Happy Friday!

Last night wasn't much fun. I didn't get much sleep. I was in bed by 10 and fell asleep by about 10:15. That's great, right? The bummer was I had dreams (I haven't had dreams that I've remembered since the summer) that woke me up every hour or so. Talk about frustrating. So every hourish my light would go back on. Pete wasn't too happy and after about three times, he looked up at me, glared, stood up, turned with his back towards me and plopped down with a sigh. I finally woke up the last time around 3 or 4 before falling back asleep until my alarm woke me up. Yippee.

I've been hanging with Kimberly most of the morning. We've had some fun chats today. :)

Yesterday, a guy here asked me to help him with a piece of hardware that they needed to ship off to Kennedy. He wanted me to clean it, box it, do the paperwork, take it to Shipping and get it sent off. Knowing that he was supposed to do that, I offered to help him. But I told him he had to do the paperwork. I went over to where the hardware was and began to clean it. He stood there, watching me the entire time. To say the least, I was pissed. It only took about three mins to clean which he was there for. He could have done it. Anyway, the thing that bothered me the most... I asked him if he wanted me to pick it up and clean the other side. He told me he would never make me do that. So he started to pick it up. I told him I could have done that and he said that he didn't want me to break a nail. Now that just pissed me off. I asked him if he were worried about breaking a nail. He said no. So I told him to not assume I would be concerned about it, then. I was super proud!

Ummm. Let's see. I need to run some errands today. The bank, the apt, the usual for a Friday.

Hope everyone is staying warm. I know it's rather chilly down here... And MN is getting a dumping of snow this weekend. Everyone drive safely, please!

Peace, Love and Peacocks,
-m

I <3 my job!

My boss received a Silver Snoopy today. So this morning I headed over to Kimberly's office to see if she wanted to walk over with me. Long story short, I stood through some heated discussion before heading over. I wasn't really in the mood to go but Kimberly told me "you want to go, trust me". So we head over. I'm sitting there and the president of the company walked in. Immediately behind him walked someone with a blue flight suit. I turn to Kimberly and super happily said "That's Suni!". Yup! I just met Sunita Williams. :D I stood in line afterwards and got a picture. When I got up to her, she asked me if I was going to apply for the 2009 Astronaut Candidate Class. This is exactly what I needed. I keep getting kicks in the butt to keep on, keeping on. I've been in a funk for awhile; There's a lot of stuff going on. I'm terribly worried about classes. I'm afraid no matter how hard I try, I won't make it. I'm trying to not let what people have told me get to me. I don't give up. The trip home made me question why I'm really down here. I know its passion. But I've hit a rut and I think I needed to be reminded. Next semester is really starting to scare me.

Today is the same ol' some ol'. People, especially in Manufacturing, are getting really stressed out, so I try to only go over there if they've asked me to do something or to check to make sure they have nothing for me to do. I'm almost done with the 10 hour days. So that will be nice.

Pete had a lot of fun yesterday with Fergie and Melissa. Fergie and Pete ran around for awhile. Pete is freakin' fast. After awhile Fergie got tired so we both headed home and then back to work. When Claire got home last night she wanted to go jogging (ha!). I had a feeling it would turn into a walk after not long, so I brought Pete with us. By the time we got home and he got his dinner, he was fast asleep. Though he would wake up every once in awhile, toss a toy and pounce on it until he fell asleep again. When I went to my room at 8:30, he crawled under my bed and fell asleep. I'm super excited to bring him to Minnesota! :)

I don't think I've had my Huntsville restart since I got back. I feel like I'm just running around with my head cut off. I'm hoping this weekend will let me relax. I really want to go hiking. And then I'll be back in the Huntsville swing. Just in time to go home for Christmas. Lol. You would never thinking having to get used to different cultures would be this hard. Oh well. Hiking will help! :)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thursday!

Peace, Love and Going After Your Dreams,
-m

ola, ola, eh.

Yes, I have the cheer stuck in my head. Sad days. Anyhoo...

Today is one of those days that you just seem behind everyone else. I woke up late but took a shower and got ready in about 30 mins. That included having to wait till my wash dried. I put it in the washer last night and was going to throw it into the dryer when I woke up. Well, when you don't wake up early enough, your clothes don't get dried in time. Lol.

I'm taking Mister Pete over to Huntsville's new dog park to meet Melissa for lunch today. I'm excited. I haven't talked to her since three weeks ago (?). And there's some stuff I need to catch her up on. :)

Um. Other stuff.... I got the carrier for the airplane for Pete last night. It'll be a tight fit, but NWA doesn't have a policy about the fit of the animal. Just as long as the dog is comfortable. Which I've already made sure of. I figure I'll have to sedate him, anyway. Yay for coming home! And Yay for having a puppy! And Yay for getting to spend time with those I love! :)

I'm off to a meeting. Hope everyone else's Wednesday goes a little more smoothly than mine. :)

Peace, Love and Contemplations,
-m

Hello, Again...

I'm back from Minnesota and back from a few month hiatus. A lot has happened since the last post.

I'm assuming everyone knows about Adam. Probably in more detail than I will dive into here, but basically, everything has been ended. For good. I'm assuming we probably won't talk again. Which is kinda sad for me to lose a friend. But I think, and I'm sure most people would agree with me, its for the better.

I had a great break and time at home. I ate. A lot. I got to spend a lot of time with my mom and Tracy and Michael. I also got to spend a few days with my grandma, got to have lunch with Paulette and dinner with Erin and Cindy. Kelly will be home over Winter Break, so I'll get to spend some time with her, too. Pete stayed with Claire for Thanksgiving. He wasn't quite sure last night about things when I got into the car, but he climbed in my arms and rested his head against my arm. When we got home, he got really excited and started to run back and forth. We played for awhile. He gave a lot of puppy kisses, then. He then plopped on my bed and fell asleep as I did some final things before going to bed. He is coming home with me over Winter Break. We Pete-ified my room. I'm excited.

The days of my work term are ending and I'm kinda sad about it. I will miss working here. Even for a semester. It has been one of the best things for me lately. I originally thought I would be able to pick up a few hours next semester but found out today that probably won't work out. I'm not gonna lie; I'm kind of bummed...

Melissa and I are going to take Pete and a picnic to the dog park tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. She's a lot of fun to talk to and hang out with. Plus, Mister Pete likes to play with her. :)

Anyhoo, I'm going to head out soon and go for a drive. Today is a driving day. :)

Peace, Love and Random Sara Songs,
-m

My dog snores.

I woke up around 6:30 to what sounded like talking through my wall. Claire wasn't up and I'm on the end of the building so I sat up for a few mins trying to figure out what it was. I looked at Pete who is sleeping in his bed. His shoulder blades are laying on the opening of the bed, his head and neck are on the floor and his back is perpendicular to the bed with his paws up in the air. He was snoring. I have a special dog.

The weekend was pretty good. Friday Claire and I went to dinner with Bino and Dane (one of the new escorts). We went and washed my car and then walked around Walmart for awhile. Saturday we watched TV and then went to a few places Claire has wanted to go for awhile. We grabbed Pete and went to Petsmart. Petsmart with a dog on a Saturday morning... Not the most brilliant idea. He had fun, though. I think he misses being with other dogs. We came back and Pete and I took a nap. We went and got our traditional Saturday pizza and watched the Bama game. We lost to Georgia in overtime. Sad days. Pete had a Bama tshirt on. Claire thinks its bad luck. I told her I think it is more a reflection on the team instead of what the dog is wearing. She wasn't too thrilled about that. Simon and Daylon came over for awhile. By about 11 I fell asleep. Sunday we hung out around the apartment and watched TV. We decided to give Pete a bath. He's now bathed, brushed and with his nails clipped. He did pretty well. I was proud. He goes into the doctor on Wednesday to have his check up. We headed over to Bino's pick up game and hung out with his daughter, Amanda. We grabbed some food, headed home, I talked to my mom for awhile and then went to bed.

Tracy texts me last night to tell me that a kid we graduated with died this weekend. I didn't know him really well, but it still kinda hits me. You think of these people you spent 7 hours a day with, sometimes more, for four years. They didn't seem that big of a part of your life but then when something happens to one of them, you see the community getting back together to grieve. It's pretty amazing.

Geof sent me a message today saying that he is working on something for most of the day that I can't help with. So until at least 2ish, I'm free. I'm bored and sitting here thinking, which isn't the best use of my time. I have to go home and let Pete out at lunch because Claire is having lunch with her mom. I'm looking forward to lunch (a few more hours to go) and watching a movie when I get back (I'll grab one when I'm at home). We have an ASME meeting scheduled for today but I'm not positive Nick got a speaker and I can't get ahold of him. So we'll see about that... Claire wants me to go to dinner with her mom and her. I'm not sure if I will. I don't want to butt in and honestly, it usually reminds me just, exactly, how much I miss my mom. So we'll see. If I work until the meeting, I get an extra 1.5-2 hours in. Yay for getting paid to do nothing and the ability to work shorter hours another day. :)

Peace, Love and Coffee-less mornings,
-m

Yup! I'm still a perfectionist!

I know this isn't really an update, but I'm not the type of person who can not update for a day after doing it everyday for two weeks. So....... at least it has an entry for today's date. I'll update more later.

Peace, Love, and Friday afternoons,
-m

The Beattie/Porter Family Would Like to Introduce Their Newest Family Member...

Petey Beattie.

We picked him up yesterday afternoon. He was happy to see us. We played with him for awhile and then packed him up and rode back to the apartment. We got all settled, he sniffed around and then fell asleep. He slept while we made dinner and while we ate. We then headed over to UAH to walk him around campus. He did pretty well with the 2.5 mile walk. He met a few new friends. We came back to the apartment, gave him some water and took him out one final time. We started to get him all calmed down for bed and then put him in his crate in my room. He slept through the entire night without waking me up. I woke up a few times on my own and he would pick his head up to look at me and then would fall back asleep.

I got up today, let Pete out of the crate while I got ready. I brought in his food and water and shut my bedroom door. When I got in the shower I put the crate to block the bathroom area from the bedroom. I brought his bed in the area and jumped in the shower. He was completely fine. When I got out of the shower he was sitting in his bed. He hadn't chewed anything or gone to the bathroom. I think after a few days we'll be able to let him romp. But we'll watch him for awhile... Anyway, I took him out before I left and put him back in his crate. I left for work and Claire was still getting ready. She gets off around noon and will be going home to check on him. She goes back to work at 2. I get off around 3 and will be going back to spend the rest of the evening with Pete.

Claire is going out with Simon tonight. She's unsure if its a date or not. I think it is, but I told her its up to her. Whatever she wants it to be, it is. She had her outfits down to two and chose late last night what I would consider the more date material one. Since I'll be home alone all evening I called Adam last night to see if he wanted to hang out this evening. He didn't answer so I left a message. I texted him later on to see if he were still up. I still hadn't heard from him this morning (I need to know if I needed to go in early or not. If we hang out, I go into work early so we both get off around the same time.) so I call him hoping I got him before he heads to work. He didn't answer. Oh well. I know I get busy in the mornings. So I might be alone with Pete tonight or Adam may come over. Who knows...

I got in at 6:30ish again this morning. Ive been here for almost three hours already. Yay. I finished another part of the project Terry and I've been working on. I combined our two parts and consolidated them. They'll be sent off soon to Houston. Yay Houston. I changed my wallpaper on my work computer to the pic of Heide and me at the NBL. It makes me smile every time I see it. Terry sent me a link to the new Astronaut Candidate Class's Application. I told him I wish. Maybe some day...

Anyway. Here are some more pics of Pete. :)

Peace, Love and Puppy Kisses Galore,

-m

Happy Humpday!

If Claire and I hadn't of been talking about it the day before yesterday, I wouldn't have realised that today is the 19th. Four months. We had talked for a long time on Monday about everything and I told her that I was getting better. That I wasn't counting down the days till the 19th. I don't have it counted down to every hour since then. I'm getting better. Then the next morning while I'm thinking in the shower, I realise that it was the 18th. So of course it's on my mind.

I'm getting Pete today. Yay! They called yesterday saying his procedure went well and that he is resting in the hospital overnight. They are going to get him this morning and I can get him anytime after 10ish. I told them I would be heading over after work which wouldn't be until 3ish. Claire asked me if I can stand a 35 min drive back from Decatur. I told her I could. And then I added it'll turn into more of a 20 min drive. :) We're taking him home, letting him get used to the apartment and then after awhile we'll take him over to UAH cause Bino wants to see him. I'm bouncing. :) I have a feeling Geof might just tell me to go home early cause he knows I'm so excited. :)

We have that telecon continuation today. We have a Cargo Mission Contract meeting at 8:30. It's every Wednesday and Friday morning. Then I think Terry (one of the engineers here) and I will be working on increasing the depth of one of the projects we've been working on. I think when I'm free I'm supposed to sit in on the rest of the telecon. Who knows... maybe they're already done; they were a few hours ahead when I left yesterday.

The cable guys stayed for two hours last night. Claire and I figured that they had another installation in Mountain View and they were doing the two simultaneously since they would leave for 20 min intervals. Oh well. We have cable (which we already had before), my desktop has internet (Claire's doesn't and my laptop doesn't unless I "borrow" it from my neighbours), and I have a home phone (if you're in Minnesota, mom has the number. If you're here or in Swissconsin, send me a message and I'll give it to you). With the home phone, I don't have an answering machine and figure I really don't need to go out and buy one. If you call home and you don't get me, call my cell. That way you can either get ahold of me there or you can leave a message. Also, I don't know if I'm going to keep the phoneline. I'm going to see if it is a real help. If it is, I'll keep it. If it isn't, I can use the 20 dollars a month somewhere else. And it's my own; the only phone in the apartment is in my room. So you don't have to worry about accidentally calling Claire.

Apparently the hockey players go running around campus at 9pm-ish. Claire and I drove around campus to see if we could find them. We didn't. We did, however, find a really cute German intern who jogs everyday... I'm not complaining. And a group (okay so there were only three of them... but 3 out of 3 constitutes a group) of RDs. Yup. Chris Bruno and his dog, the new CCRH RD and her dog and then Scott (without Max, which I found weird... maybe he ate him. hmm.). We saw them over by the Propulsion Research Center and then we continued along our way. I showed Claire the new road and the round-abooooot and wanted to show her this thing that I thought was a waterfall. I flashed my high beams so she could see from Madison Hall-ish to Lakeside/Sparkman. I didn't want to bother the people on Sparkman so I flashed it on and off a few times. Well....... I saw a group of people and I was like Ooops. People. and then I was like Crap. It's the RDs. Yup. I flashed the RDs. I told Claire they could add that to the list of things they hate about me. Hehe.

Did I mention sometime between leaving my bathroom this morning and getting to work the stone in my Claddagh ring fell out? Again. Today. Funny how those things work...

Anyhoo, I'm going to go get some work done... Of find some work to do?

Peace, Love and Chilly Mornings with Sunrises,
-m

A Nap Sounds Good

I got in today around 7:30. We had a 8am telecon with Lockheed, Johnson and some other random people. I brought coffee. Yum. When I walked into Geof's office, he had gotten a bag of Bruegger's. He had remembered from the other day when I said I wanted a Cinnamon Sugar one and handed me one of those. Later on in the telecon I had a Cinnamon Raisin one. The telecon lasted for four hours. I got a reprieve and went with Gene to the Clean Room to help out with some hardware. At least I got away for 10 mins. The telecon has broken for lunch but I think Geof will be joining in a little bit later. There is a meeting from 2-3:30 that I will probably be going to. I will need to head out a little after the meeting ends so I can run home before the cable guy gets there.

Yesterday I was in a better mood when I left. I got home and hung out with Claire for awhile. We went to run a few errands and grab dinner. We watched a little TV and then we decided to walk over to the apartment's playground and swing. We stayed for a little while before our butts started to hurt and then went back. We talked about stuff for a long time and then we both went to bed.

I'm counting down the hours until Pete comes home. I cannot wait! :D


Peace, Love and Warm Fall Days,
-m

Funky Moods

I've been in a funky mood the last few days so I'm sorry if you've had to deal with me or if this blog gets... funky.

This weekend was kinda... different. Friday, Claire and I went out to the Arsenal to do some shopping after dinner with Bino and Simon. We washed my car on base as well. We went back to campus to show Bino since he had been on my case about my car being so dirty. We dropped off the cat carrier at Will and Virginia's and gave them a couple onesies I got. They were cute, I thought. We went home and had our fondue night.

Saturday Claire left to go home and I hung out with Will and Virginia. It was the Trail of Tears and is Will's favourite day to go and heckle people at Cracker Barrel. We went to breakfast and then spent the rest of the day shopping. I got tired and went home. Claire got back and got ready for Oktoberfest. She left and I headed to the planetarium. I was in a rotten mood. Melissa showed up and we talked for awhile about Astronomy Day (Homer Hickam will be there! :D) and some other planetarium activities with other members. We ended up leaving at the same time. I offered her to drive her to her car because it was dark and creepy at that hour. I told her sometime I wanted to talk about a few things with her. She started in on the things right there. We spent forever talking and when I left I felt a lot better about things. I headed home from the mountain, called my mom and then went to bed.

Sunday I woke up and lounged around my room for awhile. It was 10 till 11 and Claire wasn't up yet so I decided I needed to get out. I was kinda irked by her and didn't really want to be around the apartment. I went shopping and came back. Her car wasn't there and I got even more bothered. I went upstairs, put everything away and then started to make lunch. She come home and we talked for a second before we both started yelling at each other. Turns out we both have had stressors that neither knew about that had been bothering us. In the midst of the yelling (if you know me, you know this) my voice began to shake and tears started welling up in my eyes. I walked over to her and hugged her. We both started sobbing. My favourite line from her : We're a pair, aren't we? We're better now and we've survived our first fight. I told her my part was mainly because I've felt so alone lately and then every time I come home it seems she isn't there and if she comes back while I'm there she leaves about 20 mins later. I told her I'll be weird for the next couple weeks since she was planning on being gone next weekend too. Though it now seems like we'll take Pete downtown for awhile and listen to some music at Big Spring Jam from somewhere downtown and then just hang out. So that doesn't seem as bad. Anyway, I'm hoping this bleh feeling I'm having will pass over. It's getting kinda old. Especially for me. After we worked everything out we had chocolate (it always makes everything better) and we talked. We then went out to Brent's (a former camp counselor who I have lunch with every once in awhile) to get some furniture. He had moved into a new house and had gotten new stuff. We got some random things. I got a desk, we got a recliner and silverware, Bino got a Papasean (sp?) chair, Bino's daughter Amanda got a Lava Lamp. It was a pretty productive trip. We went to Bino's hockey pick up game, moved the furniture into the apartment, ran some errands and then went home. We set up our stuff in our apartment and then both headed to bed.

Today was much slower than had been promised. I worked on finishing a few projects, but other than that, I've been sitting in my office, staring at the wall. The lack of things to do allows me to have ample time to think. If you know me, having any time to think is bad let alone having an entire work day of it.

The cable guy is coming tomorrow so we should have that all set up soon. Even better, my part is all paid up. :) I put the desk from Brent up last night. My desktop is now plugged in and my chair is ready for the cable guy to use. Once I start school again, I'll go and get my real desk, but until then, this will work just fine.

Wednesday, Claire and I are going to get Pete. I'm taking off from work a little early. I'm super excited, especially now that the apartment is clean and my room is all set. Once things got off the floor it helped me relax a little more. His bed and bowls are ready. There are bones around the apartment for him to chew on and toys for him to play with. We have his food in the laundry room and the carrier, leash and collar ready to go by the door. I have a squeaky toy and treats in my car. I'm taking him to the vet early next week after he gets settled in to make sure everything is okay and to get him on his meds right away. I am so incredibly excited! :)

I'm trying to turn around my attitude. I'm trying to count the blessings instead of the pains. I'm trying really hard. I promise.

Peace, Love and Patience,
-m