Fall 2009: What I'm falling for lately...

>> Ares I-X!

Hurray! NASA announced today that it is targeting October 27th for the launch of Ares I-X...and I am totally ready!

This may or may not be a picture of me sporting, not only an Ares I-X sticker patch, but also an Ares I-X pin and NASA shirt with the blow up space shuttle making a guest appearance!!!

>>My NASA Project

...yes, we are finally building our plane!!!

...and it's going to be awesome!!!!

>> My Bellchoirs!

We have been playing a lot more this fall...and they impress me more and more every time! I'm so proud of the hard work they put in...and I appreciate all the fun we have during rehearsals!!

(P.S. they aren't just a bunch of Ding-a-lings!! Well, ok maybe they are, but they are MY Ding-a-lings and I love them!)

>>The Weather

Ok, maybe it's not quite "fall" weather, but today it was only 99...definitely getting cooler!

>>This picture from Astronomy Picture of the Day... (29 September 2008)

This digital mosaic shows the night sky as seen from False Kiva in Canyonlands National Park, eastern Utah, USA. I think I want to go there...spalunking...just to find this spot and see something this incredible!

Side Note: Chris actually found this picture...sometimes when we don't have a lot to talk about we sit around and try to find the coolest space pictures on Astronomy Picture of the Day....yes it's nerdy, but that's why I love him :-) Good job Chris!

Comments

The road to curing Type 1 Diabetes

From the moment of diagnosis, the road is rough, the learning curve is steep and the stakes are literally life or death. The map is less-than-helpful - paths originating from virtually every corner, coalescing at a center point (aka "diagnosis") and bursting back outwards - some paths cross and wrap around each other but others are isolated. And even with all of these roads, most of the territory is uncharted - how did we all get here and how will we all exit? Where are the obstacles we haven't found yet? Which passage holds the key to unlocking the solution?

On any given day I feel pretty isolated with this disease - I'm the only T1D in my group at work, the only one in mission control, the only one in my family. I go through the logistics of calling insurance companies, ordering supplies, changing sites and troubleshooting malfunctions mostly on my own. Even those pesky carbs really only get counted in my brain, no group think for a meal bolus here. But there is b…

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Critical Space Item: Handle With Extreme Care

Someday I want to open a box. The box will be neatly wrapped up with an excessive amount of packaging. Its contents will have been years in the making, and even though it won't weigh much, this small box will represent a huge step forward.

As most flight hardware begins, the space-rated closed-loop insulin delivery and monitoring device inside the box will be sterile and stark. But as the batteries whir to life and insulin is placed within, it will become an extra appendage, an external pancreas, for this Type 1 astro-hopeful. Bluetooth connections will be made and doctors, hungry for telemetry from my bionic body, will be at the ready. We will rely on each other - he on I for his very existence, and I on him for my continued existence. Together we will make up one whole, completely functioning, Type 1 Diabetic astronaut.

Admittedly, this dream feels further and further from reality. I have lived with this disease just under 20 years now, and the cure has always been "just 5 …

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On 20 years with Type 1 Diabetes

I think it's finally time to hit 'publish' on this post, considering it's been sitting here for, oh you know, like 2 weeks now ;-) Sometimes I "April" about things too much (this is Chris's term), and with my dad here for Christmas I realized that it's definitely a trait passed down, haha, love you dad!

To be honest, I never thought the day would come when I would say, "I've had Type 1 Diabetes for 20 years."

20 years ago a cure was 'just on the horizon' and as an 11 year old kid I took that phrase to heart - I had to. My continued existence was based solely on whatever the endocrinologist said - pancreas, insulin, autoimmune, blood sugar, islet cells, shots. I didn't know what I didn't know at that point. I had never heard of an insulin pump or glucose meter. Ketones and hyperglycemia were just big, meaningless words. Carb ratios and counting might as well have been formulas for travelling at light speed. I wasn't ov…

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