Part-time Job

Oh money... you maybe the root of all evil, but you do put gas in my car. I have started working a part-time job. Where? you ask. At my place of full-time employment. I have been working in the lobby on Friday nights for a while, but now i will be selling tickets every other Sunday. And President's Day. And maybe Tuesday nights. And maybe i'll cover some lunches. And maybe when the managers are desperate. Today i worked "will call" where people pick up internet and phone tickets and where all of the crazy special cases go. Then i worked the "audio tour" sales desk (technically i am still working it; we're between ticket times). It has been either incredibly boring (now) or crazy hectic (earlier). I get paid either way, but i really prefer super busy, myself. Earlier this week i learned the basics of running an IMAX projector. At this point i only need to learn how to run the planetarium and open the safe in the cash room and i will be able to take over! Muahahahahahahah... oops, was that out loud?

Happy Blogiversary

YIPPEE! Happy Blogiversary to me. I can hardly believe that my first post was a year ago. Funny how time flies. For Christmas, Mel and Mike gave me a book of the first (nearly) year of The Nikiverse. In retrospect it doesn't seem like much happened in 2007 (compared to other years), but reading it all at once reminds me that a lot did. I have really enjoyed capturing the quirkiness of my life and sharing it with those i love. Thanks for visiting and thanks for being my friends.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my bestest friend, Rickki and her husband, Scott. They have been married for FIFTEEN years, which seems amazing to me since Rickki and I appear to only be 15 years old when we are together. Guess eloping with that guy you met on Prodigy worked out pretty well for you, huh? Congratulations, my dear. (hope you found a sitter for Z)

What is that SMELL?

I was away on business last week. When i opened my car after coming home it smelled like rancid feet. Great googley-moogley it stank. What is that smell? I spotted my forgotten lunchbox. Carefully i opened it - empty; no smell. There were some trash bags on the floor - empty; no smell. I remebered that it had rained with my window opened a crack. I checked the upholstery - no mildew; no smell. I checked all the way under the seats to see if the was an errant banana peel - nope; no smell. I checked the glove box for nesting mice (a problem we have been having with work vehicles) - nope; no smell. I checked the trunk for dead hobos (don't ask) - nope; no smell. Nothing IN the car smells, but the inside of the car smells! I left the windows open this weekend, but the smell was back this morning. UGH!

Simplicity

When i work on a project it can be pretty complicated. I am drawn to intricate techniques. Multiple steps make me happy. Sometimes, though, it's nice to just be simple. My sister wanted a birdhouse for her kitchen so i offered to paint one for her. She requested blue and she wanted a bird on it; those were the only guidelines. I wanted something lovely, but simple. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I still snuck in layers, like the bunny over the fence over the grass in the back but generally, the whole thing is pretty straight forward. It was great to take a little break from really complicated. Besides, what's better than a wee birdhouse ON a wee birdhouse?

This is the End, My Beautiful Friend, The End

One day you're a star. You're a big star. Perhaps you're a star in a winter play. Perhaps you're a star in a Christmas concert. You're covered in glitter and spangles; you're wrapped in tiny twinkle lights. People are in awe of you. Then, one day it's all over. You're in a heap with the other has-beens, leaking your styrofoam innards all over the floor. It really makes you think about your own mortality. (or perhaps -like me- it just makes you giggle)

Apperantly I'm It

Ahhhhhhh... the blog tag. I read other people's tag postings, but i've never been tagged. How i long to be tagged. Thanks to Kate P for my first time tag. (it really doesn't take much to make me smile) I'm excited cause you know how much i love randomness. For those of you unfamiliar (and i bet there is at least one of you), you post 7 random things about yourself and then tag 7 other people on their blog. That way, anyone reading your blog will read their blog as well. Of course anyone reading my blog would probably already be reading those blogs - i think i might have about 7 readers. Plus, Kate p is out cause she tagged me and Mel is out cause Kate tagged her. And THREE of the blogs i read every day (or whenever they post) are password protected. And i can't comment on Jonah's blog. And several of my faithful reader are cool, but i don't know if they will play... Crap; this could be a problem. But first for the funness: 7 Random Things about Niki 1. Though an obvious extrovert, there are situations in which i am very introverted and i suffered from some Stage 1 Social Anxiety Disorder about 10 years ago. 2. I feel the need to declare to anyone I am with that i am leaving the room to go to the ladies' room. I don't want people to think i am just done talking to them; i want them to know that only insistent prompting from my body would drive me away from them. 3. I really, really want a tiger tattoo, but can't get one because of childhood scars on the area in question (my leg, BTW). 4. I will listen to a CD or a watch a movie over and over and over again until I know every tiny detail of it. 5. I have had a secret ambition for my life for about 11 years. I have never told anyone about it; i have never even written in my journal about it. (i let part of it slip out a few weeks ago, but the person i was talking to had no clue how momentous of an occasion he was party to). No, i'm not going to tell you either. I'm not sure why i continue to harbor this crazy idea in my head, but i do. 6. I have a not-so-secret desire to be a better dancer. I freaking LOVE to dance, but look like i'm getting electrocuted. 7. I LOVE sunflower seeds (already shelled, of course). I mean i LOVE them. They are like crack; if i have a few of them i want the whole bag. Great, now i want sunflower seeds... Onto the hard part; i think i can get 5. I'm gonna tag: Kaaren Jonah (i'll just e-mail him) Elizabeth (Mom and Dad can help) Francie (you could use some frivolity) Erin

National Pie Day

My sincerest apologies to everyone - i missed National Pie Day. I was convinced it was today (January 24th). I had a post all planned and ready about it, but realized that it was actually yesterday when i went to hyperlink something. D'OH Anyhoooo... National Pie Day is a chance for us to all revel in food with crusts, be they savory or sweet. Pie is comforting. Pie is tasty. Any excuse for pie is a good excuse. I celebrated over the weekend at Rachel's house. She made a nice French-Canadian tortiere (meat pie) and people brought chocolate creme, pumpkin, maple syrup-walnut and cherry pies to go with. Of course there was vanilla ice cream to go a la mode if you wanted. (and who wouldn't want that?) We played games and ate pie; a good time was had by all. It may be a day late, but that shouldn't stop you from having some pie - mayhaps, a chicken pot pie and a nice coconut creme. Enjoy.

Projects

I have been trying to get things done around the apartment. After 20 months it has finally hit me that i really LIVE here; i'm not going anywhere. So last weekend I finally decided how to store my pins. You know that i collect jewelry, and that i especially love vintage pins. I wanted to be able to see them all, but have it be convenient and attractive. I've been toying with hanging them on the back of my closet door, but was unhappy with my previous option of putting them on ribbons. I found a piece of pink burlap (burlap comes in COLORS?) that i must have bought years ago. (i BOUGHT burlap?!?) It seemed like a good color to highlight the pins without overwhelming the room and a good texture from which to hang the pins, so i washed, dried and ironed it. (ironing is from the devil) Then it was time to cut it to the right size. Have you ever cut burlap? It is nearly impossible to get it even cause the edges unravel. A long, long time later it was right; i hemmed the top and sewed in a dowel that had already been cut, sanded and painted. Then i had to hang the pins (grouped loosely by type and distributed for even weight, of course) Voila - the pins are done and i'm pretty happy with it.

Life can be lovely

You know how we all have days where everything seems off, not clicking, missing the mark and frustrating? Today was the exact opposite of that day. Gloriously, everything fell into place all day long. I think that it is because we went to the cutest town in the world today - Fawn Grove, PA. The adorable quotient of this town is so high that it leaks out to everything and everybody surrounding it. Team member, Miriam and I were ahead of schedule this morning, so we took a fun, twisty over-land route to get to our school. The sun rose beautiful and golden over the rolling hills of frozen farmland. We saw 2 really, really shaggy llamas in their winter coats. Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" was on the radio and, jeez, who doesn't love that song? [sure it kills any musical credibility you might have, but just TRY to listen to it with out going Sweet Caroline - BUM, BUM, BUM at the top of your lungs; it's gotta make ya smile, shameful or not] We roll into town and notice that the street sign have little deers on them (many tiny PA towns have little icons on their street signs) but on closer inspection we realize that they aren't just any deers, no they are indeed wee fawns - the cutest fawns ever (of course they had a "Mill Street" - what tiny town doesn't?) Being 40 minutes EARLY for set-up (how did that happen?) we drove around town (took about 7 minutes from corner to corner to corner to corner, including stopping to take the sign pics) and noticed this intriguing sign: crafts, coffee and aerobics? In the same place? yep. There is yoga and dance as well. A couple who grew up in the town and own the house across the street bought the old hardware store after the owner dies and converted it into a coffee house and a dance studio. The owner was there with her 3 month old son; she talked to us while we drank our tea and ate homemade muffins (keep in mind that we are being PAID during this). They tried to keep as much of the cool old tools and things from the hardware store, using them as decorations. It was truly charming as opposed to "bought on E-Bay" charming. As we are talking and laughing and admiring her handsome baby, "Sweet Caroline" comes on CD player. I kid you not. Feeling warm and tingly from all of the homespun-ness and tea we left for our school (about 2 minutes away, if you catch the traffic bad) which was ready for us and had a custodian standing by to direct us to the correct door. Circling the building, we turned right into the sun and had to pause for a moment - BLINK,BLINK; BLINK,BLINK; is that a snowman in front of our door? yes. yes, it is. Sure, there's no snow on the ground, but that won't keep the cutest town from having a snowman with bottle cap eyes and penny buttons from waiting to greet us. Still don't think it is the cutest place, ever? The arms aren't just branches, they are branches from a pussy willow. really. Miriam and I are so filled with adorableness at this point that the thought of setting up to do shows is jarring. Luckily, the MPR (multi-purpose room for those of you who don't live in elementary schools) is Candy Cane Lane (sorry these 2 are so dark; i can't put my editing software on my new computer yet) Still decorated from the Winter play or something we had cheerful elves to acclimate us to the real world. Of course it was hardly the real world since all of our classes had less than 20 students each. And the kids were cute, polite, smart and on-task. I swear i spent the day in a Frank Capra movie. It was nice.