Since I Last Wrote I....

Watched my very first Euro Cup! Go Spain...or was it Italy that won???

Traveled to the Island of Seychelles, and despite the rainy weather, enjoyed my own private porch that was just steps away from the ocean.

Took part in Monday Night Madness, all you can eat and drink, at one of our favorite Irish pub's in Dubai, Fibber McGee's!

Went boating with my friend Georgina and two Emirates pilots, and actually skied for the first time. I've probably tried skiing at least 10 times before, so I was beyond excited to finally stand up. I think the buoyancy of the sea water definitely worked in my favor!

Traveled back to the land of tea and crumpets and watched one of my very favorite musicals, Chicago, on London's West End (the Broadway of London). It was SOOOO good! My mom and I both loved theatre, and had actually gone to see this show in Springfield several years ago. I did not tear up during the opening number of All That Jazz....ok fine I did.  

After that week of fun, I'm now lying in the comfort of my own bed, with no plans of getting up anytime soon. I vaguely remember signing up to run a 10k, that is now just a little over two weeks away. Maybe if I think real hard about running, I'll be mentally training, which is supposedly half the battle...right? 

RIGHT!!!!

This past week I traveled, yet again, to the great state of California. Although I love the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Hollywood sign, and Grauman's Chinese Theatre as much as the next gal, I figured my past three visits would tide me over for quite sometime. The one thing on my Los Angeles layovers that I never tire of is this....

the bike path along the Pacific Ocean. So for much of my 50 hour layover, this is where I was. During my first day, three fellow flight attendants went along with me as we peddled 30 miles round trip to Marina Del Rey. Once we reached Marina Del Rey, we earned back every single calorie we had burnt, and devoured massive amounts of Mexican food! Yum!

As I am currently training for a 10k in August, I woke up early the next morning and completed a four mile run in the area surrounding my hotel. It felt so good to be able to run outside, and skip the hamster wheel AKA treadmill I'm forced to run on in Dubai, where the current temperature is in fact hotter than hell.

After my run I had planned to meet up with some other crew members and embark on yet another day of sightseeing in Hollywood. I am a big believer in the old saying, "Everything happens for a reason." So when the hotel elevator jammed, and caused me to miss the departure time for day-o-sightseeing, I was honestly fine with it. I had my rented bicycle, (complete with a basket and a bell), beautiful weather, and over forty miles of paved, beachside bicycle path.

Not that I'm a huge fan of spending extended period of time alone all the time, but I seriously LOVED my day...party of one style and all. I biked twenty miles to the Santa Monica Pier, where I ate some fish and chips for lunch. Naturally, I wanted some ice cream while on the pier, so I sat next to the carosol filled with kids and enjoyed my cone. It wasn't until I was down to the last lick of cookies 'n creame that it dawned on me that, perhaps, being a full grown adult, hanging out at the carosol, kidless is probably considered to be semi creepy. Alas, I gathered up my backpack, and saddled up on the ol bike for my 20 mile ride back to my hotel.

Six hours and 40 miles solo leaves a person with a lot of time to think. As I rode next to the ocean, quite simply, I thought about life. I thought about how thankful I am to be young and healthy. I thought about how much I genuinly miss my girlfriends from home. Occasionaly, I'd think about how sore my buttocks was going to be in the morning. I thought about my mom, and how flat out pissed I am that she died, and how much my heart just aches for her sometimes. I thought about the things that I still hope to achieve in my life like, write a book, open a coffee shop, have a family, have a dog. And then, to be completely honest, I spent a lot of time thinking about how good tanned, muscular, male, beach volleyball players look!

So, there you have it, another recap of Los Angeles. Feel like you just can't get enough of reading about these LA layovers? Well, you're in luck my friend, you can read all about it in just three short weeks when I go back for yet another trip to LA!

"You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with." -Wayne Dyer

Texas and The Top

This past week's adventure led me to the great state of Texas, Dallas to be exact. Thanks to my best good friend Drea, I was able to meet up with her cousin Tyler, who lives in the area, and he graciously served as my Dallas tour guide for the two days I was in town. While in Texas I saw the JFK memorial, viewed the area where JFK was assassinated, ate some good ol fashioned pork barbecue (a delicacy after living in a Muslim country), did a little shopping at Wally World (oh how I miss that place), and had a great run outside in shorts and a tank top without feeling condemned (again, it's the little things I miss)!



Dinner At Sonny's BBQ

My trip to Texas was quickly followed by two same day return flights, and now I've been blessed with a full week off, insert choir of angels singing here. Thus far the highlight of my week was finally going to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. I'm becoming quite the discount finder, and last night was no exception. Wednesday night is ladies night at Atmosphere, the club housed on the 123rd floor of the building, so my friend Sara and I were not only given free admission, but also two free drinks! It's always fun to find free ways to enjoy activities that are normally expensive! It was a slightly cloudy day, so the view wasn't quite as great as I was expecting, but none the less it was still an awesome sight.

View From Nearly 2,717 Feet Above The Ground

Sara and I Pretending We're Members Of The Rich And Famous Club

And now a riddle for you.... Who has a scar on her right thumb, is currently still in bed at noon, will be home in ONE month and ONE week from today, and is really, really excited about it????

Give up?

THIS GIRL!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Mama

June 8^th, my mom’s birthday, was a day I had been dreading for quite some time. According to the grief books I have been reading, birthdays, anniversaries, and other special holidays following a loved one’s  kicking of the bucket death can be extremely difficult. So far the experts were spot on with Easter. My feelings during Mother’s Day were indifferent. The good Lord decided to throw me a bone, and I flew over 15 different time zones that day, inadvertently skipping the majority of that stupid holiday.  And yesterday, well it wasn’t so bad after all!

Lavish celebrations for my mom’s birthday were never really a tradition in our family. Throughout the years my dad would sometimes take her out to see a play, us kids, and in more recent years her grandkids, would make her cards covered in glitter and macaroni, my Aunt Nancy would send her flowers, my Grandma Strang gave her cookbooks, and her friends would remember her with calls and cards. Low key birthday were just fine with her. She was never one to make a fuss over herself, and she most certainly was not the diamond demanding kind of lady.

Simple gestures of love were always what my mom appreciated most. So with what would have been her 56th birthday approaching, I knew I wanted to do something in memory of her, something that was just a simple gesture of love.

I contemplated making my mom’s famous butterscotch oatmeal cookies, and giving them away to a poverty stricken taxi drivers, but I feared my random act of kindness might be mistaken as me wanting something more than a car ride. Visions of me being loaded up on the next camel outta Dubai, as the blushing bride to Mr. Pak McPakistan quickly came to my mind. Alas, I (butter) scratched that idea. Pun intended.  

So in the days leading up to her birthday I purposely made one of her favorite soups, White Chile, and froze all the leftover, just like she always did. I bought and burnt her favorite brand of candles, and enjoyed my apartment having the same lavender scent as the after shower body spray she always used. Thankfully, unlike the apartment I share with my Chinese roommate, my mom never smelled like half lavender and half mystery meat cooked in soy sauce.

On the topic of Ethnic food, several nights ago my friend Rajeev and I were having dinner at an authentic Indian restaurant (my first experience of this sort, food was delicious, but perhaps a bit on the spicy side for this Midwesterner), when he told me that the next day he was planning to volunteer at a local school for autistic children, and that I was welcome to join him. Knowing the words “volunteer” and “Gail Schutz” are basically synonyms, I jumped at the opportunity to give of my time, the day before her birthday, in her memory.

My day of volunteering was a really cool experience, but very different than any type of volunteering I had done with schools and other social services in the USA. Unlike the extensive background checks I normally undergo to volunteer, I literally just walked right into the school and was assigned a classroom to assist. Within five minutes of being inside the classroom, the teacher informed Rajeev and me that she was going to escort a child to therapy, and asked that we keep an eye on the remaining students. While I was flattered by her trust, in my puzzled mind I was thinking, “YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW ME!”

After spending several hours assisting children with word comprehension, handwriting exercises, and math worksheets, we bid farewell to the students. I wouldn’t go out on a limb and say I’m the next Mother Theresa, or Gail Schutz for that matter, but I was happy to have volunteered in my mom’s memory, and I knew she would have been so proud.  

Yesterday was the big Kahuna, her actual birthday. I floated in the pool, went for a run, met up with friends later that evening for cocktails, and overall spent a lot of time thinking about my mom. It was a nice birthday.

I’ve always loved birthdays, not just for the cake, ice cream, and presents (although I am a big fan of all those things), but because it represents life. I’m not a genius, I don’t understand the whole purpose of it, but I do know that it’s short and it’s precious. Life is something to be enjoyed and lived vibrantly. My mom got that. In her 55 years she didn’t just make a slight difference on Earth; I think she changed the course of humanity. That may sound a bit dramatic, but, without ever knowing it, she served as such an influential person in so many people’s lives. I truly believe that her legacy of service, generosity, kindness, and love will impact generations to come!

In the card she slipped into my suitcase upon my departure to Dubai, she wrote to me, “There are some people that come and go from a room- from a life- and no one seems to notice one way or another, but not you! Everyone knows when you are present, and there is a black hole when you are gone.”

And as I reflect on her life, on what would have been her 56^th birthday, the only phrase that seems adequate is this, “Ditto, Birthday Girl, ditto!”

Photo Courtesy of Warmowki Photography

Two Years

Two years ago today my silver Corolla was packed from the floor to the roof and everywhere in between. I had just graduated college two weeks prior, and was ready and eager to start off my new life. Pulling out of my parent's driveway, with my best friend in tow, I knew no one in Florida, I had very little knowledge about what my job at Disney would entail, and I most certainly had no idea that the next two years would include meeting such amazing friends, experiencing so many blessings, seeing mind blowingly beautiful places, and dealing with such a devastating loss.  

In the entire span of my lifetime, which I'm hoping is quite long and prosperous, two years is nothing! However, looking back, these two years have been nothing short of eventful. For those of you who haven't been faithfully following Schutz and Scores (shame, shame), here's a few of the highlights. In the past 24 months I ...

 -moved to Orlanda, Florida and had an awesome time working at Disney for 7 months
-went on one of my best vacations yet; a cruise to the Bahamas with 20 friends
-hosted lots of visitors

-trained for, but never actually ran, a half marathon
-jumped out of an airplane from 15,000 feet

-was hired to work on airplanes with Sprit Airlines

-lost ten pounds (if found, please do not return)
-moved to Boca Raton
-continued my relationship with my four year on and off again, semi, kinda, boyfriend
-traveled to nearly every major US city

-visited lots of family and friends all over the country, including the great state of Alaska

-became an aunt cubed to Joseph Benjamin Six

-wrecked the silver Corolla (thanks for the memories, Silver Bullet)

-packed up a year and a half of life into my new car and drove from Fort Lauderdale to White Hall
-enjoyed an unforgettable month at home celebrating the holidays with family and friends

-moved across the world to Dubai and began working for Emirates Airline

-became about two shades lighter of a blond (solely from the desert sun...)
-lost my mom (we're talking 100% unexpected, out of the blue, 3 months later and I'm still waiting for someone to announce it was just a bad, very bad, joke)
-stuck a fork in previously mentioned four year relationship
-returned to Dubai and am attempting to return to life as normal (whatever the heck that means)

-have experienced some cool layovers with Emirates, including an especially fun one in LA

and lastly...
-traveled to 10+ countries, and counting.

Looking back on the past two years, there honestly isn't much I would change (with of course the exception of loosing my mom, but unfortunitly I didn't have much of a say in that one.) One of my her token phrases was, "Enjoy right where you are."

And for the most part, I think I am.
 :)

Born In The USA

This week's travels brought me back to the greatest country in the whole entire world...that's right, the good ol US of A! Even though California is a far cry from the cornfield where I grew up, it was still nice to be back in my own country. Taco Bells as far as the eye can see, street signs written in English, American flags flying high in the sky...ahhhh twas good to be home.

Although just being in California would have been cool all on it's own, the layover became even more awesome when three of my friends from various parts of the US and stages of my life decided to make the trip out to Los Angeles to see yours truly. Lita, who I met through Disney two years ago, flew to LA from Orlando. Her plane landed the same time mine did Tuesday afternoon, which worked out perfectly, as we were able to spend the whole afternoon and evening together. After resting up quickly we visited two of my favorite places in the whole entire world...Chipotle (amazing fast food Mexican) and Disneyland.

The next morning Stephanie, my old roommate from Boca Raton and Spirit flight attendant, and Michelle, a friend I worked with at Spirit who now lives in Las Vegas, also flew in to join the party.
The four of us rented bikes and spent the day cruising up and down the bike path along the Pacific. We had lunch and drinks at a really cute, you guessed it, Mexican restaurant on the Santa Monica Pier.

 We then cruised back to the bike rental shop and were pleasantly surprised to find out that we received complementary ice cream with our bike rentals. That, my friend, is how you run a successful business!

We finished off the day at Target, where I was way too excited to buy Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, Triscut crackers, and Crystal Light Packets. It's the little things I miss the most!

Stephanie had to work a flight back that evening so we parted ways, but Michelle and Lita were able to spend the second night with me. The next morning the girls each headed back to their homes, and after sleeping in for a bit, I too headed back home to Dubai.

The beauty of these long trips, 16 hours to be exact, it that it allows me to have lots of days off. I'm currently on day three of five days off and it's GLORIOUS! It's always fun to spend a few days in Dubai, catching up with friends. However, it's currently hotter than hades here. If you honestly want to know just how hot we're talking, set your oven to 115, climb inside, and attempt to breathe...ya, I wouldn't recommend it.

Hope you all have a great week!

"A man walks through life painting a portrait not of what he would have done, or should have done, but of what he did." -Unknown

I See London, But I Haven't Seen France...

Last week I went to London for the first time and LOVED it! Another girl and I did a whirlwind tour of the city. We saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abby, and climbed the world's largest enclosed stone column in the world...311 spiral steps in complete darkness. Still feeling the burn on that one! I have another lay over there at the end of the month and am excited to go exploring again. The only downside of this trip was that I was camera less. Wonk, wonk.

I came back to Dubai, just long enough to catch up with some friends. I love all of the awesome resorts that Emirates' crew gets into fo free!

After a short two days off, I headed back out on the road....errr sky, to Manila, Philippians. I'm appreciative of going to destinations such as these because they honestly do put life into perspective for me, and make me very thankful for the family and country I was born into. Two other flight attendants and I took a taxi into the city. According to the concierge, most cabin crew stay inside the hotel and the mall it's connected to during their stay, which he encouraged us to do. As the three of us girls were riding into the city people on the street were constantly coming up to the car and waving, or simply pointing at us from the sidewalk. Through broken English, our cabbie told us that we are like movie stars, as the locals only see a white person about once a year. The poverty in the area was unbelievable. It was very hard for me to stare straight ahead when children my own nieces' age, carrying babies my nephew's age came knocking on our window begging for money. Although I sound like a complete hard ass, it's simply not safe to give money out in these areas, and it also encourages these children's parents to continue forcing their children to be street beggars. I'm not an advocate of taking photos of children while traveling (it can be unsafe, as parents can demand money for the photos), but these little ones were following us as we walked through the town, all smiling and waving, and we're just too cute to not snap a quick photo!

And now a report from grief watch 2012....I received a bittersweet package in the mail last week. The last package I'll ever get from my mama. She had shipped me two adapters back in January, but because of a mailbox mix up, I had never received it. Although it was sweet that she sent me the adapters, I honestly wouldn't have cared if the box contained nothing but a few cow patties and a scoop of kitty litter! It was the note inside I was longing for. No Earth shaking revelations from her, just a simple note from mom. The note in itself pretty much covered the basis of our relationship, she adores me, she loves me, and she wanted to give me some advice. It was great to hear from her!

Ohhhhh I miss her so much! This morning after I arrived home from my nine hour flight my dad and I were having a pity party via Skype. Both of us were a little sleep deprived, and neither one of us were doing a very great job of comforting the other. We had both started in on our all too regular routine of crying and sharing sentaments like, "I'm so sorry you lost your mom!" and "I'm sorry you lost the love of your life, dad." Through sobs he started to tell me about the annual field trip to the farm that the local elementary kids attend, which took place yesterday . He said that he saw one third grade girl wearing a Girl Scout shirt. Being the sweet man that he is, he bent down to this girl's level and said, "I really like your shirt. My wife loved Girl Scouts. Did you ever know Gail Schutz?" And with all of the poise and intelligence that sometimes our local townspeople's offspring possess she replied, "Yep. She died."

Dad said he just smiled, stood up, and was thankful he didn't blurt out, "No Shit, Sherlock!"

And with that story, we both began a two minute laughing session filled with snorts and tears. As pathetic as we might be, a few tears and a lot of laughter....yep, mom wouldn't have handled it any other way!