmer's market every day of the week. And people generally take care of themselves. I am happy to know that Richmond does have a Trade Joe's and Whole Foods. And we'd honestly consider moving to the West End just for that. We shop there at least 2x a week, especially Trader Joes.
Oh, and if we stay here. I'll be giving birth at Cedars-Sinai in Beverly Hills. Where all the celebrities have their babies. How swanky is that? See, that's the materialistic stuff I'm talking about! Easy to get sucked in!
It's hard not knowing what to expect. I'm a planner and I like to know ahead of time how many passengers are going to be on my next flight, what my schedule is a month in advance, will we be moving to VA and when. Right now, it's a lot of unknowns and uncertainties. Right now, as it always should be, we must trust that God will work out the details of our lives, like He always does. But it still hard not knowing.
Sorry for the long ramble, but there is so much on our minds. I know we'll make it through this (and my non-stop heartburn) and maybe, just maybe, I won't have to actually quit my job. Maybe I can just take leave after leave. (People do it). I really can't imagine NOT living by the beach or flying, but we'll get it figured out. Basically we just wish Mom would pack it up and move out here. Or that Richmond was closer to the beach. I know it's only an hour away, but that is far when you're used to just walking or biking to it. No matter what though, our faith is in God and we trust in whatever He has in store for us. It's already been an exciting adventure.
Once we got to the top, we hiked around a little bit. A lot of the trails were closed off because of all the snow they received this past winter.
Considering that there are many more days with rain and snow than sunshine, we were lucky to have warm temperatures (60 degrees) and beautiful weather for our day in Juneau. It was raining the next morning. Back to normal.
