OK. It’s Monday, but it’s a week until I get a week off. Yes, I just had a day off, and yes, I enjoyed the extra time before I had to buckle down and work for the day job. I need more of that. I’m a little in burnout mode right now. Trying to stay out of that…it won’t help me get through the rest of the year. Not sure what will, though. So can I do this 5 days? Um. Maybe. Seriously. Not sure how long all the things will take. I added new stuff this year to stuff I did last year, so there’s always this sense of not having a clue how long anything will take. But only half of it, because the other half is stuff I did do. Ugh. Anyway, we’re in magnets and at least there’s some hands-on stuff this week, but a bunch of stuff is up in the air, hope it works, or hope it doesn’t, or shift this because of that. So that’s not something I really enjoy. I like knowing what I’m doing and how long it will take. Yup.
Plus there’s like 4 parent meetings, but I can’t go to one of them, and one of the others, I need to get through a phone call visit with my doctor in time to go to that one, which I organized (it’s not how I meant it to be), so that’s fun. Double ugh.
Meanwhile, I did finish quilting on Saturday night…
Spent a few hours Friday night…
Finished the outlining with an hour or so on Saturday morning, then packed it up and went to buy binding, because the store is closed on Sunday. Then came back and started the background.
Saturday, I quilted for 5 hours.
I remember back in the old days, pre-COVID, when I could spend most of Saturday working on art stuff if I wanted to.
The only way I could pull it off this weekend was because I had Friday free too. Sad but true.
Then last night, I trimmed the quilt and started getting the binding and sleeves on.
I didn’t finish. I started at 9 PM (worked on school stuff from 2 PM until then, minus cooking and eating dinner). And then it was 10:40 and I needed to go to bed.
I still have one sleeve to put on plus all the hand stitching. I’ll be on the couch with that this week. Then I’m emailing the photographer. He’ll have a field day with this one. Then hopefully mail it off to its new owner. Although my quilt guild wants to see it…so we’ll see if the timing works on that for the next meeting.
Anyway. The next one is in my head. Not sure if I have time to finish it for that deadline, but we’ll see.
Meanwhile, I’ve been drawing in restaurants and forgetting to photograph any of it.
Sometimes it takes two nights out to finish a drawing. Not that one. They took a really long time to serve us.
I drew at the book signing while I was waiting. Shootings are apparently often on my brain.
Sad but true.
It’s the one time I get to draw at the moment. No other free time, really. I need to have a certain frame of mind to draw, and it’s harder to find that mindspace. If I’m home, I’m more likely to pick up my computer and try to get school stuff done. Because it’s ever present.
Friday, I spent time with my old veteran, replacing some lattice covers so I could plant something to cover them.
The old ones were 20 years old and broken, so these have another 20 years hopefully. I also got two vaccines, one of which is causing an allergic reaction on my arm…fun times. Then two MRIs (one for each knee!). It was a weird day. But some stuff got done, which is good.
OK. Well. Today is what it is. I go to work and keep teaching magnets, and hope the labs work out etc. And all the parent meetings this week go well. And I feel less burnt? Unlikely. That’s just the way this year is rolling. Ah well. Time to build some mental health days into my curriculum, eh? I think so.
Kathy Nida 