what could be worse than the twart-hog?

(when the day starts with a spontaneous explosion that could've taken out a city block and ends with falling up the stairs in front of guests, you know it is time to get home and hide in your bed because you are being stalked by the poultry-geist)

{note- the explosion happened in my lab, but not to me; fTM Megan burned off the hairs on her arms and nearly had a heat attack, but she seemed okay}

we read too many kids' books

The next place on our list of lunch excursions was Chaps Charcoal Restaurant for pit beef. Unfortunately, i was sick yesterday so i missed it. The ladies report that the sandwiches were quite good and service was speedy. To help us remember where and when the next excursion is, Miss Amy drew a caterpillar on the white board but she did it when none of us were particularly hungry, so Miss Sam said he was more like the "I could nosh" caterpillar. I think it is going to be a long two weeks before we start programming again...

Wilhelm the Water Buffalo

The belly button slays me...

It appears to be a series

To make up for the dreary morning post, here is the next in TM Megan's Superlatively Cute Quadrupeds Pretending to Be Bipeds white board drawings:
  He is my favorite so far,
especially his surprised expression.
What could be so astounding to a zebra?
And that mohawk... priceless.
 I wish you could have seen the remorseful monkey she drew for TM Lindsey; crap-on-a-cracker, was it hilarious. I'd like a children's tv show to be made with these characters. wait... i don't get tv anymore. Okay, how about some children's books instead?
It could be the Upright Series.

my staff is trying to kill me

How else do you explain this level of cuteness? He's looks like a friendly Sleestack with a tail. Just can't stand it.

darling, forgotten Miguel

I totally forgot that i took this picture. When i first started to get the intestinal unfortunateness a few weeks ago I didn't go to work one day. When i called mid-morning to check on things and tell team members about something i'd suddenly remembered in my feverishness, TM Megan said to me, It's okay Miss Niki. I drew a dinosaur with outstretched arms on the board. He'll give you a hug when you get back. Look at that ridiculous cuteness. Could it be any stinkin' cuter? How's he gonna hug me? It's like he has no arms at all - just hands growing out of his chest. And look at his whimsical overbite. Adorable! Miguel stayed on the board for over a week and every day someone would change what he was saying. Just looking at him makes me smile. sigh... i miss you, Miguel.

Stir Crazy - 2

As the day wears on more drawings are added.

Thank goodness tomorrow is our last day in-house.

Stir Crazy?

September is traditionally a slow time for outreach.
Plus i cut back on bookings because of the new staff.
Plus we are helping cover the floor of the museum.
All of this adds up to the team spending a lot more time in the building than to which we are accustomed.
I think it might be getting to them.

Shorthand

No, this doesn't mean that the four new team members are somewhere in the building using gravity, liquid nitrogen and/or hand tools trying to figure out ways to break items advertised as unbreakable; why do you ask?

Whip out your inflatable cutlass!

It's that time, again, people. September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. It is a good excuse to wear your eye patch, use the word wench in polite conversation and discuss the importance of Vitamin C. Squeaky Monkey decided he is unfulfilled as the first mate of my team and is trying to stage a mutiny. But it is hard to be intimidated when he is smiling and wearing a pink bling heart eye patch. Do something fun today like putting pirate gold in your co-worker's mailboxes. It's not every day you have a good excuse to be wacky. Unless you're me, of course; i don't need an excuse.

Information Central

I have posted before about the white board that is the hub of our corner at work (how can a corner have a hub you wonder - geometry has no meaning here) and how it keeps us both informed and entertained. There will be times where it doesn't change for days and then there will be one day where everybody has something to share and you have to fight for room : This is Carrie's version of me flying to my Disney cruise, with Minnie and Mickey drawn by Erin (oh, did i not mention that i'm going on a cruise? i'll tell you about it later) When you spend A LOT of time in a van this is what you get - fun with alliteration; Lindsey and AJ vow to try it with every vowel.

Oh you guys

Yep, i love my staff.

i really do love them

Each team has its own character and its own attitude, which is funny to me cause i train everybody the same, but they turn out different every time. The mixture of strong personalities together (cause i only hire characters) leads in a myriad of of directions, good and bad. This current team is exacting and precise, they are rule-followers without being clueless or unmotivated. Case in point : i think that it is important that we all know where each other can be found, especially right now while we finish writing and installing this theater show. Past teams have done a good job at communicating via the dry erase board in our office, but this team takes it seriously. Last week i was on the phone when one of them went home so next to his name he wrote "home - have a good night, Niki. don't stay too long" which made me grin. I glanced over at the White Board a few minutes ago and found this "Niki - at the big desk" and "Wendy - who knows?" just cracks me up.