A Sunday Drive

Colleen and I decided to go for a drive on Sunday and headed west to the mountains. The Skyline Drive runs 105 miles along the Smoky Mountains, in Virginia and occasionally (like at Mary's Rock) through them

We stopped at the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center

where we bought postcards and watched Experience, a 10 minute film, introducing us to the park. [I think the same guy narrated the intro film the Matt and I saw at Manassass Battlefield a few months ago - I wonder if he has a contract with the Nation Park Service]

We were expecting it to be cooler in the mountains, but it was still muggy and overcast. The higher we went, the more obvious it became that a storm was coming. At about mile marker 25 the sky opened up and down came the HAIL. I tried to catch some to photograph it - why am i such an idiot? - to no avail. The storm cells were tiny, but violent. In between them, we would drive further, stopping every so often (if you've never driven Skyline Drive, there are overlooks, pull-off and parking lots for trails every 1-2 miles) to take in the views. At one point the sky and mountains were actually purple (the picture doesn't even begin to do it justice; i gotta figure out how to change the photo size/quality)

Eventually, the storms cleared, the temperature dropped and the only word to describe the rest of the Drive would be GREEN

Of course there were no rooms available at the lodges (being Memorial Day) so eventually Leenie and i started back towards to Arlington, stopping at Brookside Restaurant and Cabins in Luray for dinner. This place was cute, cute, cute.

{just realized you can seriously see my sunburn - nice}

They had a very Southern dinner buffet (fried chicken, catfish fingers, shrimp and sweet ham) which was delicious. Colleen, however, seemed a bit daunted or outright alarmed by the vast quantity of yumminess (photo taken after she had already been eating for 20 minutes - wow)

I Want a Harley

I really like motorcycles. I really want one - preferably a Harley. I love the sound, the look, the power. Of course, there's the matter of how expensive they are. And the tiny matter of how my feet don't reach the ground. sigh.

Yesterday, I was driving to Colleen's as a motorcycle club from New Jersey, called the Jesters (proudly proclaimed by their matching vests) roared onto the Capitol Beltway.

They were all on Harleys of different colors and shapes, including this beautiful custom red chopper:

I want a motorcycle.

As i continued driving, more and more cycles appeared on the Beltway. After Colleen and i left Arlington and went west on I-66 we kept seeing motorcycles. There were hundreds of them. I kept thinking there must be a rally somewhere. We never found out what was going on, but some guys I was talking to at dinner said that many clubs go to The Wall for Memorial Day.

Colleen and I starting talking about how fun it would be if i got a Harley with a sidecar. We were laughing pretty hard about it, when what to our wondering eyes should appear:

Who knew? I want one.

Technology Update

Good Morning and Greetings from Nora's Cafe! I highly recommend this adorable "European cafe" on Rt 40 in Ellicott City. I've already been to the gym - its across the street - and an enjoying an egg sandwich on a poppy seed bagel while i type. You see, Nora's is a WiFi hotspot and i am test-driving my new laptop. What, what, what? you say. Oh, did i mention that Jason gave me his old laptop last week? Yep. With the WiFi card/adaptor thingee and the freaking travel bag!!! Once again, i am blessed with good fortune thanks to my fabulous friends. I continue to try to be worthy of you people. Gotta run - it's home to shower and change than off to VA and some adventure with Collen. Thanks Jason!

Take Ten

Last night i went to dinner with Betsy and Lynn, closed down Borders, went to the gym and got home around midnight. Waiting for me at home was the summer edition of Stampers Sampler : Take Ten magazine. It is a quarterly publication of fast and easy greeting cards created by rubber stamping which only take ten minutes to create (hence the name). I like this publication, but don't have a subscription. On the address label it said "artist comp copy." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I sent 3 general call submissions on December 30th of last year to finish off the New Year's Resolution "submit artwork for publication." These were fast cards that i whipped out simply to be able to check it off of my list. I paged through quickly and there it was on page 79 - my first published work! Yippee! So today, at lunch, i was actually reading the magazine (having finally exhausted myself of simply gazing at it and fondling it lovingly) when i turned to page 118 and thought, that design looks familiar; wait... is that... YES, there was another one of my cards. (some of you would recognize some of the elements from a former New Year's card) That's 2 out of 3! Excited hardly describes it. BTW, this was my view at lunch. We watched an osprey dive for lunch at the edge of the lily pads. Kinda LOVING MY LIFE today.

Mercy

Why has no one taken pity on this poor table and put it out of its misery?

Yep.

Guess what happens every 5 years in Maryland, on your birthday? - Your license expires. Guess who just had a birthday? Guess who got a new license about five years ago? Guess who thought her license expired in 2008? Guess who was horribly wrong about that? Guess who did NOT receive the 60-day renewal notice for her license? Guess who had a show on Ft Meade Army Base today? Guess who had to pass through a security check point, while driving? Yep. I couldn't make this stuff up, people. [technically, I could make it up, but why would I when i just end up looking like an idiot?!] Lauren and I were right on time to go do her FIRST chemistry show and left plenty of time for security check at the gate. We made it through the gate and went to vehicle inspection [which we're already kinda sweating cause we're driving a dinosaur van and if they ask us if there is anything flammable in the van, we have to say "yes" cause it is a show about chemistry, after all] where the security guard tells me my license is expired. There is much looking at things, examining things, going into the guard house, talking on the phone, looking at more things, Lauren and I switching places when he informs me it is illegal for me to be driving, more talking on the phone, more checking things. Then the cops start arriving. The first officer arrives in a HUGE SUV of some flavor with red and blue light a-flashing. As he is putting on his hat, 2 more officers arrive in a cruiser. There is a quick conference with the security guard and Officer 1 walks up to my window and just looks at me for a moment, not saying anything. N - I thought it was good until 2008 O - You gonna do something about this? N - This afternoon. I have a 9:30 show at the school and a 2:00 meeting, but i will go to MVA right after that, officer. O - Good, cause its a $60 fine. You don't want it and I don't want to give it to you. Have a nice day, ma'am. And he walks off, just like that. Yep. I loves me some Boys in Blue. The 2 best moments are when Lauren said "Imagine if this ends with you sitting in the back of that truck" and as we pull away we heard the other 2 officers say "check out that crazy paint job." Sooooo, i had to have someone drop me at MVA before it closed (thanks Lauren); we arrived at 4:10 and it closes at 4:30. I stood in line to get my new license, and had my new good for FIVE YEARS picture in my uniform with hair-dripping-down-at-the-end-of-a-long-hot-work-day hair and sporting Mt. Zitsuvius on my chin. Nice. Then i have to call my mom (who is back in town for a day before she flies to OH) to come and get me, to then drive downtown to pick up my car to then drive home. Yep. [don't even ask to see the picture - YIKES]

I never win anything

It's true - i have terrible luck when it comes to raffles, doorprizes and games of chance. I get excited and am filled with hope, but my name just never gets called. It's okay, though; i still enjoy the possibility of winning. And I'm happy (mostly) for those that do win. All of that changed on Saturday. I was at the Manna for Madagascar crop (spoken of previously in this blog) and they were giving away one of the striped raffia bags made in Madagascar. They totally called my name - well, technically i think Carol (sweet, but 120 if she's a day) called "Niti Hora" or something similar. Anyhoo, it was me, me, me. I try not to covet material things, but there is stuff that i see that i really like that just isn't in the budget. I've accepted that i choose to work at a non-profit so i can't just have stuff. But I LOVED this burgundy bag. Love it, love it, love it. And now it is mine. I'd like to think it's a touch of cosmic karma as i always buy some little thing at the crop to support the charity and now i won a big thing. YEA KARMA!

Horsies!

You just never really know what you're gonna find in the city. We came back from our shows and found that we couldn't pull into the loading dock at work to unload the van because the drive was blocked by police and the Budweiser Wagon and Clydesdales. Just another day here in the Nikiverse!

Big Hanging Things

More reasons to love my job... ...hanging from the ceiling of the hallway at today's school were big flamingos, followed by 3D paper sculptures making it look like you were walking through a construction paper forest. At the end of this hallway i walked by the cafeteria which had GIANT hanging fruit and vegetables. This school was a veritable feast for the eyes. Everyday I have the chance to see new, exciting projects. I love my job. I wish there were art classes for adults that did stuff like i see in the schools. Oh wait, that's what i do in my studio!

Self-Portrait Challenge

Over at A Beautiful Mess, Elsie posed a challenge for self-portraits. i wanted to try to get a picture that captures me in a way i never see myself. Because of the amount of chemicals and fire that i use in my job, I have to wear my hair pulled back. When i get in to the office after shows, normally the first thing i do is take my hair down. Apperantly when i am sittting at my desk trying to fix various problems, I play with my hair. At least, that's what people tell me; i am unaware of the behavior (and think people might be making it up). I tried to capture how other people must see me. It made me realize though i hate the uniform for various reasons, it really does look good with my eyes. Also, i love that you can see some of the flotsam on the walls behind me; my office really looks like that. So here is Self-Portrait At My Desk While Working on the Budget Which is Due in Three Days :

Mother's Day

I spent Mother's Day with my mother; that might not seem unusual except that my mom lives in Florida. She came up to Maryland for the week so we had my birthday and mother's day together. She left this morning to go to David Jon's in Virginia Beach, then back here for a few days, then to Kris' in Ohio and then back to Florida; it is the Three-Week-Tour-O-Children. We had a very laid-back, chill weekend that was restful, but fun. We watched some movies, did some shopping and went to see a funny, funny play called "The Nerd" at Spotlighter's, featuring team member, Thom. I hope everyone who has ever had a mother spent some time paying homage to the ladies who made us what we are and that anyone who is a mother had a great day yesterday, especially all of my friends who are mommies for the first time in the last year.

Here is a moment for MY mother!

I blogged too soon...

OMG! As if the day couldn't get cooler, i was just brought my card and cake from the Kids Room staff:

They included a fire extinguisher to put out my vast number of candles. The chocolate cake with raspberry filling and pink icing is made of model magic and comes apart. Did you notice that the candle flames spell out my name?

I am amazed by the talented people around me. Thank you!

High Holy Day of the Nikiverse

Generally I strive to put other people's needs above mine. I try to be kind, thoughtful, and (as much as possible) selfless. Except today. May 11th is the High Holy Day of the Nikiverse, a day without shame, it is my birthday. Today is the only day of the year where i consciously allow myself to do whatever i want (within reason) and have whatever i want (within reason).

I mean, you know you have no shame when you blog about your OWN birthday! I have always loved my birthday. Somehow i even managed to be in the office to day so there is cake and presents and delightful nonsense. Lauren made the awesome cake with a Reese's Big Cup on it. Wendy brought me snacks, a candy mug, balloon and even a beautiful violet. There have been hilarious cards (including one that glows in the dark) and e-mails. Rob turned up with this awesome birthday cake balloon creation. I was cooing and squealing with delight when he said, "wait, there's more" and plopped it on my head: OH YEAH - IT'S A HAT, PEOPLE, A HAT SHAPED LIKE A PINK BIRTHDAY CAKE WITH A PURPLE CANDLE MADE OUT OF BALLOONS! Man i love my birthday. Thanks to all my well-wishers. There will be cake in the office at 4:00 and cake at my house at 9:00pm - come have some!

Resolution 2

I continue to work on my New Year's Resolutions. #2 is "volunteer more" which is hilarious given my vast amounts of free time. I tried 2 weeks ago to volunteer at the Book Thing, but life got in the way. Last night i answered phones at our local public radio station WTMD for their Spring Fund Drive. It was really fun, though apperantly the slowest shift EVER, with only 8 calls. Basically the volunteers and staff hung out talking about music and eating burritos. It made me wax nostalgic for my WECR days. They have a LOT more money and professional DJs, but the feeling of a little radio station remains. I miss being a DJ.

Productive Procrastination

My mom is coming this week for my birthday and Mother's Day. My apartment looks like a warren of weasel are squatting in it. I have no clean white socks. My fridge and freezer are basically empty. You all know what that means : time to take a deep breath, hunker down and do ANYTHING but what i need to get done! I decided that with Mom coming i should unpack some of the moving boxes that are still in the sunroom. To do that i needed to clean off the bookshelf. In doing that i found my Trivial Pursuit jigsaw puzzle, which i have always wanted to turn into a wall piece. I actually have two of the puzzles - one that is missing pieces and a complete one that Martin and Rob bought me while they were on the road one day. I put that one together and then started rummaging through the other box to pull a few pieces to glue on top of the completed one to give it cool dimension. Did you know that identical puzzles do not have identical pieces? Neither did I. I guess i always figured that they use a giant die to cut the puzzle, so all the puzzles of a certain picture would have matching pieces. Nope. So i had an interesting time pulling some pieces to highlight, but i was determined (and who wants to clean off the dining room table anyways?) and have the first 9 steps of this project done (put it together, glue the front, glue the back, paper the back, pull out highlight pieces, figure out where the extra pieces go, seal those pieces, attach the pieces at various heights, seal with gloss) I am going to use extra game pieces to make it look like i am in the middle of a game and mount the puzzle to the wall. I will finish it when i figure out HOW to attach it to the wall.

There was a lot of drying time in this project, so to keep busy i worked on a canvas that was on sale at Big Lots. I decided a few months ago that i wanted to do the front wall in my living room with a quote and scrapping canvases, like the one i did as an example for the class i taught last year at Scrap Camp on non-traditional scrapping: Each canvas is going to be a word or emotion, like the one of me and Chang in the snow is "Joy" and i decided to do "explore" using 2 pictures of me on vacation. I love these pics together cause they are different (they are a decade apart (97 and 07); one is desert, the other city; one features nature, the other art; one i was with Rickki, the other i was alone), but similar (both are of me exploring and in both i am randomly wearing pink). The pictures of the completed piece were all blurry cause of some lighting issues, but you'll get the drift: Since i was doing something for the wall i decided i may as well look again to find letters to put up my quote; it has been a real challenge to find the right size, color, font, etc. I saw exactly what i wanted and it was on sale 25% off! The quote is Psalms 118:24 "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" which is a bit long for a wall quote, but it is the one i had my heart set on, so i bought 2 sets of letters and got to work. Turns out there weren't enough Ws so i had to go get another set, but i am happy with how it turned out:

(i don't know what was up with the weird lighting - i tried it with and without flash, with and without overhead light, and with and without sunlight, but every picture this afternoon came out weird)

Eventually there will be multiple canvases in different colors, but what i have so far already makes me happy.

I thought perhaps i should at least do some laundry, but figured while i was waiting i would finish off a project that i started a year ago. It is a piece for my bookshelf at work, based on my desk blotter. I have gotten so much accomplished, yet none of it was on my list of things to do this weekend! I guess I'll go home and get to that cleaning. Of course i do still have several cards to make...

Speaking of which: Happy Birthday, Rachel! I hope you are having fun in NJ and will enjoy your day off with Rob tomorrow!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I had to share this real quick. I was reading Francie's (Heidi's) blog where she references mine as "the unspeakable joy (and very occasional woe and drinking of tequila)..." That might be the GREATEST description of my blog -and perhaps my life- I have ever read. It made me bust out loud laughing. Just had to share. Man, i love my friends!

Hidden Beauty

I was at an inner city school that looked like a 4-story brick prison, complete with bars on the windows. It was hulking and scary. Until we got past the security system and into the front lobby. WOW! There was bright artwork on the walls and wonderful 3-D inspirational mosaics everywhere. Perhaps you know how much i love mosaics - little bits of things making a larger, cooler whole. I especially loved the one with the American and Maryland flags with the Statue of Liberty. BTW, any people that you see in the mosaics were rendered in clay - adorable!

20 Little Things

Elsie (i like how i refer to her by first name like i know her) did a CK challenge today that i won't have time (or perhaps the inclination) to do, but in the description she says, "Take a few minutes to jot down 20 little things that you find interesting, charming or nostalgic." So here we go: button boxes, pipe cleaner animals, old report cards, bowties, calendars, research books, old people holding hands, fridge magnets, vinyl records, Estee Lauder face creme, Kissables, little boys in church clothes, beads, farmers markets, day lilies, push pins, brick sidewalks, people's hands, legos, and rows of bargain CDs.

I'm Fine

To make up for yesterday's darkness, here is the dogwood tree i see when i walk out of my front door.