it’s getting hot in here.

As I mentioned in my previous post, this month marks our first year of marriage. Since we are still newlyweds, we allowed ourselves some serious celebration. We started it all off with the Queen of Rockabilly herself:  Wanda Jackson.

An intimate venue and a petite woman with such power in her. I couldn’t have asked for anything better to share with my partner.  We even got her to sign an 8×10 picture of her from the old days.  What a wonderful experience that was!

We spent the next night alone and had a delicious homemade dinner and some quality time. I love you buddy!

And just because we can and we get a little greedy, we decided to also go on a mini vacation to make the fun last just a bit longer. Direction: Jamaica.  We chose Hedo 3 after much research and reviews. We really wanted a place where we could just let loose and have fun without having to worry about anything. And honestly, there is no better place than Jamaica to leave all your worries behind.  Oh what a hot destination (and I don’t necessarily mean the weather)! If you have never heard of Hedonism you have to at least know right away that they are clothing optional resorts. The place is divided between the fully clothed pools and the nudist ones. Let me tell you that there was NOBODY on the fully clothed side! Most people who make the effort to go to such resorts are there to enjoy the perks of being naked. We didn’t know what to expect at first, but you are quickly introduced to the ‘anything goes’ policy. There are no rules at Hedo! You can even be in the pool and hottub all night if you wish! Just be aware that you are in prime time for all kinds of action.

I love the Jamaican attitude and especially the food. The weather was amazing and it was just divine to tan with no clothes on. Goodbye tan lines! (make sure you lotion up though or you’ll get an unpleasant surprise…) This was a very relaxing week  (5 days) even though I had some annoying back pain. Lying in the pool all day surely helps! The only flaws we found were the beach (they are very small and dirty in Jamaica unlike our beloved Mexico) and the food was a bit boring after the 3rd or 4th day. One very good perk was that compared to quieter resorts where the focus is mainly on day activities, Hedo has nightclubs and parties until the wee hours of the morning.

All in all, September was a month filled with love and good times.

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i believe in the love that grows.

So here I am again. Alone in a hotel room, bored as hell  (at least I have a laptop and internet in my room now!). Let’s just say that lately the job hasn’t been the most exciting thing in my life. I can only hold domestic flying and end up mostly in 3 cities: Vancouver, Edmonton and St-John’s. Not so glamourous eh? I am getting so sick of seeing these same places over and over again…

Despite all of this, last month I finally got my first layover downtown Vancouver (I usually stay at an airport hotel in Richmond). I had been to the city a few times on my own, but it was different to have a hotel paid for and some free time to shop and walk around. It was a beautiful day ( very telling of the summer they had) and I was more than happy to be on my own, just wandering the streets. I got myself a delicious burrito dinner at Steamrollers and a delightful cupcake from Cupcakes. Did a little bit of shopping and very much enjoyed my adorable colorful hotel room.

So my schedule has drastically changed since the same period last year. With the many layoffs and restructuring of the company that means that the most junior employees suffer the most. Just when we were staring to see the light at the end of the domestic flying tunnel, we got thrown back a thousand feet into it. It’s like when you have that dream where you walk but you are not actually moving forward. Yeah, that’s my career right now.

Then again, being a junior flight attendant also means being assigned things that I did not ask for (like 5am flights) but also getting things I would never get normally (like two long downtown Montreal layovers in the same week). And that actually made me very happy. I got to spend time with my best friend and my mom. Again, the weather was on my side and revisiting my hometown made me miss it oh so much. I love my life in Toronto, but it actually stung a little when I had to depart YUL this time. I truly felt sad that I was leaving this amazing place behind. I think it’s been long enough now that I’ve been gone, that I can start appreciating it again. I rediscover things I had forgotten about this metropolis.  My heart will always belong to it.

Yesterday I was in Chicago. I had never been there before so this was quite inviting. I wasn’t expecting much from that city, or mostly didn’t know what to expect at all. And I found myself to be quite fond of it.  Granted I was there in 29 degrees weather and not in winter…but still. Between the deep dish pizza and Oprah’s season kickoff show taking up most of the downtown streets, there wasn’t a lot of time left to wander (I only had half a day to walk around) so I tried to see as much as I could but I certainly need to come back on my own time and explore. By the way, what a stunning view it is to have a river running through the city!  And they take much pride in it. Also check out the architecture while you are there. It feels like you are in an old black and white gangster movie.

So I guess my job isn’t so bad after all. I tend to complain because I miss my American layovers and all the shopping. But I can’t forget that the little things are what matter most.

On a different note, this past weekend welcomed our first wedding anniversary and I can tell you I was quite pleased with it. The last year was such wedded bliss. I find we have grown so much already since getting married and I love the man more and more every day. I can’t emphasize any more how fortunate I am to have a partner, lover and best friend that complements me so well. Our story was not an easy one. We both had enormous baggage from previous relationships mixed with fear and caution, but we let our guard down and opened up to eachother and that made it work in the end. We try to stay connected to one another because it does make things less painful, trust me! I feel we are ready to move forward. Continue on the path we are slowly building together. We now have a foundation and that paves the way for new adventures.

So profess your love today. Tell at least one person what they mean to you and cherish that relationship. We need those people around us.

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you are the one who gives me hope.

I seriously need a laptop.
I feel so removed from everything when I am working and away from home for long periods of time. I have been away since Monday morning and I have trouble setting myself in an actual time and space because I have nothing but a bed and a tv in my hotel room. With a laptop I could keep up with the world and especially with this blog. I really do miss it. I miss writing to get some of the millions of things that spin around in my head. It somehow keeps me sane. I miss researching the topics I talk about and reading other people’s blogs to make sure that I am not stealing anyone’s thunder. I miss just having that alone time. I will look on Ebay and see if I cannot by any chance fall on a cheap computer that is setup for Wireless / WiFi. It has become a necessity.

The husband and I have gone back to our weekend escapes now that I have my flying passes again. It really does make a difference. We went to New York City a few weeks ago, just because. I hadn’t been to the Big Apple in about 10 years and I needed to refresh my memory. We saw a great Vaudeville show and enjoyed some Katz Deli superbness (not once but twice!).

We also walked around the Lower East Side. I actually fell in love with that area. Manhattan has a great energy and it’s so exciting to be part of it, standing on the corner of the street looking up at those tall buildings and feeling like you are part of a microcosmos. The East Village though has a different spirit. More laid back, a little immodest and home to some good debauchery. I felt comfortable there. Needless to say, spending 3 days in NYC is not a vacation! We were initially only planning on being there for 48 hours, but standy status oblige, we were forced to leave a day later…which also included sleeping on the floor of an empty LaGuardia airport. Finally, after all the walking, the museums (MoMa and Museum of Sex), the shopping, the sight-seeing, we were truly exhausted. We ended up coming back home more tired than before we left!

So to really relax we decided to go to Las Vegas (yeah, i know, life is tough). And that was a vacation! From the moment I stepped out of the airport to our last trip on the shuttle out, I was enjoying every minute of my time there. What a wonderful place! Wow. I really wasn’t expecting to like Vegas because I have issues with concrete capitalist tourist-oriented businesses, but in its own vulgarity, Sin City does have a charm. I guess I felt good not being the odd one for once. Anything goes in Vegas and it’s like all the deviants come together in a giant embrace. Of course, you have all the tourist traps and the colorful and loud attractions, but we generally stay away from those anyway. So Vegas was no different. We now how to choose our activities.

The weekend was mostly focused on the Burlesque Hall of Fame. This event takes place every year and honors the Burlesque queens past and present. As a newcomer to the scene, it was such an enriching experience to be part of. I learned a lot from the different performers and got a glimpse of the pinup world that is out there. All those gals are just phenomenal. I even got to buy a beautiful summer dress at the Burlesque Bazaar!

You can’t go to Vegas and not gamble. For my part, I spent most of my money on the slot machines. My favourite was the Price Is Right one. I even got to play Plinko on it. What a treat! ……Then I discovered blackjack. I had an interactive channel at home when I was younger that let you play “live” games on your tv and I spent so much time learning blackjack. So I did try the real table with real tokens in Vegas. I must say I felt a bit overwhelmed at first, but you quickly grow into it and it becomes a bit of an addiction. When you realize that you are winning, it is hard to stop. I ended up winning 45$ and walked away.

On our last day, we lounged by the pool, something that we rarely do because we are a bit restless and like adventures more than quiet time. This time it was much welcomed. I truly think I have an extraordinary hubby and getting to spend some quality time like that with him means the world to me. He is my favourite person to be around and these mini vacations genuinely bring light and love to our relationship.

I am the luckiest girl on earth.

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prepare to launch.

And so the countdown has begun.
Exactly 7 days until I return to real life. To my career. To my true love. I have this feeling of anticipation mixed with nervousness about going back after so long.  I have to review my manuals because I am not sure I remember all my safety procedures…However, I am determined to give it all my best. That’s the good thing about being away from your job, you start missing it and want to be good at it all over again. No more blasé attitude, no more annoyance with the little details. You get to like it all over again. Which brings me to the question that I constantly get when I tell people I am a flight attendant: “Doesn’t your marriage suffer from you being gone all the time?”  The answer is NO. It actually benefits from it (I think at least!). When I am away for days at a time, I really miss my husband and I have time to appreciate all the good things we bring eachother. When I get back home, there is more love to give and receive (and lots of sex) and a renewal of the feelings that too often get drowned under the routine of a more conservative lifestyle.  It’s been good to me and I am grateful for that.

Speaking of travel, if Mexico is part of your plans make sure you are aware and protected as best you can against the swine flu that is happening over there right now. Mexico is one of my favourite places to be and I sure hope that they recover quickly.

Summer is heading quickly our way and the festival lineups coming out are always a good reminder of that. Lollapalooza is looking pretty good this year! I think I might just want to go. I have friends who go almost every year, so maybe I could be part of the trip this time. I am usually not a big fan of younger crowds (especially when they are in the 100 000s!) but come on, it’s Lolla!!  This is the first festival I ever attended at the dear age of 13 (a friend and I managed to sneak in, because we didn’t have the money for tickets). Ah the memories.

Can you believe this guy?  He just won’t stop. I know he’s always been a little strange, but wow, he is just surpassing himself now. And just for the record; I looooooove mashed potatoes.

After reading and writing abuot the Canjet hijack this week, I stumbled on a link to a documentary that was made about one of the first hijackings that actively involved the US and opened their eyes to terrorism. It happened on September 6th 1970 and was quite a lesson in things to come. Read about it  if you’d like, I found it all in all interesting and informing.

So there you go darlings. I am not exactly sure when I will write again since next week I will be busy training the person who is taking over my position at the office and running around to get all the last minute details done so I am allowed back in the dark hallways of the airport. Of course, I will try to make an appearance and let you know what’s happening. Wouldn’t want to leave you in the dark after all!

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