California

It seems to me that California would be a great place to raise kids. I got to my hotel room early enough to go to the beach and watch some families enjoy surfing in the cold (in my opinion) beach weather. They had wet suits on and the kids got excited when their pizza arrived. Sunset.

California reminds me a lot of Colorado. But it has mountains, forests, deserts, beaches, all kinds of climate. Travel up and down the state to get the variety. What a great place for families to make memories. Well, except for those unpredictable earthquakes.

Anna won't get those kinds of opportunities in bland old Houston. There's Galveston I guess, and the rest of Texas has some nice things. But let's face it, it's no California or Colorado. This bums me out and makes me hope that she gets out to see the world the older she gets. Maybe she'll move to some place fabulous that she will fall in love with when she's older. It probably won't be Houston! Well, at least I'm not alone in raising my kid in Hell (er..um...Houston). We all make the most of it; none of us really are that thrilled to be there. Clear Lake is a great community, and is definitely a better place to live for those of us who have to live in Houston. So I'm grateful for that.

The resort I'm at right now once again kicks butt. But this time I am missing Anna and Paul more than usual and wish they were here with me. In reality, though, my schedule for the next 3 days will be 8am-6pm with probably additional social/dinner requirements so there'd be that conflict if they were here. But look at my view from my hotel room!

I still don't know how I got so lucky in my current role at NASA. I am loving the travel, though I miss Anna and Paul. Anna's getting old enough to come with me soon, and one day Paul's clinic will be structured such that he can come too. Actually, they are both coming with me to San Diego next month when I present a paper at a conference. So I am really looking forward to them coming with me back to California!

In fact I'm planning to cut back on travel as much as possible next year. I do love it: I get to learn tons of space stuff during the day and enjoy the location during my off time. But I do miss my little family too. So striking the right balance is the deal.

Well, off to work a little tonight before bed. I got an email from NASA headquarters today asking me to work with a NASA team to support a project for First Lady Michelle Obama. How cool is THAT?!