Ramblings

Anna in the grocery store last night, riding in the cart:

Mommy, you have boo-boos!! Grabbing at my rather low-cut shirt. Fortunately, no one saw her attempt to expose my chest in public, and boo-boos sounds less explicit in public than "boobies" so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Still I had to laugh. And so the akward body part identification and embarrassment in public begins. Actually, I'd prefer it to a tantrum.

It dawned on me this morning that I may never get to fly in space. At least, not the NASA route. Since I got my MS degree and actually have been qualified to even be considered since 2001, there have only been two astronaut selections, totalling only 20 new astronauts to join NASA in 9 years (selection years 2000, 2004, and 2009). Out of a total applicant pool of around 3,500 in each selection cycle or so. The number selected is getting smaller and smaller, and fewer years are between the selection process. As I was growing up, 30 astronauts were selected every 2 years. Better odds for me! But if the current trend holds, and selection now comes every 5 years, I will be faced with the words I never through I'd say so soon: "I will be getting much too old to even be considered." Which is a drag because for so long I've been able to say "eh, I'm still young, I have time." I will be 34 in September. All I can say right now is it is what it is. Whatever.

On Thursday we're getting on a plane to Niagra Falls, where I'll be speaking at another student conference. The plane ride there is split between two 2-hour flights with about an hour in between. I suspect Anna will be pretty well-behaved, at least until nap time approaches. I made the mistake of telling her we're getting on a plane on Thursday so she now asks me whenever we get into the car if we're going to go ride the plane. I've lost track of take-off and landing numbers but I think she's been on about 5 round trips already. Her last flight was in Jan. so it's been about 6 months. I think she's mellowed a bit since then so hopefully Thursday's trip will be uneventful as far as complaints go.

I'll try to post as things go...