Final Shuttle Discovery Launch

I'm drinking Tang today.  It's the end of an era - the final launch of the space shuttle Discovery.  

A child of the late 60s and 70s, manned space exploration has always been a part of my life.  I was in high school when the first shuttle launched so I'm sad to see this period in history draw to a close. 

If you pay attention to these sorts of things, this is the third-to-the-last scheduled flight of the space shuttle.  The final flight for Endeavor, first launched in 1992, is scheduled for April 19. The final one for Atlantis, first launched in 1985, is set for June 28.  And that will be the end of the space shuttle program.  

I'm no space geek, but my sister and I did attempt to emulate space travel heroes by hanging upside down from the rear-facing seat in my mom's station wagon on more than a few occasions when we were kids.  I remember well where I was when both the Challenger and Columbia accidents occurred.  I loved Tom Hanks in Apollo 13 and Jack Nicholson's character in Terms of Endearment.  Our family has on two separate occasions serendipitously viewed the shuttle launch (once from 80 miles south of Cape Canaveral in Vero Beach and another time from Orlando, which is 55 miles west).  Most importantly, I have long admired and appreciated those courageous enough to make space exploration their vocation. 

In 2001, we took the kids to the Kennedy Space Center.  That's the launch site and shuttle in the background.

So at 4:50 p.m. today, you can bet that I'll be watching and toasting that crew (with Tang, of course).   How about you?

Birthday Party Idea - Edition 2

Nowadays you can  probably find a plethora of cute rock climbing party invitations, but 9 or 10 years ago the best I could do was a sheet of scrapbook paper that looked like rocks.  I then printed the party details on a white sheet of paper, centered it and used rubber cement to adhere it to the scrapbook paper and then color copied it.  The invitation read:

As [insert name] ascends to the age of nine, we hope you'll join us

for a birthday climb. 

We held the party at a local rock climbing facility (with waivers required for all the participants).  I later thought an outdoor hike or a climb up Georgia's Stone Mountain, weather permitting, would have been fun too.

Stone Mountain is about 25 minutes from our home.

The party began immediately after school. The young urban professionals, who enjoy practicing climbing rock faces, don't usually arrive until the end of the work day so we had the place all to ourselves.  There was plenty of staff help and lots of the girls' moms who stayed around to encourage and cheer (and perhaps bit their nails).

I ordered a sheet cake from Kroger (it's an easy guess no gourmand cakes for us).  I asked them just to use a gray airbrush-type frosting and to keep the cake very simple.  Using gourmet jelly beans I decorated the cake to look like a rock climbing wall and added two small plastic, bendable mountaineers I found online.

The cake propped up against the bakery box.

Hindsight being 20/20 I would have turned the cake vertically and omitted the piping along the edge.  

Rock candy and caribiners served as party favors.

Needless to say, the party was thrilling 

My daughter and husband race to the the top.

and challenging

My five year old needs convincing that harnesses really do work.  What can I say?  He takes after his mother.

and fun. 

All safely on the ground, a hug for the birthday girl.

Presidents' Day

Washington by Steve Penley

Today we celebrate the birth of our first President, George Washington (though his actual birthday is tomorrow).  In fact, in Washington's home state (and mine, yay!) Virginia, this holiday is legally known as "George Washington Day."

This beautiful book was written by the wife of a former Vice President, Lynne Cheney.  That's cool.

But in most places, it's Presidents' Day and we celebrate the 44 men who have served as the United States' Commander in Chief.  

And they definitely deserve their own special day, because, let's face it:  Presidents are important.  Presidents are significant.  Presidents are, well, Presidents.  

And maybe because I spent almost a decade of my formative years living in or very near the nation's capital; or because I've attended a  Rose Garden signing ceremony (not bragging, just explaining);

Ronald Reagan (Nancy, too) in the Rose Garden with the World Series winning Dodgers.  I stood on my seat for this photo.

or, because I graduated from the university founded by Thomas Jefferson (still not bragging) or, most importantly, I've had the great privilege of meeting several  Presidents, including Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton (okay, maybe bragging a little),  I have an extra special place in my heart for this holiday.

I was standing below on the the train platform when I took this photo (bragging).

Even without these special connections, I can't help but want to  celebrate today. 

So I have lots of Presidential stuff:

I bought these guys at the Dollar Store and I love them.  Don't they look imposing?  They're just 5 1/2 inches tall. 

And I have fun stuff too, like this:

Because while these guys were Presidents, they were also human and they made mistakes.

We also have these cool placemats which are used not just today but often.

We love the facts and biographical information on the reverse sides.  When we had a French foreign exchange student living with us two summers ago, she enjoyed reading the information on them and quizzing us.  (I'm fairly certain there are no placemats in France with Sarkozy, and definitely not Mitterrand, on them, so she was impressed or at least as impressed as any French person can be). 

Finally, if you haven't yet seen the HBO series on John Adams. as fast as your fingers can, navigate away from this silly blog, go to your Netflix account (if you have one) and add it to your queue.  It is a must see.  

For more immediate gratification and something in more recent history, watch this and of course, have a great Presidents' Day!

Love Your Pet Day

I know, right.  Who needs a special day to love a face like that?

Over the years, we have had two four-legged members of our family, as well as a few aquatic ones. 
 
Our first goldfish, Michael Flatly (named after the Irish-American step dancer) for reasons that are fully explained by this -
 

resided with us for what we thought was a lengthy amount of time for a  goldfish - more than 3 years.  He was succeeded by Jenna - named after the Season 6 winner of the Survivor series.  What can I say?  We have a thing for pop culture. Jenna lived up to her namesake - surviving almost as long as Michael Flatly.  Finally, Omega the Beta lived with us several years.  A gift from a classmate to my son,  I loved that Omega seemed to flourish the more we ignored him.  He was the last of our friends with gills.

Our canine companions are another story.

Libby, a sweet rescue dog, joined our family almost 10  years ago.  She is now deaf and does not see well. She has always been more like a cat than a dog and through the years she put up with a lot, including this -  

and more of this -

To our minds, she is what every pet owner would want - sweet and easy-going. 

The most recent addition to our household, Brownie (her name deserves it's own post), has a quirky (and needy) but funny little personality.

We especially get a kick out of Brownie sleeping on the ottoman in our den - 

Recently, my sister called to my attention how much Brownie looks like Fluffy, the toy dog I received for Christmas when I was two.  

That's Brownie on the left. 

Coincidence?  I think not.

Brownie loves attention and, though she is slow to warm up, once she's your friend you'll have a hard time shaking her.

Brownie and my sister's sweet cat, Gus, take a nap.