Two of a Kind

With the Step 1 of the boards coming up for Rob, he is actually starting to study more than usual. This means that I have more time to myself at home while he's locked up in the office. As the productive person I am, I have used that extra time to develop 2 of my great hobbies; watching TV even more than I already did, and taking naps in strange places. This photo shows me doing both. While laying on the floor watching TV, I fell asleep with my sweet little puppy. We even shared a pillow! Awwww, aren't we cute? Well, maybe it would be cuter if I didn't have my hoodie hood over my head making me look a little alien-like. You see, we don't like to turn the heater past 65 and we have actually had a few very cold days this month. So the hood was necessary to keep the heat from escaping through my head.

While contemplating my new found "productivity," I am realizing that this is just the beginning of the free time I will have over the next couple years as Rob begins his rotations and working 80-100 hrs a week. I guess I will have some time for a few more hobbies. So, I was at Borders the other day and found yet another coffee table book about the universe that I don't already own. If you don't already know, this is an area of great weakness for me. I love huge books with huge pictures about the universe. Of course it was in the bargain section (they always are?) so I bought my 4th coffee table book on the subject. This one is different, however, in that it might be the biggest book I've ever seen. Noth the thickest, just the biggest. The dimensions of the cover are about 2ft by 1 1/2ft. And this book is very heavy! (Yes, that is it on the floor in the picture above).

With this new book and the fact that I just finished teaching my 4th graders a unit on astronomy, my interest in astronomy was reawakened (although I like it so much that it is never really asleep to begin with). Remember how much more TV watching I have been doing? Well, I have been watching a lot of episodes of the History Channel's series The Universe (I highly recommend these shows. They are fantastic!). On the episode about the Sun, they featured this young, attractive female sun specialist. I was thinking, "Hey, I could do that!" So I got online and started researching astromony programs throughout the US. I found one that I am seriously considering. It is a master's degree in space studies that I can do completely online. I know what you're thinking..."No, Haley, don't "go" to University of Pheonix! It's not a real school!" But I think you will be surprised that this program is through the University of North Dakota...a real accredited university! And since it's in North Dakota, you can see why they offer it online. They know that no one in their right mind is going to want to move to North Dakota. Anyway, after researching it, this is a totally legite program. A lot of people who work for NASA have graduated from their space programs. And one of the great things about this program is that it is not focused on the astrophysics and mathmatics that many astronomy programs are full of. It is geared more towards space policy, space missions to the Moon and Mars, building a space station on the Moon, and the political and economic factor of space travel. I'll keep you updated as I decide if that is what I really want to do. The only problem is that is costs $15,000 per year. Hopefully I can find some nice grants for "women in science" or something like that.