Happy New Year. We're not quite there yet, but will be soon. My fingers are still tingling from cold. It's -10F outside right now and I had my mittens off to light bottle rockets and such with Matilda and her friends Mira, Nella, and Ossi.

Hope everyone has a good year. By the way, I will be in D.C. on April 2nd, I will see what I can do about getting to Utah.
posted by Lee at 1:45 PM

 
Give me your e-mail address, Anneli, and I send you an invitation.
posted by Lee at 1:16 AM

 
It was Ithaca. How could I forget the cold, empty place. That was a fun trip.

So we had a good Christmas. Soon I hope to have a URL where Harri (Melina's brother) will post pictures from the evening. Matilda got too many presents, but her favorite was a Lego "Princess" castle. Owen got a wooden scooter and he loves it. It is the first toy that he is protective of. When he sees Matilda on it he starts to point and pant, runs over to her and tries to get her off.

No one is coming on to play. Oh well.
posted by Lee at 10:18 PM

 
Hello Aila, nice to hear from you. I ate way too much once I got to the Kranendonks in Atlanta. It was fun though. We also played a game called Mad Gab that was a lot of fun. It is a good group game. Was it Conquerors you guys played last night? If I would've had a computer handy I would've logged on to say hello. I was thinking you might be on. I ended up visiting Paul at his In-Laws last night. We had a couple hours to visit. I leave on my trip today at 1PM.

Lee, you remember Greek Peaks? That ski resort? It was near Ithica wasn't it? If I wasn't a poor First Officer I would go skiing while I am there. They got a lot of snow. And I don't leave until 5PM the day I'm there. It would be a perfect to do an half day of skiing at my overnight.

Talk to everyone later.

-KJH
posted by Keith at 9:20 AM

 
I will be online at 10pm MST ready to play and talk.
posted by Lee at 5:25 AM

 
Hello,

I got the lesser of the two trips. I flew out of PIT. I was able to come to Atlanta, though, early on the 26th. And the flight out of here tonight is empty. I leave Atlanta at 8PM tonight. I start a 3 day trip tomorrow that is through PIT. It will be abouth 13 hours of flying. I think I spend my nights in Elmira and Ithica New York. Anyway, hope all is well. There is a good chance that we will be in Utah for New Years. I need to leave on the 1st though. Talk to everyone later.

-KJH
posted by Keith at 11:24 AM

 
Hi Everyone,
Merry Christmas! I am having alot of fun here. Keith said he has New Year's eve and New Years Day off so I think we are going to stay in Atlanta for it. Thanks for the offer Timo. Merry Christmas everyone!
Love,
Amanda
posted by Keith at 3:02 PM

 
I knew you would pass. Well done, again.
posted by Keith at 6:54 PM

 
Hey, merry Christmas. It's Christmas Eve here and I am not asleep yet. No matter how little food you make, how few gifts you buy, it's never quick and easy. That said, I won't be online at 7am today. Maybe on the 26th, Boxing Day.

Keith, if you see Paul, say hello. I assume you mean Paul Kjar. If not, then say hi anyway.

Also, I just found found out via e-mail that I have passed the written part of the foreign service exam. I've been here before so I am not too excited, but I am glad I passed. I won't know when or where the oral exam will be until I receive the mailed packet some time in the near future. Hopefully I can learn from my previous failure and get myself a nice new job in Beirut.
posted by Lee at 4:25 PM

 
Hey all,

I got pulled off my trip today. I Dead-headed (caught a ride, but with pay!) back from Moline to start some "new" trip tomorrow. It is out of PIT. I suggested a few things to them and it may change again, but we shall see. My prospect are: Christams eve in Detroit. Or Christmas Eve here in St Louis. However if I am in St. Louis I will get to go hang with Paul for a couple hours. His wife's parents live here and invited me over Christmas morning. I don't fly until Christmas afternoon if that scenario plays out. As it stands I am going to Detroit, but I will call tomorrow morning to see if they are letting me change.

All the flying has been good. I am up to 99 hours in the aiplane. Anyway, I don't think I will be in SLC again until the 6th of January. Then only for a short time. I do have 13 days off next month, but no long periods like last month. Anyway, so long and Merry Christmas all.

-KJH
posted by Keith at 2:45 PM

 
I slept in on Sunday, now I'm ok. I'll see about tomorrow morning, Christmas Eve morning for me. I think I'll have everything done, so there will be minimal rush. We are going to Sipoo (to Melina's sister's house) at 1pm.

But, bow I've got to get some last minute shopping done.
posted by Lee at 6:11 AM

 
Hi everyone,
Keith and I have had a good time here. We played Guillotine and my sister Noelle won! 29 points total. Keith had to leave today to go to St. Louis and he was able to get the bid he wanted for next month.
What is everyone doing for New Years? I think I might be back in town by then. I don't want to be in the Christmas rush home and not be able to get back. Not much else going on. Merry Christmas!
Tuula- You can call me here at home if you would like. (770) 396-5426. I should be around during the evenings. It sounds like our family has alot planned during the days. Talk to you later,
Amanda
posted by Keith at 7:24 PM

 
Hey, I am now off work for the next 8 days. I am looking forward to resting and doing nothing. Of course "doing nothing" today invovled cleaning our apartment from top to bottom, so I hope this is not indicative of what's to come.

Landing in the fog sounds a bit tricky. I'm sure it was fun.

I am all for some games, but I want to sleep in tomorrow. Not that Owen will let us. Since it is dark here until after 9am Owen wakes up, but won't play on his own. Instead he mauls, bats, pokes Melina's face trying to get her up. Or not, we don't know exactly what he's trying to do. When it's light he'll play. Maybe it's too late to agree on a time that soon anyway. When's good for you?

Merry Christmas. Ho ho ho.
posted by Lee at 9:11 AM

 
Hello everyone. Friday the 13th was a crazy day for us. Amanda left her purse on the flight and it ended up in Raliegh-Durham. After 45 minutes of the American Airlines folks doing nothing, it took me 10 minutes to have the cell phone number of the guy receiving the flight in Raleigh-Durham, Chuck. Chuck found the purse and sent it back on the first flight on the 14th. Thank goodness for Chuck. Technically they aren't supposed to do that. They are supposed to Fedex it... Sorry Cindy.

Additionally we had the good fortune of running out of gas that night, and the unprecedented fun of running across I-70. All in all it was an exciting night. I haven't really had time to write this sooner. Only time for short notes.

The other day I was able to land with next to no visibility. St. Louis was completely fogged in. It was reporting 1/16 mile visibility. I have to say it was exciting. My Captain let me fly the approach and land which technically I am not supposed to do. I am glad he did though. It was fun.

Hope everyones Holidays are going well. I will talk to you all later.

-KJH
posted by Keith at 4:51 PM

 
This is a test.

posted by Keith at 4:43 PM

 
Hello again,

Keith came home last night and left early this morning. We had fun opening our Christmas presents we gave to eachother. I am about to take my last exam!(WHEW)
Timo and Mark-Are you going to see Lord of the Rings? I heard the best time to go was in the morning or afternoon. Well, talk to ya'll later
Amanda
posted by Keith at 11:23 AM

 
Hi Everyone,

Keith and I had a great weekend in Charlotte and then Moline last night. He is an excellent pilot, all his flights were great. It was fun to finally ride in his airplane. I am back for a couple of days for exams and then on to Atlanta on the 19th. Talk to you all later,
Amanda
posted by Keith at 1:54 PM

 
Yesterday when Melina came home from her exam Owen pointed to her and said, "Äiti." It was the first time he's calmly assigned a name to anyone. Sometimes when he is crying it comes out "ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄiiiiiiii-tiiiii", but it's hard to know if he's calling out for her or just wailing.

The cruise was alright. The 20-hour cruises are a partying affair, so the boat was a madhouse. But I enjoyed myself and the dinner was great.

Tiina, I haven't heard anything about the test yet, but thanks for asking. I guess it shouldbe anytime now, but who knows.
posted by Lee at 7:00 AM

 
That is weird. I had the whole Foundation set (Including the Predlude to Foundation, which you gave me, I recall), where'd they go???

We are all fine here. Last night was sauna night. Owen loves the sauna. He knows when we are going and is all smiles and giggles. Last weekend he was crying and acting strange while outside. He led us over to the basemant door leading to the sauna and wanted to go in for a sauna. He was upset when we couldn't oblige him.

Last weekend Matilda went skating for the first time this year. She did pretty good. The local soccer field in the park is now an ice rink. I am still looking for a pair of skates, but Melina bought some used ones for herself for the bargain price of 7€.


Tonight is my office pikkujoulu party. We are going on a 20-hour cruise on the Viking Line's Cinderella. (The people came with the picture.)

I hope all is well with you.


posted by Lee at 1:49 AM

 
Lee, you remember the book Foundation and Earth. It no longer is in print. There is an aditional book called Forward the Foundation, but Foundation and Earth is no longer mentioned as part of the Series. It's wierd. Anyway, I checked all the Borders in St Louis, and finally here in Barnes and Noble. They said they can't even order that book. I finally found it on Amazon for like $20. Then also at a place called bookfinder.com, used, for $4. Anyway, I thought it was wierd.

-KJH
posted by Keith at 10:56 AM

 
Hi everyone. It was a great 3 day trip. It is nice ot be home for a couple days. Amanda and I are going to St. Louis on Friday. On Saturday she will go to Charlotte NC with me and then she may stay there all Sunday or go fly around with me. I end up in Charlotte again Sunday night. Then Monday its back to Salt Lake for Amanda and St Louis for me. I fly again Tuesday.

Hope all is well for everyone. Good-bye for now.

-KJH
posted by Keith at 12:12 AM

 
Hey Everyone,
Things are going well here. Keith will be home tonight around 6 or 6:30. I have a concert tonight. Tuula, Keith, and I think maija will be coming to see it. Anyone else who wants to come is welcome to. Or maybe we can meet up and play games afterwards.Talk to ya'll later,
Amanda
posted by Keith at 12:12 PM

 
It was a great trip yesterday. An Allentown turn and a Wilkes-Barre turn, out of Pitsburg. Then it was back to St Louis where today I will fly 3 legs. I think we end up in Moline tonight. The party sounded like great fun. Too bad I missed it. If I hadn't had to fly Sunday there is a chance I could've stayed through Sunday night. It would have been risky though. I don't got to work until 2:20 PM today. I could've caught the morning flight out of Salt Lake and been to work on time today. Oh well. I made good money yesterday.

-KJH


posted by Keith at 10:53 AM

 
Well I got a call from St Louis to go work on Sunday. They cut into my 6 days off. It will be out of Pitsburg flying the US Air side. Then Monday I start a 3 day trip out of St Louis. Anyway, carpet has been a killer. It sure makes me happy I am flying again. But it is also nice to know I will be able to pick up a job here and there. This will work out quite well. Anyway, talk to everyone later.

-KJH
posted by Keith at 6:46 PM

 
Whenever. I have a 3-day weekend so I'm good for the next 3 mornings. Or nights. You tell me.
posted by Lee at 10:45 PM

 
I forgot to mention. I was in St. Louis airport yesterday and heard the name 'David Coon' paged several times. So Dave, were you there, or was it your distant cousin?

-KJH
posted by Keith at 5:01 PM

 
Hello all,

A busy weekend for travelling. We were full on every flight. It was fun. I had some nice landings for a change. Had a really gusty approach into Dayton and was lucky enough to set her down soflty. Hopefully they keep getting better. Anyway, Houston was a nice 2 hour flight. Sunday we were flying one of the new airplanes for the 1st flights as Trans States Airplanes. All in all it went well although Eagle (where we got the planes) had down some petty vandalism. Pretty sad. They are very bitter about trans States expanding under American while they (American Eagle)still have guys on Furlough. THey had actually removed the compass coreection card, and it is required by the FAA. Thank goodness I was with an observant Captain. One of the most senior guys.


I look forward to getting into the Desert sometime, but not this upcoming Saturday. Amanda has a concert in Salt Lake at 2:00PM and then Lena's party... Soon, hopefully.

-KJH
posted by Keith at 10:36 PM

 
Dinner went well. We had four people over, two friends of Melina's from Sipoo and their boyfriends. There was plenty of food and there still is. I've got turkey coming out of my ears now. They didn't have a wide selection of birds, so I had to get a 6kg one. But we had bliny and herring roe, Caesar Salad, and then all the normal Thanksgiving trimmings. The Caesar Salad was great. It's been so long since I've had a good one. Nothing beats a fresh one.

There is a little shop that sells A & W rootbeer here. We had rootbeer floats a while ago. They tasted great. I forgot how much I like them. Matilda and Owen each have an Advent calendar with Chocolate in it. After eating his first chocolate Owen stood beneath his calendar with arms raised imploring more chocolate. I guess it's a good lesson in patience. It was funny watching him eat yesterday. He only ate a bit of corn bread before coming to my lap. He then ate about twenty fresh green beans and lots of mashed potatoes, but didn't care for the turkey. He devoured his slice of Pumpkin Pie and moved over to Matilda's bowl when he'd eaten all his own. He then demanded more pie. He isn't nearly as picky as Matilda was and is.

Everything else is pretty much the same.
posted by Lee at 1:15 AM

 
Hey ya'll,

Timo, that bird palace was so neat, I'm glad we got to see it.
Keith left yesterday afternoon and made it back to St. Louis. He'll be back home Monday night around 6:00.
Not much else going on here. I will talk to you all later.
Amanda
posted by Keith at 7:23 AM