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!

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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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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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Type 1 Diabetes - IT life.

Nine years ago (9 years ago?!), I was still waiting for the black-box-doctors at the FAA to clear my Class III medical certificate - a requirement for my then-job flying on experimental Army helicopters. To 'pump' up my diabetes-dejected ego (ha), Dave let me tag along with him for his MH-47G proficiency simulator runs. That tiny taste into helicopter flight dynamics gave me so much appreciation for him - hovering is literally the.hardest.thing, I was tense the entire time and constantly felt like I was one small cyclic movement away from losing control. Even though I knew in the back of my mind we were in a (moving) simulator, my senses got lost in the weight of the flight controls, the movement on the screens, and the hard thumps when I hovered right into the ground.

At the end of the runs I asked him how he has the stamina to pilot this monster of a helicopter for literally 15 hours straight (these special ops versions can mid-air refuel). He sort of laughed, but his answer…

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