First of all, lately I feel like a workaholic. Really my mind has room for little else besides my every growing to do list and the looming deadline of "launch" next Saturday. Followed by the rest of the month on a really crummy shift - my hours will average midnight to 8 am, but shifting around to as late as 3 am or as early as 10 pm for my start time. This is going to be a long mission. But the exciting parts 1. Its my first "lead" assignment. 2. I am orbit 2 FDO, which is my first time as a FDO where I get to actually execute orbital maneuvers rather than just plan them. Yay for burns! (Ok, I've done plenty of burns as a Traj, deorbit, a couple rendezvous's, a couple orbit 2's... but I am still excited about the "hot seat". Guess I'm not jaded about my job quite yet, even if I am starting to get itchy feet to move onto something new...)

On top of working all weekend... Cari is moving. It is the end of an era. She's lived with me for almost 6 years now. Longer than any other roommate (unless you count my parents and brother). Well, she went ahead and bought herself a nicer house. In fact, I want to move to her house and leave her mine. Anyway, I knew she had a lot of stuff. How do you get to 30 something without a lot of stuff? But yet I am still left surprised at how empty the house seems. I am pacing through it realizing I need more bookshelves, end tables a coffee table, pictures for the walls, etc. Oh and also marveling at all the things the dog hair collects behind, I'm going to have to remind the cleaning lady to occasionally move the beds and couches for a real scrubbing occasionally. Also, finally seeing Cari's closet empty makes me realize what an incredibly nice closet it is! I think I'm going to move my camping and skiing stuff into it so it doesn't clutter my closet any more. This is really not the world's best time for me to take up redecorating and reorganizing, but when is it?

Will I get another roommate, people keep asking me? As if my husband is not roommate enough for anyone (and, yes, when he's home he is like a tornado of activity). Maybe, I'll rent to a co-op student some semesters, if Byron doesn't get recalled by next fall or if he ends up in a job that keeps him out town a lot (highly likely, being a pilot and all) and I get lonely (have I mentioned before, I really like living with other people?) . My plan is to leave both bedrooms guest room quality, but we'll use one closet for storage and leave the other bedroom's closet empty so that it can be moved into by a co-op or someone who might stay with us longer term. And then we'll just see what happens.

The good news is that I now have two completely empty guest rooms and only one annoying dog instead of two. Visitors, plan your trips ASAP!

The only custody battle Cari and I had was over our front door mat. Its regular mat and all it says on it is "leave". It makes guests very entertained and makes me smile every time I walk through the door. Anyway, a quick google search shows them no longer for sale. But I did find a worthy replacement, it is a doormat that reads, simply, "Come back with a warrant"