How many more hours to lunch?

It's pretty cold again in here today. So this might be completed throughout the day, once my fingers get a chance to thaw every once in awhile. I'm getting moved from my office with a door to a cubicle by the end of the week. Sad days. The bright side... it's usually warmer in there. Yay!

I'm still kinda sick but I'm feeling much better. I went to Tuscaloosa, AL for an ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Student Leadership Conference. I stayed in a Ramada overnight and think either my allergies got really bad because of something there or I picked up a cold a few days before (there is a guy here who has been coughing from a cold the entire time I've worked here. I've tried to avoid him as much as possible) because I started to feel sick on the way home. Either way, I'm getting to my final hump before I get un-sick.

We had our first ASME meeting yesterday. It went really well. I was worrying about it (imagine that!) a lot before. The meeting went smoothly, there were around 35 people there (we usually are lucky to have 6) and people got really interested in some of our projects. I'm excited. It seems like it'll be a good year, ASME-wise.

On a related note: Yesterday finally allowed me to see the fact that the guys have now started to accept me. I had two guys I had problems with last year in Microgravity show up to the meeting. They came up to talk to me afterwards and mentioned something about working together on a few things in the future. The main problem guy from my MAE 100 can crusher project showed up to the meeting (he's best friends with the VP). He hung out with us before and helped me carry things to the meeting. He hung around after to talk to me and helped us carry things back up to the ASME office. Some of my problem residents also came. There are a few that I won't associate with (mainly because they think its cool to find some reason to get me (nothing against me personally, but I was the RA they knew about who got in trouble so it's kinda fun to keep it going, I guess? I dunno.) in trouble for stupid things, like mentioning I was speeding on campus to a cop or whatever.) but I'm nice enough to them to get them on teams and involved and then I can leave them. The other residents I don't mind hanging out with, now. It was nice to be able to spend time with seniors and grad students in engineering that finally see me as a peer instead of a pink-loving, not as responsible, girl. I've finally proven myself. Things are looking up...

Work is slow. Imagine that... for me at least. Everyone is running around discussing meetings and deadlines. I wouldn't mind in the least to help with those. The guy across the hall is going to try to get me more involved with the Aries First Stage Project. I'm excited because that means I get to get a NASA badge. :D I go around a couple times a day and ask everyone if they need any help. Sometimes I'm lucky to get a few documents to work on or I get to go with someone to check the status of projects in the shop. Those are the times I look forward to. Hopefully thing'll start to move more quickly. We had a huge problem with one of our projects and had to ship it back to CA. I'm chocking the fact that we're slow up to that. If the main project we're supposed to be checking isn't here, we obviously can't work on it. While I'm waiting for something to do, I find enough I can focus on. Plus, today I brought movies to watch. I'm def going to watch Pirates 2... again... since I have not only fallen in love with the movies, but also Johnny Depp. I don't know what it is with me and guys from Owensboro. :)

Claire and I are going to Tennessee to look at a puppy sometime this week. I'm going to email them to see when will work best. Claire has all the puppy stuff at her home from when her golden retriever was a puppy so we'll stop at her house on the way back from the shelter. We have everything worked out with potty times and walks. We are both super excited! I'm already thinking of names... Right now I'm thinking: Procyon (Proci/Procie for short): it comes from the constellation Canis Minour and means "before the dog" since it comes up before Canis Majour; Chara: located in the constellation Canes Venatici and means "joy"; Lexi/Lexy: coming from the middle name of Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space. I know... I'm a nerd.

I'm not aware of any big weekend plans, yet. I haven't hung out with Adam since last Thursday, so I'll prolly meet up with him sometime soon. I'm helping out at a show on Saturday. I may get to help with the C16 Telescope (I got trained on it after the conference. It's pretty awesome!) or just help out with show stuff. Sunday we're going to Bino's hockey clinic. It's not a game and is rather boring, but we have fun. There's another girl who will more than likely be joining us in our ranks of Old People Hockey Cheerleaders. Her name is Amber and is the daughter of our former MAE Chair. Her dad, Dr Bower, died last spring. She seems pretty fun and I'm excited about the possibility of having a new hockey buddy! Other than those few things I'll prolly just hang around the apartment for the rest of the weekend. It's so nice to have free time. I'm starting to finally cherish it.

I'm still hoping to come up to Minnesota soon. My company is sending someone to Minneapolis in the next few days. I begged them to let me come. Alas, I won't be on the flight; I'm a lowly Co-op. :) I'm not complaining... I love my job. :)

Peace, Love and Bright Blue Fingertips,
-m