Crash and Burn

Well today was our last in-person day to celebrate our Out of this World success in 2025. After making and flying paper airplanes with my great niece and nephew at Thanksgiving, I was pretty confident going into today's flying competition.

But... I must have forgot a key folding element or something, because I crashed and burned. TWICE.

So no prizes for me this week... other than the bonus deposited into my checking tomorrow. 

I should've won a prize for my cool T-shirt I wore – thanks to Amazon and, apparently COVID.

Still it was fun to have a little levity – and cake! – during a somewhat stressful time. I'm seriously grateful because the last 3 companies I worked for were very focused on cutting costs (and people) to thrive. Now I have a very financially stable employer and I will never take that for granted.

Cake or no cake.

Today's Space Invasion

I love that my company planned today's space invasion culprit to be the sun – and warm temperatures! We're going to get spoiled. Please don't let us down, weather forecaster dudes and Mother Nature!

I had to get gas to make it from work to my chiropractor. All I could think was "tell me it's 55 degrees in Wisconsin without actually telling me." This is definitely it. Also, I'm glad I went through the cleansing line on Sunday!

I didn't get a lot of time to enjoy the nice weather since I had work after work (after my spinal but not attitude adjustment) and then had to edit photos from the Assumption boys' regional win last night to advance to round 2 AT HOME on Friday. We haven't been in this position for quite some time so it's exciting.

As for today's space invasion fun... there was cake and we could dress like our favorite space movie or TV or whatever character. I had nothing. I wasn't creative. But tomorrow we can dress as our favorite planet... and this Atari-era girl is going with an anti-planet Space Invaders t-shirt that says "Don't invade my space."

Dang I miss that game and the rolly-polly ball to shoot the enemies!

Also dang. I guess this is the week I continue to age myself.

Get out and enjoy our spring weather this week – even if it's only temporary!

Close Encounters of the Fun Kind

The 9-foot inflatable alien lurking outside my office door probably would've scared me on any other day. But not during our annual "success week celebration" and the theme is Out of This World. That's what all of us employees are – out of this world!

So as usual, we got all out with theme-related fun.

Fun graphics. Fun food like SUN chips and MOON pies and COSMIC brownies. And games.

And this is all day one of three of in-person festivities. 

My only hope is that I will still get some actual work done and that our alien friend won't suck my brains out!

I'll keep you posted! And if you don't hear from me, well, you know what happened.

Be careful out there!

A Challenging Moment in Time

When one of my nephews turned 40 earlier this month I realized, holy crap, high school was quite some time ago!

A clear memory for me – besides his birth on Elvis' birthday – was the space shuttle Challenger tragedy. 40 years ago today.

It was mostly a big deal to watch in school because there was a nontypical-astronaut teacher on board – Christa McAuliffe. I mean she was from New Hampshire, I believe, so no ties with Luck, Wisconsin. Yet there were some TV's on at school in the library and few other places.

I happened to be in typing class (yes, it was a thing) when the launch was happening. Then suddenly another teacher came in and told our instructor Mr. Lake something. Since we were approaching the end of class, he let us know. In a choked up voice because, well, it was a fellow teacher that gave her life.

I remember I had study hall the next hour and was grateful so I could watch the repetitive footage in the library. It still didn't seem real because it looked like one part of the shuttle was separating from the shuttle like it was supposed to.

I think it really did take the eyewitnesses a few minutes to realize what they'd just seen as well.

Up to that point, I sort of remembered to TV footage of John Hinkley Jr.'s assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan. But even then, after knowing my mom's account of JFK's assassination, it failed in comparison in terms of hype and memorability.

But 40 years later, I'd like to think positive moments in history were part of vivid memories, but instead we have weird things like 9/11, Covid, January 6th, and now... ICE in Minnesota. No political commentary here. Just praying for many nieces and nephews and family in the Metro.

It is, indeed, another Challenge-ing moment in time.

Up in the Atmosphere

We've gotten so spoiled with the brilliant Northern Lights displays in the past 2 years that I think we sometimes forget to look up and appreciate the beauty of the stars on a cold, nearly cloudless night.

My inspiration? Book Club, of course!

Tonight 5 of us were able to meet at Ida's and discuss Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. We don't always go back to the same authors time and again but it happens we read her Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Malibu Rising for previous discussions in years past. Plus several of us read her Daisy Jones and the Six book. She's good. What can we say?

Plus, our club is magical at picking out great books 9 out of 10 times.

I latched on to the storylines of this book for several reasons. First it was set in the early 1980s when the lead female characters were training in the NASA space program. It was around that time (which they obviously mention in the book) that Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983. I just remember how excited my sister Romey was about that because she had lived in Orlando a few years in the late 1970s and was in tune with the news there.

The second thing was that all the fictional stuff in the book came before my first memorable historic moment of childhood – when teacher Christa McAuliffe and her crew members died in the January 28, 1986, explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. 

Reading about the hype (and frankly, doubt) about women in space was interesting. But there were so many complex relationships that made the story so moving. That again, I'm listening to audio and crying in my car. 

Give it a read or a listen. I'm a pretty tough rater but I gave it a 4.5 out of 5. And if you have time, check out some of her other titles. I mean what else is there to do in the winter in the Midwest? We can stargaze and take pictures – but that lasts about 35 seconds before it's time to come in!

By the way, our January book is The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb. I'm already on page 80 and riveted (in, I'll admit, a heartbreaking way).

But if you've read Atmosphere, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Be careful out there and stay warm!

Close Encounters With Book Club

Well we finally had book club tonight and could discuss the book Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs by Luis Elizondo. 

As I mentioned previously, we don't often do nonfiction and I never would have thought to pick this one up. But it was fascinating so I'm glad we did! 

We met up at el Mezcal and talked about what we used to call UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) but now label as UAPs – Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. These are unexplained objects or phenomena observed in the air, sea, or space that display unusual behaviors or performance characteristics not attributable to known technology or natural causes. In other words, they do more than just fly!

While the book was somewhat focused on how the U.S. Government has known about dozens of these encounters and has not shared with the public, there were a few fiction-turned-nonfiction moments to talk about too.

Like people – with either healthy intuition/perception or a Cherokee heritage (not kidding here) – are more susceptible to have an interaction with or receive an implant from one of these UAPs. This book just touched on so much of so many things.

Good meal and good discussion. Now hopefully I can quit overreacting to strange lights and sonic booms!

Spacing Out

Took advantage of an empty nest AND empty house tonight to watch a movie I've been wanting to see all year. Yes, literally all year.

Hubby is taking stats at the Assumption football game in Athens so I rented Hidden Figures. It was nominated for several Academy Awards but it usually takes me until the next awards season to see the old ones.

If you don't recall, Hidden Figures is the phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space. It was very well done and quite inspiring. It always makes me wonder how many untold true stories are waiting to be told so they can influence another generation.

While I was multi-tasking for the first half of it, I relaxed and enjoyed the second half. Glad I took some ME time.

Now it's off to bed early so I can leave the house at 5 a.m. and go watch my cowboy nephew ride in a big competition in Madison. Yup, horses and hay in the middle of the city. I'm pretty excited after all these years to finally see him in action.

Perhaps an untold story I will tell you about tomorrow night!

Bridging the Gap

Not to age myself, but I recall a quarter of a century ago today, sitting in my high school accounting class when someone burst in and said, "The space shuttle blew up!"

What? That can't be!

We sat in disbelief while we tried to absorb the news and our teacher pondered whether we should all get out of class and go down the hall to the library, where at least there was a TV with a connection to the outside world (as opposed to those that just hooked up to VHS players). He didn't let us go, but I had study hall the next hour and I just watched those same 3 minutes over and over while newscasters and authorities tried to figure out what was going on and what to say about the Challenger. The teachers watching it with me were crying because, well, they lost one of their own.

It was just one of those moments in history for me that I won't forget. I have that Jan. 28 date ingrained in my head much like everyone has Dec. 7 and Sept. 11 and June 28 (oh, that's just my birthday so you can mark it on your calendar).

The amazing thing is that not only could I talk to Carter about it today, thanks to videos on the Internet these days, he could watch the event with me and see why it was memorable for this older generation. It was a bit unreal to see again. For Carter, too. I still got goose bumps and a lump in my throat. So tragic.

I am continually impressed with the different ways technology continues to bridge the gap between generations. The memorable news stories are neat to see again. But there is something else far more entertaining... Music videos!

Tonight, Daddy got to show Carter the Bohemian Rhapsody video by Queen. The 12-year-old was suitably impressed.

Then Daddy showed him a little country video on a song called Why Me, Lord? ... something he always starts singing when Carter (or Momma) does something high on the idget scale.

We were not impressed.

Giant Leaps for Mankind

One of Carter's last assignments for Social Studies this year was listing the top 10 major news events in U.S. history. Not as easy as it sounds.

In the mind of my fifth-grader anyway, wars ranked right up there along with the recent presidential election. He may not grasp the importance the creation of the assembly line or the discovery of penicillin, for example, have played in our lives.

And what about man landing on the moon?

It was 40 years ago today that Neil Armstrong first set foot on the dusty lunar surface, announcing it was a small step for a man but "a giant leap for mankind."

I was only a year old so I don't remember that any more than Carter (at age 3) recalls 9/11. But it is kind of special to say this event or that event happened in our lifetimes.

I may not recall the moon landing, but I do have vague recollections of the deaths of Elvis and Colonel Sanders (I know, weird), and clear memories of Ronald Reagan's shooting, the 1980 Olympics and the "Miracle on Ice," Mary Lou Retton 4 years later, the day the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up, both wars in Iraq and Sept. 11, 2001.

I'm not old enough to recall the Nixon scandal. I wasn't here for JFK's last day. That's why we count on the generation before us to tell us how it was to be there or see it or hear about it or experience history in their own way.

Just as my parents have shared stories with me, I've shared them with Carter and Carter will someday tell his kids those important events in history which, for him, will probably include his inside-the-park homerun in the summer of 2007. There was a whole lotta leaping for mankind (mostly joy) that day!

Gotta love history.

Small world

Friends of mine who have gone to Disney World and Disney Land say they hear the song "It's a Small World" no less than a dozen times during their visit. The lyrics are meant to bring us all closer, like one big happy family, but the song gets a bit annoying after the 8th or 9th time ... OK maybe after the 3rd time.

These days, when I think of a "small world" I look at the vast communication networks -- through phones, computers, satellites -- that make it seem like a friend or colleague in China is in the same room. All these technological advances are making this seem like a really small world.

Today, I got a chance to see just how small we are.

This afternoon we visited the state of the art planetarium at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, just up the road. It was a first visit for Carter and me -- and we were quite impressed.

The director spent the first several minutes pointing out stars, planets and constellations we likely would see on a night like tonight (close to the official end of summer). I think he could have spent the whole time teaching us on that and it would have been enough to retain. We saw the Milky Way and realize Earth is such a teeny tiny part of it. Literally a really small world.

The second part of the presentation was on the NASA space program -- its successes as well as its failures. (I still get choked up when I see the Challenger explosion from 1986.) What was interesting about this part is NASA's plans for the future. Did you know that by the time Carter graduates from high school in 2016 there may be an "outpost" on the moon? A place where astronauts and scientists can work, study and research? Incredible.

If you ever get a chance to check out a planetarium, I'd encourage you to do so. It's pretty interesting no matter what your age. And it gives you a new perspective on where we are and what's out there.

It's supposed to be a clear night tonight so I might just have to do a little star gazing in the hot tub -- hey, that's the best of both small worlds, don't ya think?

Space case

Maybe it's a boy thing, but Carter has this keen interest in science and outer space. In his room (on a good day), you will find a microscope, lab kit, telescope and a model of the solar system -- which he'll be the first to point out is inaccurate because Pluto is no longer a planet!

This week's theme at Kidz Camp is Outer Space. This is a conversation between our friend Tamara and Carter:

Tamara: How's Kidz Camp going?
Carter: Great!
Tamara: So what's the theme this week?
Carter: Outer Space.
Tamara: That's cool! So is it more fun than American Idol was last week?
Carter: Yes because I know a lot more about space than I do about singing.

Who's kid is this?