Project 365 - Week 7 & 8

So this is harder than I thought it would be. Not only remembering to take photos but I seem to never have my camera with me. It is more like a iPhone photo shoot than anything else. I am down to 365-7... 7 missing days! An entire week! I think I may go look on J's phone and iPad since I know I have some more photos. 

Week 7
February 10
We FaceTimed with Madison and Ryan today and I think I might have a photo someplace, at least a screenshot of our chatting but nothing on my camera unfortunately. 365-5 and counting... 

February 11
Some days, I get breakfast almost in bed. It makes my day. Really. Without asking, just because he cooks for me which is the sweetest.

February 12
Taxes. Need I say more? I am covered in receipts.

February 13
I came home from work to these beauties. Early Valentine's roses. Love, love, love! J sure is on a roll this week!

February 14
Friday night date night and Valentine's Day all in one! Our friends Mary & Steve joined us for dinner at Red. Super fancy... a little too fancy for me actually but still wonderful. I don't usually "win" with my food choice but tonight I did!

February 15
I found out that the Botanical Gardens here does a butterfly release in the afternoons downtown AND they were having an orchid exhibit. So we hit the road and soaked up some warmth in the greenhouse. We saw tons of beautiful flowers and a butterfly that found my hand for a resting spot!

February 16
I'm lucky I like snow. Really lucky since this winter especially seems like it is NEVER. GOING. TO. END. How many more days until spring??  

Week 8
February 17
I'm running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in April with my Dad and sister. Well, that is the plan anyway as I have done zero training. So I hit the gym today to try and get some miles on these legs. It was rough... and mostly walking. 

February 18
365-6... boo!!! 

February 19
This little Valentine came in the mail today. I love it. I miss her too much!

February 20
I ordered Ceviche for dinner. Yes, me. That's right... I don't even know who I am either. So odd but it was delicious. Have to be adventurous sometimes I guess! 

February 21
Astronaut Don Thomas was at NASA today. I was supposed to be going to his lecture but I was caught in meetings and couldn't make it. A coworker of mine did happen to surprise me and pick up his signed book for me. Gotta love all us space nuts!

February 22
It is Downtown Cleveland Restaurant Week so we headed out with our friends A&M to Chop. Dinner was good... but certainly glad we had the discounted menu. Way overpriced if it was a regular day. Somehow we ended up at the new Horseshoe Casino afterwards where the girls sat down at the penny slots and won a little money... not as much as the $700 the guy won that sat down after we got up but what can you do?

February 23
365-7. Ridiculous!!

And They Pay Me To Do This...

I have so much to remember from this week. On Sunday it was still summer and I was wearing a sundress and when I finally returned from what really was like a dream at 2am Saturday it was chilly and the leaves were falling already.

 

I had a week of a lifetime. A dream of mine achieved.

 

Here is a little clip... it was absolutely amazing.

More to come!

Pinch Me, This is Really Happening!

I'm exhausted. Months of preparing our hardware, writing reports, building, testing, and FINALLY it is here. Tomorrow I get to go on this...

and feel zero gravity, just like the astronauts for 40 parabolas of 40 seconds each of weightlessness. Alan Shepard only had about 6-7 minutes total of this experience. And he was strapped down in a seat! I am over the moon excited!! I have a flight suit. I was hanging out all day in the NASA Ellington Field hangar preparing our rig. I need to pinch myself.

I wanted to take a second to write down how I am feeling. A whole lot right now. Nervous. Excited. Hoping my family isn't too worried (Jared and Julie). Wishing Dad was with me. But I am mostly excited. Like a 6 year old little kid the night before Christmas when you just know that Santa is going to bring you the thing that you have wanted the most... in like forever. What I have ALWAYS wanted to do, I get to do tomorrow. So freaking cool.

Fingers crossed for a successful flight with no injuries, a safe take off and landing, good data on our experiment, and mostly, a super fantastic amazing I can't believe I have the job I have day with tons of good videos and photos floating in zero gravity. No vomiting would be great too.

One Week From Today

I've been busy. Crazy busy at work, home, and life. So to catch up with my work news... here is a little video of some of what I have been preparing for these past 3 months... and what I will be doing one week from today. 

I am beyond excited! Fingers crossed I won't vomit!

Today Was a Good Day

Today was a good day. I had work super early with the astronauts on the ISS, solved a problem, and was congratulated for a job well done by Mission Control. :) Jared got his badge... his attending physician badge!

And then while on the phone with my sister, my niece requested to Face Time with me.

That little girl just makes me smile. I love her to the Moon and back. I am tired, have one million things to do... but today was a good day.

Texas in July

Another week, another whirlwind! This past week I was on business travel. Love, love, love it! I hadn't been training since last November. And just like last year I was working next to this... 

Training astronauts on experiments like this... 

And eating a whole lot of this...

Heaven! Love my job! It nearly makes the hour long TSA line, 4 hour flight delay and screaming 6 month old next to me the entire flight home worth it... almost.

John Glenn

On February 20th, 50 years ago, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth. I am lucky enough to work at the NASA Glenn Research Center that is named after him, where he did some of his initial training way back when.

Friday he was here in town with his wife Annie for a reception to mark this occasion. Of course, I was a volunteer for the event. Somehow I managed to be a VIP usher... talking and shaking hands with our center director Ray Lugo, the NASA Administrator and former astronaut Charlie Bolden, the director of Space Flight and most importantly John Glenn himself. Super cool!

He was so well spoken, funny even, you would never know he was 90 years old when you hear him speak. It was a very fun day for me. Did I mention I love my job?

Last minute

At the last minute last week I was wisked away on a business trip. My coworker had a family emergency so I just had to go to Texas to train astronauts. Heheheh! I just love my job. All week I worked right next to this...

And ate a whole lot of this...

Mexican food that is! You just gotta love Texas!

Space Girl

All week I have been here...

driving by these on the way to the base...

working right next to this...

training astronauts that work here... 

on Fluids & Combustion Facility experiments...

doing the job that I love. So lucky.

The Last Launch

Today was the last launch of the space shuttle... EVER.

I am really bummed. Not only about not being able to see a shuttle launch one last time. But because there is no clear path for NASA, for space exploration at this point. I feel like I am stuck between the Apollo and Shuttle eras, not knowing what will happen next.

I was lucky enough to see three launches in person. When I was really little with my family, ten in 2001 my Dad and Uncle saw one of the last night launches. How funny is this photo? How young we all look!

And the last time was with Jared is 2002 when we drove from Blacksburg to Cape Canaveral through the night and got there just in time for the launch of STS-109.

I didn't realize how lucky I was each time to see such an amazing machine in operation. And now the rumors begin again about cancelling NASA's space exploration... lovely. In the meantime, I will just soak up my work. Love every day that I get to flash a badge to get into the NASA base and work in my lab, train astronauts, and learn new science.

Texas

All last week I was in Houston for work. Specifically at the Johnson Space Center where I train astronauts. I never get use to it. I am literally smiling the whole time I am there, like an 8 year old kid. Anyway, on this trip, not only did I get to work with the astronauts and meet the crew of STS-134

I also got to play in the simulators! I'm in here...

Hi!

Case of the Mondays

I am lucky. SOOO lucky because... I LOVE my job. Every day I get to design and build experiments, play with new technologies, and train astronauts that go into space. I work on science that will be performed on the International Space Station. 

Model of the ISS at Johnson Space Center


And yes, most of my co-workers are socially impaired and can barely communicate with other humans. But hey, that isn't so bad. ;)

Because a case of the Monday's for me includes this...

Me training astronauts on the Light Microscopy Module for the CVB & PACE Experiments. While we are right next to this...

Space Shuttle Trainer & full scale mockup!!

Happy Monday!