I Survived

I'm going up in this tiny toy plane?

Immediately after David landed on Saturday and collected his congratulations from his instructor and us, he offered to take us up for a flight. The Professor excitedly said, "Yes!", while I hesitated and seriously thought about staying on terra firma to be the official photographer. But as I considered, I realized that I would come to regret my decision. There is only one chance to be the very first passenger in my son's flying career, right?

So I cautiously said yes too, and soon I was buckled into the front seat next to David. I got a set of earphones and gulped as we taxied out of the parking space and headed toward those crisscrossing strips of concrete. Past the air control tower the plane did an odd sideways skitter; I was certain there was obviously some sort of mechanical failure and we must head back. But no, David smiled and said, "This plane does that; it even did it when the FAA test pilot was in the plane."

David chattered with the tower and suddenly we were in the air. All was smooth, but very steep, at first, and then we hit air bumps. Not fun air bumps. I hate air bumps. More and more and I was quite scared (I hate that falling feeling). David offered to go back but he also assured me that once we were at altitude the air would be smooth. I white-knuckled it as I tried to take a few pictures and suddenly it really was smooth.

And then it was fun. We flew north over Lake Allatoona and east over the northern suburbs, past the interstate, to Lake Lanier. When we spotted a regatta of sailboats David said he would go down for a closer look. That was a mistake because we hit air bumps again. So we went back up.

Eventually, of course, we had to come back down, and that meant more bumps. Our house is directly under the airport approach, and I was too scared to look out the window to see it. I just clutched the edge of my seat and stared at a red handle imbedded in the floor.

Near the runway again I could relax because we weren't that high. I said, "It's ok now because we could actually jump from here." We actually couldn't, but thinking so made me calmer. Our landing was one of the smoothest I've ever experienced.

It's Official!

David is officially a pilot now: he passed his check ride this afternoon. Congratulations David!

Here he is,coming in for his landing, a tiny speck in the sky (look over the building).

And on the runway, safely landed. (above the front plane).

Brazilian Steakhouse

The Professor recently bought a couple of dinner-for-four Groupon deals at a Brazilian steakhouse. (Gotta love Groupon!) We thought it would make two nice evenings out with our daughters.

We invited Greta and Daniel for the first deal. They had never been to a Brazilian steakhouse so it was fun to introduce them to the concept. Daniel, especially, enjoyed the long parade of skewered meats offered. He also loved the baked bananas offered as a side dish. We kept asking for refills! Greta filled up very quickly so she didn't sample as many meats. This particular steakhouse wasn't as high-class as some are. The salad bar, for example, wasn't as extensive and the decor wasn't as elegant as some we have been to. (we recommend skipping the potatoes on the salad bar. They were not good at all.) But it was a nice intro to the concept. And it was a very enjoyable evening with our grown up daughter and son-in-law.

Happy 60th Karen!

Last week, while The Professor was off work, we went to SC for a surprise birthday party for sister Karen's 60th birthday. Her daughters-in-law planned the whole event and did a wonderful job. They kept saying, "She knows. She won't be surprised. No one can ever surprise her, she already knows something's up."

But they were wrong - she really was surprised. Bill was clued in just a few days before, and he helped with the logistics of getting her to their church that evening. He told her some story about needing to sign a check or something. When she saw cars in the parking lot, she was very worried that they had forgotten about some church event. As they walked up to the building she could see in the windows and commented that it was a reception that they had missed. Then she saw someone "who didn't belong there" and she realized what was going on. So she was surprised until the very last moment.

Meantime, I made sure I wasn't visible through the windows, and The Professor was hidden too. She sheepishly walked in the door and looked around, acknowledging the guests. I watched as her eyes passed by me, and then she did a double-take as she realized it was me. That was lots of fun.

The family had put together a memory/tribute album for her with contributions from family and friends far and wide. I got a chance to look through it briefly, but not as much as I would have liked. I'm sure she will treasure it.

We enjoyed helping with the surprise, but even more, having the chance to visit with extended family that we hadn't seen in quite some time. Although we were given an invite to stay the night, we needed to head back home that same evening since The Professor hadn't brought along his very important RX meds.

Thrifted China

Greta found eight place settings of Mikasa Cameo Platinum at the thrift store. They didn't get any of their wedding china, so she was thrilled to find the pattern that had been their second choice.

Thank you, Gram!

New soap dispensers for our bathroom from Gram. Daniel picked green, and I picked yellow