Doyle's birthday!

I didn't mean for another week to go by without me making a post. Doyle has been home a week now since he worked his last day at Independence Air. Actually, today he is traveling up to Dulles for a job fair that is next week. He's been busy researching various outfits and applying to a couple of them. So we'll see!

Doyle's birthday was this past Friday the 13th! We went to Dave & Buster's and had fun. I beat him the first round of shooting hoops and he beat me the 2nd round. Then we decided to ride this harley game. It was horrible, I couldn't figure out how to drive the thing straight! It also didn't help that there was this guy behind me that kept yelling out about how bad I was and how he was glad he wasn't on the ride with me. I got so aggigated and mad at the game and that guy, that I just gave up and got off of it. I turned to look at the guy that was heckling me and it some boso with his two little kids! He looked at me all surprised and asked if the game was still running. I said it was and by all means, he could get on it. So he put one of his little boys on it until the time ran out. Doyle wasn't too good on it either but he was by far better than me. Then they finally called our name for dinner. It was good. I brought half of my dinner home and ate it for lunch today since I had to go in to work.

Here is a picture of Doyle with the pets. It was actually taken New Year's Eve before he had to leave to go to work. They knew he would have rather have stayed home so they were giving their attention to him while they could. Isn't this picture just adorable!

I think our pets don't favor ME anymore! ha! :) And yes, it was a nice day here on Dec. 31st. I think it got up to 80 degrees!

Independence Air

Well, unfortunately, it's official... January 5th is the last day Independence Air will be in business. Tonight was Doyle's last flight in the Airbus. We are very sad that this is what become of a great idea. They received such high ratings... everything from being rated 2nd best in customer satisfaction (behind Aloha Airlines) to the least amount of lost baggage and many other accomplishments. The only thing they couldn't attain was financial stability.

After the news was made public, there has been an outporing of other Regional and Fractional airlines offering to help out employees find new jobs. Independence Air obviously got the reputation as being the best.

I am so proud of my husband for sticking it out until the end... for a company that he truly cared about. Even though there were a ton of other pilots not showing up for work, many of the pilots that had those days off... showed up to help out. It really was amazing to see. Doyle could have easily called in sick so that he and I could be together for New Year's Eve, but he knew he had a duty. It wasn't the customer's fault that the company folded. He and I both knew that if we had purchased tickets to fly somewhere, that we wouldn't want our flight delayed or cancelled. That and Doyle and other committed pilots didn't want Independence Air to go out on a bad note, but rather with their heads held high and the company's mission in place. It's that kind of attitude that gets a person far in life. And that attitude is just one of the many reasons why I married my husband.

And until Doyle finds his next job, which may be bigger and better than we could have hoped for, he'll be at home spending quality time with his favorite person... me! :) Okay, so maybe that was a little much! Anyway, we are going to enjoy this break and having him home all the time. He's already sent out resumes and will be sending out more when he gets back. We've heard of all kinds of outfits looking for pilots, so it will just take time finding the right one for him. I'll certainly keep you updated!

Love, Aimee