The Mad Happenings of a Glass Princess

Happy Saturday! LOL. Why in the hell am I so chipper? No freakin' clue, but I better run with it while my good mood is here.
I can partly blame my good mood on that while I was just walking to the bathroom, I had to pull my pants up! The last time I worked really hard at losing weight and working out, I had a melt down cause I couldn't grasp how one day my clothes fit me and the next they didn't, how fast my body was changing. When I decided that my life really needed changing, really acting on it and not just blowing smoke, I would lie in bed and think of all the mistakes I made in the past ( I think I'm going to list them out)
-if I was bad a day, I would reset my life back to 'starting on wednesday'
-if I went on a trip, I saw it as a chance to take advantage of 'local food' and be on a vacation from my diet
-if the scale didn't move, I was 'bad'
-if my clothes were too big, I didn't deserve to move to a smaller size
-if someone complemented me on my weight loss, i must have been really fat in the past
-if I couldn't lift as much as my friends, I'm weak
-if someone passed me by in 5K, I'm slow
wow, such negativity, no wonder my success was limited!
but I'm ready now... here is how I'm turning things around...
-Wednesday is not the only day of the week! life moves on, make each moment better than the last one, move forward, don't look back
-being on a trip does not cancel out calories. waking up a half hour early to work out does not kill you, eating well does not kill you, it is still your life, you need to live it well
-the scale does not dictate your success, every moment you do well is a small victory, and they add up
-hell yes I deserve to be in small clothes, I did well with my food, that is my reward
-yes, you were fat, there is no hiding it, say 'thanks', smile and keep moving, you do look good!
-you have to work at your weight lifting, you are not your friends!
-go ahead, pass me, I'll see you later. My ass is out here and that is better than any race time.

So, with all that written out, I'm still having mini-freak outs on my clothes being bigger. I have to calm myself down and say that I have done good, and these are results of being better. I want to share the store of my black shorts... In the beginning of the spring, I had to put a ponytail holder in the button hole and wrap it around the button to keep my shorts closed--they were too tight to button. This morning, I grabbed those shorts, put them on and went to wrap the holder around the button.
"Whoa, what just happened!"
I was pulling the holder way past where the button is...
"wait, can I button these!?"
I remove the ponytail holder from the button hole and slowly button my shorts. Everything is moving in slow motion just in case the button pops.
"holy shit! I got these buttoned!"
I let go and the shorts slide down a bit
"did these just hit my hips!?"
I walk slowly over to the mirror
"you've got to be kidding me! these not only fit me, they are loose! Holy freakin' shit"
and then the mimi-freakout started, I had to take a few deep breaths and then I realized that this was a mile marker in my journey to a healthier life. Smile and roll around in all the goodness, damn right they are loose!
Well, I'm getting ready for work tonight (we just launched the Sp.ace Shu.ttle and I have to work for a few nights) and I put on my black pants. I love these pants cause they are almost like wearing PJs, they stretchy goodness. So, with my black pants on, I take a few steps to put on my shirt... and my pants fall to my hips.
"holy shit, these are loose too!"
and I proceed to do a 'happy loose dance' and pull up my pants as I walk around the house.

Mel's party
So, everyone is currently over at Max and Melyssa's house celebrating Mel's new job in our group. As stated before, I'm currently working the mission and I'm not over there with gang. However, I have been kept in the loop by various text messages from Jodie and phone calls. I really hate being here right now and I wish that I was hanging out with my friends. I find it funny that we can't even go a night without communicating in some way.
I'm very much looking forward to Mel joining our group. She is going to be a great addition and I know that folks need some relief from some of their tasks.

Glass Class
my class ended yesterday afternoon. I came home pretty much empty handed, I had a few pieces of jewelry that I made from my high fire, but the sink and my high fire were still in the kilns cooling off when I left San Antonio. I was sad to leave them. They are being sent to me, so I'll see them by the end of the week (hopefully).
I enjoyed the class for the most part. It was kinda disorganized, but I learned tons of new techniques, which if you would have asked me in the beginning of the class that is what I wanted to get out of it, so I guess i can put that in the success column.
I've said this in the last few posts, but I really want to get the studio running and start churning out product. The art fest is only a few months away, I just paid for my tent today, and I have zero product to put in it--that equation just doesn't add up!
I hope to get some stuff done over the next few days before my family comes in this weekend. (yeah, I'm laughing too, cause my house needs to be cleaned and I still have to buy a new bed for the front spare room).

San Antonio 1/2 Marathon
Jodie told me about the SA 1/2 awhile ago. It sounded fun, but I really didn't take it serious, I didn't think that I could do it. But now that I'm moving and I'm feeling better, I totally can do this! And the best part is that Jodie sent me a schedule of what I need to do to get there, what mileage I have to do each day to get to the half. And it really doesn't look that hard. That is one of the funniest things to me about this whole thing. None of this stuff is killing me. I'm not rolling around on the ground becausing i'm suffering in some horrible way. I'm looking forward to the challenge of this plan that she sent me. I can so do this.

a quick definition of cold working: it is a way to take your art to the next level. you use sand blasting equipment, grinders, silica carbide grit, diamond pads and other methods to give your glass a silky finish that is awesome! I love cold working; it is hard work, my arms are very sore from holding the angle grinder thru multiple grit levels. I'm sure this all sounds like blah, blah, blah... anywho, I love it, I love how the glass looks after wards. I must get the cold working area set up in the garage. #1 priority when I get home (besides getting my work out notebook together).

I had a 6:30 wake up call this morning, but I just couldn't drag myself out of bed. I felt guilty about it all day. Missing one day of working out should not throw me into a tailspin--not a good way to 'live'. So I'm trying to let it go, and just plan on waking up tomorrow and working out and going about my merry way!

here are some pics from today...

(they're not the best in the world, but you get an idea of what I did)

not sure why this pic turned, but this is my 'high fire'
it looks better in person, the colors are so cool. I'm making a plate and some jewelry from it!



This is my 'sink' as it came out of the kiln, they call it a blank, I had to grind, sand, edge, etc to clean it up. After about 5 hours of cold working it, I put it back in the kiln for it to be slumped into a sink mold. I think I will name this piece "homage to Miami Vice" The turquoise turned out very, very blue. I like the style of the piece, love the 'lines', I'm just not happy with the blue color. live and learn


this is the back side of the blank. this will be the outside of the bowl. it is Woodland Brown with French Vanilla course frit. the big spots are the lights, I really don't have that much frit in one location. I like the back (kinda). we'll see how it all turns out. I learned lots in the class, so i can't wait to get home and play!

Quick blog, I'm tired and I need to go to bed...

I woke up this morning, hit the hotel gym, grabbed another yummy egg white omelet and headed out to the studio. Once at the studio, we got a quick peek at out Hire Fire project--mine looks awesome, but then we had to close the kiln and let them finish cooking. I didn't get a peek at the sink, that will come out first thing in the morning. We did some cold working demos and learned how to cut the hole in the sink--holy moly, that could really test your nerves, you could break your piece in half if you aren't careful. So, throughout the day, I kept having to pull up my pants, and Gail (the instructor) finally asked me if I was having an issue with my pants. After I thought about it, yes I was having an issue--the issue that THEY ARE TOO BIG! Yes that is what I said--TOO BIG!! Isn't that awesome! I couldn't cinch them anymore--what a great feeling!

After class, I hit a few local shops and the mall, and then I ended up seeing Indi.ana Jo.nes. Horrible movie, don't see it, they ruined the whole series! I'm so sad.

I just ate dinner at 10:00, I know I shouldn't but I wasn't really hungry until the movie was out.
I'm now headed to bed. Oh! I'll have to share a funny from class tomorrow. Stay tuned...

I had the best time this past weekend; Jodie, Bryan, Landon, Danny, Max, Melyssa, Maddox and I all went to Danny's family's camp in Louisiana for the holiday weekend. We've been to the camp before and we've always had the best times; this weekend was no exception. The M's and I arrived late Friday night/early Saturday morning and when we woke up around 8 am and hit the ground running!
Mel and Jodie blew up the pool for the boys and the fun really began! The boys had so much fun playing in the little pool while the adults enjoyed the deck and contemplated when we should fire up the blender (it was noon somewhere in the world). Lanno was so cute and invited Danny to join them in the pool, he gave in and sat back as the boys climbed all over him--it was so cute.
After some yummy lunch, we packed stuff up and headed out on the boat. We didn't have a real destination, we just went out and enjoyed the day. We finally anchored, threw on some life jackets and jumped in the water. Ohmygosh the boys loved that, they had so much fun just bobbing up and down in the water, I've never seen a smile on Lanno's face like that before. After we floated around for a while, we had to get back on the boat--oh boy that was a chore. I don't want to stray too far from the happiness of the weekend, but I do want to report that getting back on the boat was one of the worst moments of my life. The boat we had did not have a ladder in the back and you kinda had to just jump in. Well, we were in ~6 feet of water and there was nothing to push off on. So, I had to get heaved up like a whale being lifted to safety. I can't even begin to tell you how that made me feel. It was horrible and just re-affirmed my goal of losing weight and getting healthy! I ended up even crying about it later when I took a shower, but that is all in the past and I'm moving forward!
The next morning Danny's parents joined us at the camp with their boat and we all headed out to the 'islands'. There are a series of barrier islands off of the coast, we went out there to fish and just hang out. The weather was a bit warmer than the day before and the breeze was next to zero, but once we zooming on the boat, it felt alot better! After about a 45 minute ride, we arrived to some VERY choppy water, the girls couldn't really handle the motion of the boat and we wanted off ASAP! LOL. We ended up anchoring the boats off the beach and we swam/walked to the island. It was close to heaven out there, we had the best time just hanging out in the water, watching the hermit crabs, checking out the boys while they fished and soaked up the sun. We ended the day with some goodies from the grill and a early night to bed.
It is so funny to think how much we've all changed and our patterns of drinking and staying up all night--or lack there of.
After I got home, I needed to head out to San Antonio for my glass class... details of that in the next post!


(for pictures of the camp weekend, you can check them out here... http://s285.photobucket.com/albums/ll53/BrodyDogPictures/)

Okay, fine, so I never finished my post from yesterday. After having a 'meeting' with the girls in the office, I just couldn't bring myself to type all that. Maybe one day soon, I'll finish the post.

So, who am I? 'Who's that Girl?' -- that is how I feel; I don't recognize myself at all! Who is this girl that is walking around so positive, feeling stronger physically and emotionally, who is getting up at 5 am (plus a few snooze bar hits some mornings) , who is walking into the gym like she owns it, taking time to concentrate on each move and the whole time doing any of those things is not complaining or thinking that it is a chore! I am completely surprised my 'zen' attitude towards things, I can't explain how relaxed I feel cause I'm not stressing over ever single move I make. My new motto is "be".
I want to BE balanced
I want to BE healthy
I want to BE centered
I want to BE calm
I want to BE happy
I want to BE relaxed
I want to BE strong (emotionally and physically)
I just want to 'BE'

(I should buy stock in this company...http://beologyonline.com/. I love their stuff!)

I know my 'change' is in its infancy, but see a long and happy life together...

To begin with, I want to give a workout status:
I don't know if I either didn't set it or if I turned it off once that annoying beep began, but I woke up too late to go to the gym before work yesterday. I sat there and thought about still going and just being late to work, but since I took off early, I knew I couldn't be in later than normal. So, yesterday no work out for me. :-(
But the alarm went off this morning and I got my tush up. I reported a few days ago about how nervous I was about doing the weights; however this morning, I took a deep breath, walked in, took charge and went to work! Jodie suggested that I break my upper body workout into 2 sessions: back & biceps and then shoulders, triceps, chest; of course I listened to her and I focused on back & biceps.
I really took Bryan's comments seriously and concentrated on every move and really focused. If I wasn't getting much out of it, or it wasn't getting too hard, then I knew I needed to move up in weight. I think i had a great arm workout! I ended my morning with some abs, I know I will be feeling those tomorrow!

Wednesday weigh in: -1 lb (every journey begins with the first step)

The rest of the entry coming...

Uggg, I hate my alarm clock--HATE IT! After getting up 3 times to pee last night (I guess I shouldn't drink 2 large buc.ees cups full of tea before bed), my alarm went off at 5am to signal that it was time for me to go to the gym. WHACK! I just bought 10 more minutes; BUZZ, WHACK, another 10 minutes, this went on 3 more times before I finally decided that I MUST go to the gym, laying in bed for another hour or so was not going to help my ass size, and that I know I would feel better for doing it too.
So, I pull up to the gym, and I see Bry's car--"damn, I know he is going to say something about me being late" (and he does).
I don't head upstairs like I have in the last week, I head over to the weights. My nerves are up, there are a bunch more people around than I would have liked to have seen, but at least I'm working out and those people can just shut up. I walk over to the first leg machine I see just to get out of the 'way', and I get to work. I walk around trying to figure out what is the next machine I want to do, trying not to look too lost, I make my way around to all the leg machines and I get a full workout in. My legs were a little shaky afterwards, but not to the point I couldn't walk. I know I will be feeling it tomorrow. My plan is to also do some cardio after work.

So, later this morning, on our way to work (Jodie had to drive me to work this morning), I was telling her that I did legs.
"yeah, bryan told me. he said you weren't working out hard enough, that you were playing with your iPod too much"
nb: "wha-wha-what?"
all I focused on was that someone was watching me work out--AND HAD COMMENTS ABOUT IT. one of my biggest fears! Then the questions started flooding in my head" who else saw me? did they think I looked like a goob? was my form wrong? am I weak?
THE HORROR of someone looking at me. I mean, I guess I should be happy that it was bryan, a friend that will tell me the truth, but it doesn't make it better. Bryan ususally doesn't even acknowledge my presence 99% of the time, I never would have thought he'd look over and take notice of my workout. I'm really going to try to take this as constructive critisism and not freak out when I go to the gym. His comments were right, I wasn't focusing hard enough, I need to take my time, and put all my concentration into each movement--make everything count.

tomorrow I will do better, nothing I can do about this mornings workout now!

The human body amazes me. The way that it can recover and adapt is truly amazing. After just 5 days (some days twice a day) of doing ~35 minutes on the Elliptical machine, my body feels so much better. I dragged my tush out of bed again at 4:45am to head to the gym and I'm just peddling along when I look down to check out my peddle rate. (My target has been to keep it in the 140's consistently). So, I look down to check out the rate, and I'm in the 150's and I'm not even really huffing and having a hard time to be in that zone. Tuesday/Wednesday of this week, I was doing every mental exercise to keep me motivated to keep me in the 140's and this morning, I'm in the 150's without even thinking about it. I think it might be time to shoot for the 160's now...
All morning I've been in a daze b/c I can't believe how good I'm feeling after such a short time. I've been eating well every day and doing some cardio and I feel stronger and less bloated. Also, when I measure my heart rate, that has been getting lower too as I'm working out. I was off scale high there for a few workouts, now I'm in a good zone, so that is even improving!
If these are the results I'm getting after 5 days, I can't wait to see what happens after 10, 20, 30, 50, or 365 days...

... something about sleet and snow, and rain and hail, they always deliver the mail...

well, this chica got up during a nasty thunderstorm at 5am and went to the gym--I delivered!! Trust me, I wanted to roll back over and fall asleep to the rain, but the size of my ass was stopping me, so I got up and went and worked out. It was nice, I counted 4 other people there this morning with me. I took the opportunity to look around the other machines without having to disturb anyone or have them look at me. I need to work on my fitness notebook... that is a top priority, I want to capture everything I'm doing...
Speaking of capturing, I also did some photo documentation last night. In the past when I've tried to lose weight, I always wished I had some photos to compare it to, so this time I wasn't going to 'wish'. I set up the camera on the tripod in the front spare bedroom, got the remote out, stripped down to just my girlie things, and snapped a front, both sides, and two back shots (on with arms up and one with down). I then moved the pics to the new computer and got a close up look at myself. OHMYGOSH, I needed that but lordy I didn't need to see that--I am fat. I'm not overweight, I'm not chubby, I'm F A T! And I'm not having a pity party for myself when I say that. It is a fact, I have been medically diagnosed as F A T; of course they say it nicer. Anywhoo, I plan on taking pics each Wednesday (the same day as my WW days start) and document my weight loss.
I can't wait to look back on the pictures I took last night and wonder who that girl was...

Yay me.

So much to say, and my head is killing me so bad, that it hurts to think about all that I want to talk about. However, (I can’t say ‘but’) I know that getting. So, I guess I will just take more drugs for my headache and pour my heart out…

Hi my name is Nicole and I have mother issues. That is what was determine after speaking with my peeps. Do you know those survey’s that come out via email every now and again; the ones asking you what you had for breakfast or what is your favorite flavor of ice cream? There is always a question about who you would want to have lunch with or speak with if you could. I always want to answer ‘my mother’. Just have one dinner with her, one more conversation, one more laugh, one more card game, one more seeing a movie, one more time hearing that she is proud of me and what I thought at the time was a tragedy of life, being ripped out of Chicago, was one of the best thing that could have happened to me. Tell her that everything DOES have a meaning and it does work out for a reason. I have been given an opportunity to ‘speak’ with her. Have the opportunity to speak to her thru a medium. The thought scares me. What if I hear stuff I don’t want to, what if I don’t hear what I need to. What if the Medium reads the fears I have and plays to them. What if it is all not true. My peeps recommended that I put off the reading for some time, speak with my therapist and have time to think about it. And my peeps don’t let me down and I followed what they said.

So I went to therapy and we talked about my ’mother’ issues.
“Nicole, you’re very angry, why?”
“Cause she left me, she didn’t take care of herself, she left her granddaughter and her future grandkids, she left my dad, she said she would always be there for me--she lied.”
And then the hypocrite came out in me…
“I don’t understand why she couldn’t get of the couch and take care of herself, put down the chips, walk, run, jump in place. She knew she was sick, she had one heart attack already, she had to correct her life style, but she didn’t. Oh wait, wow, I don’t get my ass up, I pick up those chips, I know I have symptoms of future problems.” I living EXACTLY like her. My gosh, the revelation!
And then I get mad that I didn’t speak up, that my fear of confrontation didn’t help my mom. However, I have to think of the flip side of that. When those close to me tell me that I have to get off my ass and exercise, move, eat right, I get mad. I don’t want to hear that…who wants to hear the brutal truth. And I can hear the return conversation in my head from my mom. She would have thrown every excuse (sound familiar?) as to why she couldn’t eat well at work or why she couldn’t exercise, or why she didn’t want to go to a gym…
I AM MY MOTHER.

So I started to exercise. My head is killing me, went to Dr. D today. I have bad fluid build up in my head and ears. I just want to drill a hole in my head and release the pressure. Jodie called me yesterday evening. The family was headed over to the new gym, she invited me to go along. Even though I felt so horrible, life happens and I can’t make those excuses anymore. I did the elliptical for 35 minutes! Went home and wanted to die.
I then woke up at 5:15ish and headed out to the gym this morning. Did 45 minutes on the same machine. I tried to rock it hard. AND THEN, I went again after work. I was at the gym twice today. Very proud of myself, this is where the ticker-tape parade comes in…
I want everyone to tell me how proud they are and that I did so well--WHATEVER!, I didn’t cure freakin’ cancer--I got off my ass and worked out. So, if I sleep in one day and I don’t go, should I deserve to be yelled at? No. So, why do I have to get praise for something that I should be doing for ME? Here is my new pledge--I’m not going to expect others to cheer me on, I’m not going to elicit the praise, I’m going to go about what I need to do, and cheer on myself.

Oh, and I need to work on the living in the past…. I can’t go into that right now, too tired, I want to get up and go to the gym and my head is really killing me.

Yay me.

Ohmygosh, I'm stuck here, I know we must get out of here in the next few hours b/c we have our social tonight, but that doesn't help. I'm stuck, I'm in Op Nom discussion H E L L.

I really want to go to the gym tonight, however, I can't b/c I'm stuck in Germany. I want to be home so bad. I miss my boys horribly and I want to go play in the studio.

I have this horrible habit of always "waiting" until some stupid self-imposed deadline to do something... well the deadline of the gym opening is here and I can't do anything about it. For once I WANT to do something, but I can't.... soon, very soon, I get control back and I'm on my way...

So, my IPV team is so darn great that we are done with all of our agenda items. Our only outstanding items are those that we need to report back to the ODFCB about. If I'm as good as I think I am, we will push our way into the odfcb, get our work done and get the heck out of here. Just the thought that I could be home a day or two eariler is just making me feel so much better. I'm bored here, we've completed all the work, I'm totally not in the mood to be social, I'm not diggin' all people here either.
I'm just going to keep my head down and go with the flow.

Hola! That is the extent of other languages you are going to get out of me tonight.

Sorry I didn't write last night, I'm not feeling too good. I had a feeling that my sinus issues were going to get worse and they did. I called Kim at ~12:45 am last night begging for drugs. I had debated for about 10 minutes if I should call her, but the pain won and I called...she wasn't even asleep! LOL. she gave me some good stuff and after taking that, along with some other stuff and slathering bio.freeze all over my face, I finally got some sleep. It wasn't the best sleep, the train station was a happenin' place last night. There is a really talented jazz player--he knows about 4 freakin' notes! I wanted to throw a shoe at him.
When I got to work this morning, my headache wasn't really any better, I finally asked one of the local guys to take me over to their clinic. A German doctor who I could understand maybe every 3rd word was asking me if my mucus was yellow or green--neither I reply, that is my problem, it is stuck up there and the pressure is unbearable. I was hoping he would give me a miracle drug and send me on my way, but that just didn't happen. I didn't have a German Dr. Feelgood. Damn germans! I stayed home from dinner tonight, I just couldn't be social. Anyways it hurt to walk, turn my head, chew, breathe, etc... so I thought I would just hole myself in my room tonight and take it easy. I also have some work to do and I didn't want to be out so late.

I would like to talk about a topic that has now bothered me for two weekends. Why do hotels put mirrors in their elevators!? Most decorators would tell you that mirrors open a place up and make it look bigger--guess what! An elevator is small, so why would you put mirrors in it, it won't make it look bigger! So for the last two weekends I've stayed in hotels that have had mirrors in the elevator. you get in and you start to look around and then the questions start.... **"Good gosh, is that MY ass!?' so you wiggle it a bit to make sure it ISN'T--but sadly, yes that is YOUR ASS
**Is that what people see when they are behind me?! "where is the 'wide load' sign?"
**Is my nose really that pointy "you can write the constitution over again with your nose and an ink well"
**I think I have more necks than a chicken, but all of them wiggle at the same frequency.
Man, the comments are endless, and I'm only on the 3rd freakin' floor, it is amazing how much you see in such a short elevator ride.

with that depressing post, I'm going to do some homework and then I'm off to bed.

May 2 / 3

Happy Saturday night. Traveling overseas always makes me feel like that I have had a day removed from my life.
First, the dang hotel charges 25 Euros or ~$40 for internet access per day! Really, in 2008, internet access is $40! Whatever, bite me. So, I’m going to write each night and then transfer it to a stick and take it down stairs where they have a ‘free’ internet station, but you are limited to only a few minutes and it is out in the middle of everywhere where all the hotel guests can see your private stuff—oh well, I’ll make the best of what I have.

Man, where do I even begin? There is just so much to say, I wish I had a little keyboard with me at all times that I could just jot down what I was thinking at the time. Oh! I also wish Kim H. and I had our own little IM going… there are so many things I just wanted to say to her. So, here goes my adventure…

Friday: I woke up and took the boyz to daycare, sniff, sniff, I miss them so much already. Damn dogs, it is hard not to have them around me. Anywho, I went home and packed b/c I can’t do that around Brody without him having a complete meltdown. As I was packing I noticed that I had Danny’s big lens (that is what he said) still in my bag from OKC, so I called him and asked if he needed it for his weekend home. He told me sure; so after loading my 1000lb bag (I hope I have enough room for some wine), I went over to his place to drop off the lens. Well, I ended up behind the Pottery Barn delivery truck—his bedroom furniture was arriving. Yippee!! New stuff is always fun regardless of who buys it. So, I helped him move his current bed out of way and the guys brought in this massive, solid bed. That thing comes in second place next to Rhodes’ furniture—that sucker is not getting moved again. After the bed was set up, we put the mattress stuff back on—wow, it looks really nice. Danny did a great job at picking out that bed, very nice.
After the furniture delivery, I had to run to the office real quick ‘cause I forgot some stuff and then I headed over to Cracker Barrel to meet Kimmie for lunch before we headed out to the airport. We filled our tummies with yummo food, dropped off my car and then got to the airport. Check-in at the airport wasn’t too bad, either was security—traveling with a Huss.ein, you never know what you are going to run into. LOL. Of course SJ was there waiting for everyone with that stupid grin that she has—good gosh, is it going to be a long trip, I already needed a drink (I text Jodie saying the same). All I hear from her area is “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah” The women is not going to shut up is she? The rest of our party arrives and we are all just shooting the shit, but I feel like I’m with a bunch of mother hens with SJ and MK. ‘I’m a big girl, I know how to travel overseas’. I text Jodie saying I need stiff drink. To remove myself from all the ‘fun’, I go check in at the gate and see if there is someone sitting between Kimmie and I on the way over… there is, but the nice Dutch gal moves that person cause they haven’t checked in yet and now we have a row to ourselves—this trip might not be so bad after all!
Kimmie and I settle in our little private row, our magazines, blankets, water all laid out ready for us at anytime during the flight. We agree that we have a crappy view of the TV screen, but that we could live with it, no one was sitting between us and we were so damn happy about that. I slept thru take-off and didn’t wake up until they were serving the first round of drinks. Dinner was horrible, some gross chicken with green snot sauce, I followed it with a cup of decaf coffee with Bailey’s (yummo, just the thing to push me over the edge into airplane sleep). However, the sleep didn’t come so easy, so I watched ’27 Dresses’ (I’ll give it 2.5 stars). Mid movie, I have no idea what I opened my window shade, but I did and there was the most incredible site I’ve ever seen. I hope I can describe what it was like… the clouds were thin, so you could see the ground, it was semi-light out, I don’t know if it is the start of ‘White Nights’ but the view had a nice dim light about it, and then you look down and see rolling mountains that are covered in snow and ice. I have no idea what part of the world we were over, I knew we had left the states and were heading into Canada when the movie started, but I’m not sure if we were over Greenland or not. My gosh, it was incredible, there was no life down there, it was just Go.d’s land. I hope I’m doing it justice; the image is burned in my head. I have thoughts of glass that will be inspired by that view. We started to fly over some clouds and the view was gone and I was back to the movie…
After that oscar winner was over, I rolled up some pillows and blankets and hit the wall and slept HARD. The next thing I remember was that the cabin lights were shining in my eyes and my right arm so asleep I thought it was going to stay that way forever—it really hurt bad. I thought my finger tips were no longer there, I couldn’t grab anything; I was shaking my arm and trying to push the blood up and down it by massaging it. Once the blood started to flow, the pain was horrible, I just wanted to cry. This arm sleeping thing is NOT COOL—I’m over it. I don’t even want to think of how bad it would have been if I hadn’t gone and seen Max on Thursday.
We were served some kind of breakfast, I can’t decide if I liked it or not, I would have settled for a waffle and some hash browns, but that wasn’t going to happen. LOL. After breakfast I grabbed my little point and shoot camera to get pictures of us landing in Amster.dam, I knew that it was tulip season, and the landscape would be incredible. It was a bit hazy but I could see colors coming up. If we had made our trip over here a few weeks ago, the color would have been everywhere; most the fields are gone, but a few were left, here is what I saw…



After landing, Kimmie and I got off the plane pretty quick and waited for the rest of the gang. Good gosh, we should have just left them. SJ had to explain everything she was seeing and hearing and everything on the plane and blah, blah, blah… good gosh lady zip it. We connect on to Bremen and arrive to the most beautiful weather! I was taking in the clean fresh air when the stupid questions and observations started up again. ZIP IT! Jump on the train and then onto the hotel right across from the train station, nice hotel, I’ve stayed in worse. The hotel only had Kim and Mike’s rooms ready and the rest of us had to come back after 3. “Shower, Nicole needs a shower, NOW!” That is all I could think of, but the plan was for us to drop our stuff in either Mike’s or Kimie’s room. SJ and I go with Kimmie and AM goes with Mike. Kimmie’s room is the size of her cubical, no lie! (I have to take a picture of this thing) We were joking that college students would sue their university if they ever got a dorm room this small. She could literally reach over from her bed and open her window… I think the bathroom is bigger than her ‘living quarters’. And SJ had to question why ‘anyone would ever design a room like that, blah, blah, blah’ Nicole: “this room is the last thing you are ever going to see if you don’t shut up” of course I didn’t say that but my gosh lady, silence is OKAY you don’t have to talk all the time. Oh yeah, I just remembered, SJ went to go use the bathroom and she didn’t come out for a while and were like, ‘dude, this is Kim’s room, have some manners”, but then she came out and said she couldn’t figure out to flush it. See picture below, she thought that the thing above the toilet was the tissue holder, I almost pee’d in my pants. Yes, it does look different, but you have talked about how you have been to Europe before, you should know that. LOL.




It was time to hit the streets for some jetlagged site seeing and some good food in our bellies. We first hit a semi flea market along the banks of the river. I ran into an old memory… the pancake ship where IPV was born. That is a long story that I won’t go into, but I have a picture of it below. Kinda weird what is most likely my last international trip for IPV or for any other ODF task ends in the one location that changed the course of my job description 5 years ago. Things always come full circle don’t they?




The market was a dud and we headed back to the center of town. We ended up going down to this ally of shops that I love and that has the coolest glass shop; I think I was running to that shop. I can smell glass from 100 yards away—LOL. I was looking at his stuff, awesome necklaces and such. I had Kimmie go back and take some pictures of some stuff. I ended up talking to him about some of his techniques and I didn’t want him pissed off at me for copying his work (I’m just going to ‘borrow’ some ideas, that’s it. LOL) Kimmie got some really good pictures for me—thanks Kim!
As we made our way down the ally, we ran into some PODF guys, talked to them for a few and then we sat outside for a yummy lunch. The weather was so nice, weather that only people in Houston could dream of. We were in the middle of this small square where on the hour, these bells ring and this wall turns showing the history of sea and air transportation, kinda cool. Everyone but Mike ordered a ‘flat bread pizza type thing’. They are common in Germany and are very yummy. With food in our bellies, we needed to get up and get moving or we were all going to fall asleep right there. During our lunch conversation, I found out that I was really the only one that got any amount of sleep on the plane; most only would shut their eyes here and there. They were hurting more than I was and I know I was hurting pretty bad. We strolled down to the Schno.or district where the buildings are from the medieval period; the streets being only a person or two wide in some areas. I knew there was another small glass artist in the area and I set out to find him. I bought this glass block with a heart imbedded in it a few years ago. It is one of my favorite pieces and I couldn’t wait to see what else he had. He has expanded his line to now include small jewelry boxes with the block lids and larger blocks. I ended up asking him about his techniques as well and the type of glass he uses. There was a bit of a language barrier, but we had the best conversation about tools, glass and education. I knew everyone was waiting for me, so I couldn’t continue my conversation with him. He was so humbled that I had a bought a piece from him years ago and sought him out again. I have some ideas running thru my head from his work too. If I have time during the week, I think I’m going to head back and talk to him some more. When I caught up to the rest of them, I proudly announced that I’m getting on the next plane, headed home and playing with my new kiln. (I need to give the kiln a name, I’ll start thinking about that).
We toured that area for awhile and then we headed back to the main square, when we turned the corner, there were police in riot gear and a big demonstration going on. Mike has no fear, and walks right in the middle of the demonstration to get to the other side of the square. Once on the other side, we saw in another part of square that there is another big thing going on. This peeked Mike’s curiosity and he asks a police man what is going on. One side is demonstrated against the other—one is Pro-Christ.ian concert and the other is a sea of same-sexed couples, people with spiked hair and wearing shirts that say “Go.d is a Lie”. Yeah, we exit quickly, no need to get in the middle of that, I could just see the headlines back home! The rest of the crew buy some chocolate, I wait outside in the beautiful weather, I don’t really like that place’s chocolate. After that, we are all about done and we walk slowly back to the hotel.
Our rooms are ready for us, so I grab my bag out of Kimmie’s room, tell her I’ll see her later and run to take a shower. GLORIOUS SHOWER. Horrible water pressure, but it is warm and free flowing and I can shampoo my hair and get airplane funk off! I feel human again. Barely get out of the shower before I hit the bed (oh, my room is about 5 times the size of Kim’s, she is moving on Monday to a bigger room). “Dang, what is that out my window?” I’m facing the freakin’ train station. UGGGG! Where is my iPod, where is it, ugg, where is it? Bingo, I find it, throw those headphones in my ears and crash hard for a few hours.
My bladder and hunger woke me up, called Kim and we went to a place next door and had some yummo Gyros (that I am now burping up). We walked back into the train station and bought a scoop of chocolate gelato (that will be a nightly event, I already know that—my gosh was it good). We then headed back to the hotel to call it a night.
So now I’m in my room, telling my story from the last ‘day’. It is now 8 minutes to midnight Germany time and I guess I need to get some sleep. That PM medicine is calling me right about now. The noise outside the room has quieted down, but is not completely gone. I guess I will sleep with my headphones in. There is no air conditioner so you have to leave the window open, but more noise comes in that way, but oh-well. I’m tired enough to sleep thru it.
There is so much more I want to type and talk about. I’ve done tons of thinking since this has all started. The same thoughts that always go thru my mind, but I think I’m going to write them out, commit them to the internet and read them over and over when I need too. That will be tomorrow, I’m off to dream land….