Offical Letter to STS-119 Guests (Update)

Family and Friends of STS-119,

NASA managers and engineers met on Friday, February 13 at the Johnson Space Center to discuss recent results from the on-going analysis of the flow control valve issue which has caused delays in the launch of STS-119. The meeting was lengthy and detailed, lasting almost 10 hours. In the end, managers rescheduled the continuation of the Flight Readiness Review for February 20 at the Kennedy Space Center. The Flight Readiness Review will officially set the launch date for STS-119; however, today’s meeting recommended a launch date no earlier than February 27. If launch occurs on February 27, launch time would be approximately 1:32 A.M. EST. Please see the attached NASA Public Affairs Office press release for further details on the investigation and upcoming Flight Readiness Review.

I am very proud of the significant work performed by the numerous NASA centers across the country in support of STS-119. I am confident NASA engineers will ultimately develop a solid solution in the best interest of safety of flight. In the interim, the crew will continue a moderate level of training to be ready to support a February 27 launch date. We now plan to enter quarantine on February 20 and travel to the Kennedy Space Center on February 22 in anticipation of a potential February 27 launch.

Have a great weekend and thanks, again, for supporting STS-119.

Lee J. Archambault, Colonel, USAF
STS-119 Commander

• Well with this current information the tentative plan for our family is to leave Houston on the 22nd of Feb. and arrive in FL on the PM of the 24th of Feb. and to be around 2 full days before the launch date to be available to help then we will head back to be home the 1st or the 2nd of March. We should know more by the 20th of what we will be doing. It's time to get excited about this trip again and make the needed check list of what has to get done. And hope that all the kids will be in clear with being healthy by then.
  

Valentine's Day

So today we tried to sleep in some since Glenn & I did not get to bed until around 2:00 AM. Sick kids and wanting to stay up to have some kid free time has been making us both night owls and early birds. Papa Herman came by to see about getting help moving Lois's big TV out today. We took our time getting up, making breakfast, and starting our day. I let the kids open up their Valentine's Day goodies and Papa Herman wanted to give them the cards he had for them as well. They also gave the candy, homemade cards and presents they had to their daddy, Glenn.
We spent the rest of the day keeping Merlova occupied, and playing nurse to sick Zhivanna and Akorren. They played the Wii game we rented (Dewey's Adventure, cute game) and I was even able to get Akorren to do some of his work from missing school all this past week. The kids watched Nim's Island in the PM and had small snacks for dinner, no one was really hungry for our normal sit down dinner. So at about 8:30 PM when the kids were in bed I made Glenn and I a nice Tai peanut chicken meal with pud-tai (shrimp) noodles on the side. So much for going out for a kid free dinner on Valentine's Day. We will just owe ourselves a night out once the kids are all better again soon.
It is interesting how much LOVE and being in love has changed for us over the years. Especially the life Glenn & I had before children. It is almost like a long forgotten life we faintly remember having. We loved having fun and doing things with other people, enjoyed the nights out: movies, playing pool, out to a bar or dinner over at friends houses. I am always amazed at how much having the children has made me love Glenn all the more. I think he is the most sexy, loving, great husband, man and dad around and I am glad that I have him. I also love my 3 little Valentine's so much I can not imagine my life without them, (even though lately I really am tired of this all being suck at home and being sick thing!). Being able to love so many different people in such a deep way is a truly touching experience and a wonderful thing to feel in living this thing we call 'life'. It is at times like this, when I get both mad and sad because I know it never always going to be like this, with feeling all the love. I know in reality that I am not immortal, like I think I am and it saddens me that I cannot go on forever feeling the love that I have with my family. (sigh) So in the meantime I will enjoy it while I can and take all the hugs and kisses I can give and get. Hope you have a good day filled with love and joy in your heart. Akorren with his V-day goodies, Zhi and the $ from Papa & Lois, Papa H looks at the cards while Merlova eat spidey chocolate, daddy admires the envelope to his homemade card.

Another one down

So as I mentioned from the last posting Zhivanna was not feeling well. So guess what?, she is now under the weather too. Akorren is feeling much better, just an annoying cough that doesn't want to respond to his asthma medicine. So today was one of the on duty all day stuck at the house/play nurse to the kids day, where I can't go work out or get much done because at all moments of the day someone is always needing something day. Yay! My gal pal Carol did manage to come over briefly in the afternoon, so I could do a page or two in my scrapbooks. (Thank you!)
After Glenn got home this evening I almost forgot about the sweethearts dinner at our church. I thought it was going to be on Sat. for some reason. We originally were not going to go thinking we would be traveling to FL for the shuttle. But at the last moment I decided that it would be something fun for us to do as a family, so I bought us all tickets. Glenn looked at me and said, " you know you have been stuck in the house all day with sick kids why don't you take the two that are not sick and go, I'll stay with Zhivanna". So I got the other two ready, had daddy take a picture of me with my two dinner dates and we headed off to church for a nice spaghetti dinner. Both kids were pretty well behaved and ate well too. It was nice to get OUT for bit. On the way back home we stopped at the video store and picked up one Wii game and 3 videos. I figured our weekend, and Valentine's Day was going to be an inside day between the sickos and the rainy weather. So after getting the other two kids in bed it was fun to watch the original BBC The Office show with Glenn. I absolutely love the American version and being able to watch and see both really made be appreciate good writing. Mommy with her two dates, and sick Zhivanna with her rosy red lips and cheeks.

Keeko Update

Canceled working today so I could wrangle kids (Akorren still home sick & missed class V-day party) and do dog and household stuff. Got Keeko to the vets around 9:30 AM to start an IV for fluids since he had not eaten in 24 hours. He did not drink enough water to even urinate this morning. He was looking very worn out and dehydrated. He was also going to have blood work, and an x-ray taken while he was there (just to make sure he had no blockage in his gut). That way we could use the results to rule out what it is not. I was able to take the girls to dance class, drop off the party stuff for Akorren's class even if he was to miss the party, set up a play date for Zhivanna and get some of the regular home things done.
Glenn was able to pick Keeko up at 5:30 PM and $415.00 later arrived with a better looking dog and a case of special diet food to start him on. Dr. Huber says some sort a bacterial thing that will work it's way out of his system. I am glad we took him in when we had to, it could have gotten worse. Keeko was glad to be home and looked bright in the eyes. He was looked filled out and not drained. With a shaved left arm he found a comfortable place in house to rest. He was hungry this PM and Glenn was able to give him a smaller portion and a half of rice and special diet food for him and he ate his fill. He is resting by my feet now as I type this and looks a lot better. Since the shuttle still looks like a go for the 22nd of Feb. it is really important that we get him back on his feet again to feeling better. The cost for veterinarian bills always hurts since most people do not have animal insurance but since he is like the 1st child we would find a way to pay for his needs. I am feeling some relief now as it feels like he will get better in the coming week. Now as far as the kids go, I'm not so sure. Just put Zhivanna to bed early, she started to say that she was feeling "ouuugey". Wish us luck!

Now a Sick Dog

I cared for a flu like sick boy today and wrangled the girls, in the AM. Worked a 1/2 day teaching in a bilingual 3rd grade class then took the kids to gymnastics. We arrived back home to the house around 5:30PM with gear in hand ready to get dinner and the PM routine started when the children noticed some 'throw up' in the play room. "Mom one of the dogs threw up". I checked where the children had pointed out the mess (3 spots in the playroom, yuck!); I looked for the dogs (Panda is outside)and Keeko is sleeping/lying in the front entrance. At first glance I get worried to see him. He moans to me as I go near him. I get Keeko up and out of the house just in case there is anything left in him to get out. He seems very weak and stiff in his movements, his sides still tightening every so often as he stands. Around him on the floor are puddles of drool. I get him outside and make the organizational plan in my head quickly of how I will begin to clean things up. I feel so sorry for the poor dog the locations of the mess indicate that he was trying to get outside so as not to mess in the house. Such a good boy!
Keeko seems to like being outside and looks okay for now. I clean 2 of the 3 new spots I find on the tile, easier to clean then the carpets. I turn towards the study and am stopped in my tracks as I see what looks like a reddish brown paint splash on the floor. No wait a minute that is blood...blood, BLOOD. Oh, no Keeko! I say to myself as my heart drops, I keep it from falling into my throat. Breathe Melissa. Grabbing the vet magnet off the fridge I dial and ask how late they are open, I seem to be "..having kind of an emergency with my dog, he has thrown up all around the house and one spot on the floor looks like blood...I can bring him in now as soon I can load up the kids and everyone in the car again, see you shortly." So off we set, the kids can read the calm, seriousness in my voice and manner as I instruct them to grab whatever they want to snack on out of the pantry, get shoes on and get into the car, now. A quick phone call to Glenn, "meet me at the vets." And I carry my 50lb. + dog into the mini-van and head off.
I carry Keeko into the vets office, then go back and unload the clan of children. The cartoon on the TV help to distract them, except for Merlova who is running on no nap, and is looking for trouble. Glenn arrives just as Dr.Thomas Huber. (League City Animal Clinic) comes in to look at Keeko. Exam, weight check, fecal sample, observation of Keeko walking outside. Plans to treat this as a bacterial infection, Huber mentions having seen many dogs come in like this in the past month. Bloody vomit, but not going to worry to much about that just yet, not uncommon for dogs to have blood in stool or vomit if sick. After 3 antibiotic shots (ouch!) Dr.Huber recommends we take him home where he will be more comfortable to rest and watch. "If he has any major problems or you have questions, call me on my cell number, I'll write it here on the top." A prescription to pick up at CVS for the dog, will do and for under $300 were are on our way out the door with a worn out dog who needs some rest, more medicine and time to be cared for and observed over night. The plan is that if he does not want to eat and looks bad in the AM after all the other medication then an IV may have to be our next option, meals of boiled rice and plain chicken will be on the menu for the next week or two. A distraction of candy from the basket at the vet office made it easy to transition the crew back home. Now time to get kids fed and into bed so daddy and mommy can clean up the dog mess and tend to our other sick boy. Glenn will sleep downstairs with Keeko for the night. I will have the main kid watch upstairs for the night. I hope to have a healthier dog in morning to write about soon. A weak worn out Keeko dog, getting some love and hugs from daddy.

A sick boy

This morning Akorren woke with 101 fever, so I decided he could not go to school, I cancelled going to the YMCA and working a half day in the PM over at the local middle school. Then I called Papa Herman, who was planning to have the girls anyway and made arrangements for him to take the girls over to his place to watch while I took Akorren to the walk-in clinic at our pediatricians office. I was a little bummed since I had to cancel working and exercising (as I live for my Taebo workouts) and anytime the routine gets messed up it makes me feel off. We ended up getting to wait at the doctors an extra 30 minutes since I signed our names in on the wrong sheet, making our total visit just under 1 hour and 45 minutes, yay!
We made it back home after 11:30 AM making a stop at the pharmacy to drop off and get prescriptions for the next week and get food for the boy. While making him rest and trying to catch up on emails/household stuff I received a message from a church friend who's 23 year nephew, Jimmy had just passed away from a seizure and never woke up. She did get to see him last December when she was in Main. I stopped to think for a moment. I go over to my resting son, Akorren and give him a big hug in memory of Jimmy. I tell him that I love I him and that I know he will feel better soon. I take in the moment, and then I say a thank you in my heart for my friend Carol Ann and her family members Susan and Christine for sharing a gift of caring and gratitude for all that life gives you. Here is blessing that comes to my mind.

Prayer of Passage
Oh Mother Nature
There is great sadness
A cherished one has gone

Emptyness engulfs me
Loss languishes within
Help me bear this grief

Accompany their spirit
Comfort we who grieve
Let us rejoice in their life
May their essence be recorded
Renew our rememberance with joy

My sick boy resting after he ate some of his lunch.

STS-119 Update News

NASA Sets Special Review Meeting

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:39:16 AM CST

NASA's Space Shuttle Program managers will hold a special meeting Feb. 13 to review flow control valve data and determine whether to proceed with the Joint Flight Readiness Review, or FRR, for space shuttle Discovery's STS-119 mission to the International Space Station.

The valves under assessment channel gaseous hydrogen from the shuttle's main engines to the external fuel tank. One of these valves in shuttle Endeavour was found to be damaged after its STS-126 mission in November. As a precaution, Discovery's three gaseous hydrogen valves were removed, inspected and reinstalled.

In light of a positive outcome from the special meeting, the official launch date will be set at the FRR, although for planning purposes, the liftoff currently is scheduled for no earlier than Feb. 22.

Meanwhile, STS-119 Commander Lee Archambault and Pilot Tony Antonelli will fly to White Sands Space Harbor in Las Cruces, N.M., in T-38 training jets late today for night landing practice in NASA's shuttle training aircraft.

• For us this means we will look to leaving the TX area on the 18th of Feb. to make our way out for a 22nd of Feb. launch. We will know more the day of the 18th if we need to be out of here or not. We are still sending good vibes and thinking about all the people who are working on making the shuttle safe and ready for fight. Yes, there is a delay but this still will be an event well worth the wait.
  

Image above: Attired in training versions of their shuttle launch and entry suits, these seven astronauts take a break from training to pose for the STS-119 crew portrait. From the right (front row) are NASA astronauts Lee Archambault, commander, and Tony Antonelli, pilot. From the left (back row) are NASA astronauts Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, all mission specialists. Image credit: NASA

Time for Valentines

The kids have been getting excited for Valentine's Day. I know this comes out of a real commercialized idea now a days (the card industry, florist, candy stores/ jewlery) but we are trying to make it a day to think of those we love. My original plan was to have them make homemade cards to give out using my craft/scrapbook stuff. Then the space shuttle launch was supposed to happen on the 12th of this week so I thought I could get out of it all. Then I realized I couldn't just drop the ball on this one and say, " sorry we are not going to do Valentine's Day and you will have to deal with missing your parties because we will be gone." Needles to say knowing that I would have send in things ahead of the party dates to school because of the shuttle I broke down and let them buy store made ones. (Me bad)
Anyway, enough fretting about that...they all had a good time signing their names to the cards, tearing them apart, folding them, taping candy to them and having them in a bag to hand out. Merlova and Zhivanna plan to give some out at gymnastics and dance. This is especially exciting for Merlova since she is not in a mothers day out program and has no school peer group at this time. Merlova picked out Hulk Valentine's and put mini M&M's on them, Akorren has Fantastic 4 ones with blow pops on them and Zhivanna has bunny ones with heart shaped lollipops on them. Merlova thought she was such a big girl signing her own cards with her "O's" signature, it was really cute watching her do it all by herself. Merlova with her Hulk cards, Akorren taping the lollipops, Zhivanna's sideways pose with cards.

Pumpkin Update

I'm writing about how Pumpkin is doing since my posting stirred up so much emotion from my family and friends. My sister in law called me today about it. I am very glad to say that she seems almost completely normal and healthy as of today. When she walks she leans a little to the right but it is nothing out of the ordinary, she is like what she looked like before the fall. Tonight I was able to let her run about in the ball and Glenn and I hand held her for sometime and she was full of energy moving all around with nothing stopping her. I am truly amazed, mother nature must have wanted this little critter to be with us for the time being. We are grateful for her health, by the end of the week I will work with the children on handling and holding her again.
I know Akorren has learned a lesson from this experience. We processed some last night before he went to bed. I asked him what he learned from this and he said: "Well... you can't drop a hamster!" "When/ if I get to take her out again I am going to sit down". I told him that if she ends up being alright, like she is looking that he has been given a second chance to care and love her. And right now I am glad that we were all able to take something away from this, just a little gift from life and living. Blessings. Pumpkin getting her mouth on things, trying to keep her still for a photo.

A Postponement

Today Glenn came home and mentioned before I got ready to walk out the door for a church meeting that he heard the shuttle launch was going to be delayed. My heart skipped a beat as I though of the Antonelli family and what that means for them. So I made sure to make contact with Janeen. The word from Lee J. Archambault, Colonel, USAF STS-119 Commander is:

Dear Family and Friends of STS-119,
On Tuesday, February 3, NASA held its Agency Flight Readiness Review (FRR) for the STS-119 mission. The FRR determined that we will not launch on February 12, due to continued investigation of a flow control valve that malfunctioned on STS-126 last November.

NASA has been diligently investigating this issue since the STS-126 mission and hopes to complete its on-going testing and analysis within a week. Assuming a positive outcome to the investigation by February 10, NASA managers will reconvene on February 12 to set a new launch date, which will be no earlier than February 19, 2009.

Unfortunately, we understand this delay impacts travel plans for many of you. At this time, however, we cannot recommend how to rework your travel schedule as the launch date will not be set until NASA managers reconvene on February 12. We will update you with details on the launch date as we receive them.

So guess that just means we will be leaving later and make plans to be in Fl for the new launch date. The plan with driving is to give ourselves 4 days before launch to be there and then to be back in TX 2 to 3 days after. We are thinking positive thoughts for fight.

A Trip for the Family

We have not said much about this to family and friends yet, but we will be getting to go to FL this month to see the space shuttle launch. It is a pretty big deal even for the NASA crowd, as the number of missions comes to and end it makes each event more important and special. Even if you work at NASA it does not mean that you get to see a shuttle launch or land. So we are rather excited. The neat part is for whom we are going. Akorren's best budddys' dad is going to be the pilot, Dominc A. (Tony) Antonelli on the STS-119 Mission. We are excited to get to see the shuttle and know someone on it, but more importantly we want to support and be good friends for our kids friends. We plan to have the two son's with us for some of the pre-flight events. It will be a neat vacation week for the family in Coco Beach, FL. Glenn has been to Kennedy Space Center for many work related trips so it will be nice to have his family with him to see some of things that he does as well. We are so grateful to my pal Janeen and are looking forward to this adventure with her family as we enjoy the upcoming launch. Right now is a time to figure out when we are needed for support, when to leave, where to stay and what other things we have to get done before we head out on the 7th of Feb. for the Feb. 12th launch date.