Massive Weekend Update

Here's all the news that's fit to print (and then some):

My weekend started on Friday afternoon when I was unexpectedly called in to help load the airplane. This was unexpected and a bit disappointing as Jen's mom was in town, Sniper was on his way down, and I had planned to go out with George and Loretta. Ultimately it turned into a great training experience for Sarah as we had mechanics that hadn't done the load before. We really had to know our stuff to be able to tell them what to do, how to do it, and when it needed to be done. Steven Steiner also made it down to help, despite having his flight from Boston delayed several hours.

Getting home at 5:30am on Saturday, I was greeted by Jen and her mom heading out the door to prepare for our two ZERO-G flights. I managed to get a few hours sleep before heading out the door for a meeting with a local college professor. We toured the airplane and were drawn into the final cleaning and preparation that hadn't been completed the night before. We left the airplane as the passengers arrived. They included: Snoopy, Ball State University, Jen's mom, and Sniper! I went back with Jen to the Hard Rock to prepare for ZG-46, where I was the Gold Team coach. My team was fun and I finally got to do a Superman!! Wa-hoo!


After the Regravitation Party we all went to Buca di Beppo for Jen's birthday dinner.

We ate her icecream cake from Cold Stone Creamery and feasted on wonderful Italian food. Then we talked in the parking lot for a log time and the cake melted. Tragic, but true!


The next day, Jen and Alice and Sniper and I all went to Joe Picasso's and painted pottery. It was so much fun that I stayed for four hours working on my little statue.

Then we went out to eat at the Melting Pot fondue restaurant. None of us had ever eaten fondue before so it was a neat experience! We had melted cheese, cooked meat in boiling broth stuff, and then had the most wonderful chocolate ever. Jen picked a good place to eat for her fancy-pants birthday dinner.

Now we are at home recovering from a wild flight and birthday weekend--and here comes another hurricane! Rita is bearing down on us sending palm fronds flying and weather reporters out to the most dangerous spots they can find. Once again, I am sure we will survive.