Home for the Holidays

We are home in Wisconsin for the holidays, taking a bit of a break from work!

It's been very cold and snowy here. Over the weekend we had a low of -14 (not including the wind chill). So we have tried to bundle up and stay inside.

So far we've put up the Christmas tree at my Dad's, hung out with my sister, brother, and his girlfriend's two kids. We've also made pancakes in the shape of a moose's head at my mom's and played with the cat!













Mostly we have been watching movies and working on our Peru scrapbook...

Movies we recommend to watch with the family:
"House of flying daggers" (great visuals and fun for everyone, but it has subtitles)
"Tropic Thunder" (my favorite, although not for the younger kids)
"Harold & Kumar go to White Castle" (again not for kids)
"WALL-E" (this was the sweetest movie ever, good for everyone, and lots of space stuff too!)

In case you want to check out our digital scrapbook, click this link. Below is the front cover!

Shuttle fly by

When the last shuttle mission landed, it landed in California, so had to be flown back to Florida on the back of a 747. It stopped by JSC and Ellington Field. Here are pictures Paul took!

Snow in Texas

We actually got a big snow storm in Texas this December! Here are the pictures of the house!

Happy Thanksgiving From Houston Mission Control

Paul and I are both working this Thanksgiving in Mission Control for the space station. Although we miss our families, we are thankful to be a part of such a great endeavor as the International Space Station. Today sums up the last two weeks of a shuttle mission to the station where we have brought up new life support equipment to support a future 6 person crew, and also worked on repairing the large solar array motors that we saw some friction and grating in last year.

Here are some pictures of the two of in the control center:

It's here!

Kristin & Ed's wedding is here!

It's time to head over to the Guadalupe for Kristin & Ed's wedding! I'd be there right now, but I caught a nasty cold so decided to try to rest tonight then I'll head up for all the excitement (and some preparation too) in the morning!

We also had an awesome shower for Kristin this weekend:



The theme was wine & cheese tasting, which was a lot of fun. I got to learn how to pair the two, and was surprised how much the right pairing made the wine or cheese tastier! And of course, Kristin got a bunch of great gifts too!

Halloween 08

With Paul in New Orleans for Ed's Bachelor party, Kristin and I have been staying busy.

We went to a work Halloween party - and it was the coolest ever. Everyone came dressed up in costumes (but not crazy costumes)... Actually we were probably the most boring - I wore my devil horns & Kristin wore her halo from the Bachelorette party :)

My favorite costumes were from Jeff and Lori - who swapped professions. Jeff dressed up as a nurse and Lori as a geeky NASA flight controller! Second best had to be Tina Fae and Sarah Palin... and how could I not mention Erin & Mike whose costume was a fake engagement ring!



Thanks to Todd & Josh for the pictures!

Bay Area Adventures

Paul and I went to the Bay Area this past weekend for many adventures!

I finnaly got to meet Paul's lovely Aunt Hilary! We had lunch on the fisherman's warf viewing the bay and also about a hundred Sea Lions!





We also helped run a NASA Academy Alumni Conference at NASA Ames. We got a great tour of the motion based trainer which is used for both R&D and also astronaut training for the shuttle. We also saw a 120 x 80 foot wind tunnel which was very cool. They test everything from semi-trucks to helicopters.

The weekend also included talks from senior Ames management, leading Mars scientists and a handful of SETI discussions through the SETI Day of Science. The most well known speaker was Jill Tarter, who the main charachter of the movie Contact was based off of. And our favorite was catching up with one of Paul's advisors in Physics who gave us a tour of his lab at the SETI institute.



My general impressions after the weekend: I want to make I Heart NASA T-shirts and although I do agree with the saying "If there isn't other life in the universe, what an awful waste of space," I don't believe we will see any of it in our lifetime... If your intrested in that thought, lets discuss it over dinner!

The last highlight was a great purchase from the Computer History Museum in San Jose, a T-Shirt with the quote "I think there is a market for maybe five computers" from the CEO of IBM in 1943. Perhaps the next great market, which I must give credit to Peter Diamandis for, will be sub-orbital flights to space?

ULF2 Team Building

As the lead THOR for the upcoming ULF2 mission to ISS, Paul orginized a team building event, canoeing in the Big Thicket National Preserve!

Only one boat tipped over... So overall very successful!

A new bag

I don't usually post about my bags - but this new one is unique. It's a Jack Goerges bag - which is one of the most quality work bags I have seen - with a lifetime warranty - and about the only thing which will fit our mammoth sized work laptops!

Camping & Wedding planning

This last weekend we combined my two favorites: camping & wedding planning!

We've successfully relocated Kristin & Ed's wedding to a campground :) It's actually pretty awesome and I can't wait.

Here are some of the funnier pictures from the trip:

Where have I been since last weekend?

At work... and I'll be back tomorrow too!

Here's a shot a coworker took to let you know why I've been at work the last 9 days...

Digital Scrapbooking

Today was our first day back at work... and afterwards I thought I would spend some time on my new hobby, digital scrapbooking, to relax. I have been wanting to get into digital scrapbooking for awhile. Last year I made photobooks on shutterfly, which was great, but I wanted more freedom in my layouts. So we got adobe photoshop elements and I have been working away at it ever since.

This is a sample of what I'm working on... and you can see the others in this album.

A good day

We started off back at the Southern Baptist Conference volunteer kitchen, putting beef stew into containers. When the lunch menu was complete, we went out to help at homes of other co-workers in the more damaged areas. Both houses we went to had major flood damage, and all carpets and drywall had to be removed... in one of the houses a layer of mud and slush covered everything. In the other house the mold was already starting to take over - you could smell it. There are many people who are very devastated - and need help.

After the houses we went back to the kitchen for another round, cooking sweet potatos and washing dishes. The people we worked with are mostly from West Texas and very sweet. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures from volunteering and interesting damage we saw... I was taking the photos - but don't worry I was working too :)



When we got home our contractor was on our roof doing measurements - which was fantastic! He had seen our roof when he did our siding this spring and couldn't believe we didn't lose it:) There is a small section he recommended putting some plastic over since you can see some plywood. The whole installation will be about $8K with of course options to spend more (ridge vents, better warranty etc.) Now we just need our windstorm insurance adjuster to agree with him!

The Cleanup

There is a lot of work to do but it's very rewarding. We first volunteered at a kitchen run by Southern Baptist Conference. Apparently they cook 90-95% of the meals that the Red Cross distributes, but they don't get the TV coverage. These mobile kitchens can make 17,000 meals in 3 hours!





After helping there a couple of hours we volunteered with other co-workers to help out at others at work who had home damage. Here is our group in front of a fallen tree we removed.



We plan on doing the same thing today.

Click 2 Ed-n-Kristin

Check out Kristin and Ed's new blog...

They have some pictures from the cabin retreat and roof top tree remevol operations!

How to help or get help...

This blog applies to both those who want to help or need help - because you go to the same places!

Paul and I helped distribute water, ice and MREs with the National Guard and Salvation Army today at the Target on 2094 and 146. They have work for volunteers on a walk-in basis. By the way, the Target is also open and they have the same supplies (water, ice and meals)... they only take cash - but prices are not inflated so that's good.

You can also call 311 (local information line) or check http://www.khou.com/ to find places to help or get help. Tomorrow morning we'll be cooking some meals in League City at the sports stadium a the corner of 1251 and 96, for later distribution. They are open from 7:30 am until mid afternoon.

If you aren't in Houston and want to help, please donate to either the Salvation Army or the Red Cross.

Time to get to work...

Yesterday we spent a lot of time cleaning up fences and trees. Some of our neighbors got a lot of roof leakage and had to strip out carpets, etc. But our neighborhood overall has been very lucky, especially since we have power. Our neighbors that didn't evacuate confirmed that the eye did go over this area, they said it was the one time during the night Friday they could get a little sleep! We also can see the flood line on the front lawn... although apparently it came from the thunderstorm on Sunday and there wasn't much rain from the hurricane by us.

Now it's off to help others. We registered with League City as volunteers but are heading to the POD location we got from the news down the street. Apparently the target is handing out supplies - so we are going to bike down and see how we can help (we want to conserve as much gas as possible).

Home sweet home

We made it home! And we don't have any significant damage to report! No water inside the house. There are shingles around our house on the ground that match our own - so we think we have some roof damage - but again no internal water. (I'm not having Paul go on the roof to check because it is wet right now and steep).

We also have electricity and water!! It's really all unbelievable! The grocery store down the road is also selling gas (although the line is 30 minutes to an hour...) For anyone else coming in - I'd still recommend bringing your own gas. We did see a little bit of traffic on beltway 8 & 45.

Our house is open to anyone who needs a place to stay in the area - please give Paul & me a call.

Our yard was pretty much destoryed... here are the pictures. We were able to move the neighbors tree out of our yard and off our willow tree in just a short time, then repair their fence so they could let their dogs out.



All in all we are unbelivably lucky & happy... none of the neighbors have significant damage either, although the one in the back of us has some significant siding problems. I'm glad we had ours replaced with hardiplank this spring. I think it made a big difference. Driving home we saw some people with lost sections of roof & also lost sections of siding. But by far the big issue is downed trees. The roads however have all been cleared near us.

Of course our thoughts go out to those without electricity and water... those in Galveston who lost their homes... and those who are still not evacuated on the island.

Sounds like good news!

Our friend Mary (Alpha Phi Mary for all our sisters reading) went to South Shore today and found her apartment unharmed and also checked out our house. Apparently some of our boards fell down - and our fence is gone... but no other visible damage... and even better the neighbors said they just got power!!! We'll still have to check out our roof, but all in all things look lucky!

We are staying with Kristin and Ed's tonight... as I posted earlier they had a tree on their roof! And I said "had" - because we took it down with the help of 2 neighbors in about a half hour! Luckily no water damage inside - although the boards under the shingles will need to be replaced. Unluckily the place they had booked for their wedding in November, Surf Side beach, was entirely wiped away - so there will be lots of other things to worry about!

It's crazy what the damage is like here on the outskirts of Houston... We have a lot as a city and community to rebuild.

Other than that I've been getting the busy signal when trying to call out on our cell phones... please check the blog or email us at goslingpaul@gmail.com

Update on Ike evacuation

Hey Everyone we want to give you a status of what's going on! For the hurricane we evacuated to a Cabin near Marble Falls Texas, and didn't even get a drop of rain. It's a great place to evacuate to... we've had a pool & hot tub to relax in and we brought our wine reserves - so had a good time. Here's a picture!



Today we are going to head back to Houston with Kristin and Ed (we checked the info and roads and it doesn't look like we'll have any flooding on our way - but we're going during daylight so should avoid debris as well). They did have some damage... a tree branch fell on the roof over their bathroom and the neighbor does believe it's damaged. But we all called right away and a contractor said they'd come repair it on Monday. The good news is they still have power and water - so we'll be comfortable.

We plan on heading back to our house Monday to check things out. Check the website www.leaguecity.com for information on our city. We are in the South Shore Harbor area, and it reports some flooding there in low lying areas... but I have seen several areas near us flood during bad rain storms as we remain dry - so I think any flooding by us should be over.

We are prepared for no electricity... turns out backpacking & extended stays in the Puruvian Mountians has prepared us well. We are bringing in enough food, drinking water, batteries, propane for camping stoves, and gas to last us. If there is no water we'll probably only be there a couple days and then retreat back up to Kristin & Ed's where we'll be comfortable.

Another good thing to note though is that the city website reported our grocery store is open for non perishables. We have bikes so will be able to ride down and pick things up - it's less than a mile away. This also means there is some kind of electricity there - and close to us - so it could be promising.

We did make calls right away and have 2 contractors lined up to look at our damage this Monday or Tuesday. One contractor said without electricity he'd be able to work on any roof damage we have... and roof damage is most likely what we have.

One note, we've heard several cell phone towers might be down so we may not be able to get through to everyone as often. So please don't worry - we're very prepared and will be safe!

For work, the Space Station is currently being controlled by a back up team in Huntsville Alabama... and the current plan is to keep it operating there until at least Wednesday/Thursday. We're in touch with our bosses but I think we'll be able to take care of our house before we have to worry about it. And of course people with power will be asked to go in before us.

That's the news! Talk to you soon!

Coming to terms with Number 4

Many people were concerned for me and my fellow Wisconsinites when Brett Favre retired, tried to play for the Packers again and then moved to the NY Jets. I'll admit it was rough for me, especially getting the news mostly at work.

Well, I think I have finally come to terms with the matter. The thing is, Brett Favre was the Green Bay quarterback since I started watching football as a little girl, and I just can't abandon that. I love him to death - and he's just fun to watch. If they were playing the Jet's game today I'd be watching it.

Overall, I'll root for Brett, wish him the best and bear no hard feelings. Just not over Aaron Rodgers, our new Packer quarterback!

X2R7 Cookies

Since everyone at work is helping me out with the next software transition coming up in a week and a half I decided to make X2R7 cookies in appreciation!

The frosting is a little bit bright - but they taste great!



Thanks everyone for all the extra work coming up, these will be in the office on Monday!

Girls Weekend Out

Over labor day weekend while Paul had to figure out if he should evacuate or not from Gustav - I got to take the girls out to a weekend in the Hill Country for Kristin's Bachelorette weekend! We had a blast and here are some of the highlights:

Touring the wine country...


Dinner at the Oasis...

Trying to stay out of trouble in downtown Austin...

Photoshop Elements...

Photoshop Elements is pretty cool! (thanks Aunt Susan & Uncle Randy for the recommendation) I haven't started my layering yet for digital scrapbooking - but look at what I did do...

Here's the before: pretty good picture - but with a couple of annoying people in the way (right corner)!


After: Fantastic - ready to hang on the wall!

Family events in Colorado!!

There was soo much excitement in Colorado - it's hard to know where to start!

First - Congratulations on your 60th Wedding Anniversary Nana & Grandad!!! It was so much fun to celebrate with you!



Second - Congratulations Allison on your new baby Andrew!! What a sweetheart!



Finally - it was incredible to catch up with everyone... I hadn't seen Maria since Christmas, so we spent some much needed time together and perhaps, more importantly, much needed purse shopping was done :)

Here are my favorite pics with the baby..