Congratulations!!

For Aaron. He was offered the instructors position for Union Pacific railroad! The position is here in SLC at SLCC at the redwood campus. They want him to start tomorrow! I can't believe how quickly this is happening. I am so excited to get rid of the greasy work clothes (well not actually get rid of them because he will be wearing them to work on the yard). No more greasy fingerprints on the walls, and no more nasty work boots. I am just too happy about that, but more importantly I am so happy for him. He set this goal when he started with the railroad 8 years ago and each different job he took was to position himself for this job.
Way to go, Aaron! I am so proud of you!!!

Tinkerbell

So here it is my first attmept at sewing an outfit. I have learned a lot while trying to figure this out...like what those little notches are supposed to be used for. So, yes the skirt is a little crooked. It was acutally a little more crooked, but I ripped out the seams and tried it again. Also, my stiching was a little crooked and where the bodice and skirt meet it was supposed to be in a little point on the front. I could not for the life of me figure that one out so after a few attempts I just sewed it straight, so that is why the purple ribbon is there, but I think it looks cute that way. The shoulder straps (which can't be seen due to all her hair) are also of the purple ribbon because I thought it would be cute that way and I didn't want to try to figure out how to turn fabric the size of ribbons right side out.
So, I still need to make the wings and put the velcro on for the back closure, but all in all for my first attempt I don't think I did too bad.
I still have a long ways to go though.

Job, Jetblue, and stuff.

Aaron received a call Friday afternoon that they would like to do a phone interview with him this up coming Thursday. We are leaving it in God's hands, but I'm excited and nervous for him at the same time. This is a position that he has said he would want to have since he started working for Union Pacific almost 9 years ago! We have no idea if he will be offered a position, or where it will be if offered...but we are placing it in God's hands.
On the JetBlue front, things are starting to get back to normal. There have been many ups and downs with them the last week but all in all I am very proud of the way our company is handling the situation. I think the customers are also coming around to see that we are doing everything that we can to accommodate them (even too much in some cases!). They are setting up a customer's bill of rights that will cost JetBlue millions of dollars (which was put into effect retroactively of Valentines). I am also amazed of what people are asking us to compensate them for...calling us on there cell phones for example! I am glad that we are getting back to normal, and that I actually sold some tickets last night! That means that all is not lost and some people still have faith in our company.
Well, for some other news. I have decided I am determined to learn how to sew. I made a few pillows for the kids dolls, and kitties, and also a dog bed for Cookie. Cookie really likes her dog pillow/bed. And since she sleeps in my office while I am working I wanted something that matched the lavender. And while it is not perfect I don't think any of them look too bad. Now I have moved on to trying to make a Tinkerbell outfit for Kaitlyn's AG dolls. I have to bodice put together with a few a modifications, but I got stuck while trying to figure out how to gather the skirt. I had the "Complete idiots guide to sewing" but every time I tried to find information in there it didn't have what I was looking for so Aaron bought me "Sewing for Dummies" (upon my request) And while I haven't been able to try anything in it as of yet it answered all the questions the other book didn't. So, I am teaching myself how to sew. I told Kaitlyn it might not be great as I am just learning, but she doesn't care she is just happy for me to be trying. I'll post a picture of it when I am through.
And a little bit about Aidan since I can't leave him out when I am seeking about the rest of us. He is healing from his cold but his voice sounds funny to me. It is changing and I stopped short the other day and noticed that it is coming away from that sweet little toddler's voice into a boys voice....I am so not ready for him to be a big boy yet (although he tell's me that is what he is constantly). I can't believe how much growing up he is doing lately. AHH if we could just get this time to slow down just a bit! Then he talks about how excited he is that "His snow is back!" and I think to myself that he still has a few more years of growing to do. And that makes me smile!

Jetblue.

Well, This has not been a fun week, well I guess I shouldn't say week but at least half a week. It has been exhausting and frustrating, but fun I would not say.
It started on Monday actually with a few call here and there questioning what JetBlue was doing in terms of their flights due to the "Nor Eastern" coming in. The answer, "We are continually tracking the storm to see what is going to happen. We don't want to cancel your flights if we don't have to." In other words, nothing.
Valentines day comes and the storm comes with it. In full force! Planes were stranded and passengers were stranded, and ice was still coming. There were supposed to be "Pockets" of weather that we were supposed to get our planes out through but that didn't happen. The reasoning...Planes were freezing to the ground, which means that the deicing equipment had to be moved in order to unfreeze those planes.
There were 259 of our 505 flights that were canceled. It was a nightmare. JetBlue is still suffering from it, and are now trying to realign planes and flight crews. They have decided to cancel for Saturday, Sunday and Monday all of our flights that are E190's (the smaller planes). Which is 155 flights of itself. This is to help get everything back on track, but it is also creating more frustrations for our customers.
I believe this was a learning experience for our company. They have learned (finally!) that it is helpful to cancel flights before a big storm, there have been many many times that we have been lucky and there have been "pockets" of good weather where we could take off. I think there are a lot of a angry people. I am not looking forward to going back to work, and am enjoying my few days off. I may work a bit of overtime tomorrow mostly because I feel bad for our customers. When all of this happened the call volume not only went up but got overwhelming. I'm talking so much so that our phone systems could not handle it, the phone company had to work with us to actually be able to hold them on the line long enough to say "We are sorry our call volume is too high please try again later" (not a direct quote but basically that is what it said), and then when they finally got through to us we basically didn't have enough answers for them. ... Some of the questions they want to know from us... Where is my baggage? Why did you cancel more flights? Will my flight actually take off since it is significantly delayed? Are you sure this flight will take off? Is it going to be back to normal tomorrow? Why are other airlines able to get their flights off the ground and you can't?.... The list goes on and on, and basically our answers are "I'm sorry but I don't have an answer for that" or "I can't tell you for sure but please keep checking with us", you get the gist of it ... And THEN if we had to get a supervisor for them (like to have them unchecked so we could cancel and refund their money) there was a 20-30 minute hold time for that. Luckily, I was able to get some WONDERFUL people on the phones who were very understanding, there were a few who weren't but for the most part everyone was pretty gracious. But now that the ice storm is over and we are still canceling flights...well, I don't think they are going to be so understanding about it anymore.
I feel so bad for them, it is a huge holiday for the east coast. Basically, it is like a spring break and they were planning on having a wonderful vacation.
So, say a little prayer for me this week as I will be handling a lot of disgruntled customers for days to come.

Jobs, A Birthday, and Praise Team.

There is so much happening that I totally forgot to post this week! First off I want to wish Aidan A Very HAPPY 4th Birthday!

He had to share his birthday with the super bowl this year, but it was Ok with him since he was also able to share it with some good friends. We went to our friends house and had a good time, and he got to play with lots of his friends. We will celebrate further in March when we head back to California for a trip to the San Diego Wild Animal park...or as Aidan puts it, "to feed the giraffes".
I had my "audition" for praise team on Tuesday and am happy to announce that I will start singing this upcoming Sunday. I am very excited for that. And Pastor Greg gave me some good information on how to build my range back up again, since it has been so long since I have actually sung in a group.
On the job front: Still no news of the auditing job for myself. I called and spoke with her on Tuesday and she said that there were a few people who had pushed their interviews into this week and that I should hear something by the end of the week. I will probably wait until Tuesday and if I don't hear anything then I will call her again as I was told that the position was to start on Valentines day.
On the job fron for Aaron: The railroad is hiring 4 instructors positions. 2 of them are here in the SLC, one in Spring TX and the other in Chicago. He has decided to put in for it. We are not sure what will happen and are leaving it in the Lord's hands. We know that he will move us in need be and will have us stay if our time in SLC is not up. We are praying that he guides this process. This has been a position that Aaron has been working towards, it would get him out of the field and back into a class room, which is where he is meant to be. He loves teaching and it shows. Please, pray for us as we are going through this process of change. I think it would be good for both of us with a change in jobs, but only God know's what is best.

*****A quick update: I just recieved an email that I did not get the job, but my interest is being placed in a "pool of candidates" to choose from if extra need arises. Not exactly what we were hoping for, but at least I know now. Thanks for the well wishes.