Hi Grandma

I don't know if anyone will even read this, since it's been over a year since my last post. BUT, I have a funny story, or at least I think it is a funny story.
Last weekend, it was warm, so I went to turn down the thermostat (I always turn it down when Rob leaves for work. I don't need the whole house warm. It's easier to just wear a sweater or a blanket.) Well, when I got to the thermostat, I shocked it with static electricity. Normally a static shock is just that, a shock, nothing more. I guess I had built up more than is normal, and more than the manufacturer of the thermostat thought likely, cause the screen blanked out, and the buttons wouldn't work. After fiddling for a minute or so, I had to take out the batteries and replace them to get the thing to turn back on. After that, I turned down the heat and went on my merry way. That evening Rob got home, and it got a little cold. So I asked Rob to turn up the heat, which he did. About an hour later, I noticed that the house was getting colder, not warmer. Rob and I went up to the thermostat and tried to turn up the heat more, but the furnace wouldn't start up. So, Rob started fiddling. He checked the furnace to make sure the pilot light was still on, he took apart the thermostat to check the connectors. (He did a lot of stuff, those were the only two that I was able to follow). After an hour or so (this was a Friday night, so Rob was tired from a long week of work) I told Rob to worry about it tomorrow. It was a warm night (for late November) and tomorrow was supposed to be a warm day (mid 60's) so we wouldn't freeze. We cuddled up in a blanket, finished our show, and went to bed. The next day, Rob came to the conclusion that I had shorted out the thermostat with my static electric powers (I was able to short the wires through the plastic). He went to the nearest Home Depot and bought a new thermostat (it's a nice new touch screen one, and we can control our heat with our smart phones). It took all day, but Rob was able to do the wiring and fix us our thermostat. YAY. A couple of days later I changed the heat, and shocked the new thermostat, though luckily not as bad before. I turned to Rob and promised to never touch the thermostat again (I'll use my phone).

And this is our Christmas Tree!!!!! We bought it two days ago and decorated it yesterday. The decorations are a little sparse, right now, but that will change. There is a tradition in Rob's family that we have carried over into ours. Every year Rob's parents would buy each child an ornament that symbolically (or otherwise) represented that year. Well, Rob and I are continuing that tradition in our family. We have bought an ornament every year since we were married (still looking for this year's) But as our family grows, so will the amount of ornaments on the tree. (and I will admit, we bought a big tree) Our living room has a vaulted ceiling, so we bought a tree that fits (9ft) I know, big. But it's sooooo pretty. Rob did it to make me happy and see me smile. Plus we got it on sale AND it was the last one, so it was the floor model, giving us another 10% off.
Anyway, that is life for us. I hope you enjoyed this post, Grandma (she's been bugging me to write one again)

Hi again. Sorry it has been so long. I admit, I am not the best blogger, oh well. The exciting thing that has happened in our family recently is that Rob was able to present a paper to a prestigious conference, the American Astronomical Society 34th Guidance and Control Conference. He was amazing. I was able to talk my way into going to Breckenridge Colorado, where the conference was held, and also I talked (more like just walked) into his session and so I got to see him present! He was sooooo good. The place was full of professional GNC (guidance, navigation, control) guys and PhD's. All were intensely listening to him and were interested in his ideas. It was fun to see him shine. So that you all can enjoy it too, I recorded it, te he he. His presentation is 20 minutes long, just so you know. But Rob explains everything he has been working on for the last six months, if not longer. So here he is...

(Blogger won't let me upload it, so if you want a copy email me...)

The next big thing to happen, is that Rob applied and was interviewed for a job with Emergent Space Technologies, Inc. They liked him so much that they are going to fly him out to Colorado sometime in March, to see if he fits the team and for another interview. If Rob get's the job, he would be working on the Orion Space Capsule (what NASA and the space community have planned to take over for the space shuttle). Rob is really excited. I am extremely proud of him.

Fifty Free Christmas Cards!!!

Hi again! A couple of days ago, I was checking our blog (to see if anyone had commented or read the new post). I didn't really want to go to bed, yes it was late, so I was just blog surfing. I would click on the next blog up in the corner and just see who I would get. Well I landed on a family blog where the writer (the Mom) was advertising 50 free Christmas Cards from Shutterfly. I was like, "what?" so I read about it. I also decided to sign up. What is going on is that shutterfly is doing this promotional blog thing. If you sign up at this site http://bit.ly/sfly2010 you get all the info. What you have to do is send in your email, write up a blog post about how cool this is (by the way I think it is way cool! 50 free cards from Shutterfly?!?! and the cards are way cute). You also have to share some favorite links to Shutterfly. Here are mine: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery ; http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards ; and you can't forget new years (some of these are cute too) http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/new-years-cards . They also send you some links to stationary and other cool stuff. I was soo excited when I read her blog that I signed up right away. I have been spending all morning looking at Christmas cards. I hope you guys take advantage of this way cool offer!!! Well, I have to go clean now, but I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!