Why it Works

I'm often asked what it's like being hitched to a pilot: What is his schedule like? (It's completely random most months. I could write multiple blog posts just about crew scheduling.) Do I always know where he is? (Rarely. I can easily find out but I don't usually keep track.) Do I worry about him? (Only when he's in a hotel vans to/from the airport.) Do I miss him when he's gone? (Always.) How do we make it work?

I could certainly write multiple blog posts about that, especially as our relationship evolves but for today, I'll share just a couple reasons why this crazy lifestyle seems to work for us right now:

The Pilot's alarm went off at 0'dark hundred. He usually doesn't even tell me what time he gets up because it is obscene. I do know that a 6:15 am report time means he's out of the house by 5:30 am. I rarely hear his alarm (I have a hell of a time hearing my own alarms-yes, that is plural.). I guess on this particular day, he had an epic breakfast fail. I haven't actually spoken with him but I guess he somehow knocked a bowl of uncooked oatmeal off the counter and it looked like an oatmeal bomb went off in the kitchen. Being the great man that he is, he didn't leave the mess for me. The mess was so massive that it required the vacuum...at o'dark hundred.

The reason that "this" works for us....I didn't hear a darn thing. The crazy early alarm, the spilled breakfast and the vacuum did not wake me up. It's a good thing because I'm NOT a morning person and all that noise that early in the morning may have caused me to get violent.

When The Pilot leaves on a trip early in the morning, he always comes in to say goodbye. Sometimes I respond and say goodbye. Sometimes I mumble and he can't understand a thing I'm trying to say. We always kiss and attempt a hug (hard when I'm still asleep and laying down and he's standing at the edge of the bed). He has only skipped this ritual once and I felt out of sorts for an entire 4-day trip so he never skips that anymore! So another reason that "this" works for us...I rarely remember this goodbye exchange and rarely have any trouble falling back to sleep.

And yet another reason that "this" works for us...I don't usually mind "catching up" and getting information via email. He shared all of this information about his breakfast fail in an email with a time stamp of 4:38 am. As a pilot wife, I get a lot of details via e-mail, text, Skype, Google talk, etc. Unconventional and not always ideal, but it keeps us in touch.