Do kids actually like clowns?

This little guy was sitting on a shelf in the Reading Resource Room at today's school. He is looking down at the reading table watching the kids learn, overseeing their homonym and homophone education. Just look at him, all top-hatted and pom-pom shoed. Look at the hand-stitched gloves. And the multi-layered collar. Obviously someones Nana or Oma or Mawma spent a lot of time and love creating this guy.

But now look closer You just know that this guy comes alive at night, right? You know he moves things around and messes with the teachers' minds. You know that he's at work because his unfortunate owner couldn't stand the thought of him being in the house, at night, when he comes alive.

Note to Self...

... go to the gym RIGHT NOW! Yikes. (seen in today's phys. ed. office that is 5 pounds of muscle compared to 5 pounds of fat)

Rollercoastering

Oh, what a week it has been. If i were to bore you with all the details (not gonna cause even i don't want to relive some of it) some would be inclined to say that i had a bad week. But that isn't completely true. I also had a good week. Now i know that you are thinking that physics tells us that 2 objects can not occupy the same space at the same time, but let's all remember that Universal Laws do not necessarily apply here in the Nikiverse. Somehow my bad week and good week occupied the same space. I was ran late for every appointment. But some of those appointments involved birthday festivities. I received more presents. I had 2 work vehicles die in 24 hours. I got a lot accomplished. I got no sleep. I had to do shows by myself, driving my car. There is a plan in place to get new vehicles. I was so prepared that i left the house with 3 separate outfits for back to back events. I only got to use one of the outfits (and it was my uniform, not the cute black skirt with purple embroidered flowers). Up and down, up and down, up and down. I'm exhausted just from how many times my mood has changed this week. I mean everybody enjoys good weeks and we all know how to dig in and endure bad weeks, but this turning on a dime is just confusing. It's one thing if my own inherent craziness makes me oscillate, but another thing entirely if the universe is doing it to me. Need an example? These 2 pictures were taken about 1 hour apart The van just died in a park in Delaware during lunch, stranding one of my teams. They had to have someone come from the school and get them to perform their afternoon show, after which someone took them back to the broken vehicle in the park and dropped them off. Obviously i couldn't leave them there, so after team member Felicia and I finished our 2 shows south of Baltimore (on an Army base where we had to have our vehicle and its science stuff inspected twice) we drove back to work (though our exit was blocked by a jack-knifed tractor trailer) to unload our van. I put in another van seat (technically the CEO of my museum put in the seat on my instruction), drove to Delaware to get the van towed, pick up my team, go to the school and pick up the kit they had to leave there and then come home. [did i mention that i was supposed to be at the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner at the time?] It was long, chaotic and frustrating, especially considering that another van had to be towed from in front of the museum that morning. So on the way home I got permission to take the team out to dinner on the company dime [the COO's exact words were "Absolutely. And I hope you do better the a Wendy's"] so we stopped at the Bagaboo Creek Steakhouse. Yep. There was a moose outside, that team member Rob communed with i want a mooooose and the interior decorating can only be described as Canadian kitsch on speed Yes, those are rows of antler chandeliers. Yes, that Mountie next to team member Amy is 8 feet tall. Yes, there was an animatronic raccoon, and an owl and an overachieving bass. Yes, i did order the "Moosebreath Burger." It was delightful. And tasty. And free (if you don't count the 5 hours of my life i'm never getting back) That was just half of one day - the entire week was like that: up and down, up and down, up and down. ENOUGH, says I, time for some calm. I am planning on a quiet night at home, going to the library tomorrow and spending my birthday giftcards. If you would like to go on a little adventure, bring me pasteries or have an emergency that requires my attention, you'll have to come find me. I'm turning the ringer off on my phone!

Alberto

Here's a better picture.

LOVE him!

Back in My Prime

[hilarious post title is courtesy of Melanie's brother-in-law, who is a math guy; man, i love geek humor!] 
Sunday was the High Holy Day of the Nikiverse as i celebrated my 37th birthday.
Of course the festivities started a week ago with Rickki's visit and will continue for another week or so. I really like to milk the holiday for all that it's worth.
Thanks to everyone who called, wrote, made cards, sent e-mail, took me out and got me presents. I really feel blessed to have so many friends. I'm not going to list every single part of the on-going Birthday Frivolity, but there are 3 highlights that i will share because randomly, they are all pink.
A box arrived from Mel, Mike and Stanley that had some wrapped presents in it. They were marked as being from the Barrs and Matt S.
  Huh, thinks I, that's random.
I am really good about waiting until the actual holiday to open presents, so they were sitting on the dining room table when the phone rang at 11:00 on Friday night. It was Mel and Mike on speaker phone; they wanted to be with me when i opened the pres-nents and couldn't wait until Sunday. Not one to quibble I ripped into the awesome Winnie the Pooh paper and found a CAMERA!!! After reading my blog about my intention to spend Saturday shopping for a new little digital point and shoot they were afraid that i would buy one not knowing that they had already sent me one.
 Dontcha love when people read your mind?


It is a Sony CyberShot (one of the 3 cameras i was planning to comparison shot) and it is pink!
 I love, love, love it.
Thanks to Mel, Mike and Matthew (and Stanley, of course) for being about 3 steps ahead of me.


Here is the very first pic i took with the new camera (perhaps you can see that it is 11:40pm) and one of me playing with the zoom in the dark.
 
I was stressed out about spending my birthday proper alone. It fell on Mother's Day this year so i knew everyone would be busy with their moms and/or kids. And my mom is in Ohio with my sister who is recovering from pretty major surgery. But Erin called last week and asked if i wanted to come to her family's cookout and celebrate my birthday.
  Do monkeys run pirate ships? I said.
The food was awesome, the conversation was lively, Erin's dad brought out his mandolin for me to paw with envy, i almost won the Game of Life - Pirates of the Caribbean edition, i received some fun art for the studio, and there was a pink beaded Hello Kitty tiara.
Did i wear it all night?
I think we all know the answer to that question.
Thanks to Erin, Steve, Mom, Dad and Gramps

Today i got to work and Rob had left me Alberto the Flamingo who was "tickled pink" that it was my birthday (hey - that's what the note said) 

Is he awesome or what? 

He is so big and perfectly formed that i long for a little balloon hedgehog with which to play croquet through the education department. 

Thanks, Rob.

 [i just saw how fuzzy that picture is - wow, sorry about that. I am still working with the camera and pulled the pic directly from the memory stick with this COOL USB adaptor so i didn't have a chance to check it]



Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate.
(and in case you're wondering, i do still have 3 slots open for the rest of the birthday week)

Death Mask on a Low Budget

[psssst... the original title for this post was "Wrapped in Plastic" but it made me giggle every time i looked at it] When Rachel was in college she learned to make plastic masks cast off of the actors. I've seen some of the lovely ones she had cast and painted; i was rightly amazed. A few years ago she made one for Open Space's production of former team member Annie's play The Stained Glass Phoenix. Again, i was intrigued. I couldn't help but wonder how it felt to have your face covered in warm plastic : how would you breathe, how long would it take, could i possibly keep still long enough? She has always said that someday she would cast me since I was so interested, but we never found the time. This week the issue became a bit more pressing as Rachel is moving to New Jersey today. She had some leftover plastic that she wasn't sure would make a good enough mask to paint, but there are some things in life i just want to experience regardless of the outcome. Thursday night i went over to her apartment for dinner and plastination (ummmm, actually that's something entirely different that i'm not quite ready for). She was working on a mask for her friend Kristen so she figured she could do both at the same time and Kristen could take pictures of the process for me. The first step was to pull all of my hair back and cover my face with Vaseline. Rachel warned that i really needed to make sure my eyebrows and eyelashes were coated so that the plastic wouldn't pull them out. Yikes! Have you ever tried to cover your eyelashes with Vaseline? That is an experience in and off itself. Be warned, the following pictures would NOT go in my model portfolio: slick and greasy is a good look for no one While I was slathering up, Rachel melted the Friendly Plastic. You crafters out there will recognize the brand name as the strips you buy and melt with hot water or an embossing tool to make embellishments. You can buy it in pellet form off of the internet for applications like casting. She put the amount of pellets she wanted into a glass bowl with water and microwaved the whole mess. It ends up looking a bit like frog eggs Once it is hot enough she kneads it into a homogeneous mass, presses out the bubbles, forms a face-sized patty, checks the temperature so as to not scald the skin, places it over the willing well-lubed model, and molds it from the forehead to the temples, over the eyes, down and around the nose. I can't really describe how it felt. It was warm and soothing until I felt it pushed gently over my nostrils. I knew it was coming and wasn't freaked out, but it was certainly unlike anything i've ever felt before. I had to really concentrate on mouth breathing (which is very attractive, as captured by the above pictures). Then it was time to just wait. I did well holding still and breathing, but it was hard not to talk (who's surprised by that?) and when i did try to join in Kristen and Rachel's conversation I sounded like I had a ridiculous cold. I am unclear about how long it took to set; i'd guess between 5 and 10 minutes. It was a really cool sensation to feel it cooling, hardening and starting to pull away from my skin slightly. As it sets the Friendly Plastic turns from clear to white Kristen took a lot of pictures and in this one i held my breath in order to close my mouth so that every image didn't look like a gasping dying fish After it is set Rachel peels off the mask while the model hopes that the Vaseline leaves her eyebrows intact After a thorough face washing it is time to celebrate the finished product Rachel told me how to clean it, prime it and paint it if I want. I haven't decided what i'm going to do with my plastic face casting, but it was amazing to have it made. Good luck in nursing school, Rachel. I know you'll do great. I'll miss the experimental cuisine and will try to find more ways to cook asparagus. ps - thanks for all the stuff you were getting rid off in the move, especially the crockpot and the mini-Cuisinart. I'm gonna go find something to grind and then cook slowly!

trust the burro

Today I was scheduled to do a chemistry show by myself about 15 minutes from where Erin lives, so she volunteered to be my "adult partner" (cause you never do science without an adult partner, ladies and gentlemen). After the hilarity that was our show, Erin suggested lunch at her local Mexican place, Papa Joe's Yes, it is in a business strip. Yes, it is downstairs from a church. Yes, it is the size of my apartment. Yes, it is so small they don't even have a website for me to put in a link. [note: apparently i didn't look hard enough; Erin just posted the website in the comments. It's not my fault if Google couldn't find it!] But it was adorable and the food was YUMMY! We split a chorizo con queso with corn tortillas that was spicy and melty and i had a steak burrito with salsa verde that was delish. Erin's chorizo and chicken quesadillas looked great and i can't wait to try the leftovers later (she sent them home with me!!!). If you are in Westminster, MD look in the parking lot behind Main St and you will find Papa Joe's. You should go in, after all who can argue with a smiling burro?

...like a sucking vortex

There was a time when i didn't want a digital camera. In fact, there was a time when i hated digital cameras. But last year Mel and Mike sent me a well-loved digital camera and i slowly started integrating into my life. I use my film camera when i am taking photos that will be scrapbooked, but grab the digital for quick things or images that i know will end up here. Oh so slowly, almost insidiously, that tiny camera became my constant companion. It wormed its way into my life. [Did i ever tell you about the time the digital camera beat up the film camera and cracked its case?] Now, my beloved (but devious) camera is having a nervous breakdown. I need to take it to the doctor to see if it just needs a new battery pack or if it is time to move on, but I haven't gotten around to it because it didn't seem very pressing. How wrong I was. Apparently i can no longer live my life without a digital camera. Today I went to my briefcase not once, not twice, but three times to pull out the camera and realized that it wasn't there! My short-term memory must be going because it was a horrible shock each time. The technology that i once despised is now exerting a gravitational pull on me. I can't break free from it. I am planning my weekend around going to the camera doctor, the library (to do internet price searches), Best Buy, and Sam's Club. Thank goodness it is a triple paycheck month; i might go insane if i couldn't get this fixed soon. I can't believe i ever reached this point. What is the escape velocity from technology?

National Scrapbooking Day

I am back from the funnness that was my scrapbook retreat with Rickki in Williamsburg. I wasn't the best nor the worst retreat i've been on and i DID get to spend NSD actually scrapbooking with my best friend. We had a round banquet table to ourselves; that might sound like a lot of space, but we managed to utilize it all. There were plenty of snacks Since Rickki had fly here she could only bring 2 bags worth of supplies so she pre-made page kits to work on - 42 in fact and there she is working away on them. I finally got a move on the Picture of the Day project from 2004. (yes, i realize how long ago that was, thank you) I am doing it on timecards The weather was awesome and on Saturday we spent some time walking around Colonial Williamsburg. My camera is slowly having a nervous breakdown (as you can see from the previous pics) so I didn't take it with me; photos will follow once i get them from Rickki.

Gone Fishin'

... not really, but i AM taking 3 days off in a row and going away with my BFF who is flying in tomorrow morning. YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE