From Lynda. I just wanted to say good luck to you, Janelle, with your concert and your paper presentation. I am sure you will do a great job with both. I just wish I could hear the concert! Also, I hope Matt had a nice birthday and Nancy, I am really sorry about both hurt hands. Things are pretty quiet down here in Georgia. Pictures of our "new" house will come soon. See you in May!

Okay, here goes...

Hi, everybody! My first post. You are all invited to my choir concert at 4 P.M., February 16th, at Fairmount Ave. United Methodist Church, 1523 Fairmount Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105. Hope you can come.

Also, I'm presenting a paper on the film "Japanese War Bride" on March 6th, at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference. I'm editing and cramming as fast as I can. Very nervous about it, but I'll try my best.

Janelle

So what is all of this fuss about political quotes? I think everyone should just settle down about it all. If you want to talk political, make your own blog. Oh and Nancy, Pete and I wont be out at the Home and Garden show helping out anymore. I guess my brother doesnt need us to help anymore. But you should visit him anyway. I am sure he would love to see some familiar faces.

liv,

After several people voiced concerns I came to the decision that it would be best if we didn't discuss politics on here. I then removed ALL the recent posts that referred to politics. I apologize if anyone was upset by my editing those posts, I didn't think anyone would mind. I thought we could just remove references to those and start fresh. Next time I'll be sure to let everyone know. Just so everyone knows, I won't be editing any future posts. :)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! (oh and the furry monster is gone, but not before one final present for us in the office.. Good riddance you little devil!)

I just mentioned last night that I want to get to the Home and Garden show this year. I'll look for Pine to Prairie & Pete & Maria!
Your poster is beautiful, Joel! Nancy p.s. thanks for all those links.

Hi Everyone,
It seems like forever since I wrote on here. Lots of news! I just wanted to add about our furry monster at our house. She did have an accident last night except this time it wasnt poo. She seems to be getting worse. I am anxious to take her back tomorrow morning. One more night with crazy dog.

I dont know if you early risers in MN have been watching the morning news, but my brother David was on the news this morning and yesterday morning. I hear he will probably be on Channel 4 tomorrow morning. He's being interviewed regarding his showcase at the Home and Garden Show. He owns his own landscaping company and they have been involved with the show for several years. I am so proud to say that I have a famous brother. For those of you who may watch it tomorrow, his company is called Pine to Prairie. Pete and I may be filling in for my brothers assistant on Sunday, so maybe you guys could come out and see us. Take care everyone!

Wow

The other day Hobbyspace.com put up a link to my Columbia artwork. This morning I received this email:

---

Mr. Anderson,

I was reading about the Shuttle Columbia tragedy on Hobbyspace.com, and found a link to your artwork "Lift". I'm going to print out the poster and put it up at work.

I work at United Space Alliance in Houston. My project is the Cockpit Avionics Upgrade.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/shuttle_avionics_020516.html
for more information.

I grew up in MN and graduated from the U of MN in 1992, with a B.S. in physics. After working for 8 years in Wisconsin on commercial avionics software verification, I moved with my family to Houston for the sole reason of being involved with the space program. I saw from some of your links that you might be a U of MN graduate.

Those of us in the NASA family are still mourning our loss. Your poster is inspiring to me, and I think it will be to others as well.

Thanks again for your artwork.

---

Thanks for reminding me that buddy doesn't poop in the house mom! Well, the puppy didn't poop in the house last night.. and here's a picture of Maria and Crystal to show how happy she was we didn't have to clean up dog doo..:)

My latest U of M saga: I'm too cheap to buy coffee there; As I'm coming out of our house this morning, my feet almost came out from under me, hot coffee spilled all over my glove, I had to rip it off with my teeth & plunge my burned hand into a snowbank. Actually the real injured person at our house is Stevie. He jammed his thumb last night skiing off a jump and it's really swollen & painful. He can't even hold his tennis raquet. Say, Peter, Buddy hasn't pooped in the house for a long time...

Puppy Strikes Again!

Update 2:

Maria's parents came over last night to see the puppy and have dinner with Maria. I was over at Mom and Dad's house getting my hair cut. I came home and the dog was just running around wildly barking and having fun..

I went into the office before work this morning, and lo and behold! Puppy poop #3. Maybe we should start taking bets as to when and where the next one will be ??

Update:

the puppy pooped in our hallway last night.. this is turning into puppy poopy house.. ughh.....!!!!

Happy Birthday, Matt!!!
Mark said he and John had to wash the dishes the night you were born.
I think we'll celebrate that way tonight.

Happy Birthday Matt.....

Happy Birthday Matt!!!

Artwork
A while back I found out about something called "card modeling," making models using card stock. I used it to make some of the spaceship models you can see at http://spaceship.mrklingon.org . Fun, and a cheap way to make models. The nice part is, if you lose or wreck parts... you can just print new ones on the computer. The designer of the ones I've used even gives things away for free: http://www.spacecraftmodels.com. After this weekend, he put up a free model of the Columbia - I made the model and used it to make this poster, which incorporates a picture taken by the astronauts during Columbia's last mission: Remember Columbia

I just flew in from NY (and are my arms tired...)

Hey everybody, had a great whirlwind visit to NYC with Mae. Actually, the whirlwind was blowing off the Hudson River Sunday a.m. Had a great time including visits to the American Museum of Natural History (a great place -- also kind of a shrine to Teddy Roosevelt for some reason, reminded me of RHS), Columbia U and several very crowded restaurants. I could have used my recumbent bike -- especially when stuck in traffic coming in from the Airport. The subways were great -- it will be interesting to read the wallpaper next time I go to Subway. Mae was a great host -- y'all go see her. And Liv, go girl...

My mother just called with some news about a fellow volunteer at the MN Correctional Facility. The man they signed in after on Sunday was also bringing two boys to church. His boys ended up beating him unconscious with a shoe and a stick in Colville Park (where we had the Sattergren reunion... he had stopped to show them eagles after church). They stole his car and are still at large. The man has been released from the hospital. He is 85 and has volunteered there since 1985. So much for the "corporal works of mercy"!

We're puppy -sitting for one of Maria's co-workers and it has been a bit stressful so far. First, the puppy pooped in our office and guest bedroom the other day. Today I went home for lunch and let the dog out of its kennel. I left it alone for a few minutes and came back to find that the dog had gotten into one of our fake trees, spreading dirt and fake moss all over the living room. Fortunately it wasn't ground in and I was able to vacuum it up with no problem. No harm done, but I was late getting back to work!

Naughty puppy!

Memories
Four years ago, Liv and I took part in Space Camp - learning about space exploration, launching rockets and even getting to simulate shuttle missions. It was a terrific experience and one that, for us, made reports of real missions come to life. So the loss of the Columbia and her crew was a stunning event - as Liv wrote on her blog: The unthinkable happened this morning. I cannot believe it. I had a Saturday lab for Biology this morning and most of the class was in shock. It's so sad.

This morning, without having talked about it, both Liv and I decided to wear our Space Camp pins: