Shuttle Announcement

So after 30 years of Space Shuttle flights, the final orbiters are getting ready to make their last missions into space.  30 incredible years of firsts, technological advances, breakthrough discoveries, and awe inspiring accomplishments.  Today's announcement was supposed to bring us a sense of pride, but it was definitely sadness that was the prevailing emotion.  I'm glad I was there to witness it, especially the momentary overwhelming sense of joy that lifted the crowd of KSC workers to their feet when it was announced that Atlantis would remain in Florida. 

As has been predicted, Discovery is going to the Smithsonian in DC, and the LA area, near the hangers in which the orbiters were built, will get Endeavour.  Smithsonian's current ownership of the Enterprise test orbiter will go to New York.  This is last one is the only one I really question, though I understand from a tourism standpoint it will get more attention.

And to finish my post off, here is the quote of the day from a conversation I had with my friend and coworker Erin after the announcement.

me: What is all of this shmutz floating around?
Erin: It's ash.
me: What's burning?
Erin: Our hopes and dreams....

Shuttle Worker Tribute

This is a video that was made by one of my NASA coworkers as a tribute to the workforce at Kennedy Space Center.  Some of my USA coworkers also participate in the background vocals and one of them creates the awesome dot artwork.  These pictures are all of people I work with and see on a daily basis in the areas of Kennedy Space Center that I regularly work in, and a handful of them are good friends as well.  You can briefly see me in a sea of orange shirts around 10:40 into the video as well.   Sadly a large number of the people depicted in this video have already been laid off...

Also, the NASA administrator is going to be announcing where the retired shuttles will be displayed at after the program ends around 1:00 today.  Stay posted!

What a Weekend!

There was so much to do this weekend and I was so busy that last friday seems like weeks ago rather than days.  The yard sale went okay - not what I was expecting.  Yard sales where I live now don't work quite the same way they do up in the Chicago suburbs and we wound up taking a lot of the bigger furniture pieces to Goodwill.  Either way, we cleared them out of the house, so we're happy.

I also got to use one of my holiday gifts from J this weekend.  He bought me a day long watercolor class - and it was SO wonderful!  I don't really have a lot of room in the house to put toward my artistic hobbies and so when I get an opportunity like I did yesterday to spend an entire day learning how to use a new artistic medium it is just heaven to me!  Check out the final result:

Composition is a bit off, but I was thrilled with the way the sunflower turned out.  Thanks again baby!

Milestone

I've reached over 1000 views on my blog as of today!  Thanks for reading everyone!!!

(photo from here)

Whoops!

Sorry I've been MIA, but it's been a CRAZY week!  I wasn't feeling well Wednesday, I have a big report due at work, J and I have been getting everything prepped for our YARD SALE! this weekend - and NOW there's this whole potential (getting more and more likely) government shutdown thing that has thrown Kennedy Space Center into situation in which they are looking to shut down the whole center.  And yes, this will affect my job.  Yikes!  So that's why I flaked on the blog for 2 days.  I'm back now and will be blogging next week from locations currently unknown...

(photo from here)

Quarterly Tune-Up

While my car is about 2,000 miles overdue for an oil change, I'm much more fastidious about getting my body's tune ups on a regular basis.  And by this I mean my quarterly acupuncture treatment for my headaches.  If I avoid egg yolks I can also avoid migraines, but this doesn't prevent the frequent stress headaches I also get (in typical Jewish fashion I blame my parents.  Both are headache and migraine sufferers and it is genetic).

I've been getting frequent headaches since college and over time I became practically immune to ibuprofen and tylenol - not good.  In my hunt for another source of pain relief I came across acupuncture and I haven't looked back since.  It's amazing.  When I first started out it would only last for about a week.  Gradually I spaced my treatments out to two weeks, then monthly, and now I'm up to about every three months!  In addition to the four needles that are inserted (one on top of my head, one between my eyes and one between my thrumb and forefinger), I get an hour of uninterrupted meditation where I concentrate on deep breathing and relaxing my body.  I walk out and feel headache free and rejuvenated.  I'm a total baby when it comes to pain, so I can guarantee it doesn't hurt (sometimes a slight pinching sensation).  Let me know if you're thinking of trying it or have any questions.

Too Much Stuff

J and I went on a crazy cleaning/reorganizing spree this weekend and I can't believe how much stuff we threw out and are getting rid of.  We actually have enough furniture/house extras that we feel we can properly sustain our very own yard sale, which means we have a lot of stuff.  However, J's clothes have finally been integrated into the master bedroom closet and dressers (he was using the floor and the laundry room before), all furniture surfaces in the bedroom are actually visible, J's man cave is amazingly immaculate (we can actually open the door!), and our downstairs hall closet is no longer threatening to explode on us every time we open it!  Once we have the garage sale on Saturday (most of the stuff is nice and in good condition, we just don't have room for it anymore), and we have a full width upstairs hallway again I think I'll finally feel like our house is at a sustainable cleaning level.  So excited!

Mid Century Metalwork

West Elm drew me to their sale page today with an extra 15% off sale merchandise coupon.  They've always had very cool modern designs, but I actually found some excellent mid century modern inspired furniture and artwork on their site as well.  Specifically the metalwork sculptures by John-Paul Philippé and the office furniture designed in collaboration with the Pratt Institute.  All but one of the following are on sale for very tempting prices, plus an extra 15% off.  I'm currently warring with myself as to whether or not to make the purchase or follow J's strict order to stop buying myself stuff until after my birthday...

This is the really cool metalwork art by John-Paul Philippé.  The wall hanging is shown styled on the site mounted to a painted wood slab and I love the effect.  I'm torn on the free-standing sculpture because I'm enamored with it, but I already have so much stuff cluttering the surfaces of my house.  And the mobile isn't on sale but is probably my favorite.  I absolutely adore the idea of a mobile because it's so non-standard in homes today and the mid century modern design seals the deal.

And here's the Pratt collaboration on office furniture.  I really don't need the desk, so I'm not personally considering it, but I do love it's lines.  And the file cabinet is just fabulous and I'm seriously thinking about getting it to replace the nightstand I have in my guest room.  I really like that it could work dual purposes.