Seeing Em's Idol...

Today turned out to be a pretty great day. First I have to tell about the sweater and then I will get to this afternoon.

The sweater:

After making the call the other day to verify what was going wrong with the pattern I was so happy to get going on that darn sleeve again. I could see the finish line ahead of me. If you closed your eyes to try to envision my happiness you would have seen me doing cartwheels as I was approaching the finish line. I got to the last increase row and began to wonder if the "new info" was truly going to work out. I measured the work I had done so far and it just didn't measure up to the printed diagram in the book. So I made another call to the shop and spoke to one of the owners (and one of the authors) and found out that there was even more information left out in the pattern. The author seemed to think it was no big deal and that I was trying to read too much into the pattern and got a little huffy. I let her know that when she is writing patterns, she needs to stop assuming that everyone is a mind reader and make sure she includes every detail that is needed in order to make the project the pattern is written for. I asked her if I should assume that this new info pertains to all the other patterns in the book also and she said yes. She didn't really care that the poorly written pattern caused someone so much grief. After I got off the phone I decided that this will be the one and only book I buy from these two authors.

So on a way better note, the girls and I went to the Rose Garden downtown today. We were on a mission to meet someone. We arrived early and decided that a walk around the garden would be great to spend the half hour wait that we had. Even though it's toward the end of the season for roses, they were still absolutely beautiful. And the smells from some of them were FAB!!!

It was wonderful to walk around, listen to the birds,

and listen to the fountains that are in the rose garden! You know that is what I was sitting near!

Then the time came for us to wonder over for what we really came to the park for. NASA had brought a interactive learning trailer into town for the weekend for the kids in the area. We went today when there wasn't alot of people to deal with. There was interactive tables for the kids to build their own lunar station where astronauts would live while exploring the Moon. There were samples of lunar rock that were brought back when Armstrong was on the moon that you could touch. AWESOME!!!!! There was another room where the floor was interactive and the kids could move computer images around by just stepping near the image and moving it around the room. It all was very COOL!!!

After that is was off to the outside stuff where you could get your picture taken while you were on the "moon" or "Mars" in a space suit. Brenna thought that was way cool! Her smile was ear to ear. Next some robotics that had sensors and lasers that help them move things around and pick things up as if they were on the Moon or Mars. These robots were made out of Legos and of course I have to go look for some of those now. Yeah.

But then the absolute best part of the afternoon is when Em got to meet her idol again.

Yes, Barbara Morgan. The first teacher in space. She made time to come over and sign autographs at the exhibit after her class she teaches at BSU! Em had brought the picture Glenn had taken of her and Barbara at the Morrison Center two years ago when Barbara came home to Idaho after her trip to space. She was hoping Barbara would autograph it for her if she asked. Of course, Barbara said yes. The second Em took the pic out of the envelope and Barbara saw it she exclaimed that she remembered Em from that night. Em was tickled! She asked Em if she still wanted to be an astronaut and told Em about what all she she needs to do in order to work towards that goal. Em is now hooked up to go to junior engineering programs in the near future. So over the top COOL!!!! The very last thing Barbara did was ask Em the favor of getting her a copy of the picture of the two of them a few years ago, autograph it for her (Barbara) and send it to her. Em nearly fell over. Em said "Of Course!". Barbara chatted for the longest time with Em. She told how Boise will be the next spot for NASA to bring in all kinds of programs for engineering, etc. to encourage kids in this area to go into those kind of careers. So awesome! I better start saving up for someone to go to BSU!

There wasn't very many people there at the time and Em mentioned to her that I used to work with her father-in-law at BC of Idaho many years ago. She told me that he had passed away and that everyone missed him dearly. I told her about how proud he was of her training to be the 1st teacher in space and how he beamed every time someone mentioned her. Very dear man he was. Always the highlight of the day when he sat down and ate lunch at the table us girls always sat at. Heart of gold just like Barbara. She emulates what a TRUE teacher is suppose to be. It's all about the kids and her heart is in it 200%. One can not help but like her.

Goodbye's were finally said and plans made to see each other soon at one of the programs. Em was floating in the air as we walked back to the car to head home. She said she so wants to go to BSU now so that she can be in Barbara's class one day.

So a fine afternoon was had by all. And Glenn was "attacked" when he came home, with both girls chattering away at him at the same time trying to tell about every thing they did. Now we have to find the schedule for jr. engineering day so that he can schedule it off and come enjoy the whole day with us. YEA!!!!

Hope your day was FAB also. It's going to take a bit to get off of this cloud after todays excitement!

Sorry for the edit but I had to correct something that I wrote about earlier.

Out of dear respect for Barbara, I put down that she was the 1st teacher in space and I must correct that on her behalf. She never takes credit for being the 1st teacher in space. She gives that recognition to Krista McCullough, who was a very dear friend of hers. She said that even though Krista never made it all the way up to outer space, she was the first teacher to lift off to go to outer space. Barbara said she will never take that recognition away from Krista.

How honorable. That just shows the integrity and heart that Barbara has for others. Barbara said she will always be second as far as this distinction is concerned.