FlapJilly's a Star

TBG and I are doing all that we can to insure that Mark Kelly replaces Martha McSally in the US Senate in January.  We planned to host an Afternoon With The Candidate in our home in April.  Sadly, that (and many other things) didn't happen.  

And then, the campaign had the idea to host an on-line Astro-Hour.  Mark and his astronaut brother, Scott, Rusty Schweikert, and Karen Nyberg (whose husband just rode up to the ISS) talked about one another, about space, and about how wonderful Mark is.

Then they took questions.  Eight of them were written in and read by the moderator.  And then there was FlapJilly.  

The Finance Director wondered if I knew any children who might want to ask a question of an astronaut.  A kid asked a question on the first of these calls, and it was a big hit.  Did I know someone he could ask?

Did I know someone?  

I hung up, called Little Cuter and FlapJilly, explained the situation, and received a commitment.  The deal was done; all we had to do was wait until Wednesday night.  Til then, the kid and her mom practiced the question, decided on an outfit, and decorated the wall background with the mural of the planets The Bride taught her kindergartener and ours about during e-learning.  

Was she excited?  Sleep was an impossibility the night before; the next day was July, her birthday month, and the Zoom call.

Finally,  the call began. The grown ups talked and the kid had a snack to keep her awake until she went on after 8pm..... well past bedtime.  

And then, my granddaughter's face was on the screen, right next to all those famous people.  She was introduced as a future astronaut.  She waved and said HI!! and then wondered, in front of 200+ people on the Zoom call, to adults she'd never met before, How do you bake cookies in space?

Karen Nyberg laughed and explained the problems of baking in the ISS.  She described an experiment in which they actually did bake cookies, but they couldn't eat them.... they were an experiment.  The other faces on the screen were grinning at my little one; we here in Arizona were breaking our faces with smiles.

It took about 50 seconds.  Then they went outside to scream and dance.  FlapJilly felt like her skin is on fire!!  She was SO PROUD of herself (as she affirmed this afternoon: SO PROUD!!.  

They had ice cream to finish the celebration before crashing in bed.

Remember when you had a new experience like that?

There's hardly anything new in Covid-land, hardly any adventures.  It's been a challenge to provide room for growth when you don't leave the confines of your house.  Though the campaign thanked us profusely, it is really they who should be thanked.  

Just look at this face:

(taken by jpetersenphotography.com right after the call ended)