March 15, 2008

Wow, I can't believe I actually did it. I have thought of this day since I was in high school; that I would be able to travel and live in a new place. For the past three years, working for Mesa Airlines, I have had the chance to travel all over the United States. From going to Fresno, CA on the West Coast, to New York City, NY on the East, I have traveled to so many places do to the travel benefits of working for an airline.
Now I begin a new chapter in my life. I moved to Orlando, FL to work for another airline, AirTran Airways. I have spent the last month downsizing everything I own, so that I would be able to fit 27 years of my life into the trunk and back seat of my Mazda 6, whom I have affectionately named Misty. Jenna volunteered to be my traveling buddy and we set out on Sunday evening, March 2nd for the 2200 mile journey. We had done road trips before but nothing like this. So, of course, we had to get the traveling snacks, and as always, overdid it. We had so many goodies that we were shoving them in all the nooks and crannies that we could find. The first night we planned on making it from Phoenix, AZ to El Paso, TX about 400 miles away. We stayed with Steve Foster, a friend that I had made at Mesa. He and his family graciously accepted us into their home and allowed us to get some rest before we continued on our journey. WE left El Paso the morning of March 3rd to drive through the dreaded state of Texas. It literally takes a whole day to get through it. We got snow in West Texas as Jenna and I took turns driving. We contemplated stopping in Houston, TX for the night, but there was no way I was going to start in Texas again. So we made it to Louisiana and stayed in a hotel.
Day 3 began with a Southern Breakfast of ham, eggs, and of course, biscuits. We left Louisiana and quickly crossed through Mississippi and Alabama, and straight into Florida were we hit rain for the first time on our trip. We had been driving now for three days and were more than ready to get to my new home in Orlando. We drove into the nieghborhood and passed the house the first time. Then pulled into the driveway and entered the house to find an excited Keegan ( my roommate's dog) waiting for us.
Jenna was scheduled to take the first flight back to Phoenix the next morning so we quickly unloaded the car and had dinner and went to bed. The next morning we had no problems finding the airport, however, I got lost finding the way back to my house. Being in a new city is not as easy as living in the same town for 24 years. I had no idea where I was and no idea how to find where I needed to go. Thankfully I have a very patient and helpful roommate, Jesse. I called him and after laughing, pointed me in the right direction.
I spent the rest of the morning shopping for household items I was not able to take with me and paying attention to my surroundings as I drove around. Once Jesse got home from his trip, we were able to get my bed and dresser from a friend who had volunteered to bring them out from Phoenix, where he had moved from the week before. After we got my bed and dresser in the house, I was finally able to start unpacking.
The rest of the week was spent getting used to the house and my new city. Google maps has become my new best friend and I love the resource of the internet more everyday. Everything with the job and move had gone so smoothly that I was wondering how long it was going to last when as I was driving to IKEA across town, my clutch started acting weird. I made it there and back safely, but when Jesse arrived home the next day, he did an inspection and confirmed my dad's suspicions that I would need to replace the Master and Slave cylinders for the clutch. Sunday night I was scheduled to go to Atlanta, GA for New Hire Orientation and would not be able to take it to the shop. Jesse offered to take it for me and when he went to take it Monday morning, it wouldn't go into gear. So, when I got home we called AAA and had it towed.
Tuesday morning, my first day of my new job, the shop calls me and tells me that it will be at least a day before they will be able to fix it because they have to ship in the parts. Seriously??? in a big city like this, nobody has those parts??? So we wait another day and as Jesse is on his way to pick me up from work, they call me to tell me that my car is fixed and ready to go. Whew, such a relief.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I also caught the nasty cold that is going around and have been dealing with that in addition to the car problems. So, I show up for work on Tuesday and am supposed to meet everyone, but my ears still haven't cleared from the night before so I can't hear, and I can't shake any body's hands because I don't want to get everyone else sick. UGH!!! I was supposed to start training for my new job, Crew Pay Specialist, but the lady who is supposed to train me was told Wednesday, not Tuesday. So I cleaned my desk, then we went to lunch, and when we got back, I got sent home sick, my first day!!!! I went home and crashed out, which was exactly what I needed.
I went back to work Wednesday and started learning parts of my job. So far, I have learned how to run reports and make sure that pilots are getting paid what they should be. I am enjoying it and picking it up quickly. The people I work with are extremely nice and very helpful and understanding. I am very excited to go to work, which hasn't been the case in a while. Not that I didn't enjoy my last job, of the people I worked with, but I was caught in a rut in my life and needed a change. I didn't realize just how big and drastic the change was going to be.
So far I have been in Orlando for 11 days and I am really starting to like it. Today, Keegan and I went to the dog park in our neighborhood and it was so humid because it had stormed last night. I have learned that storms are a regular occurrence here, and it is something I will just have to get used to. The humidity is an amazing thing. Right now I am loving it because my skin feels so hydrated. I am sure in a month or so I will be cursing it, but that all comes with the territory, right??
So here it is, Saturday afternoon, my ears still haven't cleared, :( and I decided that it was time to take the advice of my sister-in-law Alisse, and friend, Solana, and start a blog. At first I thought it was a little silly, but now that I do it, I realize that these are the stories that I tell everyone I know anyway, so now you can see it for yourself and hear it as I hear it in my head. Hopefully it will make as much sense to you as it does to me. And hopefully I will start taking pictures and you can see what I see. Here is where I should insert a cutesy catch phrase, but I don't have one, so, until next time...... :)