NGEC Excitement

So my stress about this conference suddenly turned into excitement. It's going to be so cool!
Josep from Valencia, Spain, on Tim's SGC team, just told me this will be his first trip to the US. And I got so excited for him. He showed Tim and me around Valencia, now we get to host him in his first US experience.
And so many of our other friends will be there (plus friends-to-be that we haven't met yet). Not to mention how great the discussions will be during the conference and what awesome things will be created. I can't wait!

Flying with Buzz

Here's our picture from Sunday, indoor skydiving with Buzz Aldrin. Live long & prosper!

Recent Pics

Here are some pictures from the past month that I thought you would enjoy.

Cats & dogs really do get along!
Jack playing with Jeff's dog.

We tried to see Discovery land...but we
got stopped by the road barricade.

Dave & Jack sleeping in

Last night we went to Medieval Times in Orlando. We had a blast! Our knight was the champion. Here he is with Dave & Tim.

Golden Opportunities

I've been in FL for the past week or so. I'm quite stressed by this conference I'm organizing, but it's coming together. Tim is also stressed about SGC, FSRI, and the usual, so we had a nice relaxing weekend to take a break from the stress. My brother Dave is in town, so we're having fun hanging out with him.
Saturday we went to see My Super Ex-Girlfriend with Robert. And then we went with Paul to the super ghetto Titusville bowling alley for Xtreme Bowling. Sunday morning we got up and drove to New Smyrna Beach to visit with Tim's extended family that was in town. We swam in the ocean for about an hour. Then Tim & I left Dave with Aunt Jerri and company so we could go to Orlando.
Shane had called and said he could get us some free windtunnel time---with Buzz Aldrin!
It was awesome. We'll post some pictures later.

Happy 4th!

Tim and I both had good long weekends. I'll let Tim tell you about his weekend, but until then, here's my recap.
I took one of the mansion's rental cars and drove down to LA to see Susie. It took a little longer than it should, but I made it very early Saturday morning (4am). There was only a slight detour when I got pulled over for running a stop sign in Susie's neighborhood. I think I was a little suspicious driving really slow in a residential area at 4 in the morning. I didn't get a ticket, so everything worked out.
Saturday was a little of a lazy day because of the late night. We got our nails done, and we saw The Devil Wears Prada--a very good movie. I give it 2 thumbs up.
Sunday we went to the San Diego Zoo. There were tons of babies--a gorilla, a wallaby, wild boar piglets, an 11 month old panda, ducklings, antelopes, the list goes on. We even got to hand feed giraffes! We would have a picture, but the "professional" San Diego Zoo photographer took crappy pictures.
Monday Susie gave me a tour of the Boeing C-17 facility and factory. It is very different to see the insides of a new plane as compared to the 30 year old planes that I am used to. We saw Superman Returns Monday evening. It was good except for Lois's hair not floating. They made $52 million in one weekend; they could have spent $100k to make her hair float!
I stayed long enough Tuesday morning to see Discovery launch on the HD TV. Very cool! Back in Cupertino Tuesday night, I watched 3 simultaneous fireworks displays down in the valley from the front stoop of the mansion. What a life!

News & Events

Two posts in two days--woo! Yesterday the FSRI Board of Directors gave the final vote to dissolve the company on August 31 in accordance with the direction of the FL legislature. We're officially done! No more job as of Sept 1...I'd better do something like this:

The Sky Fire Lab online store is now open!

We are proud to announce the availability of our first three designs in the Explorer series of shirts. Karen and I will be refining our designs and offerings over the next few months as we grow Sky Fire Lab into an interplanetary brand.

Also, I am proud to announce that I am now a published author--sort of. I was one of 94 experts asked to respond to the questions including: Buzz Aldrin, Robert Bigelow, Sir Richard Branson, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, US Sec. of Transportation Norman Mineta, and more! I co-authored the answers to questions on spaceflight training with Loretta Hidalgo. I am proud to be part of an education project with such an amazing cross-section of the space industry.

The book is published by Collector's Guide Publishing as "Kids to Space: A Space Traveler's Guide" by Lonnie Schorer.

Double Weekend Update

Last weekend I went and flew as Flight Director one of three ZERO-G flights from the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The first two were full of teachers as the initial flights in the "Northrop Grumman Weightless Flights of Discovery" program. Over the next few months, hundreds of educators will have the opportunity to fly small experiments to show their students the difference between mass and weight. [HINT: it has something to do with gravity!]

Jen did not participate (she'd been fired on June 15). She was scheduled to be a coach, but was instead asked to come work a 16-hour day on the ground just like she did as a full-time employee. She declined :-) Instead, she prepared for our cookout! Just over 20 people came over to the house and hung out until 2am! We had a great time and enjoyed having so many different people come over: we had college students, little kids, ZERO-G folks, and local friends we hadn't seen in a while. Our one common thread: we all love space!

Next weekend STS-121 is scheduled to liftoff on Saturday afternoonat 3:49 pm. Mom and dad plan to come out to Space View Park with me to see the launch. I'll also be handing out Ad Astra magazines for the National Space Society at the park. If you're interested in seeing the launch, this will be a great place to get a direct line-of-site view to the pad. We'll be arriving no later than 2pm to be sure we have a place to stand. See you on Saturday!

Adventures in San Francisco

Thanks for the message, Tim. I'm glad I didn' t have to paint!

Shannon flew in from Phoenix to send the weekend with me at the mansion. I wish I had a camera so I could share this great house with you, but you'll just have to take my word for it.
Shannon & I spent the whole day in San Francisco on Saturday. We had an awesome time--for the most part.
We went to the aquarium and saw starfish eating anchoives, and we got to pet a sea cucumber--very squishy.
We saw the sea lions lounging on the pier.
We had fun shopping and found some funky new earrings.
We took a bay cruise under the Golden Gate bridge and around Alcatraz.
We had a seafood dinner. Shannon had fried oysters and I had a Dungeneer crab. (I think that's how you spell it. )

Shannon was told by a street psychic that we passed that "great things are coming your way." We should have known then everything was going to go wrong.
We got back to the car, and I noticed that one of the tires was flat. I opened the trunk to start changing the tire and our purses weren't there. Someone had broken the driver's door lock and opened the trunk.
We got a police officer to come and file a report, and we got the spare tire put on. But we had to drive the 40 miles back to Cupertino at 50 miles an hour. Ugh :-P
Everything is okay though. My credit cards are cut off and both Shannon's and my bank accounts aren't showing any unknown usage. I guess they were happy with the gift cards and $2.32 in change that we had in our purses.
Someday we'll look back at this and laugh. But until then, we're never going to San Francisco again!

Redecorating without Jen

While Jen was off having fun in San Franciso with Shannon, Robert and Kirk helped me repaint the living room. Its now nice cool shade of blue. With three of us on the job (and 90% of the taping already done by Jen) we got done in just a few hours. Not bad for a big room!

We didn't want Jen to feel left out of the fun, so we did sent her a little message during the painting...
[Dork note: It was cool to be able to take the picture with my Treo and email it directly to Jen!]

I am surprised by how little paint ended up on carpet/furniture/etc. Robert and Kirk are good! I literally was covered from head to toe: I had paint in my hair and stepped in the roller tray at one point. Although I like painting, I am not sure it is one of my strongest talents.

We also washed cars and then went to see Nacho Libre starring Jack Black. It was a wierd movie, but funny with lots of memorable one-liners and dialogue clips. If you liked Napoleaon Dinamite, you will probably like the film. The same director did both.

And that is your weekend update!

Pink slips, restructuring, and a new phone!

This is so big, I'll blog it myself! I got my official Layoff Notification letter from FSRI today. WOW! This is my second time being "let go" due to corporate changes, but the first time that the whole office has gone with me. The bill dissolving the organization has passed in the FL legislature and been signed by Gov. Bush. This means no more FSRI after August 31! Sad, we've done great stuff and I've had lots of fun the short time I've been here. On the up side, we're getting a new "Space Florida" state agency that should have more clout, more resources, and less confusion. Lots of emphasis on the "should".

The other big deal is that I got a Treo! Yes, I have joined the ranks of the uber-geeks that can check email from their phones. And write back. With formatting and color. It is great! It sychronizes with my Outlook calendar and contacts so that I always have the information I need at my fingertips. [For those other geeks out there, it is the 700p from Sprint using the EVDO network. F A S T.] It's all to support my new company, Sky Fire Lab, as we work to get operational. This is one step in the direction of financial independance and personal freedom. Plus I can watch cartoons on the toilet.

More news? Well, OK! How's this: as of June 15 Jen will no longer be a full-time ZERO-G employee! They are restructuring the positions as they add new people and her department is being absorbed by new staff. Not the worst news--she was looking for a new job--but not great news as she doesn't have a new job. Or does she...?

If you call Jen, be sure you realize she's on Pacific time for the next month while she works at NASA Ames Research Center in San Jose, CA. She's been contracted to organize the NASA Youth Exploration Strategy Workshop on July 12-14. The plan is to capture the ideas and creativity of youth in the US to help guide NASA as they map out the execution of the Vision for Space Exploration. It's an ambitious project with a short timeline--and Jen is just the person to make it happen!

GO JEN, GO!

Luke & Katie's Wedding

We had a great time at Luke & Katie's wedding. It was beautiful! We were sad thinking there were no more weddings that we knew about lined up in the coming months--until we remembered that George & Loretta are getting married in September. Woo-hoo! And they'll probably put us to work. We realized that Joe & Christine's wedding was the only one that we've been to that we didn't have a part to play, other than attendee. We enjoy being a part of the action!
So we got to Athens just in time for the rehearsal Saturday morning. The rehearsal lunch was at an Italian restaurant in "downtown" Athens. Here are the lovely bride and groom. After lunch we headed to the pool party at Adam's apartment building. It was fun even though we got kicked out of the pool and I got thrown down the stairs. Don't worry, the carpet burns came out by the next day. :-)

The wedding was on Sunday afternoon. The reception was fun. I got to hang out with Robyn and meet some more of their high school buddies. Overall, a great weekend!

Wedding Season

Tim had a great time on Luke's bacholor party rafting trip in NC. I was looking through all the pictures he took and among all the beer and drinking game shots, the guys playing video games, the butt cracks and hanging out in the jacuzzi, I found a picture that did not fit. Somehow applying sunscreen does not compute as "manly." You can see for yourself and let me know how you feel. Saturday evening we traveled to Islip, NY for Joe & Christine's wedding. We had a great time and got to hang out with Dad and Lynn. Tim enjoyed the trip because he got to meet all of Lynn's Italian relatives--Uncle Vito, Aunt Mille, Cousin Joey, etc. He felt like he was in a mobster movie.
The wedding was beautiful.

Home Improvement

Tim and I had 2 whole weekends at home! The first weekend, we barely scratched the surface of our home improvement plans, but the second weekend we got a lot done. Well, maybe it isn't done, but it's started. I counted 5 projects that we were working on on Sunday. Tim painted our new pocket door. I installed most of my new closet organizer. I cleaned the mold in our master bathroom and primed the walls. Tim mowed the lawn. And I stained the lid of my cedar chest.

Now everything is in limbo. We didn't finish any of the projects, so our house is in shambles right now. And it's not going to change any time soon. Tim is in NC until Friday on a bachelor party/rafting trip with Luke and his friends. On Thursday, I leave to go to Ft. Lauderdale. We have 2 ZERO-G flights on Saturday. Then Saturday night, I fly out of FLL and Tim flys out of MCO and we're meeting in Islip, NY. My cousin Joe is getting married on Sunday. We get home on Monday evening. Then the next Friday, we're driving up to Atlanta for Luke's wedding, and we won't get home until Monday again. I think we'll have a couple free weekends after that, but who knows.

Week in Review

Tim and I made it back from CA, independantly, but we made it back. Tim met lots of cool spacey people, and I met some rich Sicilon Valley people. We're both still swapping stories.
Monday we slept. Tuesday we finally went back to work. Wednesday we watched Lost--how intense! Click the link for the new Hanso Foundation website.
Thursday I volunteered at a local SWE seminar. I helped check people in (how'd they know that's what I do for a living), flipped the Power Point slides for one presentation, and introduced the speaker for another presentation. Teresa and Jim were there. It was fun and educational. Then Tim & I drove up to New Smyra Beach to have dinner with Aunt Jerri & Uncle Sonny. We had pizza and talked for hours! We had a great time.
Tonight is Michelle & Jim's candle party!

Live from Vegas...

I'm writing from Vegas today. G-Force One just landed about 1 1/2 hours ago. We finally made it to the hotel (that yes, is only 5 miles away from the airport, not an hour away like everyone says). I've gotten 2 weeks worth of "Why'd you pick that hotel, Jen, there's cheaper ones....there's closer ones....it's gotta be an hour away....I live here, I should know...." Well, then you should have booked the hotel yourself, and next time I'll let you. But shut up and live with it now.
Sorry for the rant. This mini-tour would be great except for that I keep getting s--- about the hotel here in Vegas. I know, I should just let it slide off my back... But it gives me an excuse to go out and have extra fun tonight. No tequila, though. :-)
This morning we were in Burbank, CA. The flight went extremely well. No one got sick. OJ's lawyer Robert Shapiro was on the flight. And Tim's buddy from Plantronics, Jennie. She got some inflight pictures of people wearing Bluetooth headsets.
After the flight we headed here to Vegas. Tim stayed behind in LA to attend ISDC. He's presenting 2 papers on Saturday!
After 1 flight in Vegas tomorrow, we head off to San Jose to fly for Google. It's a whirlwind trip.

Our Yard is in Bloom!!

Bougainvillea


Jasmine












Honeysuckle
Lilly











Aloe vera

Anniversary Weekend

Yes, we've made it a whole year. Though Tim and I feel like it's been 5 years...

Tim went to an Order of the Arrow Boy Scout campout on Friday night and Saturday. He was a mess hall helper, apparently nothing gets the multitude of sticky breakfast syrup off those tables.
He came home on Saturday night, and then on Sunday we went to Seaworld with Robert and Chale. We had fun, though it was really hot. We saw the clidesdales hitched to the buggy. The dalmation was cute sitting up in the wagon. Robert told us that was the replacement dalmation. The old one was run over by a security officer at the Daytona Speedway during the races in February.
Tim and I had Sonny's BBQ for dinner. We're thinking of starting a tradition of having BBQ every year on our anniversary. (If you don't remember, we had it at the after-reception party.)
We had a great weekend and certainly did not miss eating a thawed year-old wedding cake. (If you get married and people say you're supposed to freeze the top layer of your cake so you can eat it on your 1st anniversary, smile and nod at them. Then eat your cake. DO NOT save it. I've heard from several people that it tastes nasty after a year.)

Week and a Half in Review

So I haven't posted in a while. To get caught up, here is what happened since the last time I wrote:

Our Yuri's Night party at the Space Walk of Fame Museum was a success. We helped to raise almost $1800 for the museum!
Easter weekend we drove to Georgia to see Tim's family. We painted Easter eggs with Magen & Jaden and had Easter dinner at Tommie & Michelle's house. Sunday night we went to a movie with Robbie & Lindsey--Lucky Number Slevin. It was actually pretty good.

We drove back home on Monday, I had to get right back into the swing of things with ZERO-G. We're doing a mini-tour the first weekend in May out in California. There's a lot to plan when you have 9 flights in 4 days!
On Tuesday Tim went with me to the SWE meeting at Fishlips in Port Canaveral.
On Thursday we went to the YMCA. It was Tim's first visit. We've had a membership since January. Hopefully we can make a habit of going together. I go to pilates class twice a week, but I need to add some cardio.

Happy Flight Day!

The weekend started great. Tim and I manned a booth at the KSC Visitor's Center mid-day on Friday. Robert and Fred were there with a couple other NSS volunteers. We gave away Ad Astra magazines and spacey posters and had a blast. I even got to talk to the Spaceman (the guy dressed in the EVA suit).
John Young and Bob Crippen were there for a short time talking to the crowd. It was cool to see them. I realized that I had never seen a moon-walker before. Very cool. We had Dippin' Dots in little space helmet bowls during their presentation.
That evening we attended the "Gala Opening" of the NASA art exhibit at the BCC Planetarium. We learned that, though normally Norman Rockwell painting are very realistic, he should not have attempted to portray a moon landing. Buzz's head was sticking out of the top of the LEM and Neil looked like he was wearing a baggy sweatsuit. We headed upstairs to the observatory and saw the Moon and Saturn through their big telescopes.
Saturday was Flight Day! Everything went extremely well. Both Tim and I got to fly. I got to do another superman--very fun! We had a grand ole time in row 5 during take-off and landing. Though, we did take it down to only 2 stars.
Here's me on the SLF ramp next to a T-38. The picture's a little grainy because it was taken with Matt's phone.

Sad Tree Day

Jack's oak tree is coming down today. Though I will be glad that it's gone, I'm always sad when a tree is downed.

On a happier note, Jack's favorite climbing tree, our bottle brush tree, is blooming. It's such a Seuss-like tree, it's weird. I've never had a cool red blooming tree before!

As you can see, Jack can't wait to get outside and play again.

Azriel will just be glad when all the noise and commotion is over with.