hello desert roses

The view while i ate breakfast:

It is the end of February so i must be on the Gulf Coast of southern Florida visiting my dad.
Over the next week look for more blog posts as i clean up my picture folders, as well as golfcart constitutionals and golfcart parade reports.
Anyone who doesn't know or remember what i am talking about can catch up on the background of where i am, or read golfcart constitutionals or see circus parade 2011 and classic comics parade 2012 here.

I am not wired to be alone so much

The upside of being self-employed is that the alarm rings at 7:45 instead of 5:30 and i can go to work in my pajammies.
The downside of being self-employed is that i work at home, by myself.
I am a people person; i like meeting new people and having conversations where the other person talks back. Simie Bear is a fabulous Vice President, but not much of a conversationalist.
Therefore, i have become the new papercraft instructor at the Ellicott City Michael's. Today is my orientation day. The last time i walked into a place where i knew no one to start a new job was... hmmmmmmmm... April or May 1995 (i don't exactly remember) at Lechter's (a kitchen and housewares store) in the Owings Mill Mall.

Super excited.

New people. New challenges.

Scared in a good way.

Stay tuned for class times and descriptions.



51 hours, 47 minutes

Headache. Nausea. Chills.

Diet Coke withdrawal. Blech.

How many syllables is that? What line am i on?...  wait... what?

life altering news

If you've been around the Nikiverse for a while you know that i've been working on some wee issues with my endocrine system. Had a check-up today and i am happy to report that my thyroid numbers are better and my vitamin D is on the rise.
HAZZAH! Three cheers and a tiger for me!
Of course, that means that something else is hinkey -that's the fun of your endocrine system; everything is connected- and Dr Cool has told me that i have to give up artificial sweeteners.
That shouldn't be too bad; i generally use sugar or agave in my tea. I'll just have to stop the Crystal Light singles in my water bottle and... wait... wait a daggone second here...
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
The Nikiverse is made of love, covered in glitter, driven by hope, inhabited by sparkle ponies and fueled by Diet Coke.
You know, Diet Coke... which has aspartame... which is an artificial sweetener.
I have to give up Diet Coke.
Doctor's orders and you know that i never cross Dr Cool. She's DR COOL for goodness sakes.
Dagnabit, this is worse than when she made me stop donating platelets to the Red Cross.
This is worse than when she made me swear to get at least 5 hours of sleep at night.
No more Diet Coke.
no more...
how?...
Good bye my dear and loyal friend.
Good bye my source of life sustaining caffeine.
Good bye my 2am just-gotta-finish-these-last-fifteen-cards partner.

I will miss you.

But i kinda love life even more than i love you.

Nectar of the gods.

Bubbly, delicious goodness.

No more for Niki.



some day i'll blog the 7 gazillion pictures from here

to every season, cut, cut, cut

I lost about 2 pounds in 10 minutes this morning.


holy crap, where's my hair?

Mostly i am pleased.
It can be worn bobbed under or flipped out and can still be put in a wee ponytail.



I'm watching my friend's store today and there are mirrors everywhere; i keep startling myself cause i catch my reflection and think there is someone else in the store.

A glimpse of short hair;

Who snuck up on me?!? Oh wait. 

It's just you, silly.

ever wondered what i would look like as a dragon?

is it my imagination or do i look a little smug?
or is it just devil-may-care?

Super busy moving furniture and reworking the studio; maybe real posts next week.

Ravens' parade

Unexpectedly i went to the Ravens' Super Bowl return parade in downtown Baltimore on Tuesday.
Ron texted me that he was arriving back in Baltimore from New Orleans around 7am and would come pick me up to go downtown. Traffic was terrible, but we managed to find parking in plenty of time.
The stadium was open to the public and that is where he wanted to go to see the ceremonies and speeches. I love parades and wanted to stand on the street, so we split up. There is no way to describe the sheer number of people out on the streets.

I stationed myself at the corner of Pratt and Howard streets, right where the parade turned to head toward the stadium. It was a great vantage point.

With the team on flatbeds and humvees it was easy to see everyone, though most of my pictures did not come out.

The biggest surprise for me was that the Lombardi trophy seemed to have a gold tone to it instead of the shiny silver i was expecting; that might have been a reflection of the trucks desert camo paint.

Ray Lewis was at the end of the parade with only a trolley full of kids behind him. The crowd's energy boiled over at that point and we ended up jumping the barriers and filling the street.
The cops were very cool about the whole thing, not trying to stop the giant surge of people, but watching it closely to make sure no one got hurt.

So i was carried away into the parade, chanting and singing and screaming while marching to the stadium.

Ray and his horse mounted police detail was about 100-150 ft ahead of me and the trolley was right behind me.



I mean, right behind me.

beep, beep Niki

We went past Camden Yards where the Orioles Bird was out on a ledge wearing a Ravens jersey and throwing purple confetti (i wish this pic had come out because it was hilarious).







It was thrilling to be part of this surging mass of humanity because the mood was so elated. I can see how mob-mentality could turn bad really quickly, but everyone was there to celebrate and be joyful. Yes, i couldn't have stopped if i wanted to without being trampled and there was no choice in which direction to go; you went where the crowd went. But at no point did i feel in danger. There were cops everywhere and everyone was so freaking happy.
Unfortunately the stadium was closed by the time the crowd arrived because it was already at fire capacity; all of the seats and the field were full. I hung around for a while and then walked all the way back to the car. We knew i'd be done with the festivities first so i had the keys to the truck and was able to pick Ron up as he was walking back from the stadium.
It was an amazing experience.

yes we won, but what did the cake look like?

You have to have priorities, people.
It was AWESOME to watch the Ravens win the Super Bowl at my friend Lynn's house last night. There were friends and food and fun and a roller coaster of emotion, but i only took one picture the whole night:

Yes, that is a cake shaped like a football stadium.
Yes, the stadium is purple.
Yes, when cut the cake inside was purple.
Yes, it was delicious.
Yes, it was made by Lynn's daughter, Hope. That would be her daughter in fifth grade and a couple of her friends.
Yes, a group of 11 year olds are that much better at baking than me.