Treasured

HAPPY HUNTING: This afternoon, after a 'date' with a pair of adorable Dobermans, the kids and I hit up a couple of our favorite thrift shops, including the Value Village in Burien, WA. 

Not sure what it is, but we always wind up thoroughly entertained and with armloads of stuff we didn't know we needed when we go there. 

The deal of the day? CJ found an original issue (1977) Star Wars 2-LP album, complete with record sleeves, liner notes and the original poster that came with the album. Unbelievable! And the vinyl is in like perfect condition! We listened to the whole thing tonight. Music to our ears!

We spent a fair amount of time in the glassware aisle, looking at knick knacks, tablewear and such. These plates caught my eye. Could they be any more '80s? The answer is clearly "NO!"

There were drinking vessels of every size and shape. We decided this would be the perfect one to take to the bring-your-own-cup day at 7-11. But we didn't buy it. ;)

As always, there were so many creepy clowns. Shudder. 

There were also bobbleheads aplenty, including a bunch of Atlanta Braves ones (go figure, here in Seattle). This bobbler won for the scariest of the bunch today. Not a flattering image of Anna Nicole Smith.

I try to always remember to check the jerseys when we're thrift shopping. Lo and behold, the gem found today was a throwback Seahawks' jersey for receiver Steve Largent. With stitched on lettering and numbers, it was a steal. It went home with us.

While finally making our way toward the check out line, we checked women's sweaters (as we're always on the hunt for that 'perfect' ugly Christmas sweater.

Our eyes were drawn to this shining striped number. Orange and black tiger striped, it is the gaudiest sweater ever. It was new with tags, and for whatever reason, we bought it. 

BEFORE AND AFTER: This morning, Annabelle and I went to a transitional women's housing program where we have started volunteering, working to make the house more homey.

There are old school phone booths throughout the place, and we're giving them a quick, colorful makeover.

Here's the before. ...  

And here is the after. A lot more fun, for sure. We still need to outfit it with a pencil holder and some cork boards, but it is already vastly improved!

Cultured

FEASTING: Today, we were in charge of hosting a multi-cultural smorgasbord at our learning center. So, we headed to the city nice and early and got busy.

We moved many a big table, set out chairs, put up signs, got audio/visual things in order, on and on ... come noon it was party time. 

Families were encouraged to bring a food that represented their culture. We brought Starbuck's Pike Place Market coffee (Seattle culture!), as well as Jarlsberg (Norwegian) cheese atop Scandinavian crackers. You can see a photo above, and can blame CJ for the fact the plating leave a LOT to be desired.

Because I had to set up for the shindig, I wanted to make our food contribution easy, so we opted for Norwegian cheese and crackers (no baking) and opted to offer a Scandinavian beverage. It ended up being a good 'go easy' option. :)

Can I just say that Glögg was wildly popular with all ages? We served about three gallons of the stuff to a crowd of about 100.

It's usually a spiced wine drink, but that was out of the question at school, so we opted for a grape juice-based one. To organic, natural juice we added cinnamon, cardamom, fresh grated orange peel, cloves, nutmeg, fresh ginger, anise, allspice, apple, raisins, currants and sugar. It's served warm (Scandinavia is cold in wintertime). It smelled delicious and tasted great, too. 

It was a huge hit, as you might infer from the photo above. Kids spilled it all over while getting cup after cup. At least it was a pretty spill. :) 

The goal of the luncheon was to have community come together and share their immigration stories. As I was making my way around the event every which way, it was really cool to hear people sharing their backgrounds with one another.

CJ prepared this video for the event. The images are from NASA, the poem is by Maya Angelou. It sums things up beautifully.

People listened to the message, and clapped when it was over.

CHARMING: Today I learned that a group of hummingbirds is called a charm.
Isn't that charming? 

Here's one of our regular visitors, Lazy.

Musk-y

Elon Musk

@elonmusk

STARMAN : 

We're still geeking out about SpaceX's historic launch yesterday, lifting their Falcon Heavy off the Space Coast's famous 39-A launch pad and sending a Tesla Roadster rocketing toward the stars. Above, is the latest (and some say last) photo of the electric auto traveling a starry highway.

Here's the dashboard Starman is "seeing." I love Musk's nod to "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" with the 'don't panic' sign.

There are so many great photos to check out and video to watch. I love this one of the twin boosters arriving on landing pads not too far from the launch site.

Today SpaceX founder Elon Musk let the world know that the Tesla Roadster was well on its way. "

Third burn successful. Exceeded Mars orbit and kept going to the Asteroid Belt," he reported.

IN REVIEW: We're still playing catch up here at MPA. Last week, CJ, Annabelle and Christian attended a members preview screening of a movie at Pacific Science Center. I'll let CJ tell you a little more about that.

For 300 million years, there have been creatures around the Earth soaring through the skies, from insects to dinosaurs to birds to bats. The history of these creatures is explored in depth in the new documentary Conquest of the Skies 3D.

Conquest of the Skies, narrated by Mark Bonnar, is a documentary detailing the past and present of flying creatures on Earth. While the history of flying creatures is (relatively) short so far considering the length of Earth's existence (~4.54 billion years old, according to Space.com), fossils underneath the surface give vast insight into the appearance and evolution of flying creatures.

The first creatures that are known to have flied are insects, according to Conquest of the Skies. Some early insects that flew are believed to have had hard "protective covers" for their thin wings, which could be easily damaged. Today, insects continue to fly all around the world.

Several years after insects first took to the skies, various species of dinosaurs (most notably pterodactyls and microraptors) began flight as well. In particular, pterodactyls had the advantage of having much more energy than any insects, and thus were able to fly further and higher. Today, the descendants of dinosaurs continue to soar through the skies. We call them birds.

Heavy Duty

GIANT LEAP FOR HUMAN KIND: We had other 'must do' items on the agenda, but ultimately, today was all about SpaceX's inagural flight of Falcon Heavy.

It was (literally) a really BIG deal.

High winds pushed back the launch time three times, but the deal went down this afternoon about quarter to one. Tomorrow, we'll give more color commentary about how we actually watched the launch. For now, you would TOTALLY check it out if you didn't get to see it.


If you want to follow the robot astronaut (Starman) on its journey to Mars, check out this feed. ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBr2kKAHN6M

Back from Beyond

EXCUSED ABSENCE: Apologies for the loss of signal. Last week my computer underwent a major 'upgrade.' That made it largely inoperable, of course. Sigh.

I'm fighting my way back. I had a blog post all ready to go, but now it's dated, and the formatting's all wonky. I'll try to resurrect it as best I can. ...

REALLY BIG DEAL: 

It's the freakiest show ... 
Tomorrow (2/6) 10:30 a.m. Seattle time, SpaceX is set to launch their Falcon Heavy. 
It's such a BIG deal, literally. The biggest deal since the good ol' Saturn V days.
Falcon Heavy is today's most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. 
The payload? Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster, with "Life on Mars?" blasting at 11. 
Destination? "Mars orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn't blow up on ascent," Musk Tweeted.
Watch it live: http://www.spacex.com/webcast

WEBINAR FROM AFAR: Last week, we tuned in to the annual Space Exploration Educators Conference from afar, thanks to their live Internet coverage.

On Feb. 1, we watched a  live keynote kick off address that brought together astronauts from across the globe and on the International Space Station.

Held at Space Center Houston, the conference is not just for science teachers. It strives to use space to teach across the curriculum. The activities presented can be used for science, language arts, mathematics, history, and more.

The opening remarks we heard were hosted by Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, who served as a mission specialist on STS-131 to resupply the ISS. She interviewed astronaut Joe Acaba. The former public school teacher is currently on aboard the International Space Station. 

This past weekend there was a pretty big football game. Whether you were rooting for the Eagles, Patriots or just good commercials or a halftime show, think about the International Space Station sitting on the field. That's how long it is (back of endzone to back of endzone). Pretty incredible!