Knock on Primed Wood…

OK! Progress on all the things. Summer is feeling pretty good today. The carpet installation is a go, waiting on me and mom picking carpet later today, the stained glass is supposed to be installed today, the wood finished on Friday. I got the spackling done, NOT with Luna’s help…

It’s now sanded, needs another wash, then primer and paint…not first on my list at the moment. I got the paint done on the window opening for the glass that’s being installed (finally!) today…knock on wood. Primed wood. Carpet guy measured everything today; we don’t have to move ALL the furniture, which is nice. Who knows where we will sleep the first night, but hey, whatever. I think the Man has claimed the couch and we do have a blowup mattress or two. We’ll be fine. Furniture moving is first on my list for the rest of the week, then paint, if I have time before they come. Might be better to do paint after they do a bunch of work though. I don’t know. The yardwork is slow and painfully hot, as always. I found another cocoon, but this was either dead or busted out…

Hopefully the latter. Yes, this is on a trashcan. Not the best choice. Sorry guy.

Quiltwise, I’ve cut some stuff out on the big quilt…

Slow progress. Because I also finished the stitchdown (started in March) on this…

I’m going to do the stitchdown on the other one and then pinbaste both of them. Maybe later today? Today got nuts.

I got an email a couple weeks ago from another artist I follow about an exhibit she thought my work would be good for…so I printed the prospectus, which was based on a play/movie concept. I watched the movie (Chiraq) and started reading the play (Lysistrata). And then my brain fuzzed for a while, couldn’t see it, but she messaged me again with updated info, and the picture popped into my head. I love my brain for that! So last night, I spent a couple of hours listening to a ceramics course and drawing this piece…

Which has to be a specific size (of course) and related to the play/movie. I tried to keep it simple (ha!), then took a picture of the inked drawing.

Some hand embroidery going on there too. And emailed it off with a statement and samples of my other work to the organizers. Got the email this morning that I’m in! So now I get to make this sweet thing for a group called Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse…I love the idea of making work in response to other types of art, in this case a play/movie. But also in response to current events. Awesome. I’m excited by this. And many thanks to the artist who thought of me.

Yes, I still have three other quilts to finish. Shush. I got this.

I did actually draw a rough sketch first, just because it was a compressed space.

I don’t always do that. But this one called for it.

Still reading the Period book…

I love this though. I draw the ovaries a lot. Ovaries and uteri. But it’s penises and vaginas I get busted for. Whatever.

I did do clay yesterday, but again, forgot to take pictures. I’m going in tomorrow to load the kiln with the winged woman…hoping she survives the kiln.

OK, so I’m waiting on glass guy (he’s on Mexican time y’all…he said ‘around noon’, which means 1 PM…cuz he’s still not here). Then carpet with mom. Then pilates. And some form of art tonight (maybe all of them!). Stitchdown, cutting out, numbering…it’s all here. I can do it all. Love that it’s summer. I needed a break from school. Really did. Whoopee!

Sweat…

OK, it’s officially the first week after the first week after school gets out. That first week goes through like a blur on a good year; add surgery into the mix and I’m surprised (or not) that I made it through 5 books and 11 interviews and not much else. Ugh. Not recommended. This week starts to feel a bit more like reality, a bit more like the summer I knew I was in for…the one where I want to punch people when they ask me what I’m doing this summer. I’m repairing my house post January flood. I had guys come in and fix the outside wood and the inside drywall, plus install gutters, which should make it never happen again, but I still need the carpet installed and paint in the hallway and potentially other places, and please let’s get the stained glass reinstalled…it’s been out since April, I think. Last night, I sanded old trim (oil paint previously…I never painted in the entryway, so it’s at least 26 years old), washed it, and put on a primer coat. The contract guys strangely painted the inside trim brown (outside color) without really consulting me, so I’m covering that with white. I had to pick a white for that whole room, since it had never been painted. I don’t mind painting, except when it’s hot and a lot of prep work needs doing, like here. I hate sanding. I can’t even reach the top part of the wall with the stool. I’m gonna have to get the ladder. So it’s a lot of that kind of work all summer. I need to get another coat of primer on today and then hopefully one coat of actual paint, so when the glass guy comes back on Wednesday, it’s ready to go. I also need to wash the hallway (on my hands and knees, love you Callie dog, but jesus, what did you do to the walls in there) and see if I can find the spackle. I know it’s here. I bought it last summer to do this and then just flailed. I can’t flail this time. It needs to get done. I need to move stuff out of the bedrooms too. And it’s hot, y’all. So that doesn’t help. It is going to happen though.

I haven’t posted since Thursday because of all those interviews plus just plain tiredness. I took a lot of naps last week. That’s normal for the week after school gets out. I’m feeling a little more with it now.

So what have I been doing quiltwise? I managed to iron at night (and maybe during the afternoon).

Thursday night…

Friday night…

Kitten guards the chair quite well. This was the last picture, must have been Saturday night I finished. ALL the fabrics…

24 hours and 5 minutes of choosing and ironing. 202 fabrics. An awful lot of browns and grays.

I started cutting out last night…

This is also going to take forever. That’s OK. It’s relaxing. I enjoy it.

I did get my sewing machine back on Friday, finally. Three months! It was a distribution issue mostly…but frustrating. And free. So there’s that. I haven’t had time to use it yet…hopefully today. I’d like to get these two smaller pieces done. They won’t take long.

I also finally made it back to ceramics. I did one day last week, but the rest of the week was hellacious. I started this piece back in April…

Last week, I added the spiny bits to the serpent and the ribs inside the torso…

This section is pretty leather hard…so I had decided to make the top of the torso a separate piece…

It won’t fit on my shelf otherwise. So there’s that.

Lumpy bumpy body. So yesterday, I started building the top part of the torso. Hard to do with this clay…it’s not very supportive. But I’m using it up!

The top of the torso slots into the bottom, which means adjusting for shrinkage (12%) plus trying to support things until they are able to support themselves. So it’s wrapped up and I’ll either go by this afternoon for an hour for the next bit, or tomorrow. We’ll see.

I’d like to build something like this next…

This is my piece, The Way Out, with its owner, Sara Vance Waddell, in the Dayton Art Institute exhibit Riveting, which runs through September 8 and includes some great feminist art. The exhibit is all work collected by Sara and Michelle Vance Waddell. It’s intriguing. Wish I were closer.

But I’d also like to make a ceramic version of this. Again, it’s probably not gonna fit on my ceramics shelf. Ah well.

Friday night, the Man’s band had a show at the Belly Up.

It was short, but high energy.

Unlike me. I napped before it (after 7 AP interviews) and went home without watching the second band. I was exhausted. I had a seat, though, thanks to the lead singer and his wife. Appreciated that. I don’t think I could have stood for 2 hours.

We dogsat Annie this weekend. She and Simba sometimes need to be way too close.

It’s hot and y’all are furry. Annie’s gone now…

Saturday night we went out to a place that has pretty good food, but some time ago (years y’all), the Man was pissed off about a rude bartender/staff person, so we just didn’t go back. Until now.

Not much room to draw, but it worked with this sketchbook.

Gutters got installed at some point and they had to cut some branches. I said I’d do cleanup on that (don’t trust them), and I’m glad I did because I saw a caterpillar clinging in that distinctive J shape that looks like it’ll cocoon, and sure enough, it did.

This branch will sit here for a while as whatever it is remakes itself. Not a swallowtail…it was a fuzzy black caterpillar. Should have taken a picture before, but I was hot and cutting things up. I have two trashcans full, and the next one requires gloves and a lot of up and down stairs.

Another picture of our ballsy rat friend and its stash of nuts down there.

Fat. I’m not feeding it. It’s the Man, and it’s only because he’s feeding the crows.

SpaceX again last night…we missed it but the owl cam got it.

Funny.

Still reading the Period book…you know, I didn’t know this about preeclampsia. Fascinating.

Science!

I’m not sad. It’s OK. I am slightly unfocused this morning. Hopefully I’ll find some focus after breakfast and another cup of tea. Plus reading. Maybe a shower. Painting first, because that’s sweaty. Enclosed room with no window. Oh wait, I said washing walls too. All that before shower. I mean, what’s the point in showering if I’m just working all day? And it’s hot? I’ll do it at some point…but not right now. Artwise, definitely cutting more things out, maybe ceramics studio for an hour, and I’d really like to do another big drawing for fun. Plus stitch down those poor quilt tops. That’s a lot right there. Moving furniture. Pre-shower. Definitely. Ugh. Eat, do sweaty things, shower, do less sweaty things. That’s really it.

Always Good…

Apparently no one has explained to Simba that people like to sleep in on days they don’t have to go to work. He’s UP! Wants to know why no one else is UP! The world is a noisy place. He wants to bark at it.

OK, three days post surgery, it still hurts to swallow, there’s a little pain on and off (ice packs! Motrin!), but all is good. It’s not going to be a pretty scar…ah well. I don’t really care about that. I do care that the doc just messaged me that everything is benign and clear and I don’t need to do anything else for now, although the tissues they removed are more likely to develop into cancer (we knew that going in). So one worry checked off. Always good. I feel fine, although I’m still not lifting things or working out. First of those is Sunday, fully approved by the doc. I’ll hopefully hike before then.

I made it to the ceramics studio yesterday…finished all four of the pots for the Man. Couldn’t leave the one blank, so I made little Venus flytraps all over it, rainbow-colored.

Simple. I now have 5 pots on the drying rack. I did work on the world figure I started back in April, but I forgot to photograph it. I’m glad I’m finally got some space on my shelf to put the top part…so that’s the next plan.

I have to go in to school today and tomorrow for interviews: new science teacher today, assistant principals tomorrow. Fun times. Yes, I get paid. I also get to make sure they don’t pick someone lame.

I’ve been doing lots of ironing, because it’s easy enough. Well, is it? Lots of complicated stuff being ironed. Tuesday…I did two sessions and got one entire figure ironed.

Lots of browns and flesh tones. Last night, I got the flesh ironed on the third figure, but not all the other stuff…I did the hair and the eyeball, but then I got tired.

That’s her fleshy colors on the right. Plus a dark eye. I’m in the 1000s, but also I’ve ironed some of the 1100s. And some of the 900s aren’t ironed. So that’s clear. There’s still one entire figure to go and a shit ton of stuff in the sky. But the box is full of pieces to cut out. That’s fun.

I drew last night.

I haven’t been drawing. It’s been harder and harder with school the last four years to get time to draw. I work so many hours at the day job. I reserve an hour a night for art, but it’s mostly working on whatever project I’m currently obsessed with. There’s no time for just random drawing, except at the occasional dinner out. I used to do these big random drawings for no reason at all, just because I wanted to draw. So there’s that. Boob and brain in that one. Still waiting on brain results.

Reading a book about the period…called Period.

Fascinating stuff…science and politics and history. I can read nonfiction as long as I’m reading a fiction book concurrently. Which I am.

I replanted a few things. Not this. Just saw this.

It makes the prettiest flowers.

Found this little sweetheart bouncing around the leaves last night…

Hoping it’s OK. I always figure parents are nearby and I should leave it alone. We do occasionally find dead hummingbirds. Sad.

And the owls are still here, seemingly acting like there’s eggs or babies in the box?

I have not given up on them. Hoping to hear future squawking of tiny owlets.

OK, off to school for a little while. Then back here, ironing, plus setting stuff up for an Insta takeover. Tomorrow is interviews all day. I just wanna know if I should bring my lunch? I’ll ask today. Otherwise, I’m gonna sit in the good news for a while.

Hard to Sit Still…

OK, I’m off on my writing days. It’s OK. I probably don’t actually know what day it is most of summer. It’s better that way. We’re so hyperfocused on days and dates when we’re teaching that it’s nice to take some time off from that. As long as I don’t miss any appointments.

Yesterday was surgery. It went well. I’m not in a lot of pain. Got rid of the heavy duty pain meds already. I feel better without them anyway, and now that I can take ibuprofen again, it’s effective enough. I get results next week. Meanwhile I’m mentally designing tattoos for the scar. It’ll be a while before I can do that, but I can still dream it. Everyone wants me to rest, but my body likes to move more than rest. I did OK yesterday…did a lot of stitching and watching videos. One was this Textile Talk by Dr. Teri Walker, who interviewed me at some point for an article she’s writing. Three of my quilts are in the talk, which was cool…

Shout out to all my political activist quilt friends also in this talk.

My surgeon had to sign the side he was operating on.

That sharpie is not coming off anytime soon. I have dissolvable stitches with a waterproof coating that will slowly deteriorate (I’m supposed to gently wash it with soap)…the plus is that I could shower today! There’s some adhesive that caused a mark and some other adhesive that will apparently take a few days to get the fuck off (not on the wound), so that’s fun. But I am no longer orange. I am signed though. WEIRD.

Stitching I did yesterday…

That freaking drizzle stitch tail took forever…

Finished the wings, put the eyes on, and started around the leaves…

I also finished one book and started two more. Wait, I think I finished two books. Hmm. I’m reading one on the Kindle app (nonfiction) and one in actual book shape (fantasy) so I don’t lose my saved up days/weeks on the Kindle. Yes, I guess that’s a thing.

I did ceramics on Saturday afternoon. This is one of the pots for the Man’s carnivorous plants.

It was fun to do, much faster than the last one.

I did a couple of coil pots too…

Just to use up the clay. I’d like to go in today, but everyone keeps yelling “REST” at me. You know, part of my resting is sitting on a stool at the ceramics studio and playing with clay. I could do that for 2-3 hours with no complaint.

From one of the books I’m reading…the last phrase especially.

Yes it’s a book about a bookstore. Once Upon a Tome. It’s amusing, but I’m not sure what the plot is. Or if there is one.

We hiked Saturday.

I’m allowed to take short walks today.

Hiking by Saturday? Maybe sooner. Except I’m doing all these school-related interviews Thursday and Friday. My fault for saying yes. My fault for giving a shit about who is foisted on me next year.

Saturday night’s drawing. New place for dinner. We liked it.

Nice space.

Saturday night’s ironing…I finished the tree in the 1400s.

It was easier than saving those fabrics aside until I got there.

Then Sunday night, I ironed all the fleshy bits on the first woman.

And last night (yes, last night I felt well enough to stand for an hour to iron), I did all the non-fleshy bits on the same woman.

Tried to add a lot of color. This quilt is heavy on the browns and grays at the moment.

Tonight (or this afternoon), I’ll start on the second figure. New flesh tones.

Legit.

OK, one of the things that sucks the most post surgery is that I have to wear a bra for 48 hours straight. I’m already done with it. I was done with it last night. I took it off to shower and it was hell to put it back on.

Not because it hurts…I just hate bras. It’s summer. It’s anathema to wear a bra.

This is the hood of my car…it is covered with bunny fur bits that were pulled out, probably by the hawk that was eating it…

In the tree above my car. It was sad. Although I’m glad only fur landed on my car. Ugh.

More random shit from the internet.

Also legit. And the last one…I swear…before I go REST again (I am tired of resting…yes, it has been 24 hours. Might be my max.).

Oh yes. Well, I will go read for a while and maybe stitch, or maybe come back in here and STAND. I was not put in this world to rest. Some people are very good at it. I fail. I get an F. Don’t lecture me about my body needing the time to recover. I think my body needs what makes me feel better right now. I know better than to lift furniture or dig holes (both are on my to-do list), but if I have to sit on the couch for another 8 hours, Imma kill something. Not a baby bunny though. I’m definitely watering things today. I’ll hold off on planting the other things, because I would have to use a big shovel, and I’d get shit for doing that. It’s a beautiful day out there though. Hard to sit still when there’s so much to do. Please don’t email me and tell me why I need to rest. I KNOW. I still don’t like it.

By the Side of a Lake

So. I’m not in Southern California. I spent a million hours yesterday traveling with my parents and then my daughter 3,114.6 miles to the side of a lake in Maine, near where my niece is graduating from college. My dad broke an airplane seat on the way, we met the girlchild’s sweet guy, ate dinner in Boston, and drove through two states to get to this cabin (cabin???) by a lake, where I’m sitting right now. Staring out at the water and the trees and trying to remember how to relax. Really, my brain is gonna make me go finish inputting grades. It’s OK. It has to happen sometime and I’ve had some good relaxation time so far.

Here’s a weird jellyfish glass/metal sculpture in the Boston airport.

There was nothing good to photograph on the plane. I spent a goodly amount of time grading stuff. Pro: it’s done. Other Pro: Alaska Airlines realized their internet crapped out multiple times (I started reactively saving the doc every 3 minutes at some point) and refunded me the $8 I paid to get my job done. Con: Well, work. I did finish my book yesterday, so I’m not feeling too bad. I even napped. Barely.

Weird fact: My brother and I are currently reading the same book, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone. Not a planned thing. Just happened. Weird, huh? We are both liking it.

Here’s one view of the lake. It was more polleny this afternoon. We have two, technically three docks and some boat-type things.

We didn’t get here until 11:30 PM last night…long day. So far, my brother, my SIL, the two nephews, my parents, and my daughter are here. The boychild is working this weekend, so no go. The niece is the graduator. My SIL’s parents come in tonight. Full house. Only two bathrooms.

The parents wanted to go to LL Bean today, so we did.

Girlchild was excited about the giant boot.

I was excited about the sale on Camelbak packs…got a small one to replace my 22-year-old short hike pack. This one has sharks on it and is even smaller, better pockets than the old one. I’ve been looking for a while…mine has holes and wear in the straps. Plus it was on sale. Always nice.

We made it back and I tried out one of the kayaks.

Wind took my hat at one point, but I rescued it. I’ll go back out a few more times. Kinda windy, kinda wobbly, but a nice form of exercise.

Lots of people sleeping this afternoon. Girlchild is cooking dinner for me and the parentals tonight as the rest are out with my niece’s friends…

I’ve been reading a bit. Gonna think about a walk, then input those grades from the plane, and then maybe draw or stitch. My brain, body, and blood sugar are all off from travel and time change. But it’s nice to be away from stressful things, even if it’s stressful getting here. So many pine trees…

I Like Your Butt…

Hey. I’ve thought every morning this week was Saturday, and I was wrong about all of them. Including this one. Today is so not a Saturday; it’s like the antithesis of a Saturday. Give a quiz, then take your kids to an assembly, then do duty, then go to an art opening. Collapse somewhere appropriate (bed or couch), rouse self, grade things, trace Wonder Under, sleep. Hopefully. The dog is here without the boychild and sometimes he’s a rabble rouser (the dog, not the boychild…well, I mean, IDK about the rabble he might be rousing). Did I just use some conjugate of ‘rouse’ three times in the last paragraph? My brain must be trying to tell me something (DRINK YOUR TEA WOMAN).

Things that were awesome about this week: My teacher’s aide covered all my sciencey boards for state testing this week so I didn’t have to. She’s amazing. Really. I will miss her efficiency.

My piece from class that I made in February or March finally came out of the glaze kiln, completely fucking awesome.

I love this…even the brown splotches. I am not a perfectionist with glaze. At all. This is great. Imagine a tiny quilt in the center bit. This is awesome. I need my sewing machine. And time. Lots of time.

I love my current book, The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft. And it’s a series! Even better. Although maybe the next one doesn’t exist yet. Nope. Get writing, man.

“Strobing fistula”…that’s a quilt name. Or a band name. Or a medical diagnosis.

Progress report grades are done so I don’t have to panic for a while about grades. Also, state testing starts next week, so there’s two days I can grade while they test, plus two days I just have to manage kids and not present a lesson on something I’m unclear on. Like space. Ugh. I love space; don’t get me wrong. I just don’t know enough about it.

So I have a ceramics class tomorrow on sgraffito. Which is fun to spell. It’s less (for me) a class about the technique and more the experience with the instructor. So we’ll see how that goes. I had to go in yesterday and build something to practice on (I made a planter). It needs to be leather hard by tomorrow afternoon. I wish I knew how to predict that, but whatever. I’m excited to be learning something new.

I am also still building the world woman or whatever I need to call her. I’ve got ideas for the body cavity and ideas for adding to the world she’s standing on, and eventually I’ll start working on her upper torso, which will have to be separate until I am ready to dry her, because she doesn’t fit in my shelf. Ah well.

There’s a couple people I see in the studio all the time, so you talk. This one guy walked past and said, “your stuff is always so cute” and I’m like, WHAAA, that’s a BUTT…

And he’s like, “I was gonna say I liked your butt, but…”. Funny. Like that. The butt is a little saggy. Might be pretty real. The back needs some work. Added a whale tail.

And a wildfire…it needs smoke. I’m stuck in this place of not knowing how to glaze these types of sculptures. I’m going to have to think about it with the other female figure. She’s getting close to dry I think. Maybe. I’m doing it slowly. Anyway, this is fun. I enjoy it.

I’m also enjoying the tracing, although my thumb is sore…not sure if it’s drawing or clay or something else.

I’m up to the 600s. More than a third, less than a half.

I had to start a 4th yard. Lots of big pieces in the figures. Long leg parts.

Probably someone wants to know about the weird eye thing and the doctor. Well, it’s not my eyes. My retinas and optic nerves are fine. They are happy campers. All 10 layers of the retinas are attached firmly. So that’s good. But that means it’s my brain. In fact, we were finally able to figure out that I see it with both eyes…so that rules out the eyes anyway, because I see it in the same place and the same thing. So. I’m getting a brain MRI. Occipital lobe? Also the doc thought maybe it was a migraine aura…for two months? Apparently a possibility. She asked about stress. After I fell out of my chair laughing…well. So I’m keeping a headache diary, even though I’m not really getting headaches. I mean, I am, but they’re the normal kind that come at the end of the school year. Some of them have names and presences attached to them. All very weird. Trying not to think too hard about it. Because that’s more stress. Thanks, brain. Appreciate the message.

Yeah. I mean, not really, because I do still care; I’m just so tired of caring. And managing.

I needed to pick emojis for the next unit.

Seemed fair. The sex ed unit was harder…I’ll let you guess (and no, I did not use an eggplant, although I thought about it for a good long while).

Simba is a good boy.

The bear vs man thing is hysterical…and then so not.

It would be lovely to live in a society that listened to women. And believed them.

Ending with this…Faith Ringgold’s quilt on the cover.

Such amazing stuff. Wish I’d met her.

OK. Really. I can do today. I can. It’s easier than yesterday. I might need a lot of tea. A LOT of tea.

Write Fast

Up early, another doctor’s appointment, this one to figure out what this weird thing I’ve been seeing in my eye since March is…probably not an optical migraine for this long. So that’s been worrisome. I’ve had one batch of scans/dilations/bright flashlights and look at my ear things, and they found nothing, but it didn’t go away (they never do, y’all), so I got leveled up! And it’s a 3-hour appointment plus some other thing, and I can’t take a whole day off at this point, so I’m going in to school for the second half. Hopefully the eye dilation will be toned down by the time I get in. Anyway, it means I have to leave in 24 minutes, so write fast!

It’s OK, all I do is work work work (8:30 PM last night, 6:20 AM this morning) and make art (hallelujah). I did work on the clay thing on Monday, but as often happens, I forgot to take photos…I’ll do it tomorrow. The quilt is just being traced…it’s big and complicated, so I guessed about 20 hours…

It all pretty much looks the same, day after day.

I’m still on the second yard of Wonder Under…that will change.

I found a numbering fuckup…I managed to skip backwards 20 pieces and had to add ‘a’ to all 20 because I’d already used those numbers.

Good times. Rolling toward 1700 pieces.

I’m just about 400 pieces in, so less than a quarter of the way through…and just over 4 hours, so that’s impressive. I do usually estimate 100 pieces an hour, but it’s rare that I make that. I figured 20 hours for this…we’ll see.

In house progress, here’s one old fix from the previous owners…

That wood has all been replaced…

Then we realized there’s about three different colors of brown paint. Ugh. Picked one. Suspect no one (but you) will ever notice. Certainly I haven’t for years and I live here. They are slowly moving around the house and getting this bit done. Putting gutters in will hopefully permanently solve the problem of the water damaging the wood down there…that and digging out a trench around the edges. Fun summer project there.

From The Hexologists, the book I’m reading for book club.

Not that my anxiety needs any support in that. It’s well-versed in arming itself.

OK. Doc. Uncomfortable eye things. For a long time. School…teaching lunar phases again…yesterday’s lab had me walking them through each step…the instructions say, for the lower grades, you may need to walk them through this. 8th grade, y’all…not so lower. It’s OK. It was fine. My voice is shot though. Then pilates, then sleep. Oh wait. I might have to do some other stuff first. Like work, eat, trace. All good. Not the work part. That can fuck off. I had my final observation/evaluation review yesterday. I did fine. Wasn’t really worried about it. I don’t have to have another one (unless I get a psycho principal…had those before) until the year I’m hoping to retire. That’ll be a fun one.

Art. Meditating on Wonder Under later.

A Hole in the Middle

Hey. Am I glad it’s Friday? Fuck yeah. This week has been a mother. Not the good kind who takes care of you. The other kind. One more day of school…well, 44 more days of school. Had a third of my kids out yesterday, more like half on Wednesday. And yet we teach on! We’re so close to state testing that we can’t just stop. Since the start and stop of Ramadan are dependent on the sightings of crescent moons, some kids didn’t know when it would start (they should watch the news!). And some came back yesterday…but some said they wouldn’t be back until Monday. And then the other kids seem to be out in sympathy with them? Or? Whatever. Most of this week’s school stress has been adult-related or program-related or organizational-related. This whole year has basically been that. The kids are not horrible…they’re not great sometimes. There’s a lot of apathy that drives us nuts, but there’s no constant bad behaviors that make the days horrible, like last year. So that’s good. It’s just a lot of other stuff: do this, do that, now do this. Ugh. I don’t have time to do all the things.

Anyway, today they are working on a natural selection comic, which is pretty chill, so I can like grade homework or plan space…I should plan space. I’m teaching that a week away. I need to figure that shit out.

So exhaustion. Too many late-night wake-ups, not going to bed early enough. This morning’s blood sugar was high…because I was dreaming? I don’t quite remember what I was dreaming, but it was stressful. Environmentally stressful.

Keep making things. That’s my plan. So I had enlarged a drawing I did before. I had some ideas for a crone quilt, but these women are too young, but that’s OK. I think I can make it work like I want. I don’t like the middle head, so I’ll need to fix that. Anyway, Wednesday night, after pilates and working on school stuff, I started taping this thing together…

I did not finish. There’s a hole in the middle. There’s more legs. It’s going to be big. I’m OK with that.

I also started the handstitching on the binding last night…

I should be able to finish this over the weekend. The Man has a show tonight and my brother and part of his family are in town, but since I need to deliver this next weekend, it needs to be done. Also I need to find some decent matboard in my stash to frame the drawing that will hang with it. Ugh. Time.

Absolutely no clay has been touched since Monday. I was hoping for today, but I have to take two animals to the vet after school for regular tests/etc so they will continue to give us meds.

Luna looks like she’s about to attack Simba, and Simba looks like he knows it. The boychild is working part of the week, so Simba gets to sleep with us. He’s been pretty good.

I did have my stitching meeting last night, so I got this mostly done, except for the flowers…

Check out the book Kitten’s reading.

It’s a very visual way to figure out what things in nature are. I read through a bunch of it Wednesday night when I couldn’t deal with life. It’s always amazing how little we know. Fascinating stuff though.

OK. Watch them draw today, encourage them to be done drawing. Finish planning. Do the other things that need doing. Take animals to the vet, figure out dinner, then go watch the Man’s show, which thank goodness, is early. Then sleep, beautiful sleep. Or maybe stitch for a bit first. Then get a million things done this weekend. No problem.

I Blinked

OK, I’m pretty sure I blinked and the weekend was gone. I know I did things because the bathroom and kitchen floor are finally clean and there’s dead leaves in my hair and clean clothes in the laundry basket, but I honestly don’t remember much of it. Just took a deep breath in and it was over. What are the odds the school week will go so fast?

Five days until Spring Break. I have no clue what I’m teaching Friday (and I’ll have a sub for half of it due to pretty shitty literacy planning), so hopefully that will come to me in a dream or something. It’s actually more about not knowing how long this stuff will take to teach more than being totally clueless. I’m juggling a variety of things in my teacher brain, but I need to know how much time I have. I also need to write sub plans. All of that might be happening Thursday night, which I hate, but when you’ve never taught these lessons, it’s a crapshoot. Plus the kids are amazingly tuned out to grades and work completion at the moment, so sometimes I just walk around and look at the kids who are working and compare the kids who are fast to the kids who are super slow but still work, and kind of pick a place in the middle. The lazy kids who do nothing are not part of that equation. It’s not ideal, but it’s where we’re at. Hopefully some of their brains will turn back on after Spring Break (not expecting it really) and we’ll see some progress again. Ha! I’m not really counting on it.

Meanwhile, I did do some art this weekend…some more ironing…

I got the bugs done and the bird…

And the sun. And then ironed everything onto a background…

Looks good. That’s one of my hand-dyes…where I slop up all the leftovers with a piece of fabric. Works. So tonight, I’ll be doing stitchdown.

My ceramics studio posts a video when stuff comes out of the kiln…some of my first class pieces are in there!

Mine are all the weird non-cactus shapes. I made a bunch the first time. I think one of the coil pots might be mine? Can’t remember. Need to go back and look at my photos. I joined the studio last week, ordered my first clay yesterday, and have been writing down all the things I want to make, some of which are very utilitarian, like plant pots and a mug and a number sign for the house since my cheap plastic one is fading. But also, I’m making a list of art things I want to try. This is cool. I’m looking forward to spending some time there making new things.

I did read a book and a half on Saturday, started a third on Sunday…actually, no, started it Saturday night while waiting for the Man’s band to start playing. I might be hiding in fiction, y’all.

Beautiful. Plus I listened some more to another book. So LOTS of fiction. I know I wrote “mother tree” in my journal. That must be something. Certainly it feels like something.

I got my copy of the Fierce Planets catalog…

It looks like a really beautiful show, y’all. I’m hoping to see it somewhere. I can’t go to the opening…too far, wrong time of year. But it will travel, hopefully closer.

Dinner drawing, Friday night with the Man. Using up a restaurant gift card…

We had to drive to two locations. Long story. It turned out nicely. Weird drawing though.

There he is at his Saturday night show.

I didn’t make it all 4 hours. He barely did. He’s got some nasty cough. Both he and the boychild are sick, so knock on wood that my immune system is strong this week. Ha! Boychild went back to work today. His breakfast smelled better than mine. I should get that recipe. You know when you make something and freeze it to get you through the next two weeks, and then it’s OK, but not really great? Yeah. That’s this week.

Simba would totally eat it, if I’d left him.

Man, he has crusty nose again. Need to find the nose butter. He doesn’t like it, but it helps. Weirdly designed dog.

This popped up. Might be relevant in November.

In some states, much sooner than that.

OK. Teaching adaptations. Not hard, I think…but you know…Monday brains. I think my staff meeting after school is watching the staff-student basketball games. Last time, I felt like I needed to stay and watch the girls play, because they play last and everyone leaves, which I think is rude. Also, why can’t they play first sometimes? Sigh. What I really need after school is to get a handle on the rest of the week and the week after we come back from break, so I don’t need to come in and prep over break. We don’t have a nice trip planned for many reasons, which sucks. But I have shit to do around the house…hoping to get some of that set up this week. Yeah. Well. It’s just not a fun year. Parts of it are (the ceramic stuff) and parts are just keeping me going (all the books) and parts could feel better (the art in general)…so those are all things to think about that are more exciting than cleaning bathrooms and floors.

Do Not Touch Gimbals

Hmm. I am drop-dead exhausted. Hoping I’m just fall-slowly-to-the-ground exhausted once I get this cup of tea into me. We should never do field trips on Thursdays. Coming back to teach on a Friday seems like a mistake for everyone involved. And yesterday was a doozy. Not violating any kids’ rights here by saying that. But if you see a teacher today, you should just spontaneously hug them and tell them it will all be OK. They may push you away and stare at you funny, but most of us would just lean into that hug.

When I think about teacher training, I realize how little of it actually helped me do ANY of the things I do now. I haven’t been trained on most of what I do. It’s instinct, or I figured it out by trial and error or with my teammates or coworkers. Some of it is common sense. Sometimes Mom brain kicks in (or caregiver brain for those who aren’t moms, because some people have that and it’s not because they gave birth) and we do the things to make things OK. Or not. We do the strict things that aim for OK in the future. I just know that I had planned to take my book to the gym yesterday after school and I did not. I came home and just sat on the couch, staring at pictures, for a good hour or so before I started working. Because I don’t want to work this weekend (I’ll have to anyway, but I’m trying to limit it).

So I graded one thing and fixed the final grades on another thing and then input them for the parent meeting later today, which may be contentious. Imma be chill. I hope. I don’t have a lot of filters at the moment. I’m trying to rebuild them by drinking tea. Nova is being very helpful, by the way. She is actually lying ON the gradebook. Which I realize is her way of saying, mom, stop working, but I needed to get that done. It’s OK. When I got up to heat up the 17th cup of tea (not really), she took over my spot.

Cute toes kitty. I won’t usually move her. She snores lightly. I just sat next to her and finished stuff. Hopefully I’ll have a prep period today to finish other stuff.

Art stuff: I finished ironing on Wednesday night…

It took a little less than 3 1/2 hours…for 313(?) pieces. Not bad. Then last night, I started cutting them out.

I’m probably halfway? I have a bunch of letters to cut out next. They’re time-consuming. I need to pack a quilt tonight to deliver tomorrow, and the Man has a show at the Music Box. Thank goodness he’s the opener, so I can be home at a decent hour…to collapse into bed, because I signed up for a quilt Zoom class tomorrow morning. Like an idiot. Like an idiot who wants to do fun things and not just work. So that is why.

Yesterday’s field trip was to the Midway, which is not my favorite.

I prefer animals to badly posed mannequins.

Although, if I were more of an abstract artist, that would be fun to make as a quilt.

I could have used this in the kids’ bathroom.

And this just made me giggle…

Mostly because I don’t know what a gimbal is. And it’s such a weird sign if you don’t know what the things mean.

It’s a military boat. It’s a lot of walking, lots of ups and downs. It’s not the most exciting thing. I had a group that would not stay together. I lost one kid and found him (well, he found us) and then lost three at the end, which was a problem. So I walked about twice as much as I needed to (knees held up), and then came back to school to a major issue that sucked. Still sucks, but less so. Wasn’t how I planned to spend the last 90 minutes of the school day, but whatever. It’s All in a Day! Perky smile and face and tone! Oh I don’t do those well.

I did read for about 45 minutes last night. I do love this character.

Ironically the same name as the cat who was lying next to me. Weirdly appropriate.

Here you go.

Anyway. Meeting this morning. Teaching all day, which will be hard, I’m sure. Probably talking to some kids/classes about yesterday’s events. Duty after school. Contentious parent meeting after that with principal and team. Then home to pack a quilt to be delivered. Then eat something. Then show…home…sleep? Maybe fabric trimming somewhere in there. I’m not gonna feel bad if that doesn’t happen though. It’ll be OK. It’ll happen tomorrow.