The Shortest, But Longest Days…

Oh hey, it’s Wednesday. Weird week. State testing started yesterday, so we have the shortest, but longest, days with kids for a couple days. I keep my advisory for 3 hours and 15 minutes and they annoy me the whole time by being unable to follow directions, log in, keep their computers in good shape, did I say follow directions? Be quiet, don’t turn around and make faces at or talk to your friend, stop trying to contort your body into stupid positions. Just take the damn test and then chill out. None of this crew brought a book for after. They didn’t believe me when I said no computers, despite that being a school rule for the last million years. Then they leave around noon and we go get lunch and then try to work the rest of the day. I did actually grade for two hours. It was yucky. Whatever. We have one more day today and then we skip a week, then math and science will be the week after that. I just need all this to be done. I need the rest of the year planned…usually this is when we take a breath and relax a bit because sex ed is a known quantity and it’s all planned for the end of the year. But no. Not this year. Sigh. I’m frustrated. And tired. I know that. I might always be like that at the end of the year. I probably am.

I finished sewing the braids down last night…it took longer than you’d think it would.

I tacked each braid down every few inches or so.

That was after one night. And then last night, I did the rest.

Bowie slept through most of it. I was trying to fall asleep last night and was thinking about what else to do on this piece. I have an idea, so I’ll hopefully work on that tonight.

I finished the heart on Monday at the ceramics studio.

It goes on the fabric piece…not sure when that will happen, because I have stuff going for the rest of the week.

I got a quilt back from a show yesterday…like this…

Luckily, there was no damage inside. It does look like they ran it over with something though. And it was wet, so recently? It rained yesterday. It was packed well, luckily.

I keep thinking of this, how we are all human, despite the stupidity.

And this…

I didn’t get to the history of DNA this year. I usually teach it a bit and always the Rosalind Franklin part.

And I had just heard a new astounding set of numbers about this…

We just absolutely suck as a culture for causing and ignoring this.

So here’s the owls though…

Mom is out and about (probably because those babes are fucking annoying). And you can barely see the two baby heads in the hole of the box. Right now, WordPress is showing that the video is private. Not sure how to fix that. Hmmm. OK, I think I fixed it. Love it when they change how things work.

OK. Today. Second day of testing, usually harder and shorter. But the kids are still here for three hours plus. Then some lunch, some planning, maybe grading. Pilates, pack bug quilts up, book club? Busy. Long. Oh wait, meeting this morning too, ugh. So much adult drama yesterday. Could do without that. OK, though, gotta go now. Art tonight…at some point.

Sewing Braids…

State testing starts this week. Wacky schedules, gotta cover my walls, deal with the same 30 kids for 3+ hours, 2 days running. Always weird. We used to do all the testing in one week and kids would lose their minds…OK, they lose their minds even when we only do two days. It’s a rough week, but we are rewarded with some time without kids and the chance to go out and get lunch (things teachers don’t get to do). At this time of year, that is a reward. So my kids are starting a poster today that they’ll finish after testing, and I am climbing on the counters and covering my walls. They tell us not to climb on the counters for safety reasons, but I’m not sure how they expect the things to happen if we don’t do some climbing. If I finish my walls early, I can leave school early, because my staff meeting time is for covering walls. I have thought this through.

I also didn’t grade much this weekend, because I have to do something while they’re testing and in the 3 hours after they leave when I’m required to still be here on campus. Plan ahead y’all.

So I finished all the bugs. I’m emailing someone who was interested in two of them…

This is Tiger Beetle 3.

Ladybug 3 (which I believe is sold).

Queen Beetle 3.

Staghorn 3 (also believe it’s sold).

And Beetle 3. The three unsold will go up on Etsy unless someone tells me ahead of time that they want them. They’re $100 plus shipping. They hang easily on the wall with a nail or two. There are others on Etsy already and three at Visions Museum.

Saturday night, I braided a lot of hair. I had bought some yarn locally, not exactly what I wanted, but I only have so much time and patience for yarn purchasing (I know, crazy, right?).

Scribble and Nova were very excited about the braiding process.

Possibly too excited. Here, I had just plopped them on top to see if I had enough. I guess I decided I didn’t, because I braided more last night…

And then sewed the tops down to the quilt. Bowie flat out didn’t care about braiding or sewing.

Apparently tired and wanted to be near me.

Also on Saturday, when he was lying on the books I needed to figure out what materials I needed to order for the summer residency. Cats are so helpful.

I’d rather think about the residency than school. We got this week planned, but none of the other weeks. So we need to do that this week too. Please. And thank you.

Meanwhile, the government are still assholes.

Their lack of understanding of all the things medications can be used for besides the one that gets their panties in a wad. Also, get out of my body.

And Viagra is still out there. Don’t need that, right? Not if it’s just about procreation, y’all. It will take so long to fix all the fuckery they have performed. I guess that’s part of the point, eh? Sigh.

OK. Making kids do posters about homologous structures. And stapling up paper to cover other paper. Testing is a fire hazard. Then ceramics, working on the heart (which I forgot to photograph). Also hoping there’s shelf space so I can start on the head. What are the odds of that? Low. Seriously. Then home and sewing more braids down in an artfully messy way. Without cat assistance. I’m almost done with this one, which is good, because the quilt to-do list just got seriously crazy. I need to get these three photographed and then start a big one that can be finished in 10 weeks? Ish? Crazy time. Maybe NOT the one I wanted to do in January. It might need to wait some more. Sigh. I don’t know why a show that doesn’t open until May needs to be juried in January. I was hoping for a few more months, but no. Not. Uh uh. That’s what I get for joining groups that do shows, right? I know. My choices. Good ones to get my work out there. Not necessarily for having work available for other stuff though. Working on it.

Making a Heart…

Hey. It’s Friday. It’s also May. Not sure where April went, but it’s gone. Whoosh. May is state testing month. Kinda crazy. Already! My brain is trying to focus on what the hell I’m teaching right now and until the end of the year, but it’s really checked out and planning excitedly for my residency. And everything that needs to get done BEFORE my residency. All the doc appointments and house tasks and planning. The brain is going a bit overboard with the planning. I know if I start writing stuff down, it’s going to be better, it’ll calm down a bit. I can’t take everything with me. I won’t have time to do everything. I need to stay focused. Ha! Who am I again? Yeah. My foci are endless. And maybe not in a good way all the time.

I have finished four out of the five new bugs…

Just sewing them down to the canvas. Someone asked me what I use to glue them, and I was trained so early in archival stuff that I don’t glue.

One more to go. That’s tonight. Then back to the hair on the green face. I bought yarn yesterday. It’s hard to find what I want, but I think this’ll work. More importantly, I need to figure out what’s in the space to the left of her face. So letting my brain percolate on that. I don’t have a lot of brain power at the moment though. Hopefully it’ll pop up soon.

Simba helping last night.

Both Simba and Scribble help me all the time.

For some definition of help. I do like the love. I was resting here…the cough is not horrible but it occasionally make me stop and try to breathe. I think I’ve kicked it. Not whooping cough. The kids at school have been getting strep throat and I’m like no uh uh stay away don’t breathe on me. I can’t do that right now. I keep cleaning tables and washing my hands and walking away from the kids who are the sickest. Mostly they stay home. They stay home in droves sometimes.

This amuses me.

Agreed. Thanks to the king for reminding us.

So. Today. I’m teaching something…homologous structures? I think. Yes. I finished (?) a checklist for next week’s poster yesterday during prep. My co-teacher says she’s starting today? I don’t know how, but whatever. I’m checked out. This year sucks. The kids don’t. The kids are fine. Well, except for whale penis boy yesterday, who had to be put in a time away…without his computer. The honors kids are losing it. I might be a little too. Whiny little boys some of them. I don’t have the patience for it. Then ceramics after school. Making a heart today I think. Or bugs. Whichever. Or trees? Not sure. Then home to finish the last bug. And work on some hair. Or something. And a weekend! Woohoo! I need one. Totally. Like ASAP. OK, in 8 hours or so.

Gonna Get There…

Gotta write fast; got a meeting this morning. My team had five kid meetings this week and divided them out. We usually all go, but we’re all burnt out on them and so we tried to be organized about it. We’ve been to so many meetings this year for kids…and mostly for the same group of kids over and over. And nothing gets solved at a lot of them. Hopefully today’s will go well…it should.

So art is a struggle at the moment. I guess I got to do ceramics yesterday…

I worked on the hands a bit and then figured out how to add a neck that was removable. There’s still no room to put her on the drying racks, so I figure I’m going to have to start underglazing her and let her dry on my shelf? And then try to do the head? Not sure. Actually, I remembered some other things I was going to do, so now that the fabric has solidified a bit, I might do that. We’ll see.

I managed to paint these for the bugs the other night…

I was going to start attaching bugs to them last night, but started to book flights to see the girlchild and got sucked into an Expedia loop that ended with me on two different airline websites instead, telling Expedia to fuck off. That was 90 minutes I would have spent sewing bugs on. So I guess that’s tonight. It’s fine. Really. I do like a big project. These little fussy ones finish up easy and quickly (well, though, is it?), but I get more frustrated with them. Like, it’s small…why isn’t it done already? So yeah. Getting there.

I also started some embroidery on this dye painting…

Hello Scribble…but I need a specific yarn for the hair, I think. And the yarn store isn’t open until tomorrow. So it’s on my list for after school. I do want to do a big piece next. Like the one I planned to do back in January. It’s been waiting patiently. It deserves to be made. I don’t even remember what it looks like.

I also finished this Critters block (Sue Spargo). The ants were fun.

Meanwhile, political shit is crazy. I mean, no matter what you think about what happened and how people reacted…

The difference between those reactions and those directed toward families who lose children in school shootings is boggling.

And those are the jokey ones. Here’s the real shit.

THAT. Is incredibly sad.

Followed by this crazy shit.

We’re already having issues getting treatments approved. We have an idiot in charge of HHS, increasing measles outbreaks, bad math when it comes to medical expenses (I would like a 600% decrease in my medicine costs please)…and now we’re trying to block new science. This will be why you won’t get new treatments for your cancer in the future.

Only the rich will be able to afford them, and they’ll have to fly out of the US to get them. The attack on science, women, people of color, the poor, LGTBQIA. And the billionaires get more billionairy. Vote, y’all. Vote loudly and often. Yell lots. You know what still hasn’t happened? Epstein files. Cheaper gas. Cheaper food. Nothing is great. We’re still at war. We’re still randomly killing people in the Atlantic Ocean. We’re doing so many illegal things.

Well. Cheery thought. Gotta get out of here. Giving a test on natural selection today. Then starting evolution tomorrow. Through state testing…in bits and pieces. Got lots of work to do. Got lots of planning to do for the summer. Deep breaths…gonna get there somehow.

Crafty People…

Well I’m still trying to kick this cold, but that’s all it is. It makes me tired, but so do lots of things. Coughing up an occasional lung is fun. I have two. It’ll be fine. I did go out and do a few things this weekend and then came back and slept on Saturday. Not Sunday. I really am better…just not healthy yet.

Quiltwise, I finished the pink head embroidery Friday night…

And Saturday night, I sewed the sleeves down and did 4 out of 5 sets of bug legs…

Last night, I did the last set of bug legs…

Now I need to prep the canvases I sew them to and get that done.

And I started embroidering a third dye painting.

I’m not sure I can finish this one in time to get it photographed for the show I’m entering, but I figured I’d try.

It was the SD Book Crawl this weekend. Saturday, I got up and made it to two stores that were close to each other, walking distance actually. Then came home and did the only SAQA conference Zoom I could do (the others were during the work day). Then went to two more stores…came home and slept. Then we went out to dinner next to a 5th store. Then Sunday, after pilates and grocery shopping, I went to the 6th so I could get the patch. That was all I could deal with. Most of these were already on my TBR list, so that’s cool.

In fact, one of them is a book club book I need to finish in the next few weeks, which I couldn’t get from the library in time, so I was glad to find that at the last store. Especially because I had already looked for it and NOT found it, wandered around the store and tried again, and it was magically there, just one copy. Woohoo!

Do I need more books? Yes. Yes I do. Shit week last week. I get to sit through a meeting today because girl drama (not a kid and not MY drama). I love listening to people tell me how hard they work and totally ignore any work I have to do. It’s great. Really my core response to all the drama is…go get therapy. This job will not get easier with that level of shit. I mean, this job never gets easier, but I am definitely in my FUCK OFF era at the moment. There’s tons of things I will do for kids to get them through, but enabling parents and enabling teachers drive me nuts. Both need to do their jobs.

So there’s that. I didn’t finish grading things (when do I ever? Oh, in June I do.). So there’s more of that.

I totally skipped that thing in my 20s. I was already doing my own thing and have only cared less and less about people’s opinions since then? Yeah well. If I’d cared, I wouldn’t have kept making art.

OK. Today. Stupid contentious meeting that I have to be calm for. Right now, I’m calm. Boss hasn’t actually sent a meeting invite yet…wonder if he knows how? Not my problem. I have work to do; real work. Whatever. We’re done teaching sex ed! It was hellish this year. I hate the new curriculum. All I do is read. And doing it two months early sucks. Now we have to grab all these kids back into doing academic stuff because state testing starts next week. Ugh. 37 days left. Back to natural selection and evolution though…fun, but not a lot of hands-on activities we can do. Not enough time. Just gonna do our best (not to go nuts). Staff meeting after school and then hopefully I have the energy for ceramics. I don’t right now, but who knows. Book club meeting tonight too, but on Zoom, so I don’t have to be particularly functional. Then more work on the green face. I need to find a local yarn store too…might Google that later, like during the staff meeting. I think there’s one locally near my ceramics studio. I need something specific looking. Of course I do. I do have yarn. I just don’t have the RIGHT yarn. That’s how it is with us crafty people…we’re either setting spells on you or trying to knit a hoodie for our dog (I really think he’d like one, but I don’t knit that well).

Not Just a Hot Flash

Last night, I considered what it would take to call in sick today. I am actually sick. I wasn’t sure yesterday during the day, but by 8 PM, when I took my temperature, I’m like, well, yes, that is a fever…not just a hot flash. A hot flash of a different kind anyway. Today is the last day of the sex ed unit, I can’t move it, I have 30 kids opted out who need to come back on Monday. It’s also a wishy washy day because I only have one packet left and it doesn’t take all period. I don’t have time to preview a lovely video (although maybe I can find one related to the unit we had to pause to teach this). I’m not feeling well, so whatever it is, it needs to be easy for me. Writing sub plans is a pain. I’m not that sick. I slept yesterday afternoon, woke up to feed the dog and go to my stitching Zoom meeting, ate a small dinner, stitched a bit, and went back to bed. I’m mostly functional.

Here’s what I stitched on…

Almost ready for the ants. Very slow getting this done.

The last two days, I added beads to this…

There were often animals involved…

Which is complicated when you are using little tiny things cats like to play with.

There’s at least one sequin and one bead lost permanently in the couch. Not my problem. I tried to save them.

I suspect I’ll be done soon. Then I need to make some decisions. I need to get these two dye paintings photographed, but it would be good if I could get one more done. It’s taken me forever to do this one though. Not sure why. And if I start something new, what is it? I had one back in December that was ready to go for the next one and then I had to finish one for the group I’m in and these are for another group I’m in, and I know I need two new ones for next year for those two groups, but I’m not ready on one and the other, I don’t have a true deadline or size yet. So do I do the huge weird one I’ve been looking forward to doing? I think I do. I think I try to finish the other dye painting first. And when I get to like May 15, I get whatever’s done photographed. It might be 2; it might be 3.

This feels too real.

The day job I have is sometimes so irritating and fills all the times and energies. In good news, it looks like grades aren’t actually due this weekend. I think. Even though this is halfway through the trimester. Apparently the principals met and changed it two weeks later. Which is definitely not halfway. No logic to it at all, and since we are lowly teachers, we get no say. It’s gonna be pretty hard to bring a grade up after May 17 is what I’ve gotta say. Hardly any academic stuff after state testing. Also, we can’t send grades home on the 17th; it’s a Sunday. I’m not even sure where all these random dates come from. It’s just so stupid.

Wanna see the owl daddy (?) delivering food to the babes and mom (I’m assuming mom is still in there).

I had to get a new camera because the other one finally died. Now I’m working on trimming some of the plant material. The big tripod I was using had a weird connector that was rusted out, so the camera is a little low. Maybe I can work on that this weekend. Not sure how to retrofit the old, taller tripod so it’ll hold this camera. Definitely two babies at the moment though. Exciting stuff.

So here I am, sick, but not REALLY sick, definitely tired, trying to decide what to do with the kids today. I found the microphone yesterday because my voice was shot. That helped. I really need a video or something. I thought I’d do a blooket game, but that’s way more interaction than I can deal with right now. Damn, I wish this job was better about making it easy to be out. It’s not. I’m teaching goal setting today; then some random thing I haven’t decided about yet. I’d like to go to ceramics, but don’t think I’ll have the energy. Unfortunately. Maybe Sunday afternoon? I think sleep tonight, although I’m also supposed to be cooking (fun times). I feel like I was just sick a month ago (because I was). Immune system not at its best.

There’s Always a Back…

It’s another Wednesday where my brain keeps skipping ahead to Thursday. Surely I’ve lived through three workdays by now. Only three more days of sex ed and then back to the normal shitshow. Which isn’t planned yet. Minor issue. I’d really like to be planned out more than a few days…more than a week would be nice. It’s a constant scramble and that’s part of the exhaustion. Plus grading on top of it. I’m going to have to start grading a test tonight that I gave yesterday. Not sure if it’s going into the progress report. I’m not that on top of things yet. Never am really. Don’t want to spend the whole weekend grading. So we’ll see where I get.

I finished the embroidery, for some definition of embroidery, on the quilt. I think.

You can barely tell in photos. Then I started adding beads last night…

You can barely tell…I mean, the larger ones are obvious. I’m not done. It’s more about catching the light with those.

Also adding to the texture. It’ll be way different in person than in a photograph I guess. I’ve been told my work is anyway, so there we are.

I added to the ceramic piece on Monday…

Pounded out a slabbish piece and kind of squished it up and laid it over her arms.

Hopefully it will hold up. This thing is getting heavy. Gonna do some arm decorating, fix up the fingers with some details, and cut a hole for the neck. There’s still no room on the drying racks. Might need another plan at some point.

My co-teacher gave the kids pipe cleaners for their nervous fingers during sex ed. I found this outside.

Not particularly accurate. To our credit, 7th grade teaches anatomy; we just teach what happens if you use it. Pretty iconic otherwise. The orange is disturbing though.

Melania does think AI can do my job.

This is the problem though. Melania needs to read more dystopian fiction.

I love this…it’s so true, and at some point, when I was answering a question about abortions, I mentioned that non-science people shouldn’t be making laws about science they don’t understand (ectopic pregnancies cannot be transplanted, you idiot politicians)…

Also the kid who wanted to know why he had to learn about pregnancy…HE. I congratulated him on his decision never to have sex with a woman. Yes, the boys are driving me a little bonkers at the moment. Today is STIs. Scary stuff, but less scary than when we taught it. It’s all less scary. Videos of childbirth are good because it scares them. The animation they make for pregnant moms, which is what we have to use instead, is very vanilla. This whole new curriculum is just a lot of teacher reading and not a lot of good interactions. I might have the energy to do something about that someday, but not today. The LONG email I sent with corrections still hasn’t been answered. Sigh. Whatever. Highlight the damn words that need to be written so my low readers can FIND them, you assholes. Sigh. REALLY SIGH this time.

OK. Like I said, teaching STIs today. Preventing them tomorrow. Then goal setting and we’re done. Hallelujah. Then back to natural selection and then state testing and I can’t believe we’re getting to the end of this shitty year. Only 40 days of school left and one of those is promotion. One is a field trip. Four are testing days, which are hell in their own way, but the kids leave at noon and then it’s quiet. I have pilates after school and then I will come home and weed or grade or both and then play with more beads. I did weed a lot yesterday too…hoping to get enough done to scatter the wildflowers (aka fancy weeds with flowers) the boychild gave me. May the planning and grading go well. May I be less tired than yesterday. May my voice last the entire day (questionable). Oh shit, I’m doing test corrections at lunch. May the kids remember to turn over to the back of the page. There’s always a back. Just sometimes it’s blank.

Distracted by Actual Squirrels.

Hey ho, why is there so short a time to write this morning? I guess I did things, and then I watched the squirrels running up and down the tree (they’re young ones, so they’re kinda funny about who goes first on the branch thing. But not sure how it got this late. Also I have no photos of said squirrels. Sorry.

So. The weekend. Seemed short. I did things, sure, but not very many things. I planted 5 things, 3 ceanothus (one that had been sitting in a pot for two years) and 2 milkweed. I weeded. I’m always weeding these days. I confirmed that my owl cam is dead (weather damage) and ordered a new one. I bought new deodorant! This is a big thing because I have to go to a different store than the grocery store and it takes me forever to get errands like that done these days. I was on a Zoom for two hours. I went to an art exhibit. I hiked only two miles because the dog wasn’t ready for the third mile. I did some art. I had a mammogram. Ouch. Hopefully no biopsy this year…knock on wood. They don’t find that shit in the squishy mammo…they find it in the MRI. So that’s in July, I think. Fun times.

Artwise, there’s finally progress, although it still doesn’t look like it (there’s three squirrel babies, by the way, and I am distracted). All photos with cat interference.

This was Saturday night…with Nova. I didn’t do anything Friday night because the Man had a show and we didn’t get home until midnight or so. I finished the pink though and then had to search through my stash for a good purple. That was chaotic because I pulled it from something I haven’t finished stitching yet and I have to remember where it goes when I’m done.

Now with Scribble. I have a few blue-green bits I need to go back and do and then I’m going to figure out what beads and/or sequins I’m going to use. There better be less cat interaction with those.

Friday night’s music stuff…

A friend had a 50th birthday party and the Man and his former singer did the last three songs of the night. They did actually sing and not just posture.

Saturday afternoon’s hike with the pup.

He’s old and gets tired easier.

The art exhibit is at Art Produce; it’s a protest show. This is Linda Litteral’s, one of her Don’t Shut Up pieces about childhood sexual abuse.

This is Nicholas Danger’s work,

Tool of the Trade (the machete) and The Orange Monster. The hat says ‘maggot’. Legit.

Back of the machete.

This is Michelle Montjoy’s Bluebird of Happiness.

She must embroider much faster than I do (yes, I know she didn’t do the birds).

We went to dinner afterwards and I was fascinated with the light on the brewery tanks.

Did you hear that San Diego wants to cut almost all funding to the arts and libraries? And give it to the cops instead?

Frustrating.

And ignorant of what the arts and libraries do for the community. Speak up! I don’t actually live in the city, but this will kill the arts in this county. And remember this.

You CAN do both.

I don’t think I had that. I had about 10 minutes when I realized I had planted and watered the 5 new things and then I realized how much more needed to happen and I only had an hour and spent most of it walking from one part of the yard to another with a shovel.

This is the reality.

Except I cleaned nothing; I only did yardwork. Well, I did do the grocery shopping and the laundry. And I made lists. And I graded, because I am always doing that. I also went to ceramics Friday night and I don’t think I took photos? Or did I? No one knows.

Finishing up teaching about pregnancy today, then preventing unplanned pregnancies, then staff meetings blech and finally ceramics, where hopefully I really will take a photo AND find room on the drying shelf for my piece so I can start the head and the owl. Ha! Hasn’t been space for weeks. Then home to dinner, grading (ugh), and more embroidery…woo hoo! That’s a plus.

I’m a Big Girl…

Hey. It’s Friday. I say this once a week. I saw three squirrels cavorting on the slope this morning. I’ve only ever seen two at a time, mostly one. This was definitely three. Fun times. I definitely have the trees for it. And the one I’m watching right now? Definitely a young one. Not super tiny, but not an adult. Cool morning focus…on nature (even destructive nature) rather than the shitshow that is school right now. Behaviors have ramped up in all the classes, and I don’t think teaching sex ed early is helping. The baby squirrel went up one of the trees and is now coming down another one. Adorable little beast. Unlike boys during sex ed. I shouldn’t say ALL boys, because it’s not. But it’s a healthy number of them. Speaking of not all boys but way too many of them…

I mean, I guess I’m alternately shocked and not surprised at all that a ton of men checked into an online rape academy. Certainly I’m holding other men responsible for shutting that shit down if they ever get a hint of someone they know visiting that, but also, why is it allowed to exist? I’d love to have all those men outed. Names published. Fired from jobs. As we teach sex ed and little boys write on the question cards, “how many holes on a girl can I put my dick into?” Seriously disturbing sometimes. Also there has been a huge thing on consent, with parents monitoring kids’ phones and the kids saying they don’t have their consent, (and my laughing my ass off, because who pays for your damn phones and phone bills, you sweet dingbats), and then I explain how you can’t give consent under 18. And you know, it’s always the boys yelling, Bill touched me without my consent; can I hit him? Can I sue him? And the girls are sitting quietly in their chairs. I do mostly clump boys together on one side, girls on the other. Kids get to choose one person to sit with and there are some boy/girl combos. One set is dating and I warned him; usually I don’t let them sit together, but I think this pair is OK. The other pairs are friends and that is their support system. But one (annoying) boy noticed yesterday (on Day 4) and yelled out about it (because apparently we have to yell everything out), and one of the girls answered, “Maybe we just wanted to sit with our friends so we don’t have to listen to you,” and I’m with her on that. I’m kind of done with it, and we’re not even halfway through. My voice is shot; my patience is heading for the basement level. Deep breaths. It’s Friday. I can do it. I’m teaching pregnancy today. That should shut them up.

Artwise, I’m still embroidering. I have a lot done (it doesn’t look like a lot though)…

I finished that blue-green color and the lighter purple, and started the bright pink.

Then I need to find a proper purple; then sequins and beads. Another week? I may pause and do bug legs for a few days. I was too tired for them. They require thought and I’ve been doing yardwork every night and then grading and barely starting embroidery at 9:30 PM and hardly getting an hour in. Ugh.

I did go to ceramics last night because I have physical therapy for my knee after school today and then a show tonight (UGH).

She’s got two arms now and roughouts for hands. I’m trying to do hands differently…put something in them and then carve the fingers, because the fingers are always breaking. We’ll see how that goes. I have to make sure it doesn’t dry out too much so I can’t carve it, and my original plan for the arms changed mid-arm and then I still don’t have enough shelf space available to dry this or start the head and originally there was going to be a barn owl on the head/shoulders and I’m not sure how to pull that off. SO. Yeah. I’m rethinking.

She looks like she’s doing a low row in pilates. ANYWAY. I’ll get there. I don’t plan much in ceramics. That’s the point for me. Brain loosey goosey.

Speaking of loosey goosey, here’s Scribble.

She’s a sweetheart. But still kitteny.

Hey so I finished my taxes a week or so ago and I’m still pissed off that I’m paying for a war. And ICE. And those dumbass goons in the government who quote random shit and say even more random shit. Also my right eye started twitching today and I blame all of this: school and world.

Unfortunately, the monkeys are mine. Every day. In class.

Another photo of my piece at the No Boundaries exhibit at the Virginia Quilt Museum.

And my Stitchpunk piece at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. I always forget that they’re traveling around, although hopefully I’ll see this one in Oregon this summer. Or is that Fierce Planets? I can’t remember.

Woman 3.0. Hopefully dealing with fewer stupid men online.

Leaving you with Simba AFTER I stopped rubbing his belly.

No judgement in that face. I did rub his belly for a long time (not long enough, lady).

OK. Teaching pregnancy today. No videos of women giving birth, unfortunately. The school board thinks that’s too much. I think it scares them and it’s useful. Plus it gives me a break from talking. I talk NONSTOP for this unit with the new curriculum. Yesterday a boy yelled out, “Pregnancy, Why the fuck do we need to learn about that?!”. I calmly said, “well, I guess you never want to have sex with a woman then.” Fun times, y’all, fun times. After teaching that all day (it’s OK, the one class that got to the anatomy review yesterday shut up SO FAST…it was joyful), I will get my knee poked and prodded again, then remember to pick up my insulin (if I forget, it’s OK; I’ll be back tomorrow for the boob squeeze, version 1). Then the Man said I should NAP for the show tonight. Four hours long. But there’s a taco truck. But the three songs he’s in are the last of 43? So holy crap, bring my book and go read in a corner? We’ll see how I feel. Currently I feel like crawling into a pillow fort, but that’s not an option. I’m a big girl and I need to do all the things.

Not a Natural Haven on Purpose…

‘Tis Wednesday, yet feels like a later day in the week that is not yet Friday. OK, that only leaves Thursday, but honestly, sometimes it feels like there is a full week between Monday and Wednesday alone, and then you get to Thursday (finally) and it just wings by into Friday and you’re done. Sometimes, though, you’re teaching sex ed and the boys are being such wingnuts that you get through the day and their stupid shit and even though you have a ton of grading to do that you don’t want to do on the weekend, you can’t find the mental energy to do any of it. Yeah. That was last night. Granted, I did do a higher level pilates class after work and then came home and weeded and trimmed, because my yard is a natural haven but also a disaster (so not a natural haven on purpose and maybe even a little dangerously so), and then I collapsed on the couch and read three chapters (I might have read five) and then got up and made dinner. So it’s really no surprise that at the end of it, I had zero energy for grading late work.

So quiltwise, I’ve been embroidering on the pink head piece…I just want to get it done.

It’s not that I don’t like this piece…I actually love this piece. It’s just that the embroidery is SO SLOW…you slow stitchers, I’m used to getting done faster. I do realize that’s the point, but I feel like I’ve been showing y’all the same thing for weeks now. Because I have? I mean, it changes minutely each night.

Anyway. I’m working on the purples and pinks now. Then beads and sequins. Getting there. Not fast. It’s fine.

Remember above? It’s not just me.

It’s a thing. As is this…

And this resonates after yesterday…

And mine are largely taller than I am…not so young. But sometimes, just shite. The girls have been awesome so far. They usually are. I have one class with only 6 girls in it, huddled in a corner, and I go thank them sometimes for being a sane island in the seas of testosterone. They giggle uncomfortably OR say, it’s OK Ms. Nida; you got this. Stuff like that. Which makes you cry a little.

Today I am teaching body image and decisionmaking (fun times) and then I have a union meeting after school and another greenery trashcan to fill with the overgrowth at my house. And then I will absolutely need to grade some things (I’m getting very little done at school…these sex-ed packets are all talking, all the time, no fucking down time, ALL fucking day, it’s exhausting.) and make dinner and then I’ll be looking for a brighter purple thread in my stash (I know it exists; I just don’t know where it is). And maybe think of more stitches than chain, stem, backstitch, feather, and French knot. I think I did a herringbone too. Or just do something and get it done so you can get onto the beads. I don’t know. Also someone needs to clean the windows here…they’re all gross and hard to see out of. It’s a lovely day out and I’d like to SEE it. Also, that’s a squirrel. I have those now. They bit through the cord to the owl camera from the solar panel charging it, which is why it kept disconnecting. I replaced it and tied up the cord…they’d have to jump up to get it now (and they might, little fuckers). I know the owls are there; I hear at least one baby. I just like to see them too.

OK, I really need to go to school and grade shit. Ugh. And hide all the pencils so that one class can’t break them and throw them at each other, because that’s easier than talking about consent and boundaries. Seriously, sweet demons, that’s all we’re talking about now. What’re you gonna throw when we get to STIs? Sigh.