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Getting life back in order July 2, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs , add a comment

There was the day in Marseille when all went wrong. The alarm wet off, but the sound was muted. We missed the two important talks I wanted to see. We caught a ferry on time, but forgot to load the camera with a compact flash. I forgot to reload on sun lotion after lunch and fried.

But, I was calm. I even climbed rocky cliffs with sandals during all of this.

Now that I am back home, the stress is seeping in. I need the world to slow. I need the three hour dinners where someone else did laundry and dishes. I need to have a chauffer for the girls, my work to fix itself and friendships to not be on the rocks.

But that is a fantasy. So in the mean time, I will get back to work and do what I can…when I can…and try to relax my shoulders more often. 

Dudes, I made Jam June 20, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs , 4 comments

Seriously! I just made jam! I have 8  jars of fresh strawberry jam on my counter. So far, two have not sealed, but it is still early.

I had the leftovers for my lunch (the stuff that wouldn’t fit in jars)

Soleil went strawberry picking yesterday and MAN, it worked great! Most of them were mushy because the baskets got put ontop of each other. Sigh.

But I made Jam.

Now I need to pack. I have a trip to FRANCE tomorrow for work!
 

Local! June 17, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs , 2 comments

Yesterday, our town had our first ever farmers’ market! It was great. We pikced up broccoli, strawberries and lettuce. Yummy!

I am trying to make more salads these days. I am also working on losing weight (when am I not?) but the brownies I made last night didn’t help!

I often look at my friend M’s Blog, Rural Aspirations, and I am amazed because she is able to do so much at home. Granted, she has chosen a simpler life and only her husband works out of the home right now and she can be with the kids and garden and such, but still, I wish I could do it all. I really enjoy work, but I want to do more local stuff. Less driving, more biking (although we should be able to do this when Luna’s in Kindergarten and we don’t have to drive her to daycare too!) We are currently growing tomatoes and 2 green bean plants (from Soleil’s school), but next year? I want a small garden. Just a little bit of broccoli and lettuce and such.

Sigh.

BTW- the party was great, we had an impromptu sleepOVER (we were planning a sleep under, but when it was time for Soleil’s friend to go home, the girls BEGGED for a sleep over. R did great! Her first ever!) The next day, after the rain ended, we celebrated Father’s Day and our anniversary (#12) with a 10 mile bike ride! Soleil did the whole thing! Luna rode in the bike seat.

 

It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity June 10, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs, She Blinded me with Science , 2 comments

I am seeing red. As in severe thunderstorms coming our way! YES! PLEASE!

Today’s high was around 97F. I was a sticky mess. My hair is curlier than Daniel Craig’s Short and curlies. Ugh. I hate the humidity. Tomorrow should be a balmy 87! (or one place claims 85!) But without the humidity.

I spent most of the day grueling away over a computer simulating a proposed observation for an upcoming Peer review. I am pretty sure of the outcome, but the pain of working on this is terrible. I need to finish this tomorrow, but I have a coordinate issue that I failed to document last time. Sigh.

Please let those thunderstorms take some humidity out of the air….I think I speak for the whole North east.

 

Got life? June 9, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs , 1 comment so far

I just submitted that paper from hell. Done Done Done!

I am so glad to have that off my back!

 

Now I need to do some research on a very important X-ray source…..Sigh…

 

Now, if I could just sort out my life! 

Fill in the form June 3, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs , 1 comment so far

Who knew parenthood meant you had to fill out forms?

Bobby’s words– Continued May 29, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs , 1 comment so far

I realized that my time pressures on meetings and other items prevented me from fulling getting out my thoughts yesterday.

Here is the full paragraph from "Double Play" by Robert B. Parker

The culture presented premenopausal women to us as girls. In the movies married men and girls slept in separate beds. In the movies men would fight for these girls, die for their girls. In the movies girls would scream for their men, tremble for them dress their wounds, cry for them, wait for them. Love was everywhere, Passion was everywhere. Devotion was everywhere. Self0sacrifice abounded. Sex was nowhere. Except that the girls were sexy. And they were everywhere, on the radio, in the movies, in the magazines, in the ads. The songs. "To spend one night with you, in our own rendezvous." The lingerie ads, bathing suit ads, stocking ads, car ads, canned ham ads,beer ads, hair tonic ads, aftershave ads. All of them fresh and clean and sweet and perky and crucifyingly desirable. 

You see, it’s not just that woman are called "girls". They are presented as girls. What does "girl" mean to you? To me? I see my children, my girls, young and free. Innocent. Needing guidance. They aren’t ready for the real world where people die in the blink of an eye. The world where the color of your skin, the name of your deity, the language you speak, the form of your genitals matter. They just see people. You treat a person the same no matter what. These girls still need protection, they need love. They need someone to take care of the boo-boos, the physical and the emotional. They need someone to help them explore their self confidence, to teach them that mistakes are okay and that we are all failures at times. And that it is okay.

A woman? To me this is an adult. A person who has learned about the blatant unfairness of life. A person who can care for herself. A Person who can navigate the world and make her own choices.

The issue is not just calling women "girls". The issue is treating women like girls.

Steve (hi Steve!) wrote:

think you’re over-analyzing this.  Men are often referred to as ‘boys’ or ‘guys’ just as women are known as ‘girls’ or ‘gals’.

If there was that much of a problem with equality, Hilary Clinton
wouldn’t be neck and neck with Obama for the Democratic nomination.

Maybe I am over analyzing this. But I think I am not. I work in a field filled with men. A recent Sky and Telescope article discussed a wonderful discovery by a female scientist. She chose to leave the field. Her adviser, one of the great solar system scientists had made it clear to her that woman can not balance a family and science. Where do you get that attitude? Where? You suddenly have children and the science leaves your brain?

I hate to point out the obvious, but Hillary is not going to win the nomination. That is becoming clear. Why are people telling her to quit? Why has NO BODY asked Obama to drop out if this were equal? Why are there questions about Obama’s religion and background and then what Hillary is wearing tonight? Just like voting rights, we will put a minority first, females second.

We only passed Title IX in 1972! this is in my lifetime! This means women of my generation are really the first to truly believe that we have a chance to be considered equally as men for positions. And yet, when I first got hired in my first astronomical job out of college I had a PhD scientist say to me "I hear you got hired because you’re with Jay. I worked to get hired." My jaw dropped at this, especially since I was interviewed separate from Jay and my interviewer had no clue that Jay was coming here. The thoughts are still out there:

Girls aren’t as good as men in some fields

Girls need men to protect them

Girls should be careful to go out alone, it’s too dangerous

Girls can’t fight in combat.

Girls have "monthly problems" that prevent them from doing what a man can.

Think about these. They are out there. They are still out there.  

And Parker is right, women as just as sexual creatures as men are. But that, my friends, is a whole other post. 

About that paper? May 22, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs, Seeing the World Through Astronomy, In A Family Way , add a comment

Yes, well, I am kinda blowing it off right now.

I know, I know, I will get back to it soon.

I need to world to slow down a little. I survived yesterday (still not sure how). Jay had a major breakthrough on his data for his talk and we discussed the view graph slides and BANG! He has one kick ass talk for Spain now! Yippie! However, he got a call this morning from the hospital. He DID break his finger, so keep it splinted for 4 weeks.

My parents are in and settling in for their long stay. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but sometimes, family needs to be far away, you know what I mean?

Luna’s still a little out of it. She has an ear infection and fluid in the other ear. Lovely. She told me yesterday that she needs to take 1 teaspoon of the medicine. I asked her how she knew and she said that’s what the doctor said. Oh great! She’s paying attention to the world! This could be good or bad! On the other hand, she’s walked into two walls in the last 12 hours. Methinks she’s having some perception issues.

I am also contemplating sending a letter to a friend. She has blown me off lately. Of course, she has blown off her family, kids, husband and everything else lately because she has taken A JOB. Not that she hadn’t worked out side of the house before, but suddenly this JOB is the only thing in her life… Sigh… I am torn between ignoring this or working it out with her.

Anyway, I should do this paper, eh? It IS my ticket to France in June!

 

Busy buzzy busy May 21, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs, Dr. Jay , 1 comment so far

I have all sorts of posts and ideas floating in my head. 

Last week, Julie Pippert wrote about "can we really tell our kids they can be whatever they want to be?" I want to write on that.

I have at least 4 posts in my queue that I am working on.

BUT, my parents arrive in 1 hour

my car is 10 miles away at a doctor appointment for Luna, who has been having headaches and an ear ache since the concussion

I have a spacecraft command load review at 2pm 

I have a 3 hour Girl Scout Brownie leader training tonight (because they aren’t offering any over the summer)

my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it; I’m swamped.  Oh wait… That’s the Princess Bride….

Anyway, Jay’s 42nd birthday party is Friday! I have requested that everyone include a question for which the answer is 42. We have some pretty clever ones!

More later.
 

The Trees Speak–Part 3 May 16, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs , 1 comment so far

(ah-ha! Omegamom is right about Karma)

Jay and Ray discussed some of the costs. Now these people still had lawn furniture in their living room. NOT KIDDING YOU! Turns out to cut down the trees cost $10K. Julie wanted the yard leveled, Ray didn’t. However, Julie won that argument. Numbers like $30K were running around. These numbers just didn’t make sense! To kill trees? 

The stumps were removed, the yard leveled. A sprinkler system was added (Hello? I thought the yard was too wet!) and new grass planted. We stopped mowing the front corner of the lot out of spite so they would have to do it.

One day, I noticed that Ray hadn’t been around much lately. I checked with our neighborhood gossip group and it turns out that Ray left her. Yes, they were getting a divorce! Suddenly there was a flurry of activity around Julie’s house. Now think about this, a 4 bedroom colonial, with a full basement, 2 car garage, and an extra room between the kitchen and garage for 1 person. And a dog. We miss Ziti the dog.

Julie had the following done: All rooms repainted (in purple), the house painted from yellow with white trim to white with purple and black trim. All electric redone. Kitchen redone (with purple glass tiles and purple light fixtures). Did I mention the purple? New massive stove. 52 inch plasma tv. I swear, Ray must have paid her a ton to get that divorce!

In June, last year, we got an email from our buyer broker. He still emails us property info. He said that our neighbor was selling the house and could we tell him about it. ???? We found out that  yes, Julie was selling her house on craigslist! For (sit down, especially if you are in a small city) $699,999. Jay and I laughed out loud at that price.

This April, she sold the house (the rumor was about $630,000-which would be a loss for her given how much money she threw into the place). We now have new neighbors. Ones that wave to us! Who smile! I love it!

And we plan on adding two more trees next year…and to add even more if we make an addition to our house.

I think the trees are happy too!