Moving: The Realization That You Have Too Dang Much Stuff

Our recent move to Houston is the first move I have made with a husband. Naturally this implies a husband plus wedding gifts plus enough crap to fill a 3,000 square foot house. And it also points out one of my biggest character flaws: the near inability to say “No thanks” and/or realizing that I probably won’t ever get to that DIY project I saw on Pinterest.

I valiantly tried to preempt this moving-stuff drudgery with weekly trips to the thrift store in Huntsville, and somehow, even after moving, I have again begun schlepping items to Goodwill in Houston. [It may not help that I absolutely love thrifting, trying DIYs that only sometimes turn out how I envision them, and using Goodwill more as a “rental” clothes store so I don’t feel bad about getting rid of some of those pieces.] Along with a 690 square ft apartment we also have two storage units; I have been treating their existence like a bad habit, quietly sneaking stuff into them and hiding it so I don’t have to maneuver around it in the cramped apartment.

I’ve decided this whole apartment stint is a great time to simplify our life, help others out by donating the items we don’t really need, and focus more on just being together rather than stressing about DIYs. And I think we have come to the conclusion that when we are ready to buy a house here it will have significantly less DIY-requirements than our Huntsville house. As much as I love projects, I am also absolutely loving this quality time with the hubs and our three adorable animal buddies!

PS: Moving can’t be as difficult as wrangling your cat into the kennel can it?!

Gus Grissom the cat is less than pleased with this trip to the Vet.

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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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Hot OJT

Last week I had the chance to mentor a newly certified ADCO trainee - the NASA process is called "Hot On-The-Job-Training", or Hot OJT. What makes it "hot" you ask? Well, essentially I am hands off - he is sitting at the console, working all the plan reviews and updates, making calls to other flight controllers and to the flight director, reacting to anomalies and preparing material for the shift handover. My job is to act as the fault tolerance - a backup ADCO of sorts.

Tuesday was his last official day and by Wednesday morning he was in the backroom sending commands to ISS in preparation for the docking of a three-person Soyuz.

The beauty of this system is the gradual buildup in responsibility. There is a subtle shift from student, to subject matter expert, to fresh operations trainee to advanced trainee and finally to certification and real-time operations flight controller - the process takes two years on average and is considered by many to be enough specializ…

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International Travel with Type 1 Diabetes

Whew! Back from one international trip and on to another next week! I will admit my eyes roll every time I get the "we're gunna need to pat you down" talk at TSA, but international travel is a whole different animal. I thought it might be fun to see what goes through my brain and into my bags for these types of trips!

I wouldn't be a NASA Flight Controller if I wasn't good at planning, the key to international travel as a T1D is PLANNING!

3 months prior

Assess supplies. Mine come in 90-days supplies so I like to inventory at least 3 months prior and make a plan to order more early if the trip is going to coincide with the end of my 90-day stock. In my experience supply companies are usually pretty good about adjusting orders as needed if you tell them the reason for the early request - just mention you have an international trip coming up and want to make sure to have plenty of supplies (and backups!) in time. Request a loaner insulin pump. It's likely the comp…

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