on the road again

just can't wait to get on the road again.

woohoo! The wait is done. We're gone. Outta here.

The freedom of the open road has beckoned. Stay tuned...

love this photo

This pic is one of my screensaver slideshow photos on my home pc. Everytime I see it, I say - wow - I love this photo. So had to share... :-)


Talking with Jean and her friend Barbara the other day (btw, Barbara is great - hope I get to see her again!)... Jean commented to Barbara how I look like hmm.... was it a terrorist?? I can't remember. Anyway, it was in regards to how I look when biking in cold weather. Here are two photos that prove her point:

Yellowstone Nat'l Park, Sept 2005

Smoky Mountains, Oct 2007

the countdown

continues...

50 hours!

75 hours

and counting...

:-)

a little biking warmup

prior to the big biking fun... ;-)

We experienced a bit of something my friend Emily noted in her blog recently - unseasonably warm weather. LOVED IT!! But wow - what a freak. It was 83 today! Tomorrow? high of 56. bwahahaha Typical Wisconsin.

So we took advantage and did some stops on two bike runs we're doing this year. Here are some fun pics:

Greg taking a bite, thinking the water tower is ice cream


Some funky place with interesting metal sculptures and art

got my new girl

my new car that is... And so far, so good. Love it! ;-)

She handles well, corners nice and is quite spunky for a 4-cylinder. She's pretty inside and out, nice calm silvers and greys. Definitely grooving on the chrome-looking dashboard accents I had installed. I am considering getting interior lighting for it too - blue LED lights in footwells and center console. However, I'm not sure if the lights will be distracting while I'm driving. ?

one word challenge

Answer the following with only one word each!

1. Where is your cell phone? foyer
2. Where is your significant other? bedroom
3. Your hair? blonde
4. Your mother? loving
5. Your father? hero
6. Your favorite thing? learning
7. Your dream last night? water
8. Your favorite drink? Dew
9. Your dream/goal? fun
10. The room you're in? office
11. Your hobby? scrapbooking
12. Your fear? boredom
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? retired
14. Where were you last night? shopping
15. What you're not? skinny
16. Muffins? blah
17. One of your wish list items? traveling
18. Where you grew up? Lodi
19. The last thing you did? email
20. What are you wearing? underclothing
21. Your TV? smallish
22. Your pets? kitties
23. Your computer? love
24. Your life? fun
25. Your mood? overwhelmed
26. Missing someone? daddy
27. Your car? new
28. Something you're not wearing? shoes
29. Favorite store? scrapbook
30. Like someone? lots
31. Your summer? fantastic
32. Your favorite color? purple
33. When is the last time you laughed? recently
34. Favorite food? chocolate
35. Favorite word? cool
36. Favorite sound? quiet

what's shiny silver and heading to our house?

yep, I made the big decision and bought a new car, a Civic EX in alabaster silver with a gray interior. I traded in my champagne Grand Am which has been a wonderful car for me - it has approx 91,400 miles and has had no major issues besides when a deer decided she wanted to drive my car and didn't let me know to open the driver door for her. Well, except that the A/C doesn't work, and the first two fan settings don't work, and that it makes a lot of noises now when braking, and really, honestly, I've never liked how it braked anyway. Oh, and I can't forget the "Check Engine" light that's been on for a couple months now. And.... lol... yes, I still say that overall it's been a great car, but I'm just tired of the little issues that I haven't had fixed.

I did some serious self-debate on whether to get a gas model or a hybrid, and decided on the gas Civic for numerous reasons. First, it would take approx 7-8 years to even recoup the difference of upfront price with the fuel savings - when I estimated fuel costs from $4-$5 thru the years. Second, I didn't like the interior colors in the hybrid... and that's important to me if I'm spending lots of time in my car - to me, an hour each day is a lot, and that's been minimum for me for the past three years. And third, I wasn't sure I could get used to the little jerks in the hybrid when starting from a stop or very slow speed and during certain braking situations.

I haven't taken delivery yet, we just bought it yesterday, and as part of the bargaining, we're having the protection plan (inside and out) installed at a very low cost. Never thought I'd do that, but considering the cost we paid as compared to the damage the car could get from things like door dings, bird crap, tree sap, spills on the seats and/or flooring, etc., I figured what the heck. Plus I'm having the interior gauge trim kit installed - a chrome look around the gages, vents, etc. I think it makes the car look a little more expensive and "polished" (pun not intended, lol). :-) I was thinking about upgrading the sound system, but I'll just wait and see how this one does.

One of the big bonuses of the Civic is that it has a direct plug for mp3 players - MUCH better sound than trying to use an FM modulator to play tunes from my beloved clix mp3! And I love the size of the car - it could actually be even smaller for me - and it handles great around corners, and has spunk for the smaller engine it has. This will be my first 4-banger, so hopefully it'll be quick and responsive enuf. For a short person with stubby arms (like me), it's hard to find a car that has all controls within reach, and the Civic does this well. I don't have to bend forward every time I want to change a setting. Plus stereo and cruise settings are on the steering wheel anyway, so another bonus! woohoo!!

more fun quizzes!

You Are a Fierce Femme

You have a wild side, and you aren't afraid to bring it out when the time is right. But you also know when to hang back and keep your "crazy chick" persona in check. In fact, some of your friends may be surprised to find out how far you can take it... You may look mild mannered, but it's all an act!

Are You a Daring Woman?

You Are a Semi-Colon

You are elegant, understated, and subtle in your communication. You're very smart (and you know it), but you don't often showcase your brilliance. Instead, you carefully construct your arguments, ideas, and theories until they are bulletproof. You see your words as an expression of yourself, and you are careful not to waste them. You friends see you as enlightened, logical, and shrewd. (But what you're saying often goes right over their heads.)

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

You Should Try Base Jumping

One of the most dangerous extreme sports Illegal, potentially legal - but totally worth the risk

What Extreme Sport Should You Try?

You Are 70% Creative

You are beyond creative. You are a true artist - even if it's not in the conventional sense of the word. You love creating for its own sake, and you find yourself quite inspired at times.

How Creative Are You?

You Are 20% Pure

You've either done it, thought about it, or at least heard about it. Luckily, there's a few things left for you to try!

How Pure Are You?

You Should Drive a Red Car

You're the type of driver who isn't afraid to be the fastest on the road. You have a lot of energy built up, and you tend to get your adrenaline fix from driving. Moving at hyper speed, you tend to be annoyed with slow drivers and slow people. Life's too short to be slowed down by someone else!

What Color Car Should You Drive?

You're Totally Sarcastic

You sarcastic? Never! You're as sweet as a baby bunny. Seriously, though, you have a sharp tongue - and you aren't afraid to use it. And if people are too wimpy to deal with your attitutde, then too bad. So sad.

How Sarcastic Are You?

Carrie and I must both be bored or easily amused. Both of us, staying up way too late, doing these darn quizzes!

Your Personality at 35,000 Says...

Deep down, you prefer spending time alone to spending time with others. You enjoy thinking more than talking. You are good with your place in the world. You are confident and comfortable with who you are. Your gift is having a way with words. You know how to express yourself well. You are inspired by challenges. If something is hard to accomplish, you want to do it. You are happy as long as you are given some personal space. It's important for you to have your own private life.

The Personality Test at 35,000 Feet

ENOUGH!!

the color purple

Another fun quiz from http://www.blogthings.com/whatcolorisyourmindquiz/ - What Color is Your Mind? Again I'm thinking how true this is! And YES, my fave color is purple, has been as long as I can remember... even when I was about 6 years old, when my parents built their house, I wanted PURPLE as my room color!!

Your Mind is Purple

Of all the mind types, yours is the most idealistic. You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense. Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.


omg, too funny, a dif quiz from that same site: What Color is Your Aura?

Your Aura is Violet

Idealistic and thoughtful, you have the mind and ideas to change the world. And you have the charisma of a great leader, even if you don't always use it! The purpose of your life: saying truths that other people dare not say. Famous purples include: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Susan B. Anthony. Careers for you to try: Political Activist, Inventor, Life Coach.

happy mother's day

I made a sweet mini album for mom for mother's day! It's an acrylic album, kind of a hard clear plastic. Since it's clear, as in SEE THRU, the big challenge is to not have adhesive or the ugly backs of stuff showing. You basically have to put the front and back side of each page together at the same time. And even working with other pages - you have to make sure that yuck stuff won't show thru page to page. This album is definitely clean and simple... it was my first attempt at acrylic, and I was in a bit of a hurry. But I think it turned out really cool. woohoo!

The theme for this was basically "family." The cover is a picture of mom and dad on their wedding day. Then the pictures are of their kids (my siblings and me) chrono thru the years. In birth order: Nancy, Bonnie, Susie, Donnie, Randy, Gini and me.


argh - photos suck - the camera was set at a very low res, unbeknownst to me. oh well, c'est la vie. You get the idea... ;-)

spring break RG

aka the mensa event I attended this weekend... :-)

I had a good time, met some very interesting people. The speakers provided great insights into a wide variety of topics.

The sessions I attended were: crime scenes/forensics, Shakespeare's influence now, storytelling about life in Blue Ridge mountains, good and bad about humor, a short-story discussion of "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Court Reporting, claimants/pretenders to the English throne, implications of Moore's Law (the computing power of any given dollar amount will double every 18 months). I also watched/played a couple games Sat. night, and watched two of the Mensa Bowls (team trivia games).

The session that really intrigues me was the Moore's Law one. I already went into the library system online and requested several books on the implications of that. It is expected that in about 12 years a $1000 laptop will have the power of a human brain. But we're not just talking better computers. It is expected that by about 2035, most people will have numerous implants and nanobots that will: keep them healthy, allow them to access information w/o being in front of a pc, communicate with computers/people no matter where they are, etc. Running that theory farther - will it be necessary for a person to become "enhanced" just to compete? just to be "normal"? Will humans become so dependent on computers that we will not be able to function on our own? Will these implants be used as big brother watchdogs? Will people just begin to all think alike? So many many questions in my head. If you're interested, this is the book recommended most by the speaker: http://www.garreau.com/main.cfm?action=book&id=2

apparently, I'm a roller coaster

lol, too funny, this is from http://www.blogthings.com/whatcarnivalrideareyouquiz/
Roller coasters are actually my fave rides. And honestly - this is how I see myself.

You Are a Roller Coaster

You live for excitement, adventure, and the most intense of thrills. Nothing is better than feeling you're truly alive, and you're willing to take risks to feel this way. In relationships, people often feel a bit nervous about what they're getting into... But generally, everyone enjoys the wild ride you take them on. Unless they stay with you too long - then they're apt to feel a bit nauseous! Your life has more low points and high points than most people's lives. But that's okay - you love them. You figure that a smooth ride is boring! Besides, you know that super high highs only come from knowing super low lows. You cherish every emotion you feel and feel it fully. Why deny what life is truly about? At your best, you are loving life and sharing your wild times with everyone you know. You are able to open your friends up to a whole new world of experiences. At your worst, you feel extremely disoriented and even a bit dizzy. There's only so much intensity a human (even you!) can take.

what up??

quick notes on this week in the life of marcia...

We're still talking about getting a new car for me. Honda Civic is still my top choice, but there are a few more I want to look at. I test drove a Civic EX and a Ford Escape. Neither dealership had a hybrid onsite - I really need to drive a hybrid, see if it'll have enuf juice for lead foot me. :-)

We've talked a bit more about our summer bike trip. The dates have changed a little due to work constraints. But no matter. It'll be so good to get away from work, home, all things "normal." Out on the road, with little to do but admire the scenery, life becomes more calm, laid back. Greg and I travel so well together that worries of everyday life just float away.

I went to a Brewers game Wed night with some work folks. Me and a few of the guys ended up finishing our beer after the game, then we stopped at a couple bars. I have no idea what time I got home. I was not feeling the best yesterday, lol, one of the guys didn't even come in! Guess that downing shots does that.

This weekend is a Mensa event that I'm totally looking forward to. It'll be the first event I'm going to also. It's a regional event, with an interesting variety of programs and activities. For example, tonight's activities include : 1) an officer talking about crime scenes and Forensics, 2) Shakespeare's influence in the 21st century, 3) storytelling about life in the Blue Ridge Mtns, complete with playing the bone, 4) the good/bad about humor and comedy, 5) games and 6) Mensa Bowl. I'm not sure what Mensa Bowl is, thinking it's trivia-based. Anyway, the event continues Sat and Sun with more interesting topics and events.

G will be away Sat/Sun - there are some bike club fundraisers near Wausau, and a large group of our biker friends make an annual trip of the weekend. I wish both events weren't this same weekend, cuz I'd enjoy this little trip as well.

And what may be the best news: I will be rolling off this client at the end of May / beginning of June. woohoo!! 3 years at one client doing account reconciliations (which I don't like to do anyway!) is way more than enuf torture. I will totally miss the folks here, they're a great group, fun, nice, etc. But I didn't join a consulting/contracting company to work at any one company long term. I need to move on, get a new challenge, use some of my potential.

150th post - woohoo!

My good friend Carrie recently posted that it was her 100th post. I guess I had never really thought about how many posts I had... but of course that made me curious, had to look. And I was just a couple posts short of 150. So now here I am. At 150 posts. hmmm.... that seems like a lot, doesn't it? But then, I did start blogging Sept 1 of 2005. wow, almost three years ago. I am in my 32nd month of blogging. lol So now that 150 posts doesn't seem like much, does it? That's averaging less than 5 posts per month. Ooh, now that sounds really bad! ;-) Guess I'll have to do a better job in the future of updating my avid readers about my fascinating life. bwahahahaha Ok, avid readers?! - I know of a couple people who occasionally check out my blog. And fascinating life?! - yeah, right, my life is just so dang interesting. bwahahahahaha Funny girl, I am.

Well, the big news right now is that G and I are planning our summer bike vacation. It's a little hard to do right now, since we don't know what's up with his client or mine. But we have some ideas... and fun ones they are...


And I guess the other big news (for me) is that I finally applied for (and was accepted) membership in Mensa. Here is an explanation from mensa.org:

What is Mensa?
Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill, a barrister, and Dr. Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ. The original aims were, as they are today, to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or religious distinctions. The society welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population, with the objective of enjoying each other's company and participating in a wide range of social and cultural activities.

What are Mensa's goals?
Mensa has three stated purposes: to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity, to encourage research in the nature, characteristics and uses of intelligence, and to promote stimulating intellectual and social opportunities for its members.

Over the years I've thought about joining Mensa, but I just never quite got around to doing it. Recently I've been feeling like my brain is atrophying, with garbage on tv, me not taking classes or being in school, etc. So I decided to take the leap, join a new group all by myself. And I am SO EXCITED! woohoo!! Mensa has a lot of SIGs (special interest groups) ranging from sci-fi to shakespeare, politics to religion, knitting to motorcycling, etc. Some of the SIGs are online only, some are more face-to-face (ie card playing SIGs). So now I get to figure out which SIGs I'd like to join, what I'd like to learn more about, talk to folks about, share my own knowledge and experience about. There are local groups that have regular activities as well. And there are larger regional and even national events. So cool cool cool. More fun for Marcia.

she is me

woohoo!! I finished my album from CKU-Nashville. And I love it! It's so sweet. It was supposed to be "Share" as in Share your Laugh, Share your Love, Share your Humor, Share your Soul, etc. But I've made several albums about me as I currently am. I had lots of ideas as to what to do with my rockin' album, but decided to have it be about my childhood, since I had nothing like that yet. It morphed a little, so it extends from babyhood to right before marriage. I titled it "she is me" - thanks to my friend Amy who used that title on a layout - so perfect for this album. Apologies for the bad color on some of these pictures; I tried to fix them, but it's hard to make up for indoor nighttime shots with flourescent lighting. eekers!

what's up?

Just a quick (relatively speaking) note as to what's up these days:

1) a couple weeks ago we played open play volleyball on a Friday night - ended up playing at least 3.5 hours, almost continuously!

2) I broke down and bought an mp3 player. Well, actually it's a pmp (portable media player) - meaning it can play/display music, photos, video, podcasts, audiobooks. LOVE IT! :-) It's an iriver clix2 - sweet little thing with a big screen - just a little bigger than a credit card, looks like a mini tv. You don't see any controls, do ya? No little spinny thing. Nope, you just click on the sides next to the screen - so easy, so common sense - the arrows on the screen point to where you click. I bought it mostly for working out and doing activities that I'd like mobile music for. These pics make it look bigger than it is - it's really small!! They need to have a photo of it on the chunky arm of someone like me - show off its petite size! ;-)

3) Because I now have this fab pmp/mp3/whatever, I've been ripping all of my cd's to my hard drive, plus downloading some tunes. I'm almost done, which is quite a feat because I have TONS of cd's. But now comes the process of creating playlists, etc.

4) Work is getting me down. It's work. 'Nuf said.

5) We're starting to talk about bike trips. There are at least 5 that folks we know are going to do, and that we've been invited to join. Obviously we can't do them all! So we need to decide which one(s) sound best.

6) I'm thinking about getting a new car. It isn't necessary, the beige Grand Am is doing just fine. But it's been 7 years, the GA has almost 90,000 miles, and I've never really liked it anyway. lol PLUS, I'm thinking I need to start putting my money and my actions where my mouth is: if I get a new car it will be a Honda Civic Hybrid. I should come close to getting double my current gas mileage!! And with fuel prices continuing upward, with no end in sight, that will help annual fuel costs significantly. And I can feel good about reducing my fuel consumption and my emissions.

7) I decided to finish a scrapbook I started at CKU-Nashville. It is from my album track "Start Sharing" - and it is the sweetest album. But I decided to stray from the original theme. I know Margie Romney-Aslett (the instructor) would be enthused about it. She always says "it's your album, make it yours." So this album will be about me thru the years, from baby to marriage. I've had a ton of fun looking thru old photos to find some I want to use.

So, ok, there are the last couple weeks in a nutshell.

Scrapz

Cute name for a scrapbook, isn't it? I used it for a recent project, an album about myself, so "Scrapz of Me." Here are some of the layouts in the album... and if you notice that some look familiar, there is a reason. These are layouts I did for my Outlaw cj group, but some were modified enough that I thought I'd put the new, not necessarily improved, version out for viewing.

fyi - the ribbon you're seeing along the top is from a layout inside. Nice that the colors just happened to match the front of the album too!

The right side explains about the album, and has a list of layouts.

I added crystal flourishes to the favorite jewelry layout, thinking it tied nicely to the diamonds in the ring.

This one I basically flipped upside down... instead of the arrow on bottom and items on top, I switched it, because I thought the original way looked kind of top heavy.

This one I didn't have the same paper for the background, so I used a similar color and added felt flowers.

And this one I don't see that I ever showed off on my blog!

I also put together a Book of Me from the layouts I did for the CKU-Chicago dorm cj group, and here are the "bones" of that album:

Cover - lovin' the bling and the glitter and the flourishes and the ribbon!

Explanation of the album.

List of layouts and dormie who requested each topic.

And last but not least, I thought I'd show off my studio, as it is currently. I've added a little storage, moved stuff around a little, since my last photos. And yes you see Henry (kitty) in the chair in this first photo, and Alex on the floor in the 2nd.

The drawer units closest to the window hold arrows, flourishes and flowers of all sorts. The little drawers in the shelf area under my stand-up counter hold embellishments sorted by color. That shelf also holds my floss boxes with lots and lots of fiber, metal alphas, inkpads, eyelets and brads, photos to work on. The big drawer units underneath hold themed embellies, mini albums, chipboard, Tim Holtz products, punches, acrylic stamps, adhesives, etc. Oh, and the rotating thing that Alex is in front of holds all my alpha stickers and rub-ons.

The closet holds lots of trip albums, finished and unfinished projects, some cd's, and my fave stuff: paper. Lots of paper!! Pretty paper!! lol I had the hardest time figuring out how to organize my patterned paper, and finally decided to do it by style (clean vs shabby), then by color combo within style. I want to do some cleaning in the closet - box up most of the stuff in the bins on the bottom and move it downstairs. That would give me room to just spread my stuff out, so it isn't so crowded together. All in all, I still LOVE my studio!