Gus is exhausted after a hard day of napping. I should not have once again let him fall asleep on me such that I can’t get into a comfy sleep position

I have apparently lost my side of the bed tonight. Good thing I have four pillows (Gus can only hog two at once) and enough room for me on the other side of the bed. At least they aren’t hogging my covers this time

Sigh. Still nothing obviously, identifiably wrong with my shoulder after the ultrasound exam. He did find an area of worse arthritis and some fluid buildup that could be a contributing factor. Did a steroid injection there and will see if that helps

Yep, I still was and didn't realize

It’s a double snuggle Sunday again

Since we are reminiscing about college tonight apparently, I guess a little more reminiscing is in order before I go to sleep. Uwe and I had offices in the same hallway my last couple years at LPL and it was always fun to see what he was up to

Five classes I took in college: Hitchcock’s cinema Russian fairytales Stalin European economic history Russian conversation through film (Physics was only *one* of my majors)

Well, my shoulder MRI didn’t reveal anything, which is good in that it means nothing major is torn, but doesn’t help ID the problem. But because the pain is near the surface, the doctor thinks an ultrasound exam could help because they can move my arm around during the exam

More sad news this week

The face of a cat who has forgiven me for having to give her a bath (there was a bit of a poop situation this afternoon…)

Didn’t sleep well last night so took an ambien tonight. But I didn’t do it like my brother says works best regarding food amounts and timing relative to the ambien, and I can tell. Hate when he’s right but he’s right. Did it his way last week and it knocked me out. Forgot tonight and I don’t feel it

Nothing like being on hold for 20 minutes, talking to someone for one minute where they say they have to transfer you, then the department they transfer you to hangs up on you and refuses to call back

May I suggest that we take our science to the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences meeting? The DPS never lost focus on inclusivity and advocacy. If we move there together, we can update and expand the community of science focus. aas.org/meetings/58t...

Well, I've already replaced my capital one Visa card with a new visa through my main bank. Gonna have to do some research to figure out what rewards card will replace my discover card (though probably won't want to close my discover card since it's my second oldest account. ugh)

the takeover of Discover card by Capital One is going real *fucking* well. The very first charge after they took over management of my credit card was declined. It was the auto-pay for my pet sitting. I have all my autopays on that card. This is going to go *great*

lol. Banner submitted their claim for my shoulder MRI at $5100. This is the MRI my insurance company approved immediately with no hassle. Compared to the $250 back MRI they fought me for like 16 months on. Makes total sense 🤦‍♀️

A lot has already been said about Alex Pretti, but I just wanted to add that what really struck me is how he was using his likely precious little time off from work to stand up for what he believed in and try to protect other people. I (sadly) interacted with a lot of ICU nurses this month.

Echo’s turn for first purr duty this morning. She was a pest the entire time I was doing computer stuff (checking mom’s emails to make sure we haven’t missed any important bills, etc). Now she’s happy and says it’s rest time

Gus hasn’t done much sitting with me in the recliner lately (it’s more of Echo’s thing), but he’s on it today. Also was a purring furry pillow for me last night. He’s a good kitty

My sister and I made it to Florida pretty much just in time for my mom to know we were there. My brother had taken over the hospital watch a few days ago. She passed away this afternoon with all 3 of her kids holding her hands. Miss you mom

Love the “boarding shortly” lie at the gate when we can all plainly see the incoming plane isn’t here yet….

lol. Watching a Tudor history show and the horses galloping in the jousting scene definitely have modern, velcro splint boots. Glad they don’t sacrifice horse welfare for historical accuracy 😂 (it’s b-roll for a documentary, so doesn’t really matter and prob nearly no one notices)

Looks like the nasa AGs are no more science.nasa.gov/planetary-sc...

Giant THANK YOUs to everyone who helped our science community through your advocacy to Congress and your networks. YOU changed the narrative. WE ALL win. 🧪🔭🛰️🌎🪐⚒️🔬

They’re good kitties

Oh Florida. Where every water feature comes with a warning

Haha it’s a classic

My in-house editor is telling me I still have twenty-two minutes on the clock for the work day

DPS and the AAS continue to be strong advocates for science and the community. I would love if our LPSC community would migrate there together.

I did not realize The Onion had a reporter at #AAS247 this week.

Back at #AAS247 for one more day. The drive up was predictably bad this morning. Left only 30 minutes later than on Monday and got here a bit more than an hour later. Rush hour on I-10 starts early around Phoenix

Now we’re here, ready for the next major disaster. (Spoiler warning.)

There's so much amazing information in this figure - Sun, Moon, clouds - these keograms make for some excellent #dataviz

It was a late drive home, but Gus is very happy that I’m back from #AAS247! I’ll be back up in Phoenix on Wednesday (can’t drive up every day, plus I need to spend tomorrow digging out of the holiday email backlog!)

Look what I bought at the @startorialist.com booth at #AAS247 (because of course I had to buy them)

Cmte summary of NASA:

House Approps has released a pkg of FY2026 approps bills including CJS (NASA & NOAA). appropriations.house.gov/news/press-r...

House and Senate appropriators have released a "minibus" appropriations bill that includes CJS (NASA, NOAA, NSF). NASA would get $24.44 billion, slightly less than FY25 but much better than the proposed $18.8 billion. docs.house.gov/billsthiswee...

Great to have a recorded welcome message from my senator @captmarkkelly.bsky.social for #AAS247 talking about how important it is to support science and research!

This is why I’m not staying up in Phoenix for the conference this week. Even if it’s a bit of a long drive, these two snuggle bugs are worth it. Especially when I catch Echo making a very silly face while grooming 😂

Enjoying extra snuggles with Echo today because I’ll be up at #AAS247 all day tomorrow. I’ll be there Monday and Wednesday. Hope to run into some of you there!

Planetary friends: The LPSC 2026 abstract deadline is coming up this Tuesday. I will not attend because of LPI's shit anti-DEI policy, but I'm curious as to how many people *will* participate this year. If you have submitted an abstract and are willing to share its submission number, please DM me.

sigh. the year is off to a great start. Banner can't apparently read their own orders and they scheduled the wrong kind of MRI, so they had to move it back a week, fucking up my entire schedule. But I have to take the new slot or wait several more weeks

Starting the new year tired (going to bed close to 1am doesn’t change my inability to sleep past about 7/7:30…) but with pancakes. Fresh buttermilk pancakes and a potato pancake from leftover mashed potatoes. Yum!

Only a few more minutes before I can go to bed. Just have to wait until about 11:50 to initiate booms protocols for Echo (starting the washer, dryer, and dishwasher. The TVs are already on bird tv timers). It’s raining, so I hope that keeps people’s explosions to a minimum

Made myself a snack plate and damn, those Trader Joe’s maple brown butter almonds are too good. Having those open is going to be dangerous (the unexpected cheddar cheese spread is also good!)

Fireworks distress & agitate many veterans, people with PTSD, elderly folk, children, cats, & dogs. And are expensive & a major cause of emergency department visits because let’s be honest fire & explosive safety is not most American’s forte & then add in the drinking and well.

The cats are not helping me stay awake even though they’re the reason I need to stay up (I have to medicate echo in a couple hours and then run appliances to drown out the fireworks at midnight)

Crockpot chicken chili is a good dinner for a cool, gray day