Total Wednesday Win.

Two days after my last post something amazing happened.

Though my first astronaut-meeting experience will always hold a special place in my heart, I'm pretty sure this impromptu luncheon will be remembered more familiarly.

It was Wednesday, August 28. Just another Wednesday, as far as I knew.

Around 845am, my boss sent an email practically begging people to attend this luncheon, stating, "Jack Fischer and Jeff Williams will be in attendance." I googled them, as anyone living in the 21st century would do.

ASTRONAUTS.

Two of them! At once!

I replied immediately to my boss saying I'd be there, and asking if he knew of any posters/who I could talk to for posters. For autographs, obviously. None were to be found. So I planned ahead and printed off the JSC official photos for each.

I got to the lunch location early, as is my nature.

Then it was about 11, and only 10-12 people had arrived, so the people in charge were like, "Hey everyone come sit at the table, but make sure you leave room for the astronauts." (Well, duh). So I went up to the table and sat next to a normal guy that I didn't know.

Then they arrived. And Jack (as he instructed me to call him) was like, "Hey, why don't I sit down at that end, and Jeff can sit down here? It can be like a blue-suit sandwich."

Well, Jack ended up sitting next to me. For over an hour. We (and 3-4 others, naturally) had normal human conversations (some about space, but also about other things). For an hour. Then he noticed my camera (the freeze/shock/water-proof one I bought for Hawaii) and he said he'd bought one too (OMG AN ASTRONAUT HAS MY CAMERA?!), and he was asking me how I liked it.

So, you know, I start reviewing my camera for an astronaut, giving him examples of why I liked it, and showing him some cool features (the color selection is pretty neat!) . No big real. Right? Wrong. Huge deal in Brown's World.

We got some pictures, and I was truly surprised to see that I was the only person (of about 13 total non-astronauts) who brought a camera. Or something to get autographed. Or something to get an autograph with. Like, the people here are so unfazed by astronauts.

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I hope to never be that way. I hope I never take for granted the opportunity that has been laid before me, and I hope I never lose the way I have felt during my first two encounters with astronauts. I hope I'm able to let my excitement show and fill others with the same excitement I feel. And I hope one day in the (distant) future, when Hubs and I are ready to bring a Baby Brownie into the world, that I can plant the desire to know and learn and crave space into the child, and thus prolonging the life of the space program.
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Then after the lunch I went on a scavenger hunt to find someone (anyone!) with a laminating machine so my autographed head-shots would last forever, and in my mission to do so, found myself acquiring a ton of NASA patched and pins. Total Wednesday win.

Then Hubtastic and I went to Macaroni Grill for dinner and Wednesday, August 28 was pretty much the best day ever (of course, except for the day I married Ol' Blue Eyes himself, and all).

NASA Swag. Most of the items on the board are new,

the items on the desk were mine previously.

Macaroni Grill swag. I love their caprese salad.