Drawing Near Another End

Well, so much for keeping the blog updated with tidbits from work! It's been almost six months of silence...primarily due to the hectic schedule of the spring season. In the government, many financial and budgetary decisions are due in order to determine funding levels for projects for the next year. Right after my last post, I became deeply mired in all these financial type decisions, which was quite interesting but a little tedious. I did long to be back in the lab...or at least interacting with those in the lab.

Not long after the crazy financial schedule came two back-to-back proposal writing sessions! For those of you unfamiliar with proposal writing - it is engrossing, absorbing, and all-consuming. Imagine your high school research paper...no, that's not even remotely close, never mind! Suffice it to say, I was very grateful to be in my second trimester when all this was going on - plenty of energy, feeling great, etc.

In March, Chris and I took a trip to the Cape to see the launch of STS-123 (Endevour) as part of the Marshall Space Flight Center Director's group of guests! While down there, we went on a private tour of many buildings with one of Chris' friends who was down there for a few months working on the solid rocket boosters. When we went to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF - NASA acronyms remember), we actually got to go INSIDE the orbiter Discovery that they were preparing for launch in May!! VERY few people actually get to do this! I and little one even got to sit in the commander's chair in the cockpit of Discovery! It was so memorable...a story I can tell little one in years to come...

As I write this, I'm only about 2 1/2 weeks away from little one's arrival! I just started my maternity leave and Chris and I think that it would be so cool for me to go into labor when Discovery launches tomorrow! :) Actually, anytime that Discovery is in orbit would be pretty cool to me! Check out some pictures of me and Chris and the Cape and me sporting the baby bump. More soon...