Packing

I have not yet introduced the remaining two members of our little family - two more boys, Benny and Nick. No, they are not twins, nor are they human. They are our first "children" - the two cats that Chris and I adopted when we were first married. They are amazing cats, both affectionate and independent. We swiftly realized that they have many methods of communicating displeasure. To the left is their favorite way of boycotting any upcoming trips. I write this because we just made a quick trip to see Chris' brother and sister-in-law. Nick (the gray cat) slept under/on the suitcase the whole day before! He has found multiple other strange places to sleep, including a decorative bowl that we had on our coffee table before the coffee table became Luke's play table! They certainly keep us on our toes and make us laugh loudly. Luke loves them as well - we really think his first true word was "dat". :)

Bread

Ah...bread. The ideal food to extol for any foodie or microbiologist. Seeing as Chris is one (I lovingly tease him about being a "food snob") and I am the other, we decided to attempt our own foray into the world of yeast-based baking. Chris adores sourdough bread (I prefer seedier versions...wait that didn't come out right...), and he found detailed instructions, interspersed with ravings about the purity of sourdough, on a website. Within minutes he is culturing airborne yeast and other microbes using a concoction of flour, water, and...other stuff. He could tell you. We begin talking about "hooch" and "the sniff test". Unfortunately, the instructions weren't so thorough, so the bread turned out flat, after a VERY late night for Chris. I so wish we had pictures...next time! Because the yeast culture lived on after being divided to make the bread, we named it Sullivan. Today, Sullivan's life ended with a short trip down the drain. He had been sadly neglected by Chris and I and was stinking up the fridge.

Next time...pictures and instant yeast packets!

Swabbing the Rover

Ahhh, how times have changed! My husband and I continually praise God for His many blessings at this stage in our lives, and try to grow in our trust and faith knowing that more difficult times may be ahead. For instance, about two and a half years ago I was starting this blog as an outlet for the frustration and impotence I felt with my pharmaceutical job. Not two months later, I'm actually working for a NASA contractor doing some very interesting technology development.

I basically write proposals for a living, along with scientific journal articles. I design scientific posters and review laboratory data also, but by far one of the coolest things I have yet done was field testing this past week at Johnson Space Center in Houston. I and three colleagues collected cotton swabs of surfaces of the new lunar rover mock-up - surfaces that we had pre-cleaned with ethanol or isopropanol. We then waited until their field ops were complete and swabbed the same surfaces. So very interesting, exciting, and thrilling to see that piece of equipment in operation! The data worked out all right also. :)

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...

New Year

Well, the final prediction in the last post came to fruition. Not long after resigning my pharming title, I took up the mantle of NASA contractor. For nine fascinating months, I have been working on an interesting project managed by NASA. This prospect is a dream breathed life, since I have long spoken of working for NASA (as many friends can testify). To increase the complexity, I and my husband (now both at NASA, remember) are pregnant with our first! Yes, I am four, almost five months along. Alongside posts regarding work at NASA, you'll also hear detailed accounts of pregnancy, which so far has been marvelously smooth. Praise be to our Lord, Who brought about this amazing position, and this amazing new little life!

The End

Yes, as I mentioned in my last post, yesterday was my final day as a pharmer. Though I was only there for two months, I am glad to set aside that title, hopefully exchanging it for something more interesting. Perhaps the "pharmer" might head to space with NASA as well! :)

Stud Bunny

Well, I have resigned from pharming. More on that later... For now, I must relate the funniest of my supervisor's stories! She tells supurb stories with aplomb, but this one trumps them all. My supervisor had three rabbits (Bun-Bun, Silly-Willy, and Cookey-Lookey). Bun-Bun is too mean to reproduce, while Silly-Willy is really large. Cookey-Lookey, however, it quite small and cute. She wished to breed Cookey to have small bunnies to give away as presents. So, she called up a man that she knew sold rabbits. He answered her questions, saying that yes, he had a male rabbit of the same breed as Cookey. Then she asked if this rabbit was a stud bunny. Pause. Pause. She repeated her question, asking what his stud fee was. The man finally found his voice, "Uh, ma'am, we don't really do that." When asked why, he replied that most people just purchase the rabbit, and if they don't want him afterwards, they kill him. My supervisor was shocked! Then, she concluded that she had been raising racehorses too long. :)

Just last week, as an Easter gift, her boyfriend bought her a little male rabbit of the same breed as Cookey (Dweeble-Weebles). Yes, Cookey finally found her stud bunny.