To Infinity and Beyond!

DH and I headed down to Titusville, Florida last Thursday to meet up with some family and friends and to witness the final mission launch of the space shuttle, Atlantis. We staked out a spot along the river east of Titusville at Parrish Park around 10 am on Friday. There was a small beach along the north side of the road, so we were armed with chairs, a pop-up tent (thank goodness, because it was sunny!), sand toys for my bonus niece (3 yo), and picnic food. There was quite a crowd as the morning wore on, and by lunchtime, you'd a thought it was Gameday! RVs, surfers, families, retired folks, students, people with dogs, were all out and waiting to watch the launch. I've been crazy busy with deadlines since coming back to work this week (among other things going on too), and so I haven't had a chance to go through all the photos yet, but here's one at liftoff. The launch was pretty much on time, around 2:20 pm, and I was glad I had thought to bring a little radio (and batteries!) so that we could listen to the AM station with the countdown. The skies were clear so we had a great view of liftoff, the arch of the shuttle, the contrail into infinity, and the rocket boosters falling. What a fantastic experience!

Birthday Cake

I must say, I think I had one of the best birthday cakes ever (okay, maybe runner-up to the Pac-Man cake I had once in elementary school...). My birthday was last Friday. DH surprised me and my birthday crew with fabulous cake from Brazilian Bakery. BB is a local place, just across the street from our neighborhood Publix. They have very tasty fried meat pies and pastries, and also very yummy desserts, which we have only made a small dent in the long counter-full of goodies. This cake was layers of yellow cake with an inner layer of a delicious cream filling, whipped cream icing, meringue crunchies on the sides, and strawberries on top. Moist, tasty, and to quote my friend Tim, "stupid." (As in, that's stupid good!) YUM! Thanks, Honey!