Space Shuttle for Kids

My mom is a preschool teacher in Arizona and she does a HUGE space lesson for her kids...it lasts about a month. Here are some pictures of the space shuttle she designed and she and my dad built. It has all sorts of gadgets inside for the kids to "fly" with and she bought a orange flight suit and a blue suit as well for the kids to take pictures in, in front of the American flag of course! Helmet included :). Her whole class room is decorated in space themed, complete with glow-in-the-dark stars and a black light and a section for "Mission Control". The kids are little, old threes and young fours, but they get taught the basics of space and the universe, but more importantly, they get excited about space and what we as humans can do there. Great job Mom!

Yay!

Bacon is home! And of course, the first thing he did when I opened his carrier was go run and jump on my bed...after the vet told me not to let him jump on anything. . His forearm and stomach are all shaved, but no plastic cone around his head (that would have made from some funny pictures). And guess what!? The bill was significantly less than they originally quoted, so I am doubly happy!

No more flipflop!

The vet got the last chunk of flipflop out of Bacon's stomach today. She said it was a good thing they did the surgery, since it was headed towards his intestine and would have gotten stuck, making things a LOT more complicated. He's got to stay there for the next two days and then I pick him up Friday afternoon. I was supposed to run my 10K race up in Brenham on Saturday and then stay with my friends Angie and Andrew the rest of the weekend in College Station...but I just feel too bad leaving Bacon. So, to make it up to myself, I am going to run 6.2 miles at some point next week and then eat some Blue Bell ice cream. :) (The 10K is the Blue Bell Fun Run).

There will be other races and God willing, longer races...

The saga continues...

So the vet had me bring Bacon home tonight because the stubborn feline refuses to go to the bathroom there. So of course, it turns out I was the impetus he was waiting for...he proceeded to pee in his carrying cage as I was putting him into the car. Yeah, three day old cat urine smell in a Honda Civic...not exactly Eau de Parfum let me tell you. So then I get him home and semi-cleaned up and he drinks a bit of water and that's it...no more going to the bathroom and let me tell you, he is definitely walking funny. And he still hasn't eaten.

I have to take him back tomorrow morning for more scans, but they thought bringing him home might move things along... . Bacon, looks like you might be going under the knife.

Bacon status

Bacon is still in the "hospital", being pumped with barium (helps them to see his insides better when they do the scans) and food...seems that he still has quite a chunk(s?) of flipflop stuck in his stomach. Unless it "moves" (I don't think I need to explain to you what I mean by "move"), they are going to have to surgerize him on Tuesday...I did get some good news...him staying overnight in the hospital is only like $20 a day...I will not however, tell you how much the x-rays and barium thing is costing... :)...I think I should have gotten pet insurance...stupid cat...(yeah, I will be happy when he is back here)

My cat ate my shoe

Yeah, unfortunately, I am not joking. Bacon ate part of my purple flipflop yesterday. He's always attacked flipflops (particularly the Old Navy brand) and likes to shred them with his claws. Last year, he got a hold of a brand new pair so I just let him keep them as a toy. I came home Thursday from work and noticed cat sick on the floor. No biggie, cleaned it up and went on my way. There were a couple more episodes (I am trying to make this not gross, by the way). And then I noticed bits of foam rubber in one episode (it took me a few minutes to realize WHAT it was). I looked at the shoes and sure enough, rather than little tiny pieces, there were chunks missing- I mean, we are talking like the size of a quarter. So admittedly, I giggled a bit, because we are talking about the cat who crashed into my kitchen window and broke it, the cat who tried to climb UP the chimney when he was a kitten- there are lots of Bacon stories. He seemed okay yesterday, just a bit quieter, but he's still getting sick and is now just sitting there, staring at nothing- not causing trouble. So I am going to be at the vet when it opens this morning. Crazy cat- I thought instinct would tell him NOT to eat a shoe (it's obviously helping by now trying to get rid of it...)

And done...

Three weeks of craziness later- 1JA mission complete, ATV IS DOCKED!!!, and yes folks, that's right...
I AM GOING TO INDIA!!!!

So excited! Going to see the Fraziers....going to see the Fraziers (I'm doing a happy dance in my head right now...)

This the Automated Transfer Vehicle, built by the European Space Agency (ESA) that docked to the ISS today...