Bits and Pieces of Time…

Ladies and gentlemen and folx of all designations: we have reached that time of the school year when kids are checked out because this three-week time period is squashed between holidays of sleep, food, and nonstop videogaming. There is the additional pressure of gift-buying, plus meetings about something and nothing, add in the holiday gatherings that all seem to happen on one day. Now figure out how to buy nails that are iron and not coated with something. Because science labs. I spent way too much time in Home Depot yesterday. Then figure out what all the emails from admin and people who don’t live in the classroom mean to you personally. Do some grading and planning, get frustrated with the whole mess, shove your computer in your bag, and tell the day job to fuck off for a while. Like that works. It just comes back and reminds me why I can’t ignore it.

So day job aside, I ironed for some bits and pieces of time this weekend…Friday night…

Pink wings and a red heart.

Saturday night…

Lots of factory buildings and nuclear towers.

Details

Sunday night…

Water. Fire. Oil spills. And that bottom right fabric…that’s a Tula Pink with pink squirrels on it. I won it at the guild party, and someone said they couldn’t imagine me using it in one of my quilts, which makes sense…the fabrics work together to make the image, so an image on the fabric might detract from that. Anyway, I used it in her pubic hair. Fussy cut a squirrel to fit in that. Good times.

I wish I’d had an entire afternoon on Saturday to iron away, but I didn’t. Two meetings and a hike, more like it. The afore-mentioned guild party, there was a sweater block challenge. So on Friday night, under pure exhaustion, I pieced a block.

I generally don’t piece…

But this one wasn’t bad. So everyone was supposed to bring some number of sweater blocks and you got a ticket for each one you brought, and then they divided them all in half and pulled two tickets, and those two got to take home a pile of the blocks. And as I was sitting there in the meeting and seeing the blocks, I was like, um, no, I don’t want to win. Because then I will feel obligated to DO something with them and bring that back to the meeting and I don’t wanna do that. I don’t want to make something coherent out of all that chaos. So of course…I won. And handed it over to someone who brought 7 blocks and obviously WANTED to win. Yup. Not taking that pile of blocks into the universe. I already have all these other blocks that I didn’t do anything with (not pieced, just a friendship square swap). No guilt!

I stitched during the meeting…

I finally finished her arms and am onto the head. Green hair it is. I enjoyed the people I was sitting with. So that was good.

When I got back, we walked the dog…

It gets dark so damn early.

I drew at dinner, but didn’t finish…

Mid-tree.

The cats must be cold…

Sisters, yes, but not friends in the summer. Winter brings it on.

OK, I have to say that this week has brought on some serious overwhelmed feelings and just general frustration with the job. Like that’s new. I have a ton to deal with this week, and I haven’t figured next week out at all. I’m hoping for some actual time to get shit done at school this week, unlike last week, when every time I turned around, someone needed something. Plus I’m back to having stuff to grade. It was nice to have a week off. Now suck it up. And with that, I’m off to get through a bunch of stuff today, probably unsuccessfully, so I can do a lab tomorrow that may or may not work. Fun times. Wish me luck.

Feels Different

Hey. It’s later than usual. It’s Friday and I’m not at work! And I’m not sick! And a veteran is coming over later to help me do some work around the house! That’s how you celebrate THIS veteran. Make him help you do work. Plus he has way better tools than I do. What other exciting things am I doing today? I’m getting three vaccines (like a nutball) and two MRIs. Yeah! Do not try this at home, y’all. I’m fully expecting them to tell me I can only have two of the vaccines. Three might be too many. Kitten has already drawn blood on my right hand (IDK what I did, but she didn’t like it). I braved nasty traffic last night to hang out with my stitching friends…got very little done on this…

I think some window sashing and 1 1/2 shutters, plus some running stitch. I’m impressed by the people who can stitch one of these in a year. I guess I have a lot of other stuff going on.

The literacy meeting on Wednesday allowed me to get some small things done, so that was good. It also netted me stickers.

I finished a good book last night, Shoot the Moon…it did not go the way I thought it would, which was delightful.

I finished that last night…came home after stitching group and just sat there for an hour and devoured the last half. I need more of that.

Then I quilted for an hour…because I knew I could sleep in this morning. So Wednesday’s quilting…I refused to work that night, so I did over an hour…

Got the torso done, and then started on the justices to the left (when upside down…when right side up, they are to the right, which makes more sense…not sure I planned that? But maybe I did).

In the longer time frame, I got through three justices that night…

Then did the other two last night…

My camera recognizes the faces as faces, which is weird. So now all I have left is the arms and head of the goddess and everything above her, PLUS all the background quilting. I’m at about 10 hours in…and I was figuring 15 or so? I think. And I still think that’s valid. There’s a lot of little fussy spaces to be filled. I’ve done some of it as I was outlining, but not all of it. So hopefully this weekend? I’m going to have to go buy binding tomorrow anyway, or I won’t get to until next weekend, which would suck. And it looks like I might be starting a new quilt over Thanksgiving, which is good, because I have two deadlines coming up, and one is coming very quickly. Yikes.

I’m so proud that I have finally been able to color in a unit packet cover page…so many of last year’s didn’t get done because two grade levels, and I never finished Unit 2 this year either.

My students say he looks lit. AKA stoned. I said it’s daylight savings week…he’s tired. Also asked them if they’d looked in mirrors lately. So yeah. Great.

Nova in the air biscuit competition. Still winning.

Will I have to work this weekend on school stuff? Of course I will. I’m also quilting and trying to install these lattice things to replace the old broken ones so I can plant a viney thing to grow up it and also clean some stuff and quilt…did I say quilt? Yeah. That. But today is kind of busy. My fault of course. It’s nice to have a day off though. Really nice. Feels so different than a regular weekend. Fully appreciating that.

Too Far Out…

Yeah. Friday. Friday with a field trip: pros and cons. Pro: a day off (well half a day) from teaching. Con: I’m already tired and it’s a walking trip. They’re all walking trips, though, so that’s nothing new. It’s Old Town decorated for Halloween, so hopefully that’s cool. We’ll see. Hopefully some people are absent today and a bunch go home right after the field trip…except there’s a dance, so hmm. I went to all the dances in middle school. They were awkward. Nothing is new for that, I think.

So I’m still doing stitchdown. I’m 5 1/2 hours in. I still think my 8-hour guess is good. Wednesday, I had finished those pedestals and the legs up to the knees, plus everyone under the umbrella.

Last night, I finished the legs, the Supreme Court building, and the umbrella, and had barely started the justices on the left (all of their shoes and ankles are done).

So I need to do the justices, the Earth Goddess from the torso up, and everything on her arms. Sounds like 3 hours (at least) to me. I was hoping to be further along. I’m not sure I’ll get anything done tonight. Tomorrow is kind of a mess…art meeting plopped right in the middle of the day plus a shit-ton of grading to do. Ugh. I’m really hoping to get it done this weekend. I wanted to be pinbasting Sunday. It might still happen, but a lot of other things would have to disappear for that to happen. Unfortunately. I’m also panicking about school…I haven’t really planned the next unit. It’s rough. I’m trying to fix some stuff from last year. I’m trying to incorporate stuff from the newbie, but it’s disparate and I need an overarching story or idea and I don’t have one. Ugh. I think I won’t ever get 8th grade under control. I have this year, which is not going to be the year it all makes sense, then next year, and then I go back to 7th grade. Which does make sense. And will probably feel like a relief after this shit. Seriously. At least I know what I’m doing in 7th grade and can do it without any assist. Things to look forward to? Too far out. Doesn’t get me through the next week. Ha.

I think I posted this last year…

Still relevant. First trimester ends in a week. One third done. Two thirds left to kick my tired ass.

Here’s a video of the California Fibers’ show in Los Angeles…

I did not drive up for this meeting…it was a Sunday and it would have been an 8- to 9-hour turnaround. Talk about not having time for any of that shit. They’re doing a closing reception kind of thing in December. Not. I’m not driving up there. Too far. Too long. I don’t have that many hours to disappear to driving. Not unless someone else is driving and I’m grading or lesson planning the whole time. Not happening.

This week. The shit in Maine? More deaths because a whole state wants to carry guns without permits? I have family sheltering/locking down in Maine. This is fucked up. I keep updating the news sites, honestly hoping the mentally ill asshole with guns has killed himself. Sad but true. Meanwhile, Israel/Gaza/Hamas…we are the worst at humanity, y’all. We just suck. Take care of people. Help people. Care for people. Don’t kidnap them, kill them, bomb them, shoot them, stab them, or terrorize them. Sigh. I know, it’s simplifying a very complex issue, but that’s where I’m at. I can’t begin to understand all the sides (and I have friends on all the sides), but I can care for those who are being traumatized. On all sides.

So yeah. Meanwhile, in the US, Scholastic Book Fairs are back on my OK list after a brief WTF.

Let parents choose, not school districts. Because we’re talking about bringing these back at my school, or some equivalent. And I don’t want my school board to have any say in the books my students choose.

I actually got (forced) some stitching time last night that was not under pressure…

I love how crooked it is. It’s wonderful. Yeah, I should have been grading, but I was on Zoom with stitching friends, so I couldn’t grade and chat. I could barely stitch (needed to read instructions out loud, my brain was so fried). So it was a good break from all the things. Yes, I graded afterwards. Duh.

An uneasy truce.

Luna is saying, “Why the fuck did you put that dog on my bed?” I’m thinking, “Where the fuck do I go?” It worked out. Everyone furry ends up in the middle, sometimes uncomfortably. Last night, Simba was quiet. So that was good.

OK, field trip, survive last two periods of day by putting on a movie and trying to grade shit. Then duty at the light (no fights today…there’s a dance…priorities). Then going to a book signing tonight, I hope. Then home and maybe some stitching, if I can sit up that long. Tomorrow is a mess. Ah well. Survive it, get shit done, etc.

My Bandwidth Is Low…

Well I’m feeling better about grades right now. I managed to get some serious work done in the last two days, at the expense of making art and reading books, but yeah, that’s how it goes. I’m down to two assignments (both academic and reading) and whatever late work I’ve missed so far. I’m not totally ready for next week; I need a pretty substantial sub plan for Monday afternoon. It’ll probably take me at least an hour to put that together this weekend, plus the grading, plus the pre-eval worksheet, which I can’t even get my head around. My bandwidth is low, much like my computer at the moment, which keeps cycling and cycling. I’ve got two websites up and keep bouncing from one to the other to see if they’ve finished loading yet. I don’t have time to restart the router. Ah well.

So I will be spending a huge chunk of the weekend dealing with school. It sucks. That said, I finally finishing sorting pieces into boxes…

Two hours and 16 minutes total. Not too bad considering the number of pieces.

And last night, after my stitching meeting, I barely started ironing…

But I started! That’s about 30 minutes worth of ironing. These are the big pieces down at the bottom. It just gets tinier and more detailed as we move up. I’m looking forward to ironing for the next two weeks…maybe more. I have some stuff coming up that will take up weekends…the Interpretations opening at Visions will be in two weeks. Plus it’s not like school will go away. I’m just hoping it gets a little easier. It’s unlikely to at the moment, but after this weekend, I’ve got a bit of a break I think. Maybe. Knock on wood. I do need to revise a project and an assessment, which I’ve kind of been ignoring, plus set up at least one lab. Plus start doing this literacy stuff in science, which is fine…I used chatgpt to write a paragraph for my part of the literacy. Use the resources y’all! Use them.

Meanwhile, I’ve been reading The Humanity Archive and have images of African fighting queens and slave ships and plantations and revolts in my head. Not sure where to go with that, but it’s percolating. I have a deadline in January for another show, but it may just get whatever’s available. I feel like this Supreme Court piece is going to take another 6 weeks before I’m done. I drew a small original of this in Seattle in July. I came home and enlarged it, then taped it together on July 13, then started the full-size drawing on the 14th. I’m 3 1/2 months into this. That’s crazy. I might need a smaller quilt as a palate cleanser before jumping into slavery. I don’t know. We’ll see.

I did make it out of the house for NOT work last night…stitching meeting with the friends. I finished this June Homegrown block (Sue Spargo).

It’s been sitting around for a long time, maybe since Seattle. I haven’t had much time for stitching. I save the free time for the quilt in progress. So I have four more houses to do and then the centerpiece. Should be done in 2026. Or 2027. I’m still sitting on the half-quilted Bird Crazy (not its real name). That was supposed to be over the summer. Didn’t happen. The day job is nuts, has been for too long, so I don’t get enough art quilts done and they all get pulled to shows right away, which is awesome, or sold, which is also awesome, but then I feel like I have nothing to enter anywhere. Which is silly…I know. But as I’m staring at this pre-evaluation for school, I’m just struck that what I really want is more time for art, and what they really want is for me to spend more time on school. MORE time. I don’t have that. Not unless I give up the hour a night for art, and I’m not going to do that. As it is, I’m supposed to be doing this decoding/encoding training online, and I’ve made it through the first 15 minutes of 5 hours, so I need to start doing that while I iron. Which I can do. Plus the shooter training for school is at least an hour…need to do that video too. Maybe. Maybe my brain needs a break from school so it doesn’t make me want to give up on it.

Thinking that through.

Meanwhile, my co-teacher, who I miss every day, is cleaning out her parents’ house (something I dread that will inevitably be in my future) and she’s been driving around with some recycling in her car for two or three days. She challenged me to get my thrift shop bags (which have been in the girlchild’s room since August and the entryway since she came to visit) into the car. Which I did…

There’s more in the garage, but I can’t deal with that right now. So now, whoever gets them to the center first is the winner? It’s certainly more likely to happen if they are in the car. She’ll probably beat me.

OK. Today we are doing a lab. It is a pretty fun lab, so I’m hoping it goes OK. I’m hoping I’m totally efficient today and get more grading and organizing done. Same with the weekend. It would be nice to have grading done a bit early so I could get ahead on the planning, but also maybe read my book and relax a bit. Ha! I’m pretty sure that’s not happening, but I will try. It’s almost October, usually one of my favorite months, despite the lack of days off. The weather mellows out, although it’s been OK this month (knock on wood), the chaos of the beginning of school chills out a bit (two weeks from now looks like hell on wheels; let’s not think about that). Not thinking about doing another two months (or more) without my co-teacher/planning person, but it’s good for her and that’s what counts. I’ve seen progress in one of the newbie teachers, and that is a good thing. Plus today is Friday, and that is always a splendid thing.

A Train on Steroids

Ah a Monday off of work. The sweet sound of children screaming in next-door’s pool. The delightful challenge of installing a dryer vent with at least two trips to Home Depot, plus the scintillating smell of cat pee (gotta wash the litter tray completely out and or throw it out and buy a new one). I finished (almost) all of my work yesterday so I wouldn’t have to do any today. I would’ve done more, but the (um WTF is another word for delightful but when you don’t really mean it) ENCHANTING trait of one of my co-teachers to NOT upload the things I need to plan ahead NOR to answer emails or texts means I can do no more. Lucky that, I guess, although I’ll pay for it later.

This weekend has been a lot of gardening and house stuff, trying to get things under control, because the next three weeks are a little out of control already. I see them barreling at me, like a train on steroids. No worries. Really. It’s like this every year. Adding in an opening in Los Angeles next weekend and camping two weekends after that. Because there’s nothing like a little crazy when it’s already nuts.

I did manage ironing. I’m about 4-5 hours away from done, I think. I don’t think I’ll get there today, but I will sometime this week. Which is good. I’m in the mood to cut things out for a while instead.

Friday night, I ironed the rest of Kavanaugh down…

And started Coney-Barrett.

Saturday, I was much more effective…got Coney-Barrett done, plus Brown-Jackson, and started Kagan…

I did some before we headed out for some art openings and dinner…

And some after all that.

It’s getting pretty chaotic in the fabric bins.

There’s a lot of black and flesh tones in this quilt…

I added more after this…but I also took some out of the far left bin. They didn’t work.

Last night, I ironed the rest of Kagan and all of Sotomayor.

Just Roberts left…and Bader Ginsburg. I’m in the middle of the 1500s. So about 500 pieces left, but I’ve done a few of them already, Roberts’ robes I think. What’s left?

The rest of the goddess, which includes the Supreme Court building itself, then all the things planted on top of the goddess’ arms. So like I said, I’m getting there. The next bits should go a little faster. Maybe. When it’s more about what’s in my head and less about trying to realistically match a skin tone or make a decision about eye color…might be faster. I’m 27 1/2 hours into the ironing. Epic.

So Friday after work, I headed down to the water for a friend’s mom’s retirement party.

It was delightfully cool and oceany, unlike my entire week.

And it was good to hang out with the other work team for a while.

Her mom had lots of smiles on, which is a good thing.

Saturday afternoon, the Man and I went to two related art openings, one at City College and one at Art Produce. I loved Bhavna’s piece at City College, I Found a River in My Body.

Some of her smaller pieces are available at Art Produce. There is an auction going on to raise money for more art stuff. You can find the link at the Art Produce site.

We had a drink while waiting for the second show to open, and then went back to the same place for dinner. There are more bars and restaurants opening in the area, which is cool, because Art Produce has been there for a long time, waiting for the rest to show up.

Lots of art in the area, including this Gloria Muriel mural…

Yesterday I planted all the succulents that have been lying around after being trimmed off something else. I think I need to water today too. Plus iron. Plus book club is tonight, rescheduled. I really just want to lie on the couch, drinking tea and reading my book. I’m feeling a bit off, not quite well. Drinking lots of Vitamin C and hoping for the best.

Kitten is overseeing the ironing like a boss.

Sometimes she is more demanding than others…

Ah yes, thanks for Labor Day all…someone posted this wonderful reminder by @ricardolevinsmorales…

Really, that’s all teachers want. Less of the work, more of the rest and what we will. It’s too hard with what has been put on our plates so far. Certainly, I’ve probably done 8 hours so far this weekend. Most weekends it’s 5-6. Plus all the after hours stuff. Ugh.

OK. So for the rest of the day, I am going to read for a bit, then look at the to-do list. I’m going to iron as well, get myself through the last of the living justices. School this week will be short but probably painful (two early morning meetings, not my favorite). There will be a lot of grading coming the end of this week and the start of the next, and I won’t have a good chunk of the weekend. The neighbor kids have hit an unreasonable noise level that probably won’t let up for 5 or 6 hours, unfortunately. Ah well. And tomorrow, back to work. No more days off until November. The long stretch of September and October is here. Not a fan, although October weather can be lovely. Hopefully. Bright blue skies with cotton ball clouds. A bit of a breeze but not so warm. It’s actually like that today, but not for long…warm days are coming.

Sweet Dirty Floors

The internet is molasses today. Man, this week sucks for after school. Meeting after meeting after meeting. I hate Friday meetings. And we haven’t even gotten to the parents we need to meet with (on the 6th day of school, we already have two concerns, academic, not behavior). I got 5 new kids yesterday with no warning…those emails warning me came after two kids I didn’t recognize showed up in my class, ready to learn (really?), even though I wasn’t prepared. I actually gave an assessment yesterday, a quiz. And yes, I made 3 of them do it (the other kids came too late). Well, one didn’t have a computer, so not him. Two of them. Some were already at our school in the Newcomer program we have for kids who are new to the country. So we expect them to be unclear on science concepts and sometimes in need of lots of help. The first month is such a juggling act, too much shit; it’s a relief (usually) to get to the end of September and some sort of normal routine. But right now, science is a lot, union is a lot, literacy is a lot, sex ed is a lot. Today is the first of two 2-hour meetings this week with parents and school-board members about creating a sex ed curriculum that is specific to our kids. I think this is idiotic. Programs already exist. Why reinvent the wheel? You can’t NOT teach the stuff this group doesn’t like…it’s required by the state. My boss. Opt your kids out. Please. And yes, I am getting paid for these meetings, but I’m not sure you could pay me enough to make this worth it.

Anyway. So I come home and cook dinner or eat it or whatever, and read my book for a little bit, because I NEED that, and after all that, I iron. I don’t clean or dust or vacuum (oh man, the one thing the hurricane did was mess up the floors I had just cleaned. Fucker). I have my priorities. Monday night…I ironed a lot of money. I tend to iron in numeric order, but I took this picture…

Because I was going in numerical order, and then I’m like, there’s about 75 pieces that are money and I should just iron them all at the same time, so I rummaged through the 500s through 1000s and found them all, and then did all of them. It’s more efficient that way, and it adds to continuity in the piece to have all the money be the same color. I’ll do the same with the justice’s robes. Probably. I’m debating on that. I have some black fabrics with bits of color and I may use those for the justices who are more for ALL the people than some of them. We’ll see.

Anyway, so these pieces are tiny and even if I iron 100 of them, it doesn’t look like I did much of anything.

But I did. Maybe the closeups are more useful…

You can see the money and the fish I ironed. Plus a fishing pole. Yeah.

Then last night, I wanted more than an hour…and yes, I’m still staying up too late at night. Not good. But I did a whole bunch of people parts, little people. So I think it was almost all fleshy bits, except for a slippery hill.

Many versions of flesh and a big green piece. I still have some of the 500s left (the clothes and apparati of the fleshy bits, some signs, a recycling bin, a wheelchair), but you’ll notice some of the flesh was in the 600s. Nowhere near halfway. The goddess’ legs weren’t next. I thought they were. I think they are next after I do these people. There might be an umbrella before that. It’s slow, people, so slow, and coming home the next two nights after 6 PM is not going to help.

Doesn’t look very colorful here. I like color. You may have noticed. There will be lots of black, gray, and fleshtones in this one. I think the goddess will be more dirt and sky. That’s the plan anyway. Something has to be tied to the earth.

My anti-anti-abortionists quilt, My Body. My Choice., is still at the Virginia Quilt Museum. They sent photos of it in situ, which was nice, because I hadn’t seen any.

There’s a fall artists reception on September 23, from 4-6 PM. I won’t be there, but the exhibit looks cool. Check it out. There’s my piece on the left. I don’t know whose the other pieces are.

I’m intrigued by the tools to the right of mine.

Simba was not pleased by my perusal of his fur for knotted bits…

It’s a constant struggle.

I’m sewing things down brainlessly after dinner for a bit. It’s satisfying.

Sue Spargo’s Forest for the Trees block of the month. The trees are cute. This one has crabs and fish. Totally opposite to the crazy shit I’m doing on my own quilt. Perfect!

OK, today I’m having the kids practice writing CERs (claim, evidence, reasoning). Should be interesting. My new 8th-grade teacher, who I have barely worked with, does not know what a CER is. Sigh. That will be fun. We meet today. Hopefully we can work together. I don’t know her well enough to get a good read on it so far. Then two hours of kneejerk stupidity. I will be breathing deeply and taking notes to control my need to yell at them for their ignorance. I’m hoping it’s productive. Got 16 hours total to deal with these people.

Then home. Sweet home. Ugh. Sweet dirty floors and dogs and cats and dirty counters and stuff that needs doing and trash that needs to go out. But ironing after. People accroutrement and all.

Wow.

First of all, I wrote this Friday. And then forgot to post it. If that’s not evidence of my brain fuzz at the beginning of this year, I don’t know what is. Enjoy.

I don’t know if I have a ton of words today. I’ve spent the last two days go go going for work, and now I realize why I can’t do much on school breaks…I’m exhausted. It’s so much ON. Today is more ON (3 1/2 hours of one meeting, who knows how much of another meeting…although that is only four people total) and hopefully some prep time in my classroom. Everything has to be put back and they still hadn’t finished my floors as of yesterday afternoon. I hid out in the prep room and did lesson prep. That was after the 3 hours in a sports arena where I stitched for sanity.

I listen to all the things. I just need something to counteract all the loud noises and people.

I did hang out with my core team…

IDK how many years this is with them, but it’s a good thing. 7? 8? Crazy. There’s a lot of change on our campus this year, so it’s nice to have this group as backup.

I’ve been trying to trim one yard of Wonder Under a night. Wednesday night, that was fine…here’s 2/3s done…

Last night? Not so much. I did have a stitching meeting and didn’t get home until 9 PM (after stopping by In ‘n Out and having a former student in the pay window). And then I was trying to find my middle-school yearbooks and couldn’t, because I need a middle-school photo for school. I have my school photos somewhere, but IDK where that is either. I found MY kids school photos, a nice little envelope of each year that the girlchild will treasure and the boychild will probably not. If only I had been so organized with my own photos. Ah well.

So then I only cut things for an hour (and I still went to bed late, whoops), and didn’t finish the yard.

I have one more yard after this, but I have an art opening tonight. So. Yeah. Not sure how that will go. I’d like to finish. And I don’t have to be up early tomorrow (but inevitably, the neighborhood and animals will not let me sleep). So we’ll see. Hoping to be sorting them tomorrow, then maybe I’ll try to figure out what the backing fabric will be, clean up the studio from the last quilt, and then start ironing to fabric. Maybe not all on Saturday, but who knows? I do need to do some planning for school, but who knows how much needs to happen this weekend. And if it does, it’ll be Sunday afternoon.

Sigh though. I don’t feel ready. I can do the teaching and the kids, although I’m also doing literacy and the sex ed curriculum (toe to toe with dumbassery) this year. It’s the time suck I can’t do. It should be better than last year. We’ll see what that looks like. And I have some repeat kids I’d rather not have. But whatever. Yesterday’s meeting about whatever personality test they had us do the last school year that was supposed to help us know our work style better? Y’all, I’ve been working in multiple fields for a really long time. I do know how I work. I learned nothing from the new 5 designations you’ve given me (Strategic, Input, Determination, Achiever, can’t remember the last one). Plus some are adjectives and some are nouns. That’s just damn annoying. I know what I bring to the table. So does my team. Maybe the new science teachers don’t, but they’ll figure it out pretty quickly. Anyway. I’m looking forward to a year of just one grade level in this subject. I’m looking forward to HELP this year on that grade level. I’m looking forward to a new group of kids, new personalities, new quirks (only the fun and weird ones). I’m looking forward to bringing books back in the classroom. And I’m always looking forward to coming home and making art.

Oh yeah, I finished another book yesterday. That was also nice.

It All Looks the Same…

Pros: I’m almost done with copyediting this project. Correction. I am done, I just need to do some final shit so I can send it back. It was not the easy ride I wanted. It took ALL the time and still needs a proofreader, I think, but I know I did an awesome job. Well. I’m sure I missed some things because at some point, it was too much. But hey, I get to send it back. I don’t have to proofread it. Someone should. It’s also the last full week of vacation before school starts. I have a few things planned or that I have to do, but mostly, once I send the copyediting project back, it’s my week. So lots of gravel moving and tracing will hopefully happen. We’ll see, though. I also need to sort through clothing and get organized for school, so there’s that.

Cons: See comment above about school. Not ready. Never am. It’s warm and humid here, although it rained briefly this morning. I think my yardwork days are today and Thursday, looking at the weather. The whole-wheat flour keeps getting bugs. I’m annoyed by that. Not too bad for cons.

I’ve been tracing every day. I have not been particularly good about photographing it, because it all looks the same, honestly…

I have a little over 800 pieces traced…not even halfway, y’all. Such a joke that I thought I might be able to finish this weekend. The copyediting took a healthy chunk of my days.

Not helping, Luna. Not.

I’ve got almost 11 hours into the tracing so far. So another 15 to go? Maybe? I feel like the bigger pieces take longer to trace and I’m about to do all the justices and they have lots of little fingers and eyeballs. Those trace faster. But then their robes are bigger pieces. Huh. I guess we’ll see. Not expecting much. Not gonna be done quickly.

Saturday, I made us leave the house and walk three miles…but at the beach, at Silver Strand. It started out very peoply, but got better quickly.

In fact, it got very birdy instead.

We saw dolphins too…but no photos of those.

It was good. It was cooler than home, although still not particularly cool in temperature.

It’s hard to find hikes/walks in the summer that don’t just feel like work because of the heat. The Man is planning to hike the Trans-Catalina Trail in October, so he needs to get some hikes in. So do I, although the knee does not necessarily appreciate it. Oh well. Sorry knee.

I’ve been using this cup to drink chai each evening, mostly so I can giggle when I get to the bottom.

I’m very mature for my age. I actually don’t like the word ‘tit’ for my breasts, but it makes a nice bird.

Did this drawing at dinner Saturday night…definitely weird.

Finished stitching things down on this. Easy to do the stitchdown…

Then need to find the mental space for the embroidery. Don’t have that right now. Soon? Maybe.

OK, so I have the rest of the day to move gravel…it’s cooler and raining occasionally, but just a few big drops…nothing really big. And I need to decide how to handle the rest of this copyediting project. Gonna do that first. Then I have some books to read and art to make. And it’s my summer break, so I’m gonna do that. No school stuff today…maybe later this week, but not today.

Do Something Else

WTH July? Where are you going? STAAAY. It’s OK. We can do more things, hike on the beach, go to a wine bar, sit outside and read our book. You don’t need to leave. PLEEEAAAASE. Yup. Here it is. August. In your face. Though the school district has never stopped sending emails. Ever. Nope. Hasn’t. Stopped.

I’ve been doing a pretty good job ignoring it though. I needed the Visa bill to post before I could afford to order stuff for school. I don’t think I need a lot, luckily. Just folders and some minor stuff for me to start the year. I don’t get paid from the end of June to the end of August, so it’s a stretch getting through that period. Always. Although it’s been OK this year so far (knock on wood). Getting close to the time I need to think more seriously about school. Some planning, some copying. Ugh. Not in the mood. Don’t have to be yet, but it’s coming.

The copyediting is slow. Mostly that’s because of me, I think. I ran a bunch of errands yesterday that needed doing, and I was supposed to go BACK to the copyediting after, and I didn’t…I entered an art show instead. I have two more to enter in the next few days.

So I started tracing Wonder Under on Wednesday night…

Not fast. Uh uh. Not sure why. Bottom pieces are bigger…they take longer. Landscape stuff takes longer. Maybe. I got through 100 pieces in almost two hours. Man that’s slow.

Last night was no better…my goal was to finish tracing the swamp and I did that…another two hours for about 100 pieces. I think.

Three hours and 46 minutes in, got to piece 206. SLOW. Everything is slow at the moment, though, except the days and the weeks and the damn month. Getting things DONE is slow. So I have about 1832 pieces to go. I had to add 8 pieces because I forgot to number them. Wait. Actually. I think it’s 9. or maybe 10. This is why I stop keeping track. I’m barely in the 200s. There is no actual point in counting right now. I need to finish copyediting so I can do more of this every day. Ha! Yeah. Well next week has a bunch of stuff, appointments, meetings, etc. So I am way less efficient than I’d like to be. How is it Friday already? Damn.

I’m hoping to be done with the tracing by next weekend. I figure that’s plenty of time. We’ll see. I also need to clean out my clothes, but I feel like that’s gonna take a big chunk of time, so I need to finish copyediting first. I just don’t feel like it. It’s haaarrddd. God I’m whiny. Gotta go pick up the dog; boychild is back to real work. Then shower, then copyedit until the cows come home. Whoo!

I had my stitching meeting on Zoom last night and finished the third June block of Homegrown.

It’s cute. I started the last June block. So then there are only 3 or 4 houses left after that, and then the center and the borders. I might finish in 2025. Maybe. I was supposed to finish quilting the Bird Crazy (not its real name) quilt this summer, or maybe even over Spring Break. Nope. Not done. It’s half done. I really should just do it, but it’s hot and the damn thing is wool. So I would quilt even faster!

I don’t really want to be extinct. I just like paintings where dinos are yelling at each other. “Did you vacuum today?” “No, dammit, I was playing with my dinner!” Someone needs to vacuum. And clean the kitchen floor. And put a bunch of shit away. Seriously. Summer is never as productive as I need it to be.

OK. Dog. Then shower. Might wake up. Copyedit. Lots. Then trace. Pro: it was cooler here yesterday afternoon. Lovely clouds. The really hot day next week, I might just take the work computer somewhere air-conditioned and do some schoolwork there. Like SCHOOL. Summer school is out of my room finally. Pros and cons. Until then, ignore that job. Do something else.

Days Disappear

Well. I finished the drawing. And I numbered it. That in itself is a major achievement for the week. I’ve also been copyediting a teacher’s manual, which is different, but not. It’s work. I need the money to pay for the dog’s dental visit and the dryer fix, which both add up to much more than I will get paid for this, but that’s OK. It means I spend a few hours each day staring at this computer in this hot room and feeling like I’m getting nothing done. Which is fine. It’s too hot to do the other things anyway. I currently have two fans blowing almost directly on me, not on my eyeballs, because they get dry and weepy and tired if I do that. My goal is to finish the copyediting this week, around the other things I need to do, and then next week is mostly wide open, if I ignore all the appointments and meetings I tossed in there. Yeah. That. They have to happen sometime. I did get the referral to musculoskeletal for my knee…they messaged asking for days/times, and I ever so hopefully gave them all this time before school started, and then realistically gave them some guidelines for after school starting, and then said if it was more than a month out with those guidelines, to use these other guidelines. I have an appointment in October. They should have just said they were booking two months out. I’m glad I’m mobile and can get around…it just hurts. It’s workable.

So finishing the drawing happened in bits and pieces at night, when it cooled down. I can’t draw in the heat and make sense of it. This was near the end…most of the last bit was penciled in when I went to bed on Sunday…

And then I finished it Monday night…

It’s about 48″ x 56″ I think. Not as big as I thought, but still big. And complicated. Kitten for scale…

I started numbering it Monday night and realized it would take forever…

So I finished last night, very late…didn’t even start until 10 something…

I thought it was 2023 pieces last night, thought that was weird because that’s this year, but it was actually 2029, which is funny, because that’s the year I’ve set for retiring from teaching. It may slip a year or two, but that’s the goal, that’s what’s keeping me going with all the clusterfucks, and yes, I’ll still have to work, copyediting or something else, but it won’t be in the classroom.

I had guessed 2000 pieces, so that was a good guess. I knew it was complicated. It took 15 hours and 38 minutes to draw it and 2 hours and 54 minutes to number it. Big time. Tonight I start tracing. It’s good going into the new school year with a big project. I appreciate the meditative time to work on it.

I did a little of this while watching TV over the last few nights.

Very basic applique. All I can handle. I say that, and I’m reading two books at a time. Not sure why. Some sort of ploy by my brain to read twice as much because I haven’t read any of that book today, even though I spent an hour reading the other one. I’m going along with it for now.

I have work in this show, opening August 11 at the downtown library in San Diego.

I’ve never had work in the library gallery, so that’s cool.

I don’t want to be tolerated. True that. I also like my tea really strong.

This guy has been licking his leg where they shaved all the hair off for his dental visit. So it is time for the floatie around his neck.

It’s hot and uncomfortable and he keeps looking at me like this, please take it off, but sir, you have licked a sore onto your leg and we will not be dealing with infected leg sores. It is not on the Bingo card for summer. So there.

OK. Today. Sorting through clothes, found a white school shirt that I will never wear because it is white, so I’m going to tie dye it…it’s a good size and fit, so that’s why I don’t just toss it or donate it or whatever. Copyediting…hopefully going to get all these silly Lesson boxes done that all have to be formatted the same but aren’t. I know I’m a copyeditor because I pay attention to this stuff; I’m just amazed at the people who don’t pay attention. I shouldn’t be. I need to pack up a quilt for delivery to a show…I probably need to pack up two quilts, but the other one isn’t due until next week, so maybe I’ll delay on that. I have yardwork…ALWAYS have yardwork. And tracing Wonder Under later. A book to go back to the physical library. Strange that these days…almost everything I read is digital unless I own it. And reading those two books…crucial part of the day. Oh wait, I have pilates too. That’s nice. I should remember to go to that. Days disappear if you aren’t watching. That’s not entirely a bad thing unless you’re like me and you like to check off the boxes of what you’ve done.