Last Day Number 24

Today is it, y’all…the last day of school. It’s promotion! The end of this school year has taken so long to get here, it’s crazy. Yesterday, I was at school for 11 hours…standing or walking for most of it. I got home and iced both knees and the left heel and took pain meds when I went to bed. Both hands were fucked up from squeezing the water spray bottle at kids (it was hot out, and we had to line up and walk three times in promotion practice). Somehow I am not sunburnt, although I am probably dehydrated. I’m definitely exhausted. Today should be easier…do promotion, ONCE (not three times), then finish cleaning up the classroom (mostly, this is done), officially check out, and then go to the end-of-year party. Return home, collapse. Tomorrow, do 17 million things because I thought flying to SF to see the girlchild on Friday made sense when I originally planned it (it does; mostly). Yeah. Crazy. And in between all that, I manage to make art. Somehow.

I ironed Monday night…

I think that was the sunflower on the arm…and some other stuff. Last night, I did the heart…and some other stuff.

I have 2/3rds of the 700s ironed to fabric, but also about half of the 800s. So I’m calling it at 800? More than halfway, I think, but holy hell, this is taking a long time. I think I thought I’d be done before I left for SF. That’s not happening. Ah well. And it’s a short, busy trip, so taking stuff to trim is probably a mistake. These are hard to travel with. I’ve done it, but only when I would be staying in one place for a while. So it’ll wait until I get back.

I also made it to ceramics Monday and did some underglazing of the sgraffito arm.

I’m not done. I had done over an hour and needed to get home to cook dinner.

It isn’t dry on the neck and chin here…hard to deal with glazing vertically and NOT having it drip.

I’m using tiny needle-tipped squeeze bottles, so honestly, it’s the ability of my hands to continue squeezing that is sometimes the problem. I don’t think I’m going to get back there before I go to SF? I don’t know when if I am…maybe Thursday night? If I’m not dead on my feet after 17 doctors’ appointments, Zooms, and phone calls. We’ll see. Plus pilates.

Yesterday, back from 11 hours at school, icing one knee. They tolerate each other.

This is not a friendship unfortunately. There will be slapping, claws, or snapping. Or someone leaves. I think they both left, actually.

I actually am having issues with this, due to a lack of other sewing supply stores in San Diego…

I need some stuff for my daughter and I’m not sure where to get it. I hate having to order online for stuff that should be easy to find locally. That USED to be easy to find locally.

And this…

When I don’t create, I start to get a little wiggy. So I make things. Every day pretty much. It works.

OK. Ugh. I need to find a lunch to take with me, find a spare set of shoes for later, get to school and remind myself how to pronounce all those kids’ names…correctly (don’t panic!). Then sit in the sun for a couple of hours. Oh wait, find the nicer sun hat before I go. I’ve got this. I’d tell you how many years but I’m not sure I can count right now…this is my 24th end of school year, but my first year was only half a year. So my 24th anniversary of teaching will be in January 2027. Long time. Only my fourth (?) promotion…I was always a 7th-grade teacher until after COVID. It’s always a relief going into summer, even as I’m planning for August so I won’t be panicked when I get back. It’s all good. The things will all happen. It’ll be fine.

Tell the Eye to Behave…

We’re in the last three days of school, kind of a chaotic mess of promotion practices and leftover class time with nothing real to do plus turning in computers and signing shirts and double award ceremonies. It’s a lot of being outside in the heat and managing hot kids and water and bathroom breaks, but still figuring out how to do the whole promotion lineup and process. Our AP who was helping to manage it just went out on maternity leave, which was not a surprise to those of us who know how this shit works, but apparently some people in charge were confused. I expect a lot of chaos, sweat, and bitchiness over the next few days until everyone is done with the promotion and checking out of our classrooms. I spent most of the weekend in semi-recovery, not really, because we’re not done yet, but I only had one school thing I had to do. Well, then two. And three. Because things. I think I lose my prep period every day this week, which only means, when do I pee and when do I eat? Always an issue.

Meanwhile, I’m trying to manage all the summer prep stuff both for school in August and for my trip, copying stuff for the new school year, organizing my meds before I go, all that fun stuff. My brain is a little explody.

Artwise, I got a lot of ironing done this weekend, about 6-7 hours…here’s Friday night…

Then Saturday, I spent a few hours during the day ironing and then picking fabrics for the main figure in this quilt…

That’s all the flesh tones laid out…from the 300s to the 800s. I pulled pieces from all of those bins, so I have no clue how much is ironed and how much I still have to go. Then I ironed all those pieces down Saturday night…

And then last night, I did another 90 minutes…

So the 300s are done and the 400s are about 2/3s done and the 500s? I’m not sure about the 500s…I think there’s only a few of them left? But a lot of the 600s need to be ironed…there’s a bunch of decorative stuff on the figure, plus the heart, that are all 600s…and some more of that in the 700s. So basically it’s chaos right now and I might have 5 or 600 pieces ironed down, but I’m not really sure. Give me a couple of evenings to iron and I’ll be better.

I finally made it to ceramics on Friday after school and started underglazing the sgraffito section.

A bunch of my underglazes are dried out and so I was trying to reconstitute them and do this at the same time.

It’s remarkably challenging to do this around an arm.

Hoping to be back there this afternoon. But my right eye is twitching, so that’s fun. And it’s hot, although when I went on Friday, the A/C was on. Here’s hoping it is today too. Bringing a lighter shirt and shoes just in case. The weekend was a series of texts about how many outfits we’d need each day to get through all the outdoor sweatiness at school. Award ceremony in the afternoon after being outside on and off all day? Pack the deodorant as well. So only three days, but three stressful days. I can do that. The Man was like, why don’t you already have a plan for this week? You’ve done it before…because it changes every year, man, that’s why. They don’t ever do it the same, so every year, we’re confused and discombobulated, and this year’s management is not helping.

A friend of mine visited the Grants Pass Museum of Art, where Stitchpunk is currently residing…here’s my piece Woman 2.0.

It’ll be there until the end of July; the Man and I plan to visit it on the way up to my residency.

She looks happy in that space. I’ve had work in this museum before, but it’s been a while.

The cats have been hot too.

Hi Luna.

OK. Promotion lineup, short version, where I explain the alphabet and their LAST names (they still think first names are the most important parts). Then IDK what for IDK how many periods (movie probably) until after lunch, when they turn in their Chromebooks. We have zero instructions for this and it’s happening today. Fun times. This is why the eye is twitching. We may or may not come back to that class period? Unknown. Then 6th period, definitely finishing Scorch Trials (movie), which is fine, because today is the last day I see 6th period. I think the last day I saw 1st period was Thursday? Not sure. It’s all nuts. No real staff meeting, which is weird…usually we have a little prep for next year, but whatever. I’m not in charge. Then ceramics and sweating and cooking and sweating some more and NOT GRADING ANYTHING BECAUSE I’M DONE (even though some kid just turned something in yesterday, ha ha ha). Then more ironing. In the heat. Because that makes sense. It’s good. Almost done. Almost there. Deep breaths. Tell the eye to behave.

Nap of the Dead…

Y’all, it’s the last Friday of this school year. I’m stumbling into it like a bull in a china shop, but I’m there. I finished grades last night and promptly fell over on the couch for a 20-minute nap of the dead. Drool and everything. Then I got up, ate dinner, and posted 38 egg drop videos (that’s what we did yesterday). UGH. I also took down 60+ posters (with help on that one), up and down the ladder. Additionally, after waking up from the short nap of the dead, I finally pulled everything out of this one pot where asparagus fern had taken over (I hate that stuff) and trimmed all the succulents back and tossed all the detritus off the side of the deck into the greenery bin, plus watered some. AND ironed. Like a boss. But I’m still dead tired this morning. And today? We go to the local amusement park (which is tiny, thank goodness) with like 300 kids or something. Not sure how many. A lot. On buses. Yeah. Fun times. I will ride a roller coaster though.

Ironed these Wednesday night…

It’s not going fast. It’s OK. I get on a roll eventually. I kind of got on one last night…

I got the suit on the fat white guy done, but not the rest of him. He’ll be pink. Very pink. Hopefully tonight.

I never posted my finished dye paintings. I had entered them in a show and all of them got rejected. I made them specifically for that show, for that group, because I’d been asked to stay away from nudity and profanity, so I did. One of them isn’t even political. It’s fine. I mean, you don’t get into all the shows…I totally get that, but I haven’t not been in one of this group’s shows since I joined it. Sigh. So they’re available for another show. Because they’re different than my usual work, though, I start to question if they’re any good, and it’s OK; I got over it. They are good. They just didn’t get into this show. It’s an abstract group and I’m not very abstract. But also, the venue curator originally said the show was going to be about Freedom and then there were all these things I wasn’t allowed to put in the show, so fuck that too.

Here’s Immediate Action Required…

And Thought Bomb…

And my favorite, A Mouthful…

(And that juror can go off into the sunset away from me).

Yeah this is totally where I am these days.

Seriously with that. All these stupid people in charge with their chests all puffed out…they remind me of dictatorships and their stupid rules, just so they can seem more important and in control. That’s not supposed to be US. It is us. Not by my choice.

OK. School. Cleaning up after egg drops. Maybe I’ll get help on that. Then 3+ hours at Belmont Park. Usually pretty chill. Need to remember to eat. Then back for two periods (I hate that part) where I put a movie on and clean my room while kids hopefully chill out. Then duty after school and hopefully the energy/brainpower for ceramics. THEN HOME TO NO SCHOOLWORK. That’s fucking nuts…although I’ve been trying to get a start on the copying/setup for next school year in August. I watched a video of a performance at the location of my artist residency and watched it over and over again (the landscape is amazing)…just want to BE there. I have a lot of shit to get through before I GET there. But it’s close. Four more days of school.

Design and Chill…

Hey. How is it only Wednesday? Tuesday was a whole week unto itself. I’m pretty sure I aged yesterday. The teaching part of the day was not the issue; the breaking-up-a-fight part of the day really threw me. No adult assistance until I’d managed the whole shitshow. Sigh. And they you go right back to teaching, even though your adrenaline is through the roof. Meanwhile, in response, my blood sugar is crashing all over the place. Pretty sure that’s abnormal. So it’s a good thing I wear this sensor that wakes me up three times in the night to tell me things are low. I’m so exhausted. We’re so close to the end. Egg drop is tomorrow. Today I need to get them through design and then not burning the place down. And try to finish grades. I’m getting there. Really. Just all the absent kids make it hard. Parents are already pulling kids…suspect they’ll all show up on promotion day after missing two weeks of school and wondering why they now have an F. Crazy parenting y’all. Anyway, six days. Only two with teaching. I can do it. So can they. No more fights. Please.

I did start ironing Monday night, finally.

It’s been a slow start…finished (mostly) the first 100 pieces last night…

I had to find three runs of five fabrics for three different flesh tones.

Crazy. But it’s a solid start and hopefully I’ll get a chunk done this weekend and then bang it out quickly after (oh wait, I’m buried in doctors’ appointments and then going to San Francisco right after we get out of school). It’ll be fine. I need this piece significantly completed (not done, but getting there) by the time I leave. Which I don’t think I’ll be able to do. We’ll see.

This is a kid who uses Google Translate a lot due to limited English skills, but has obviously transitioned into AI…and I don’t even know what he copied in, because this should be about space…and it’s most definitely not.

Also totally didn’t look at the resources. They were about space. I swear. Sometimes I wonder about these kids.

This is shit. Absolute hateful shit.

Deny their existence? I’d like to deny the existence of a few white males. Maybe more than a few.

You know, Merlin didn’t exist when I was in my 30s or I would have totally used it then. I definitely use it now.

Today. Sigh. It has to be chill. I need them to just design and chill. Let’s hope. Then pilates. Then more grade stuff. Maybe. I’m at this point where I can’t quite finish them until Thursday but they have to be done Friday. So I just need everything done before that. Then ironing. I’m looking forward to being done with grades and fully into ironing. Coming home and just making art.

The Light…

The Monday post is where I evaluate how much I got done (including books and art) over the weekend and consider how much of a shitshow the week is going to be. I did OK with the weekend: got some stuff done but never enough (always the case) and yes, this week will be a shitshow. Until it’s not. Grades are due Friday, probably while I’m at the local tiny amusement park with a bunch of 8th graders. So I’ll have to be done Thursday night. Problematic. They used to be due the following Monday, which gave us more time, but no, not this year. It has not been logical all year. Frustrated by that.

Friday, I managed to cut out the last yard (yup, stayed up too late).

Thanks Scribble. Then Saturday, I sorted them…

I also put borders on the third dye painting this time around…

This is one of my favorites…I was sitting around, at a self-directed residency in Temecula, waiting for the results of yet another biopsy, and it was the 10th day of waiting. I finished this, and about an hour later, got the email that everything was fine. Sigh. That shit is terrifying.

Then last night, I put away all the fabric from the last big quilt I did and cleaned other stuff up and swept the floor (it was bad), and then I set out the first 100 Wonder Under pieces for ironing to fabric tonight.

They’re in piles of 10. Makes it easier to find them on the drawing. I also bought a couple of possible background fabrics on Saturday during my errand blitz. Can’t do a lot of errands during the school week, so I bang them out on Saturdays. I was efficient.

Friday, Simba had his annual teeth cleaning. They send me a picture midday of his drugged-out little self.

He’s recovered since then.

Nova pretends to be all serious and then you catch her doing this…

Serious, my ass.

So I think the baby owls have dispersed. I didn’t hear them last night at all. I heard an owl threat sound, which they also know how to do, but none of the baby cry for food and parental assist. So this might be the last video I have of them.

I don’t think we’ve ever had them leave this early. Last year, it was well into the end of August.

So many things this administration is dismantling, so petty about things like vaccines and immigrants and climate change…it’s so frustrating to watch them destroy things that have been working, that have a purpose, just to deny that. Like this one…

The cost to recreate this at this point would be insane. And stupid. Like if we don’t have the sensors, we can ignore the damage we’re doing, the damage that will affect our people. Meanwhile, we have this…

No Epstein files, no questioning a man who is definitely not healthy. None of this makes any sense.

S

Well. It’s the last full week of school (no, I’m not out yet!). Yes, we’re still teaching…egg drop this week. Then into promotion stuff starting Friday. That part is exhausting in its own way. But closer to the time when I get to go on my residency. The foot is better (not well yet). I’m moving around just fine; just a little soreness at times. My neck and shoulder are also fucked at the moment, so there’s that. I have 70 million doctors’ appointments scheduled before I leave. I need to do all the house/yard stuff before I leave, and make sure I can jump into teaching the day after I get back. I’m actually not really worried about that. That’s the easy part. But I still need to get through the next 8 days of school. Knock on wood that there will be no major issues. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. That’s a plus.

Making All the Things…

Friday. FINALLY. Seriously how does a normal 5-day week get so LONG?! So much stress at the end of the year over grades…this kid’s grades, that kid’s grades, FINISHING grades (I have one week). Parent emails after midnight (I didn’t see it until today). I’m so ready for this school year to be done (I say this every year). We have 9 more days. NINE. I wrote to two parents last night with that number: can you please persuade your child to behave for NINE days and then they can whatever with YOU. Sigh. And the Man asked me again today, so are you out NEXT week? FUCK NO. Sigh.

It’s fine. I’m getting there. I spent over 3 hours making art last night and I don’t feel bad about it. Friday morning self wishes I had graded more (I did grade some!), but that’s OK. So I went to ceramics, because I won’t make it there today…

I carved the arm…

I don’t think you know how hard it is to carve lines around a 3D shape. I’m laughing. It’s hard.

Then I came home and did my monthly stitching Zoom and put borders on two dye paintings from last summer.

I have two more to border and then I’ll make quilt sandwiches and quilt then and decide what else they need. Actually, I like the idea of 3D loose leaves on this one.

I still have one other quilted dye painting that needs embroidery. Piling them up.

Then I cut stuff out until way too late…in the way of my people (art folk). Wednesday night…

And last night…

It’s taking longer than I thought it would. I have one yard left…for tonight. Sort tomorrow, clean up studio (finish grades), then start ironing to fabric. Although I’m not sure I have a background. Hmmm. So a trip to the fabric store if my stash doesn’t have a piece big enough that’s the right color.

Otherwise, the last test in science is today (which means grading it in class, which is my goal, and this weekend). So they should be quiet (ha!). And I should be able to get shit done in there (ha ha!). Then duty after school, plus a meeting about the new science teacher decision, then pick up the dog from his teeth cleaning, then finish my book (I’m so close) and grade and make more art. Figure out how to exercise without exacerbating the foot. I went to the podiatrist yesterday and it was positive and vague, as always. Don’t know why it happened. Don’t know if it will happen again. Here’s all the things you can do, which you remember from 17 years ago. GO! Yeah. Well. Bodies age and it’s annoying. At least my brain is still making all the things.

Too Much Uncertainty

Eleven days. Everyone I run into assumes we are done with school (because everybody else is). We’re not! When I say, nope, still doing the things, they’re like, “Well, you’re out this week, right?”. NOPE. Not even next week. Although next week is the last of the teaching parts. After that it’s just promotion/end-of-year chaos. Grades. Fun stuff. Cleaning my classroom, and for me, trying to get ready for the beginning of the year, since I’ll miss out on two of the prep days. It’s not nothing getting through these days. Kids are done too. Tempers are high, emotions are frazzled, and that’s just the adults. I even have a teacher who assumes I’m doing nothing, that the student we share can skip my class, my academic class, to come hang out. Problematic. This kid isn’t promoting. He needs to be in class. On time. I think we fixed that issue, but sheesh.

Anyway. Getting there. Getting there with the art stuff too. I cut out borders for another dye painting the other night…haven’t sewn them on yet, but getting there. Getting there with the trimming of Wonder Under pieces too, despite Scribble’s need to be on my lap while I do it.

I cut out the rest of a yard on Monday night…and then most of a yard last night…

She is not helping. She bats at the pieces if they’re too interesting. Left bin had to increase in size to accommodate all 1400+ pieces. Between the bins is the rest of the yard…I didn’t stay up for another 30 minutes to do that because I had to be up early this morning for a meeting that has all of a sudden become more interesting by what I saw on the agenda at 9:30 last night. The right bin is all the trash, which I keep until everything is ironed to fabric, because sometimes I drop a piece into the wrong bin.

Then Scribble, who most definitely is not a kitten any more, is on my lap. Notice how I match my socks to my outfit.

My foot? Yesterday was sore again. This morning, woke up and it’s fine. I have a 7:30 AM (shoot me now) appointment tomorrow morning with the podiatrist for him to yell at me, give me a list of shoes and exercises, and hopefully we solve this by going on summer break. Or not. I don’t know what set it off.

This is really what Scribble wants when she sits on me.

The Man said she just started rubbing up against his legs and asking him for pets, which is good, because I’m going to be gone a long time in July/August, and she’ll need to get love from someone.

I also finally made it back to ceramics yesterday. Limping and on crutches is no way to try to move this beast from my shelf to the table and back. In case you’re wondering how I design for clay, I don’t. I am driving over to the studio and my brain says, “What’s going on that other arm? I don’t know. What about this? Eh. What about that? Meh. What about doing sgraffito on it? Oh yeah, let’s do that.”.

So I underglazed the arm to be sgraffitoed (hoping it’s not too dry) and did some more on the fabric.

I suspect the heart that will go on there is ready for the bisque kiln, but I figured I’d give it another week just to be sure. It’s pretty thick. I don’t want it to explode. I did poke a hole into the center. I really need this bisque fired before I leave for almost a month. So that’s a goal. I also wish I had built the hands better, but there were issues with timing and their getting too hard, so this is what we have. I’ll be back there maybe Friday? Simba needs to have his teeth cleaned; I don’t know the pickup time. So that might be a no. We’ll see.

Gubernatorial election in California? Sigh. I’m so disappointed with how government and politics are (not) working these days. Seems that may continue. Too much uncertainty.

Today, I am finishing up a gravity/mass demo in class that involves a hula hoop, lycra, and a bunch of marbles, plus kids trying to orbit with said marbles. We’ll see if I get them all back. Then black holes/stars, which I don’t know enough about and wish I did. But first, weird meeting in the AM. And pilates at night. And trying to get as much grading done as possible (so close!). And cutting more stuff out, probably with Scribble on my lap (pros and cons to that).

That Should Be Enough…

OK we only have two full weeks (and a short one) left. It doesn’t make this week easier, mostly, because we’re still here, trying to teach, while students dream of summer vacay (trust me, y’all…we also are dreaming of this…we’re just capable of dreaming AND working). I woke up this morning, and my foot is behaving (knock on wood). Not even any pain (in that one, ironically, let’s not talk about the other foot). Weird shit, bodies. I managed to pick up three pieces from the photographer yesterday and get them entered (the deadline was today). And I did art this weekend. All good.

I traced Friday night…

I was close to the end…about 150 pieces away.

Foot was still hurting Saturday. We had to go grocery shopping and I took the crutches because they force me not to limp and destroy all my other muscles, which is part of what happened last week. Everything hurt.

Saturday night, I finished tracing…5 full yards and a little bit of one.

Scribble guarding them. And I started cutting them out.

Usually I can do about a yard a night, but I started late, had to be up early Sunday for an art meeting, and had that funny little bit to do as well, so I’m already off my easy tracking plan.

Last night I finished that yard and got about a 1/3 of the way through another.

Friday night, I should be sorting them, ironing Saturday…I hope. Lots of busy weekends this month though…but also, school will end. I have to get this to a good place before I leave for Oregon. For some definition of ‘good place’. I also started the borders of the next set of dye paintings I’m going to finish, but I didn’t take any photos. Yes, I bought more fabric for those, because I don’t have enough of anything in my stash to work.

The local fabric store usually has an awesome stash for this stuff, but they have downsized and their stash was not as awesome as before. It does not bode well for me and my batik habit. Maybe it bodes well for my finances.

Local wildlife…the two (blurry) young coyotes who ran through my yard, over my fence, into my neighbor’s yard, over their fence.

The hawks were out in force. This one has something in its talons.

Two of the owl babies are racing around, flying everywhere. One is still staying back, I think. This is so early for release.

Our own wildlife…Scribble loves this bed.

Simba was at the ex’s house with the boychild…and Annie.

Peaceful moment for them.

This is my brain on the regular, especially last week.

I actually didn’t lose my mind over the foot/brain stuff for too long. I prefer to make art and read books.

Especially when I see this.

So frustrating. As is this.

Any other president and we wouldn’t be speculating like this.

Anyway. Teaching space this week still, focusing on mass and gravity. So a simulation today, a demo tomorrow with help from kids. Leaving the crutches home. Frustrated about my district/principal. Not sure who came up with the busywork we’ve been assigned for 2 hours after work, but it’s already been done, just not in this format. Differentiation for professional development is not a thing in my district. So quietly simmering and trying not to. Trying to think about getting stuff set up for tomorrow and finishing grading and getting myself back to my art instead of considering my WHY. If you’re a teacher, you’ll get that reference. But if my district/principal are not telling me why I need to do this thing, then WHY do I need to do it in this format? It already exists. If it’s for me and my department, that should be enough. Right? Anyway. We know how these arguments go. Rarely on the side of the worker bee.

Short Week…

Woo Wee what a week. Short week. Kicking my butt. I’m currently on crutches, just scheduled another brain MRI, waiting on podiatry, and dammit, I need to go take my antibiotics…hold on…be right back. Luckily, it’s Eid, so half the school has been gone…a few more came back yesterday, and we’ll get a few more back today (and lose a few more because it’s Friday…certainly some kids are NOT gone for Eid, just based on their last names). A couple of kids I think believe school is already done, because I haven’t seen them in two weeks. Fun times. I wonder how they function as adults sometimes. I hope they figure it out…and I know sometimes it’s parents making those lovely decisions. Sigh.

Anyway, to summarize, on antibiotics for a UTI (haven’t had one of those since I was pregnant with one of the kids who are now late 20s, early 30s), then woke up in the middle of the night unable to put weight on my left foot (probably a really bad flareup of plantar fasciitis; haven’t had that for 20+ years)…here’s my cankle at urgent care Wednesday evening…

I don’t think it ever got swollen when I had it before. Not like that. That warranted crutches. Probably need a boot…found my old one and it’s definitely very worn and has way too much velcro and padding. Sigh. Acupuncture? Frozen bottle of water? Tennis ball? IYKYK.

Also, Wednesday morning, I had this weird visual disturbance (weirder than the one I’ve had for two years now) and ended up on the line with the nurse triage, who originally said go to the ER, but then the symptoms stopped, so she said, uh, contact the neuro-opthalmologist you saw before, so I emailed. Got to work, got a call from my primary doc telling me to go to the ER until I told her symptoms were gone and I’d contacted the eye doc. Eye doc called during Period 1 and scheduled me for the end of the day, so I went for 90 minutes of testing to find out I had a typical migraine aura without the headache (damn lucky there) and the retinas were still fine and there were no weird things that weren’t already weird in there. Then down to urgent care for the crutches (x-rays show bone spurs…woo! I think it’s the other foot though, different from 20+ years ago). MY GODDESS. CAN WE JUST NOT. Apparently my body is ready for summer break; it’s gonna take me out for the last few weeks. Dudes, we have 2 1/2 more weeks…14 days of actual school, 4 of those are not teaching days. I just need to be able to walk and make art and see. And pee when I need to. (UTIs are common for teachers…I’ve been lucky).

The foot was better yesterday. This morning was a little hinky, but I’m sure being on crutches to get to the bathroom is OK (really rather not, y’all. Really rather not.).

Tuesday night, I traced. The foot wasn’t as bad Tuesday night and I have a pad I stand on and I really lean on the light table when I’m tracing anyway, so very little weight on the foot.

I iced and elevated for 2 hours before that. I wanted to go to ceramics but there was no way I was getting my 25-pound sculpture off the shelf and limping over to the table with it. The Man just wants me to rest nonstop and I can’t deal with that.

Wednesday, I spent 3.5 hours at the doc, between urgent care and eye doc, so I was in a lot of pain and exhausted. Iced, elevated, honestly cried a little, very frustrated. Eventually cut these out because standing? Not so much.

Scribble was so helpful.

Honestly, I moped for about 2 hours and then I’m like, what CAN I do? I can cut out all the stuff I’ve already traced and get a head start on that, tried to have a good attitude, took pain meds, went to bed, and it was better the next day. Took pain meds all day…stayed off my feet (watching student presentations)…and I was able to trace last night.

I’ve made it halfway through the 1100s. Yes, there are over 1400. But hoping to be done this weekend. Slight slowdown due to stupid body making demands.

I also worked on this, the first flower of 16 in the border of Homegrown (Sue Spargo).

I’ll be done in 2035. Maybe.

I got this from the doc’s office (on top of all the other stuff).

That’s mostly because of my mom’s breast cancer (which is fully in remission). But you know, I breastfed my two kids for a total of about 3.5 years, and I want to know what my discount is for that…because they always said it would reduce your chances of breast cancer. But this damn risk assessment model doesn’t give a shit about that. Annoying. I want my credits.

And guys, here’s my residency location from another view.

Oh man, can’t wait. I’m in the smaller cabin on the left in the middle. That’s a dock on the left by that tree. There’s a person sitting on it. Can you see me sitting there? I fucking can.

Also, I’d be there, but the crutches are slowing me down. It’s fine. I can handle it. Today, we are hopefully getting most of the presentations done (in my rolling chair)…solar system, planets, gravity, mass. Then home to ice and elevate and then trace some more. All day tomorrow hopefully…canceling pilates again (sigh). Maybe. Grading stuff. That will go away soon too. Never too soon. And it’s Friday, so that’s a relief. Short weeks aren’t necessarily easier.

An Impossible Task

Yes, it’s not Monday. I was supposed to write yesterday. I remembered a few times during the day, but was trying to do stuff. I was not well on Saturday, Sunday still recovering, probably still recovering today, honestly. Seems like my immune system decided it wasn’t gonna work last week. It’s fine; I got antibiotics Saturday and I’m pretty sure I’m OK now (taking ALL the antibiotics until they’re gone, because let’s follow directions, y’all), but when they tell you to go to the ER with certain symptoms and the meds cause some of those symptoms…it’s fun times, y’all. Also, like, what IS a fever? So a lot of second guessing and kind of what feels like a waste of a weekend, thanks body for that, but all a necessary part of the whole life game. Better now. Mostly. Didn’t get to hike. Didn’t get a lot done. Sigh.

I couldn’t fall asleep last night, brain just whirring along, dragging me along with it. Yes, I meditated. I counted to 10 with deep breaths about three thousand times. It was just an impossible task. Sleep because you know what the week brings. Nope. Not happening. Ah well. Move on and caffeinate.

I did trace, despite the illness. Meds helped. Originally, going into the weekend, I had this crazy idea that if I traced for 3 hours each day, I could finish tracing this thing. Or maybe 4 hours. Like I had nothing else to do. I mean, it turned out that it didn’t matter if I had other things to do…but…here’s Friday night.

Made it up onto her left arm…then Saturday night, after the meds kicked in…

Oooh, here it is with the light off…

That might have been Sunday night…oh wait, no, this is Sunday night…

That’s all the Wonder Under I’d traced so far. The three on the left are mostly full. I’m working on the one on the right. I forgot to take a photo last night. It looks the same, y’all. Every night, it looks the same…I just have more things drawn on the Wonder Under. I made it to the mid 900s last night (not done, not at all done). If I keep up the hour a night, I won’t be done until Saturday night. One of the things I thought about last night in the multiple hours I wasn’t sleeping is how far I would get on this piece before I left for Oregon, and the answer is, not far enough to come back and finish it and photograph it before the deadline I’m aiming for, SO. I will have to ramp it up. Knock on wood. Get more schoolwork done at school. Like I can wish for that, but making it happen is a different thing.

I did make it to ceramics yesterday, which is good, because I missed two Fridays in a row. The heart is out on the drying racks (they finally cleared a bunch of stuff off of them…still no room for the torso unfortunately). I’m trying to finish up the building part on this so I can underglaze it.

I added stems and leaves and decorated a bit.

One more arm and then it’s ready for underglazing. That’ll only take 300 hours.

This is where I’m at, but add the California primaries with 62 (?) people running for governor, and the top two Repugs are really disgusting. I mean it sucks being in the US right now with the government we have, but California has been a bit better…big enough to be its own country, and no perfect governor, but not one with his head up the orange ass. We voted on Monday. Glad it’s done, but it did not reduce my stress.

Deep breaths. We’ll know in a week who the top two are. If they are both Repugs, then fuuuck. Is all I have to say.

Then this…

There must be a better way to power AI. It’s not leaving. Can we get the great minds onto how to better use it and power it, so we’re not using human resources to power little boys putting girls’ heads on naked women’s bodies? Is that a thing? Can we do that? Probably not.

Here watch some baby owls learning to do things…

Cute, right? Loud. They fly away a lot these days and leave partially eaten rodents all over the yard. Bleck.

OK. The kids are doing a research project on the planets today, because my past self was trying to take care of this week’s self. Good plan, because I can hopefully grade while they’re doing that. Low-key week for the win. Plus only 4 days. Plus no science interviews, thank goodness (we did 9 last week? 8? I forget. Tired of hearing the same key words over and over again, especially the guy who pointedly looked at me and said he had learned all the new science tech stuff for teaching kids, including…wait for it…EXCEL SPREADSHEETS…like WTF guy…those have been around since I was in school. Nothing new there.). Plus more ceramics after school to make up for not going Friday, then grading and dinner and tracing, at least 90 minutes please. Maybe more. We’ll see. This is the end of May, y’all. The end is coming (of the school year…not the world…yet).