24 Hour Yuk

Yesterday I woke up with an upset stomach. I suffered through my morning at work, went home after lunch, slept all afternoon on my right side (that felt better for whatever reason), picked up Carina from day care and tried to watch her while curled up on the floor, forced myself to eat a bit of soup when Gavin came home, went back to bed, and woke up this morning feeling fine.

WTF?

Guess I should just be happy that it didn't last longer.

Tonight, Gavin and I have a date night. We got a regular babysitter on Thursdays, theoretically so we can play softball, but since the season hasn't started yet we are going to take advantage and get out by ourselves the next couple weeks. It works out pretty well, actually, as next Thursday is our anniversary.

170

As Nujoud mentioned on her blog the other day, people in Texas have strange attitudes toward weight gain/loss. I have done pretty well losing pretty much all the weight I gained during my pregnancy (although I'm still stubbornly a size larger than I was). I've done this by thinking twice, or three times, before having a desert or fast food. I've done small things like trying to take the stairs instead of the elevator - need to get back on that horse. And I'm fairly pleased with how I've done so far, although I'd like to keep going on down another 10 pounds. 15 would be fantastic, but not very realistic.

People have noticed, and commented on how well I'm doing. The compliments are usually followed by the question "Are you doing anything special?" By this, people usually mean "Are you taking any pills?" Everybody just assumes I've found some miracle drug instead of eating better and trying to exercise (still need to get better at that part of the equation). You'd be amazed at how when I tell people that the "special" things I'm doing are climbing 2 flights of stairs to my office in the morning, they look like that's the worst idea they've ever heard. Climb stairs? I'd rather drink poison.

On the flip side of the coin, I feel like screaming at the ladies on the weight loss support thread babycenter who "feel so gross at 136 and can't wait to get back to 120". Are you kidding me? I haven't been 136 since I was a freshman in college. I can't even imagine it anymore.

Real Women

Real women play tuba.

Word.

If my mother influenced my decision in 5th grade to pick up the flute, I don't remember it. The only other instrument I remember considering is the cello. So, I started the flute, and coming from a pretty musical family I did quite well with it. Then in 8th grade, I decided I wanted to join a drum and bugle corps. I mean I really wanted to join - but there are no flutes in drum corps. My idea was to pick up mellophone, as the training corps would teach me any instrument I wanted to play. This time, I do remember my mother discouraged it, saying she was afraid I would ruin my flute embrasure by playing brass.

So, when I went to the corps "open house" on Wednesday evening after church choir, I was making a decision between color guard and drumline. I watched the guard practice for a few minutes, but I really wasn't feeling it. I wanted to play an instrument, darn it. So we walked on down to the drum room.

I wasn't particularly a girly-girl growing up, but I don't think I would have predicted that I'd be in the position of being the only girl standing in a room full of boys considering whether I wanted to play the drums. I think it was probably only because I wanted to be a Trooper so badly that I entered that room at all. And this is difficult for the woman I've become to admit, but I was intimidated - very much so. They were all so masculine (in a junior high sort of way) - boys being boys. And it was SO LOUD.

Did I mention how much I wanted to be a Trooper? Enough that I swallowed all that insecruity, walked up to the drumline instructor, who was the founder of the drum corps and was probably in his 60s, and said that I think I want to play the drums. "Did I have any experience?" I play piano and flute, but not on drums. Mr Jones looked me up and down. He took in my clothing - skirt (just came from church choir), pink shirt, the thick glasses that I was never without before I got contacts. His response: "Are you sure you wouldn't like to try the color guard?"

He told my mother a couple years later that he saw the determination fill my eyes the minute he said those words; the decision had been made. I would play the drums - nobody would tell me I couldn't.

From that day, I was the only girl in the battery (marching percussion) in my corps for the next four years. Drumming didn't come completely natrually to me. I really worked at it. I practiced more than I ever did on flute or piano. My second year, I was lead drummer and "drum major" of the training corps. (It wasn't a conducting position; it was like being "head boy/girl" in a Brittish boarding school.) My third year, I graduated to the A corps. I did four years in the A corps, two on bass and two on snare. I played snare four years in college, too, and finally had female company in the snare line (shout out to sista Squirt!).

I believe that playing drums and living in that boys' world so much in high school prepared me for studying and having a career in the mens' world of engineering. I had to learn a bit about how to survive and ever thrive as a woman in a mostly male environment. The female/male ratios (and the maturity levels) have never been so low as in those drumline years.

I've been trying to think what could/will prompt this "girls don't" reaction in me. Carina announcing she wanted to join the wrestling team? Get a hair transplant so she can have a beard? I'm sure I have my limit. Whatever it is, I hope she gets that look. Then I hope I can get past my social programming and be proud of her.

Dentist

I'm at home after two hours at the dentist this morning. One crown, two fillings. But they were all in the far back of my mouth, on top. It was difficult for them to get to, and so it took a while.

I think some of the local anesthetic is starting to wear off...

Rocking Friday

Gavin went to see Cloverfield last night, obviously. I stayed home with the baby. At around 8:30 PM, I found myslef in the kitchen making oodles of applesauce.

Check my pulse.

When I realized what was happening, I had to share my pain with someone. So, I text messaged Becca. Somehow in my bored, restless state it seemed funnier to complain to her because I knew she was playing poker with a bunch of guys from work. Don't ask me why.

Anyway, I have considered writing about every day for the last week and a half, but I don't have much to say. Life is just going right now. Enjoying some time off, working a lot, spending time with Carina. I know that probably sounds like I'm bored, but I'm not. I like my boring life.

Christmastime is Here

I've been listening to the music from the Peanuts Christmas special pretty much non-stop for a week now. That has to be some of the best Christmas music ever created. I guess I need the help to get in the Christmas spirit, since the weather has been decidedly un-December-like. It finally cooled back out of the 80s again, but it's still in the 60s, and I'm still too much of a northerner to consider that Christmas weather. I'm glad that we have family to visit up there so we're sure to make sure Carina knows what snow is.

It is supposed to clear off again tomorrow. That bodes well for me finally getting to do my first cross-country. I've been waiting for a month for the weather to cooperate. I'll be flying to Eagle Lake. It's just over 50 nmi from the airport I fly out of, which is the minimum for it to be considered cross-country. Every time I've gone to a lesson before, I've been looking to acquire a skill of some sort. I really like flying anytime, but there's a certain stress in knowing that you're going out to learn something new. Maybe something that makes you nervous anyway (like stalls). This flight is going to be fundamentally different. I'll be learning new skills, true, but for much of the flight, It will be my primary job to fly straight and level and look out the window. That's pretty cool.

An Essay on Health Care: Socialism vs Free Market

I found this early today while my simulations were running. It is an interesting essay that is rather long, but, I feel it is worth the time reading. It argues against government intervention in mandating health care in a methodological fashion, with references.

I don't yet know whether it is best to abolish all government intervention in health care, but this essay makes some good arguments in abolishing certain aspects of the government intervention.

Second Verse, Same as the First

Yeah, I know. You've been staring at that same picture of us for a week. I'm sorry. Here, I'll catch you up.

Jen's Week - Repeat 5 Times

00:Dark:30 AM - Alarm: Beep, beep, beep. Jen: Nononononono...

00:LessDark:30 AM - Alarm: Beep, beep, beep. Jen: S**t, I'm going to be late.

00:Light:30 AM - Jen: So busy at work, so busy at work, so busy at work.

12:00 PM - Jen: Uh, guess I better eat something

5:00 PM - Jen: Can I go home yet? I've been here so long. *stress* *stress*

6:00 PM - Jen: Hi, Carina! I love you so much! *hug* *hug* Carina: :)

7:00 PM - Jen: Rock-a-bye baby...

8:00 PM - Jen: Mmmmmm... Food, good...

9:00 PM - Jen: Goodnight, thunk.

So, you see that you didn't miss much. It's much more entertaining in fast forward. Tomorrow, I won't have to wake up to that beeping noise. And, I'll be able to have more than 1 hour with my daughter. I love weekends.

Thirty-one

Before I started writing this post, I went back to look at what I'd blogged about on my last few birthdays. Uh, nothing. That's right, this is the first post I've actually written on my birthday, EVER. I'm not sure if that's a sad comment on this year or not.

On the whole it has been a good, though unremarkable day. I woke up with hubby still in bed beside me for the second time this week, which is a very rare occurance, indeed. A nice one, though. I went to work, where I am insanely busy getting ready for STS-120 and doing early work for STS-123 and talking to those crazy military types. I picked up Carina from day care, and had fun feeding her cereal (although she doesn't seem crazy about it - maybe she'll like oatmeal better than rice cereal). I gave her a bath, which she loves. I made her laugh, which I love. I let her play beside the computer for a bit and then put her to bed just now.

I've been thinking lately about that thing that everyone with kids tells you when you're about to have a baby. "You won't believe how much they change your life." I always thought they meant things like seeing movies, traveling, and sleeping at night. Now I think I realize that's not what they were talking about at all. It's about what you live for. That smile. That little voice. The next new thing they learn. That hug.

John Stewart had a guest a couple months ago that wrote a book about how Americans aren't very good at identifying the things that make them happy. He said that people think they're happier with kids, but that they're actually happier thinking about their kids than actually being with them.

I feel bad for him. He has absolutely no idea what he's talking about.

Sick

I must have a wimpy immune system. I have the second summer cold I've caught in a month. And, like usual, I didn't just catch a little cold. I got laid up for two days and ran a fever. I just hope that Carina's tendency toward crankiness today doesn't mean that she caught it too.

So, I've been home sick 3 days in my first full week back at work. That must be some kind of record.

Sick

My body seems to be able to judge the most inconvenient times for me to get sick, and then lets some bug get to me just during these times. Like right before we travel to South America. Or two weeks before I'm supposed to have a baby.

I am soooooo miserable. I'm tired, but I can't sleep, my head feels like a balloon, and my nose is running like a faucet. I think I may break down and take some Tylenol soon.

Bye

5:00 AM is very early to get up. Plus, it makes you hungry for lunch at 9:30 AM, which makes you hungry for dinner at about 3:00 PM. Which is now. Fortunately, this is balanced by being at work by 6:30 AM which means that I can go home any time. And I think I will.

Plane Flights

3:00 PM

I’ve made it as far as Dallas. I now have a 2+ hour layover. It’s the middle of the afternoon, so it doesn’t do me any good as far as getting dinner goes. Probably about the time I get hungry, it will be time to get on the next plane. The meal for my flight is listed as “food for purchase”. I’m fairly forgiving so far as cafeteria-style food goes, but if I’m buying food I’d better be getting better than microwaved airplane food. So, I guess I’d better eat something before the plane whether I’m hungry or not, because I’ll definitely be starved by the time I get to Colorado Springs.

They had an upgrade to 1st class available for my Houston to Dallas leg, but not one on the next leg. I was very uncomfortable after an hour in first class, I’m sure I’ll be more so after 2 hours in coach. I should just consider – it could be more.

------------
9:00 PM

I was right – I was very uncomfortable in coach. Since when did those seats get so narrow? (Since my hips got so big.) It’s a good thing it was only two hours, and I slept for about an hour of it.

I’m quickly realizing that this trip is different that all the ones I’ve gone on before. On all the previous trips, there have been other JSC people I knew very well along. Well enough to “hang out” in the evenings. I think my dinners on this trip are going to be much more “networking” than “hanging out”. It’s strange.

Anyhow, I’m installed in my very nice hotel in downtown Colorado Springs. I’m also going to bed at 9:30 PM central time. Oh, well. It’s probably a good thing. I got up at 5:45 AM this morning, and I’m going to have to get up at about 6:00 AM tomorrow. I decided to spring for room service for breakfast – another first. I need breakfast, though. And I’m not sure I can wait until I’ve showered and everything, which leaves room service.

We're OK

What a crazy thing. We and everyone we know well are OK tonight.

Rid of the Cat

We had fish night last night for the first time in a while, which was fun. After dinner, we had a good time reminiscing about the semester Jason and Gavin lived together when we were co-ops. "Well, there was that time that Gavin asked me to go to the mall with him, and then after 20 minutes left me alone with Jason to go meet another girl..." And, everybody marveled at my swollen feet, which I had shamelessly displayed on top of the coffee table.

Cookie went home last night, so we are catless again. I made a sarcastic comment at a work gathering yesterday that we had to get home by 7:00 to "get rid of a cat". Gavin's boss took the comment at face value and started trying to convince me that the cat wouldn't hurt our baby, and that I just needed to steer clear of the litter, and... I had to quickly correct him that we were just cat sitting and that I wouldn't get rid of a pet preemptively like that. :)

Gavin dragged me in to work at 8:00 this morning, which is good because I need to get home tonight, clean, get groceries, and do some laundry in preparation for my mom and sister getting here tomorrow.

Slug

I've been a slug this weekend. I've taken naps every day since Friday. Today I didn't even do anything to need a nap. I got up, took a bath, and took a nap. I wonder if I'm going to get pregnant-tired again now that I'm getting into my third trimester.

Yesterday, I went to the airport with Becca to keep her cousins company while waiting for their turn in the plane. I stood out on the ramp for a while, and then went up in the plane the second time. It was about 80 deg outside yesterday, so that was all pretty warm. After I went to lunch with them and to the grocery store. By the time I got home I was absolutely dead. I'm going to melt once it gets to be really summer.

I put in Toy Story tonight while I was cleaning. The three-headed sheep that follows Bo around kind of freaks me out. They could have at least made the body with three lumps.

bleh

Whatever knocked Jen out got me too. My throat was sore Monday but around 3pm yesterday the cold hit me too. Neither of us slept much last night. I hope this is a 24 hour thing.

When we get sick, we really get sick. :/

30-Something

I think the light sensor in my camera is shot. It's getting harder and harder to take good pictures in all but the most perfect of lighting. Almost everything is coming out either too light or too dark. It's not too suprising, I guess. Gavin bought me that camera for my birthday in 2001. I'll have to think about which camera I'd like to put on my Christmas list. That sounds fun. :)

Yesterday was pretty busy for a birthday. I had to get to work at 6AM for an early, early sim. I went home at 3PM, which was nice, and talked to my sister on the phone for a while until Gavin got home. Then dinner (nothing special), volleyball (we won our first match and game!), back home for cheesecake (mmmm), and bed. More elaborate celebrations to come this weekend - don't worry!

October Sky

Last night's sunset was one of the best I'd seen in a while. I was driving to pick up some cheesecake for Jen's birthday, so I was sans camera. First there was a brilliant, complete rainbow that rose like the Arch of St. Louis over the nearby town Kemah, courtesy of the sun being on the horizon. As I filled up my car with gas and admired it, lots of families stopped their cars in the parking lot to show their kids the rainbow. As I later walked out of the store with our cheesecake, the clouds had turned spectacular shades of red and orange and yellow, with deep blue sky peeking out from behind. There were a few cars that had trouble following the lines of the road as their drivers were distracted by the sight.

I always love October in east Texas. The weather is very pleasant and, I'm not sure why, but the late afternoon sunlight is always fantastic. Maybe the air is clearer, maybe there are fewer clouds to block the sun, I'm not sure. It also makes for memorable sunsets such as yesterday's.

Sommerville

After much convincing on my part, and a last-minute search for camping reservations in the fall in TX, Gavin consented to go camping this weekend. I'm not one to get the last-minute jitters about going out of town. If we haven't actually made firm plans the week of the trip though, Gavin usually thinks up reasons that he doesn't want to go. He's always glad we went after, though.

We went out to Lake Sommerville. We'd been there once before, exactly one day after we adopted Zoya. We took a new dog with us this time, too. We're pet sitting for some friends who are in France for 10 weeks, so Oscar got to go camping on his 2nd day away from his owners.

Lake Sommerville is nice. It's fairly close to Houston. It's got lots of hiking, although Gavin's enjoyment of one of the hikes we took was somewhat lessened by the fight he had with a stubborn tick afterward. I'm just glad we didn't "waste" the Columbus day weekend by staying in town.

For Sarah...

Grammar

Patches

I realized yesterday that I've had an amazing amount of activities in my life that result in the collection of patches.

In elementary school, there was Girl Scouts. I amassed such a collection of patches with them that I only sewed the top part of the patch onto the sash. That way I could layer them over each other like scales to fit more on the sash. For the record, most of my patches were for things like horseback riding, camping, hiking, and science. There were a few patches scattered in for crafts and cooking that the troop did as a group. I never had a cosmetics badge like someone I know.

In junior high and high school, my patch gathering was done in drum and bugle corps. Every summer I'd spend riding a bus all over the USA to shows. I got so many patches for my jacket that when I bought a new jacket my junior year of high school (my old one was falling apart), I only sewed back on the patches from the really big shows. Regionals and finals. I had patches all the way down both sleves, and I put all the finals patches on the back of the jacket.

In college, things were in the same vein as I collected patches for marching band. These were harder to get as I only got one for every bowl game we went to. Still, in the four years I was in the band, we managed to go to four bowl games. One sleve on that jacket has patches all the way down the side.

Then I went out into the real world. Surely, the patch thing was over. Nope. I now collect patches at work. Mission patches. Every mission I work, I buy a shirt with the crew patch for the mission on the breast. I'm up to three different patches on four different shirts now. Oh, and then I have the Mission Operations patch on a shirt, and I'm hoping to get another one of those soon since they updated the patch. Plus, we get large patches after every mission we work, which I have been framing along with a picture of me working the mission.

So, what do you think it says about me that I seem to gravitate towards these activities that use patches to recognize participation? In every case, those patches are badges of honor to the people that get them. Something that says I took part in something special, at least to myself. Is this not that uncommon? For those of you who work in other places and areas, do people in your workplace order polo shirts with the logo of your latest project emblazoned on the breast?

I-Heart-Weekends

Weekends are lovely. There should be more of them. They should last longer. How come when you're sick you're going nuts after two days, but after two days of weekend you're not ready to go back to work?

Here's what I did this weekend.

--- Friday night
Finished watching Battlestar Galactica season 2

--- Saturday
Watched an Astros game
Filled some picture frames with pictures
Watched an A&E Horatio Hornblower movie
Watched Memoirs of a Geisha from my stair stepper

--- Sunday
Watched beach volleyball
Went to Superman Returns
Went to Barnes and Noble
Took a nap
Started reading Getting Stoned with Savages

That, my friends, is a perfectly lazy and lovely weekend.

Poor Petite

You know, it's interesting. I never would have known what company Petite worked for if her company hadn't dooced her. I wonder how long before she manages to get a server that can keep up with all the post-doocing fame induced hits.

So, What Do You Think?

I decided it was time for a major overhaul. Yes, this is pretty much just a standard Blogger template. The only thing very special I did was figure out how to add the pictures to the top. That took me 2 days, because I don't understand css worth crap.

For some reason I can't fathom, my Flickr badge disappeared when I copied that block of code into this template. I'm not too bothered to fix it right away, because the camera on my cell phone broke. There haven't been any new pictures in my photostream since May.

Disappointment

I find myself waiting eagerly for 8:00 AM, that magical time when the
rest of the world will start emerging. Blogs could be updated. E-mails
may be received. And then I realize that it is Saturday. Those souls
not involved in spacewalks at 6AM will be sleeping in, and then likely
going off to their fun Saturday activities and not writing a blog update
until much later this afternoon, if at all.

At least Gavin is taking me to see Pirates of the Carribean this
afternoon. Some Saturday will be salvaged.

Slippery Road

I have a slight cold. This isn't too suprising considering how busy/stressed I've been. I woke up today wondering if I shouldn't sit Schlitterbann out, but I was too interested in seeing the water park to follow through. So, off to Galveston we went.

The water park was fun, although it is obviously still a work in progress. The lines were pretty long, but that's what you'd expect on a Sunday. The fact that it was the NASA picnic probably made things slightly worse. Anyway, it was very fun. They have the best "lazy" river I've ever been in. Very cool.

I took like a 5 hour nap when we got home, so I'm thinking that I was at least partially right about wondering if I should go today. Hopefully, I won't regret it later this week. I'm going to take Wednesday off in preparation for working a few weekends pretty soon here.

Two

OK, so my Saturday didn't rock quite as much as Emilita's did, but it was still pretty good. It started off by having a sleep-in next to my HUSBAND for the first time in 3 weeks. Very cool. It then progressed to watching 4 episodes of Battlestar Galactica - which after a false start, we have discovered that we love - also with my HUSBAND. Then after finally changing into actual clothing at about 4pm, I capped off the day with an Astros game, which we won - again with my HUSBAND. See the pattern here?

Oh, and also... The big bosses set the launch date for July 1. It's official. We're going to try to get off the ground again.

Dental Hell

Yesterday I had one of the worst trips to the dentist ever. Both the normal hygenists were out sick. So I got a temp. It starts with the part at the beginning where they just look at your teeth and poke at any spots that look odd. The woman grabs my lower lip and pulls it out away from my teeth. It didn't hurt, but it was suprising. Then she grabs a gauze pad, tells me to stick out my tongue, and then grabs it and yanks it around.

Then she starts cleaning my teeth. Every time she wipes the little pick thing on my bib, she thumps my chest. Again, just enough to startle. Of course she's lecturing me at this point about flossing more. I was somewhat distracted by the fact that she managed to squirt me in the face with the water thing. And the time she gets the pick way up under my gum.

Then she gets out the polisher. Working from behind my head, she rests the heel of her hand on my eyeball for about 30 seconds. Then she fills my mouth to overflowing with the water thing so that I'm wet again. After mopping my face up, she leaves the vacuum thing hanging out of my mouth but in a location where it often forms a seal with the soft part under my tongue. (I don't recommend that.) The light gets adjusted so that it's shining right in my eyes.

Now the floss comes out. She proceeds to jam it down into my gums all the while telling me that I wouldn't bleed or be in pain if I flossed every day. I know that's true in general, but I'm not sure I believe her about this floss job in particular.

I think the dentist could sense I wasn't happy when he came in. He rather appologetically told me about the normal hygenists being out sick. At least they didn't find any cavities.

Long Night

I had a rough night last night. Becca, Cari, Sarah, and I went to dinner at Zios. I had a pepperoni and chicken calzone. Four hours later, my stomach started to cramp. It continued to cramp until about 5am. I slept fitfully from about 2-5am. I alternated back and forth between two dreams. In one, I was a revolutionary war general, planning a battle outside Boston. (I'm reading Jeff Sharra's Rise to Rebellion right now.) In the other one, I was the ascent flight director for a shuttle mission. In both cases, I was having a very tough time doing my job because I kept keeling over with stabbing pains in my stomach. It wasn't a great night.

MIA Emilita

An amazing woman who loved the outdoors.

Beloved by many, including her favorite dog Shiloh.

Alas, she went missing after taking the GRE.

No idea how well she did.

We miss you, Emilita. :p

Post sometime, eh?

LA Obscured

I'm in California this weekend to visit Gavin. Unfortunately, he's got a lot of work still to do. He's there right now, and may be there all day. I thought this might happen with next week being the review and all, but it was the only weekend that I could come. At least I'll get to see him at night. :(

I was watching Supernanny on TV the other week, and they had this family on where the dad worked 3 1/2 hours away from home and only came home on Sundays. They'd been doing that for years. How crazy is that? I couldn't ever do something like that long term. Even this 4-month thing is driving me nuts. The craziest part was that the wife was a stay-at-home mom. Hello! Move closer to work!

Anyway, it's a nice day outside, but the air is LA polluted. I can see some hiking trails on a mountain about a mile away, but I'm afraid that getting there would induce resperatory failure. Seriously, look at this mess!

Feeling Satisfied

I've been working hard at home the last few days. I went on a cleaning spree, assembled new book shelves, put up display shelves, and mowed the lawn. I think I'm done for a bit, now. Until I decide to organize the storage room...

I bought Zoya a new dog house FINALLY. We sacrificed the dog shanty to the hurricane preparations last summer. Anyway, I just got another igloo house like Roxy has (but smaller). I dragged the new house into the back yard and set it next to the old house, and now I'm going to have to clean all the mildew off the old house because the contrast between the two makes it look completely awful. Stuff like that bugs me - even if it's just a dog house.

Obsession

I like shoes a lot. Now, I know several of you are picturing little baby sneakers. I admit I have a think with baby shoes. But, let’s be fair, really, I have a thing with shoes that fit me, too.

So, I want you to understand the emotion here when I say that I LOVE THESE SHOES! I may just have to go to Utah and steal them from that crazy ex-Mormon dooce because it’s not fair that anyone else but me should have these.

Blushing

I had to think for quite a while to come up with the following list. Not because I don’t get embarrassed easily, but rather because I hate being embarrassed so much that I tend to bury the experiences. Anyhow, here we go…

Jen’s Most Embarrassing Moments

1) Third grade. Determined to emulate my friend Denise, I sat through an entire school assembly with my legs folded back and my feet sticking outward next to my behind. At the end of the assembly the lights came on and I discovered that a) This made my legs fall asleep so badly that I couldn’t walk, and b) The snap on the old brown courdory pants my mom was still making me wear, which were too tight, very old, and very unattractive, had come unsnapped and unzipped prompting one of my classmates to announce that "Jenny’s taking a breather".

2) Junior year in college. I have to go beg a professor to allow me to take a final late because I thought it was at 1:30pm when it was actually at 10:30am.

3) Eleventh grade. My first solo in choir goes south when I get so nervous my voice suddenly develops a vibrado as wide as the Mississippi valley.


So, if you were me, where would you put the following on the list?

Age 29. Not *quite* making it to the bathroom before getting sick in the Mission Control Center just as everyone is coming into work at 8am Tuesday morning.

Goodbye Tahoe

Tahoe was beautiful. :) We had great snow, great sun, and great skiing. Unfortunately, we had to come back home and go back to work. :(


As we were driving back to Clear Lake from the airport last night, I realized that I don't know when my next trip will be. I intend to go visit Gavin in California sometime in May, but I don't have firm plans there yet. Beyond that, I have ambitions to go to Wyoming again sometime this summer or fall, but again there are no firm plans.

Plus, we heard about some more potential problems on the shuttle that may threaten the July launch. I can't believe how long it is taking to get back to flight.

Finally, Photos

I had some trouble getting my pictures up online. However, I've now posted everything to a photo album here. I've done nothing to the pictures yet except rotate everything right-side-up and create panoramics. I'll update it with descriptions later.

Westward, 'ho

Yesterday was my last day at JSC for a month. I'll be working out at JPL for much of the next four months, which I'm really excited about. I've been working with them remotely for several years, so, it will be great to work closely with them for a time. These guys have sent things to Mars before, and I think I'll learn a lot from them. Plus I'll get to hang out with my friend Andy who's been working there for a year or so. In June there will be a big technical review of our work, then I'll be heading back home to Houston.

Yesterday was also the viewing for Claude Graves, a man I greatly respected and am finding I greatly miss. He passed away while we were in South America, which I was somewhat expectant of. I didn't know his family, nor much of his life away from NASA. Claude played a pivotal role in the entry guidance design for the Shuttle, and was involved with the space program since the 1960s. He tried to retire once... but the next Monday he was back at work after he ripped up his retirement papers. He just loved what he did.

I find it very difficult going to viewings or funerals.

Today we cleaned up the house, to get ready for my parents' visit tomorrow and we'll be hosting the Oscar's party for the girls. I've been gathering odds and ends together for my trip. Clothes, books, papers, music, computer games. A webcam so I can virtually visit Jen or some of my other friends. Tonight another friend of ours is moving to Colorado to do something new.

Meanwhile I found this Chron.com blog entry interesting. Especially for Becca. I guess this means she'll be giving up coffee now too. Poor Becca. :)

Stalling

I'm having ftp problems, so my photos aren't on the net yet. Meanwhile, amuse yourself with this thing Becca posted. See if the person I think I am matches up with what you think here.

Santiago

We are now checked into our hostel in Santiago. We´re going to hang here for a couple of hours and then go to dinner. Becca´s flight leaves at 4am, the rest of us aren´t leaving until 10:30pm tomorrow night. We saw a couple markets on our way to the hostel, so that will be something fun to do tomorrow.

The penguin colony yesterday was interesting, but somewhat of a letdown. The penguins didn´t do much, and there weren´t that many of them. All told, we only stayed about an hour. The bed and breakfast we stayed in at Punta Arenas was nice, though. It´s called Hostel Maipu. The owner was a very nice lady, but she spone practically no English and her Spanish was very fast. We managed to communicate the necessities, though.

So, we´re on our way back home. As usual, the vacation went so quickly that I can´t believe it´s almost over. But we are going to Tahoe to ski less than a month from now. I suppose I shouldn´t complain. :)

Paine Grande

Is this possible? I´m in Torres del Paine - a national park in Chile at nearly the bottom of the world, and I'm posting to my blog. We're staying at Lodge Paine Grande, on the shores of Lago Pehoe. We can see the Cuernos out our bedroom window. The lodge is a wonderful oasis in this "wilderness". Truth be told, we have been constantly suprised at how civilized this place is.

Tomorrow we go to Punta Arenas, which is the beginning of the end of our trip. We have had absolutely fabulous weather. We have seen all the mountain peaks and glaciers, survived all the hikes, trekked the ice and ridden the horses. All that is really left is to see penguins and then we're done.

Gavin wasn't feeling so well for the first few days, but was able to do and enjoy everything we had planned. I have felt just fine. I had a little sore throat yesterday, but nothing seems to have come of it. I think we could both go for another month here, easily.

I have wonderful pictures to show when we get back. Seriously, we've had GREAT weather. :)

On to Chile

After 5 wonderful days in Argentina, we are leaving for Chile today. Our hike to Mt. Fitz Roy and our trek on Glaciar Torre are competing for favorite experience of the trip so far. My pictures are wonderful, and I am having a fabulous time. Gavin is a bit sick, but has been able to do everything so far.

Adios para ahora!

Buenos Aires

After an all-night flight on which we all slept suprisingly well, we have arrived in Buenos Aires. Our accomodations are still being readied for us, but in the meantime the hostel has free internet. Karen walked back in the door from exploring minutes after we arrived, so we are getting ready to head out and explore the city. First up, Plaza de Mayo. Tonight, we have reservations for a Tango show. Pretty cool.

We'll see if we're as lucky with internet access for the rest of the trip. My guess is probably not.

Adios Para Semana o Dos

In 11 hours, I'll be on an airplane to the bottom of the world! :) The last week before a big trip is really tough. I've been ready to go since Sunday. Well, mostly. The reason I like to pack so early is that it gives me 5 days to think of things that I've forgotten. Which I did. I'm feeling good now, though.

It is possible, but probably not likely, that I will manage to update on the trip. If not, look for an update after March 1.

Adios, amigos. Voy a Patagonia!

Tyler State Park

We took advantage of the nice January weather this weekend to go on a short camping trip. We went to Tyler State Park, which is just north of I-20 east of Dallas. The park is pretty nice. It has tons of hiking/mountain biking trails. There's a two-mile loop around the lake, which we did the first afternoon. We actually did it twice, because the full moon was really bright and we decided to do it again at night. This decision was partially motivated by having nothing to do after dinner with no campfire due to the burn ban. Then on Sunday we did ~8 miles on the bike trails in the woods.

Photos will be posted on the photoblog over the next couple of days.

Patagonia

Yesterday, we dropped ~$2K on plane tickets for our next adventure. We will be going to Patagonia in February. Don't know what that is? See Sarah's very good 30 second description of our trip.

So, I'm very happy to have a big trip on tap again. For a while there, it was looking like we weren't going to be going anywhere this year. Gavin's potential JPL trip looks like it will be March - June, so we went ahead and committed to this one.

Yea for travel.