The Hank Tree (and other landscaping fun)

So back in January, after Hankertime decided to try his luck in the next step of being (see blog entry for January 30, 2008), my (Charlie's) mom had an idea to plant a tree in his honor at our house, and she gave us $200 to do so. After much debate about whether to plant a fruit or nut tree, a huge-growing tree, a long-lived tree, etc, we decided we would plant an oak- one that would give us color during the fall and remind us of home during the fall when everything else around here is still green. Also, when we move from here, we'd be able to take acorns from the tree and continue the legacy. So after much searching around our usual tree stores, I came to find a place with much larger and seemingly healthier trees for sale with decent install prices (if you're interested, let me know and I'll dig up the info for you). So we picked out a large Nuttall Red Oak (I think also known as Texas Red Oak) and designated it our Hank Tree. We also got several other trees, including a huge Cedar Elm. So when we bought the Hank Tree, it was still winter and so it didn't have leaves yet, though the Cedar Elm was starting to leave already. So we secretly made the Cedar Elm the backup Hank Tree, just in case the oak didn't take.

Though now we're into spring and the Hank Tree (the real deal- the oak) has started to grow it's leaves, and thus is the officially designated tree.

Jaime's also been in the market for some Redbud trees for awhile, and we were also able to make that happen at my new favorite tree store.

As if that weren't enough, we also have a new flower garden, complete with creative dog-repellant devices, as well as a growing herb garden, both thanks to Jaime's green thumb. The herb garden comes complete with a boatload of rosemary, some basil, sage, & thyme, and an onion plant. We had an onion start to sprout leaves when it was left in our pantry, so instead of throwing it away, we put it in the ground, and it really seems to be thriving. Though we're really not sure what happens next with it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FAITHIE!

Today is my sister's 30th birthday, yaaaay!
Ahhh, the good times we've had over the past 30 years (well, 29 years for my memory)... I can remember when we were just wee little ladies making hammocks in the winter out of old dirty blankets and wrapping up like caterpillars in a cocoon. I can remember when we were freshman/sophomores in high school, both in cheerleading, both thinking we could conquer the world. Both with braces on our faces, both with great spirit in our hearts (oh lame...no pun intended, dang!), both with old boyfriends that we're all happy we didn't end up with. Remember how we used to sled and traipse through the marsh behind the Yellowstone house in the winter? Climbing dead ol' trees and making snow forts. Bliss!

Time has flown over the past 3 decades, so she says, and since I only have 2.9 decades so far to go on, I guess I can still say that I agree. I'm not sure how it happens, but my mom was right: she said that as you age, the time only goes by faster and faster. Wise, isn't she?

So today is a day to celebrate Faithie's wonderful 30 years in service of life! She is the best sister and friend in the entire world: always supportive, loving, caring and passionnate - especially about her mark on this world. Always considerate of others and excited about the possibilities that life offers for her family, friends and all others. She has done without trying what any good big sister can do - set a good example for her baby sis.

I love you Faithie!
-J

Hoppy Easter!

Yes yes yes, it's that time of year when I get surprised with a basket of goodies from the hubbie and he in turn gets a treat-o-rama surprise as well. I have to admit that while we aren't really in to celebrating the religious point of this holiday, I am glad it exists if not for the candy eggs and fun basket presents.

We did find time to have Easter Dinner last night at Luna's, our favorite mexican restaurant just down the road. Manuel, our server, was very prompt and attentive and sweet - we couldn't stop raving about how good the customer service is at this establishment...something Charlie and I have a hard time finding around these parts. The really only time we've had poor service was when Faith and Shawn were down here visiting - we had to wait for what seemed like an obscene amount of time for drinks and food, but it was probably still small relatively speaking. I guess a track record of 1 out of 50 isn't bad :) I will say that I had a monster "Italiano" margarita (frozen regular marg with amaretto in it) and it threw me for a loop. Good times!

Charlie is at work this morning and hopefully I will get to see him before I have to leave to go to work (finally I'm on a day shift, but that means I don't get to see my hubbie now either...). For those of you who get to spend time with your family celebrating this holiday, enjoy it. Have a mimosa or bellini at brunch for me!

Much love, jaimers

Crappy Dog Issues :(

It never fails - just when you think something is going right...We have had issues with Kirby and her aggressiveness toward Sammie and even other dogs/people (read: Charlie) for a long time now, but as of late her attacks on Sammie have become more frequent and more destructive. Charlie and I are at rope's end and are trying to figure out our next course of action. Right now we're looking into behavioral counseling as well as a trip to the vet to try to rule out any medical/anxiety problems.

Unfortunately we really don't have much confidence that any of these steps are going to work, considering her "family history" of troubled/aggressive dogs - her Mom, her brother were both aggressive...so the next thing for us to try would be to give Kirby back to the adoption people we got her from and see if they can find her a suitable home. That's what we agreed to when we adopted her, so that's what we'll do if we have to.

This is, of course, the most depressing of situations, and Charlie and I aren't doing so well with the issue. I'm sad that our first dog is such a spaz and that we aren't able to fix her - or at least haven't been. It makes us feel like bad parents - like failures. It totally sucks. Not to mention that we've had her since she was a puppy, for 2 years now, and giving her up is going to be hard. But it's also unfair to Sammie to have to live in fear of her sister visciously attacking her at every turn. We're keeping them separated at the moment and it's heartbreaking to see either of them looking longingly at the other one, tails wagging, wanting to play. The situation is just so volatile right now, we can't predict what will trigger the next big attack.

So here we are: sad, depressed, defeated, and with little hope.
I'll still try to hold out some hope that it all turns around for the better - will let you know what decision we come to.

Certified, Baby!

After a whirlwind of a week and a half, and after working 4 years to get here, I am officially a certified flight controller! FAO (Flight Activities Officer) is my name, flight planning is my game.

On Wednesday (3/5), I had my final certification simulation for FAO. For those of you who don't know what that means: A set of the space shuttle flight controllers get corralled into the mission control center main room ("White Flight Control Room" - WFCR) and pretend they are working a day in a specified mission. We "simulate" a real day on orbit. There are astronauts playing along, as well as my fellow flight controllers, a Flight Director (see "Ed Harris" in Apollo 13) and a training person. Three people evaluate my performance: a certified FAO (my group lead), a separate Flight Director there just for me (in addition to the one actually working the simulation) and a training person - all of them watching my every move and interaction and critiquing me the whole way! The purpose of any simulation (or "sim" as we call it) is to give us the opportunity to practice our skills at flight controlling, our system knowledge, and how we react to failures our systems or the orbiting vehicle might have. We practice a lot of worst-case scenarios so that when it comes to the real deal during a mission, we can be ready!

So, the sim commenced and after 9 hours of grueling work and some sweat, the sim was over and I was certified! Yay for me! 4 years of hard work has finally paid off. I might get the chance to stretch my FAO legs on this upcoming mission launching on 3/11, but my "official" start date for FAO-ing will be on the STS-124/1J mission slated to launch on May 25, 2008. So, the next time you see me on NASA TV (or the back of my head, at least :), I will be most-likely working alone, certified to sit up there alone and run the show!

Thanks to everyone for their best wishes on my quest to get certified :D

Birthdays Party

Partay on 2/29 (leap day) to celebrate Feb/March birthdays of our party peeps.
We had a 5 gallon keg of Blue Moon and my fave, a 5 gallon keg of Ace Pear Cider. Mmm, Ace Pear. The keg, however, had a mistype on it, so it was and will forever lovingly be dubbed "Ace Perry Cider". Mmmm, Ace Perry!

The party was a pretty good one, although I was expecting it to be more of a rager. We drank, played "Hockey" as a drinking game, danced to Applebottom Jeans and overall just had a good time. My house ended up surviving in tip-top shape, no spills or big drama to speak of. The bass from Toby's iPod did shake the closet doors on my sister's room at around 2am, so I think her and her snoozing family weren't too pleased about that, but in the end we all survived :)

Who knew Tyson Chicken Nuggets could taste so good? Thanks Toby!

BUSY BUSY BUSY

Whew! It's been a long week and a half since returning from Germany. I haven't had much time to relax and recoup - which is sometimes a good thing I suppose...right? It might not be apparent, but I have been trying to make a conscious effort to be positive about how life is running these days. Between working all day and school after work, I've been running a bit ragged. PLUS, I have my sister, her hubbie and 3 month-old baby in town visiting for the week AND some friends coming to town for a quick overnight stay the day Faith leaves for MN (Tues) AND my final certification for my flight control position (big stuff for me!) on Weds...it's exhausting.

The good side is that today is a beautiful Sunday - perfect for those lazy Sunday mornings where you stay in bed and listen to the wind blowing as the sun comes through the overcast sky. Listening to easy jazz on the radio while reading the paper and having some tea...

...or watching the rest of class and then dreading doing homework, instead of spending the time with your sister's new baby and poking him in the tummy. What a pisser ;)

Baby Noah is pretty awesome. Truly an adorable little specimen of life. Good, too. He sleeps a lot of the time and loves to play on his back on the floor - I mean, what could be more entertaining than looking at the ceiling fan and kicking your legs in time with a song only he can imagine? That would be a sweet way to spend a lazy Sunday.

Once again I find myself rambling. To all who know me, "big surprise"...
I hope you find some time in your day to appreciate the small wonders and enjoy the art of living.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe life.