101 Things

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liveuponatime.com

It’s pretty hard to describe how amazing it is to see a space shuttle launch.  You really have to see for yourself.  There are only five launches remaining, so quickly write your Congressman or Senator to request a VIP invitation.  Here are some resources to get you started:

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/letterscongress.htm

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

I wrote our Congressman about five months in advance.  His assistant called me about a week after I mailed the letter to request the names of everyone in my party and the details on the launch we wanted to attend.  She said she would submit our information to NASA for “consideration”.  Almost exactly one month before launch day, our beautiful invitations arrived in the mail.  The invitations required an RSVP, which I immediately confirmed.  A week before launch, NASA emailed a detailed itinerary with instructions on where to meet the bus that would take us to the launch site.

We arrived at our friend’s house in Melbourne around 6pm and had the kids go to bed until 10pm.  We arrived at the rally location in Merritt Island around 11:30pm and waited in line in the freezing cold until about 12:15am.  They checked our IDs against the guest list and handed us our bus passes.  The busses shuttled us to Kennedy Space Center where we had to get off the bus, wait in another long line to go through metal detectors, and wait to re-board the bus while police dogs searched for bombs.  Finally, we arrived at the Causeway launch viewing site (about 6.5 miles from the launch pad).  We unpacked our sleeping bags and lawn chairs and tried to sleep until the launch at 04:39am.  I’m not sure exactly how cold it was - maybe 40 degrees - but I’m certain the night got colder as the wind blew over the river.  I don’t remember whether it was my shivering or the lady at the concession stand yelling, “We’re out of hot cocoa - sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits are $2″ that kept me awake.  Although, now that I think about it, it could have been the flatulent old man that parked his lawn chair above my blanket-covered head that kept me reconsidering the importance of “101 Things To Do Before You Die”.

At that point, I swore to myself that I would not attempt another shuttle launch.  That was also the same moment, 10 minutes before launch, that they announced that the shuttle launch was scrubbed due to clouds that could prevent an emergency landing.

We attempted another shuttle launch the next night (after deep soul-searching); however, my husband let us girls sleep on the warm bus until 10 minutes before launch.  I do love him so!  We were all in chipper spirits as we ran out to the launch site to hear the final countdown - 10 - 9 - 8 - I should call my mom - 6 - 5 - ring, ring - 3 - “Hello?” - 1 - LIFT OFF!

Husband: “Get off the phone!”

Me: “I don’t want my mom to miss this!”

Mom: “Is everything okay?  It’s 4am.”

Me: “Listen to the shuttle launch!”

The moment was so magical.  I felt like a kid again, when all things were possible and dreams really do come true.

Watch our launch video here:

About the STS-130 launch:

 There are several things that are special about this launch: first launch of 2010, last night launch, and last U.S. built modules delivered for the International Space Station (ISS).

The mission will last 13 days.

There are 6 crew members: George Zamka (Commander), Terry Virts, Jr. (Pilot), Nicholas Patrick (Mission Specialist), Robert Behnken (Mission Specialist), Stephen Robinson (Mission Specialist), and Kathryn Hire (Mission Specialist).

You can text “follow spaceflightnow” to 40404 to get twitter updates of the launch texted to your cell phone.  I was able to keep everyone around me updated on the status of the launch because of these convenient texts.  Be sure and turn the messages off by texting “leave spaceflightnow” when you want to sleep through the night again.

I’ve always wondered why people don’t keep their blogs updated…that is, until I fell into the black hole of life’s other responsibilities.

A friend suggested that I make my own to-do list rather than conforming to a list that was created by someone else.  I want to assure all of you that I’ve fully inspected Richard Horne’s list and wouldn’t want to exclude any of the Things from my list.  I get to add my own personal spin on Horne’s list, and, to me, that is the beauty of it.  BUT just to prove that I have my own unique goals in life, I want to share a couple of my recently accomplished Things.  I like to call them “102″ and “103″.

Thing 102 actually trumped Thing 74, so I had to put flying a plane on hold.  In December 2008, I finally completed my Master of Aeronautical Science in Space Studies from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  Now, I need to focus on Thing 104 - completing my Ph.D.

Thing 103 trumped Thing 9, so learning piano is put on hold for now.  My husband and I began talking about adoption in January 2007.  That same month, a little girl entered foster care and began her journey through many homes to find her forever family.  Matt and I could not begin the 10-week adoption classes because of his deployment schedule.  My mother and I tossed ideas around about what we would name a little girl, and we always agreed that “Katie” was perfect.  Finally, my husband and I were able to start the class in between two deployments in 2008.  We were even able to complete our home study and all of the paperwork before he left the country again.  Throughout his deployment, we passed the time by looking through profiles and contacting agencies.  When Matt got home in February and we still hadn’t heard from any agencies, we braced ourselves for what everyone said would be a long process.  Only a couple weeks later, we were in for a surprise.  A message on our answering machine said there was an adorable little girl that would be up for adoption soon, but needed a foster home within two weeks.  We called the caseworker back, and asked what the girl’s name was.  “Kaitlyn”, she said.  She moved in around March and became our “Katie” forever in August!

Besides Things that get pushed to the side for other Things, there are also Things we set out to do that end up as ultimate failures.  Case in point, the Endeavour Shuttle launch on June 13th, June 17th, July 11th, July 12th, July 13th, AND July 15th!!  How did we manage to attempt a shuttle launch that would get pushed back five times?  Obviously, we were not destined to see this launch.  The night before the first scheduled launch, we had to drive all night from Georgia to Florida.  Somewhere in BFE, Florida we turned into 2am zombies and had to stop at a hotel.  I was so relieved to hear we didn’t miss anything the next morning because the launch was scrubbed.  We continued to drive to Kennedy Space Center to tour the launch pads and find out when the next launch attempt was scheduled.  We toured Disney World while we waited for the June 17th launch to take place (not a bad Thing).  I watched the NASA Channel until 3:30am on June 17th, only to find out that the launch was scrubbed again due to a gas leak.  I considered going back for the July 11th, 12th, and 13th launch reschedules, but thought better after I heard the thunderstorm forecast.  By July 15th, I had accepted that this was not the launch I was supposed to see and gave up.  The shuttle launched successfully that night.

I can’t complain about the failed attempts to accomplish Things.  I feel more alive during the JOURNEY with my family than while checking off any to-do list.  See our journey here: