93 degrees

It has been incredibly hot today. 93 degrees hot. Too hot to clean the apartment, do laundry, cook or do anything else for that matter...

that's why I took the kids (son and his buddy in the picture above) to the best burger place in town and only brought them home after dark, in the hope of them being too tired to notice the mess.

On Break

Today I was working on an international flight. Loads of passengers, many of them from Arabic countries. The briefing before the flight is long and extensive. We are prepared for people who don't speak our language. We have international newspapers, extra pillows and special meals catered. During the flight some of us play with the children. The whole cabin crew is as charming and caring as we can be. After the flight a lot of passengers compliment us on a "perfect flight" and we are proud of our tact and understanding.

Then there is the last flight of the day. Just a short hop, really. Only a handful of passengers. A new cockpit crew.

After we land most of the crew is getting into the bus. The plane is empty and quiet. But my colleague is still in the galley up front.

"What was the captain complaining about earlier? " I ask him.

"Nothing really." He replies. "It was really childish and I think he overreacted. He is a bit odd."

Which is exactly when the door to the restroom next to the galley opens and our captain gets out. And I just know that he has understood every single word.

Our tact must have taken a break.

For Hire

For hire:

Reader.

Will bring her own book.

$2.00 an hour, plus snacks.

Stand By

Today was my fifth day of stand by. Stand by meaning, I am on call from 5am till 9pm. In case I am needed, I have to be at the airport within one hour. I might be called out for a short domestic flight or I might have to go to Moskow and won't be back for the next five days.

Or I might not get called out at all.

Which can be good. On my first uneventful stand by day I cleaned the kitchen.

On the second day I changed the sheets, washed all the bedding and did the laundry.

On the third day I filed all the bills that have accumulated during the last six months.

Day fourth I caught up on correspondence.

Today, on the fifth day, I ran out of things to do.

There was absolutely nothing left to do that didn't require leaving the house. I had even ironed my uniform blouses.

Then daughter caught my eye. "Let's study." I said. "Let's do a dictation. Let's practise spelling and grammer."

"I am on vacation!" she protested.

"That's ok." I said. "I have nothing else to do. It will be fun!"

I think there was a second when she thought a flight to Moskow for me wouldn't have been that bad after all.

She did cheer up remarkebly though when I told her that tomorrow, unless I get called out, it is her brother's turn.

He did it - She did it

I am on stand by and the kids are off, meaning they are kind of stuck in the apartment with me. And without fail, there will be one point during the day, where I will hear screaming out of their rooms.

Annoyed by the noise I will run in there. I will ask, "what did you do now?" and invariably I will

get the finger pointing and each of them will say, "he/she did it!"

And every time there will be a lengthy, confusing story about who did what of which I tire halfway through.

Of course, as soon as I leave the room, they are best friends again...

at least till I hear the next scream.

Uppsala or Sweden, Land of Dumle

Overnight in Uppsala, Sweden. Early in the morning. The crewbus is about to pick us up in front of the hotel. Now, one could admire the amazing light, the charming houses or the perfectly placed benches in this cute Swedish town...

But I have no time for that. I am on a mission to find a supermarket that has opened early to purchase...

...as many bags of Dumle as possible. Because my family is hooked on the best toffee in the world.

Son and his buddy. And most of the Dumles are gone...

Napoleon Dynamite or Vote For Pedro

"Napoleon Dynamite" is one of husbands and son's favorite movies.

It is one of those movies that will make husband laugh so hard that he is out of breath and son rolling on the ground. Both of them frequently quote the movie, ("Gonna eat your tots?") which is very funny to both of them but has everyone who hasn't seen the movie wondering about their state of mind.

Imagine how pleased husband was when he actually met Efren Ramirez, the actor who plays "Pedro". And imagine how pleased son was when they both called him and he was able to talk to Pedro on the phone!

Thinking about it, we will have a Napoleon Dynamite movie night tonight. Lucky!!!