Category: Other

Running Out of Hours

So it’s my 52nd birthday. It’s not young. It’s not old. I mean, some days I feel really old, like after bending down to put 140 pieces of sunprint paper on the ground for my students. OK, I didn’t do 8th period that day, so it was only 120 bends to the ground. Or so. I felt old that night. Ouch. Or just painful. Try explaining that to the doctor. You did what? But my grandma died at 107 and my great aunt at 97.5, so I’m feeling OK about the 50s. I know some don’t. Ah well. I remember being 35 and newly separated and that was really hard…way harder than 50. So maybe it’s what’s going on at the time as well as the numbers. It’s all in our heads anyway, isn’t it?

So I rarely get to have my birthday on a weekend, not a work day, so this is nice. I can actually plan a day with no school demands. Because I am ignoring the assignments that need grading. I’m eating a tasty and healthy breakfast of apples and oatmeal, I have a hike planned, where my co-hiker is accepting that my definition of “mostly flat” is that it evens out. There’s up and downs in a similar quantity. And then I do have a thing I have to go to here on the block, a meeting about our road issues, but then there’s an art opening and dinner somewhere. I might even draw. Who knows? It’s a Day without Requirements.

Yesterday after school (and all that crazy), I went to my monthly stitching meeting, and the clouds were oh so beautiful…

I love clouds. Well, OK, not the doom and gloom ones that I’m seeing this morning. But maybe they will wander off.

I worked on the African Buffalo. Again. More. He’s not done. This is so slow.

Granted I have not been working on it anywhere else, so there’s that.

I came home and did a little grading and it was late so I decided to art. Here’s my trusty companions. Asleep.

As always. More tracing. I’m in the upper 500s now…getting closer to done.

Fancy sun in this one. I think there’s about 4 yards of Wonder Under floating around that I’m trying to fill up with little pieces.

It’s a good feeling. The hair is done. All I have left is the face…which apparently has 225 pieces in it. I should be able to finish that today, I think. Well. I need to go to REI too. I suspect I’m going to run out of hours in the day.

This is Bob the crane fly. At least we hope he’s a crane fly and not a huge mosquito. I’m not good at telling the difference.

That’s also my partially dead mint, and my very dead basil and thyme. To my credit, they were mostly dead when I planted them from the fridge, so it’s not surprising that they are more dead now. I do plan to replace them. Maybe today! Need more hours in the day.

My birthday morning cat encroachment. He kept getting closer and closer to my face.

He would do this any day, not just my birthday. Because I am soft. I even got to talk to the girlchild…

Best birthday card yet…

Thanks Julie…and thank you, uterus, for giving up on that shit.

OK, I’m showered and fed, need more caffeine, need a nice walk in nature. That’s next.

The Stars Look Very Different Today*

It’s International Women’s Day. Tell a woman how awesome she is. Better yet, tell some people how awesome they are. It doesn’t really matter if they were born a woman or identify as a woman. Don’t tell them how pretty they are. Don’t ask them to smile. Don’t tell them to calm down. Don’t make it about you today. That goes for all you other women and female-identifiers too. We are our strongest supporters. Be one today. A supporter.

Me? I’m going to school and giving a test. This is apparently a surprise to some, like the kid who was emailing me yesterday afternoon, and then again an hour later to tell me I hadn’t answered yet (I didn’t see either email until I was at an art opening). He’s a nice kid in general though, so I took a breath and answered him. Three hours later. (like just look at your planner, kid. You wrote it down.)

I spent time at the doctor yesterday, still trying to figure out my Intercostal Alien. Seriously. That’s the new name of this random intermittent pain that I’ve had for 5+ months now. At least we have a plan to move forward at this point. We still don’t know what it is, and I’m annoying the gastro doctor (no, she’s been very nice), but whatever. Moving on. Trying to be healthy, exercise lots, and not freak out too much. As usual.

WordPress has apparently changed the damn app again, so I’m typing along, trying to figure out how to add pictures.

Oh there they are. Sigh. So I went to the opening last night of #rrrr Reduced, Restricted, Reserved but Resilient, where my piece Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman is hanging.

I get my own movable wall. I’m excited about that. I’ll post more about the show tomorrow, because I have a parent meeting this morning and I barely made it to work yesterday on time, so I have to do better today. Plus I have duty and I’m giving that test, so it would be nice to be ready for that. Which I’m not.

You’ll be glad to know that my last period of the day got enough sunshine to do their sunprints yesterday. They were glad. I was glad. It was a little crazy.

Closeup of my piece. There’s always interesting work in this show, based around El Dia de La Mujer. I had a guy introduce himself and say he liked my work, and I was so tired, I didn’t really have a conversation. Whoops. Sorry if that was you. I hadn’t eaten dinner and I’d been ON for like way too many hours by then. Try me again. I’ll be more forthcoming. (Maybe. Wait. I should admit that I’m not socially ept.)

I came home, ate, and then even though I brought work home, I didn’t do it. It was almost 11 when I started tracing again.

I see progress though. I’m up in her hair…so just her hair and face are left to do, I think. And the sun. There’s a lot of details in there, but I’m more than halfway done. I am incredibly behind on grades again though. Sigh. I refuse to grade tomorrow. Seriously.

Details. I traced the cat. Last thing I did, just after midnight. OK. So off to school, successful day, meeting with friends tonight (always look forward to that), some stitching, some tracing, some SLEEP. Yeah baby. Sleep.

*Peter Schilling, Major Tom

Never Want to Put My Feet Back Down*

I have this big old lady dog who’s been following me everywhere, which honestly is better than her sneakily trying to find paper she can eat. She brought her toys with her into my office and is laid out on the floor with them.

And if you talk to her, she grabs her toy and tries to shove it at you, but you’re not allowed to touch the toy.

Meanwhile, the little boy dog is waiting oh so patiently outside the boychild’s room…

Please get up. Please get up. Let me in. He will, Simba. He will.

My breakfast this morning and until they’re all eaten. I had apples and cream, so I made apple cheddar scones a few days ago, froze them all, cook one a day.

Tasty. And one of the few breakfasts that doesn’t make me nauseous on a regular basis. I totally couldn’t face a hard-boiled egg this morning. It’s weird how my morning food brain works. Annoying as well. I need food or I won’t get through the morning.

Speaking of not getting through the morning, my voice is a disaster again. Although I was in professional development yesterday for most of the day, I did also talk most of that time, because we were planning. That was actually pretty good until my brain shut down around 1 PM. Then back to my classroom to “assist” (there was nothing but paper collection that needed doing, and the kids can do that) with the lesson that didn’t make sense. They were teaching them about neuroplasticity, but the game had nothing to do with it and neither did the drawing. I’m confused by what we’re teaching them.

I’m up early today for a meeting. It’s not one I’m looking forward to. Early morning conflict. Ah well…such is the life of a union rep in a public school. And I’m going to try to be nice to my voice today, although I will have to talk a little bit. We’ll see how it goes.

We walked yesterday in the misty rain…

Nobody is on the bridge when it’s raining.

There’s a lot of plant blooms that I normally don’t see…

That’s what plenty of rain gets us…

My SIL called in the middle of it from Seattle, complaining about snow…

I think she’s tired of it…but not tired enough of it to move.

Right now, everything is beautifully green with specks of color…

Although I lost my Fitbit out there somewhere. SIGH. OK, so we went back in the dark without the dogs to try to find it, using an app that might have been able to locate it if it were on…but mine only goes on if you bump it.

There were other people on the trail, so maybe someone picked it up. Or it popped off into the crazy greenery on either side of the trail. We know when it last synced, we know where I noticed its absence. It’s actually a small part of the trail.

There’s one other app that might find it. Hoping I can persuade the boychild to go back out today and check it out…because I have a doctor’s appointment (seriously can we figure out the abdominal crap please?) and an opening in San Ysidro that I’m trying to get to…

Anyway. Stupid shit at the end of the day. Lots of that. I was going to grade last night, but I ended up doing an extra mile in the dark, trying to find a device that needs to learn how to ping if I want it to. I came back and prepped and sent a complicated email I needed to get done, and then looked at colors for these. Oh man, only five colors is HAARRRDDD.

Either I do black and white or three thousand colors. Never in between. This one was even harder…

Plus it’s hard to see what it will actually look like without stitching it. Scary.

Finally in to trace. (I did some binding before that.) See the big dog in the background? I’m surprised she’s that far away.

Usually she’s right by my feet. So I’m about 5 hours into the tracing, made it to piece 367. Not super fast or super far. But progress. I’m not sure what tonight will look like. I’m expecting some level of exhaustion. What’s new. Still haven’t found the lost quilt…sigh.

*Depeche Mode, Never Let Me Down

My Brain Is Like Swiss Cheese on a Good Day

Some mornings I look back on a day and want a redo. I suspect we all do. Sometimes we just want to pretend that day didn’t happen. Luckily yesterday wasn’t THAT bad. And honestly, I don’t want to do it over again because I’m just now realizing how exhausting it was. Explains why the cough is worse today and I feel more sick…I pushed too hard yesterday and my body is yelling at me because of it. Giant-ass sigh. Seriously. I’m thinking I need to be bionic or something. This morning it’s my left heel and my sinuses. Tomorrow it will be my right elbow and a twitching eyeball. Robotic Kathy sounds nice. Maybe I could send her out to do professional development today and I’ll stay home and read my book.

The day was relatively successful actually. I got 4 out of 5 classes through a sunprinting lab…in the 4th class, it had clouded over and started to rain, just a few big drops, and they whined, but I pushed them through (I am that mean…and/or motivating) and we were successful. By the last class of the day, though, it was actually raining and pretty damn dark, so we tried inside with lamps and it so did not work. So I’m gonna have to do theirs again. Don’t even look at the schedule and panic about that. I will make it work.

Then off to tutoring. My 8th period requested a video showing them everything in the current unit, which is due Monday. At first, I was like WTF, are you kidding me, and then I was like….hmmm. Good point. Kids could pause it and find their papers, because I go really fast. The kids who are always on top of it already have everything in there, so they won’t need it. That’s not who it’s for. Fuck. I hate when they’re so much smarter than I am. So I did it. But the one I did in the tutoring center was way too loud, so I came home and did another one. But I forgot to go to the chiropractor until I got home. LONG DAY FUCKS WITH MIND. Too bad…I need it. But I’ll survive until next week I guess. Then I edited another cover letter for the girlchild…have to laugh…we were both editing the same sentence at the same time. I love technology sometimes. It really does make some things so much easier than they used to be. And finally to the gym at 7 PM. Sigh. Time doesn’t stretch out enough. Except at staff meetings. And professional development. Then it’s way too long.

So I have a solo show coming up and I need a name for it (yikes!), but I’ve also somehow misplaced one of the quilts that they want for the show. Don’t panic, it’s a little one. Ever since they said they wanted it, a little part of my brain has been panicking about where the fuck it is. Most of the little quilts are in my office in a pile or hanging up, so I know where they are. A lot of them are sold (hey, by the way, if you’re browsing through my Gallery page, the 2014/2015 small quilts of birds and cats are all remakeable. Which is not a word). But this one’s not there. And I kept thinking, well, it’s fine, they’re not really going to pick that one (they did) and if they do, I’m sure it’s in that pile (it’s not) and I’m just not seeing it (nope. nopers. no way.). Then I’m thinking, holy shit, did I sell it and not remember doing that? Nah. That’s not a thing. I go back through my list of quilts, and nope. I should still have it. OK. So then I search emails, because I think I might have consigned it somewhere, but I thought I had picked all those quilts back up, but maybe it sold there? Or I didn’t get all of them? But for once, I deleted emails (seriously, I have thousands of them…why did I get efficient on those?), so I can’t find a record of what I picked up, besides the part where I have a pile of small art quilts and this one isn’t one of them.

As a side note, in the search for this quilt, I locked the cranky man cat in my daughter’s room (don’t tell her) overnight and he’s still pissed about it, so I had a conversation about following people into rooms and fucking HIDING right away so we don’t know you’re in there, you sneaky bastard, don’t fuck with me. What? These aren’t the conversations you have with YOUR animals?

And no, I’m not posting a picture of it until I find it. Because maybe you own it and I forgot and you’re going to be all sad that I don’t remember that, until you realize my brain is like swiss cheese on a good day, and like a pile of baby powder on a bad day, waiting for the wind to pick up. Except for art brain. She’s always around and wishing for more time.

So I sent an email. Hopefully the consignment place has it. If not, I can remake it. Seriously, it’s small. No biggie. Although matching fabrics might be an issue. Or not. That whole mess took a significantly long time. It was late. But I can’t go to bed without art most nights. My brain was in overdrive, I wasn’t feeling relaxed…so I traced.

I didn’t get much done. But I got something done. And that’s what I needed. I might have needed another hour of that, but it was already past midnight. So I put down all the balls that I try to keep up in the air…

Oh yeah, some small pieces there…and I went to bed. Tonight will be better. Tonight I will grade an assignment and walk the dogs and someone else will cook and I will FIND THAT DAMN QUILT if it kills me (OK, yesterday’s muscles are still complaining) and send the email list to the peeps who want it and try to come up with a title (Kathy Did Not Kill Anyone Today seems appropriate…and yet not. Wait. Seriously. I like that title. Where can I use that title.). And and and.

It’s OK. Frustration happens. It fosters change. I’ll get there…wherever there is.

Pointing Me in a Crooked Line*

Long day full of convulsive uncontrolled coughing and grades! I think I finished those. I hope I finishing those because they’re due in 6 hours or so. I even have sun this morning! So the sun-related lab I need to do today might actually happen! That is exciting. Keep the clouds away. Yesterday’s overwhelming stress attack is mostly gone. There are still way too many things to do (as always), but a bunch of them went away (or got rescheduled). I even managed to get through a dental appointment without coughing up a lung…I must be on the mend.

I’m still trying to keep up with #marchmeetthemaker and #igquiltfest, but there’s only so many hours in the day. Here’s my tools…minus the sewing machine. I swear by Sharpies…I’ve tried a bunch of other pens, but they either smear or have a fuzzy line or something.

Those scissors have pencil lead all over them…so not pretty and new-looking like other people’s…definitely well-used. Same with the iron. It’s been dropped enough times.

The other prompt was about fast finishes…well the only way they’re really fast is if they’re small. Back in 2014 and 2015, I made a bunch of smaller quilts and sold them…

I think I sold most of them to friends and family, and there’s only so many of those you can do, so I stopped. They’re relatively quick to make though.

So after dinner, we were watching the end of the movie the man fell asleep during on Saturday night, and I was working on the binding…with help…

The aerial shot. Simba doesn’t really feel comfortable around Satchemo, but apparently he gave up on his stress last night and fell back to sleep with a cat on his butt. Satch really wants to be on ME or the quilt, but he’s not allowed…which doesn’t stop him sort of obsessively trying. He’s a persistent bastard.

Calli is currently lying on the floor in here with me because she keeps stealing paper and cardboard and trying to eat it (Satchemo’s scratch toy gets the worst of it), which is freakin’ annoying. So she’s in detention with me right now.

After the movie, I did a bunch of stuff on the to-do list, and then settled down to trace for a while…

I’m up in the sky, having finished the ground. I’m only in the 170s though…the sky went slowly. Big pieces, harder to trace. Or they take longer to trace. With three hours into the tracing, I’d like to have more done, but this is kind of how it rolls. Tonight will be the same. I blew off grading last night because I stayed late at school to do it. Tonight I need to do some actual grading I think. I don’t want to get too far behind.

So grading, tracing, and something to do with that embroidery stuff again. Maybe some binding. Sounds like what I’ll be doing most nights this week, when I’m not an opening or a meeting. Not bad. I can handle that.

*Indigo Girls, Closer to Fine

Banging on the Door

Wow that’s a Monday morning headache…caused by emails and texts and probably low blood sugar, damn forgot to hardboil those eggs, plus I think the chiropractor is in my future plus there was the 30 minutes of coughing up a lung at 6 AM. Yeah. Hello body! Nice to hear from you. It doesn’t matter some days how young your brain feels…your body is like, nuh uh, you wrong bitch, let me explain it to you. It’s OK. I got this. Not really. I don’t got this. (cries while laughing into her tea)

I am ready to ship a quilt to an exhibit in Utah. I will be shipping six quilts to a solo show in Pittsburgh, probably sending them next month or early May. These are good things. I got into two local shows and rejected from two others. OK. Got it. I have this awesome quilt that I can’t get into a show and that irritates (is that the best word? saddens? disappoints? not sure) me. I will try again. There are always more shows. That combination of show and juror(s) and competitors did not work this time. It’s OK. Awesome quilt moves on. My first Quilt National piece was a Visions reject. I keep remembering that. My second Quilt National piece was a reject too. Keep making. Keep entering. Don’t let the turkeys get you down (I think that’s a direct quote from dad, a Bob Nidaism).

Today will be fine. It just feels like a panicky clusterfuck at the moment.

So what’s going on otherwise? What can I control at the moment? I liked this drawing, but wanted to simplify it for embroidery…so I did…

I think it turned out really well.

Of course, now I also want to do a large quilt-size version of it with a shit-ton of detail, but that’s just how my brain works. I might do that, once I get past the next two deadlines.

Here’s one in progress…801 pieces, measures 28″ wide by 48″ high. Not small…

But way smaller than the last one. I started tracing it last night. And it was good.

I made it to piece 101, I think. Through the first pillbug I’ve ever put in a quilt. Only 700 pieces to go. That sounds like a goal for this week. Although there’s a lot of crazy this week. I haven’t finished grades yet. (they’re due tomorrow.) Sigh. OK. Deep breaths. The to-do list is banging on the door, screaming at me. I hear it. Over there. Thank you mindfulness training for that.

A Fire in Your Bones*

Officially half dead. OK, not really, but definitely not at my finest this weekend. Half my co-teachers are down with it too. I guess that makes me feel better (not really). It’s a virulent thing, that’s for sure. I made it through Friday’s lab with the microphone attachment they give us teachers, but I couldn’t just clip it to my shirt…my voice wasn’t loud enough for it to pick up. So it was a little creepy…having my whispered voice booming out of the overhead speakers. But the kids were really good…it’s funny, when you are sick or troubled in some way, they have huge amounts of empathy. I guess that is a good sign for humanity. Luckily, I felt mostly OK on Friday…not dizzy and almost passing out, like earlier in the week. But the coughing was not great. People ask why we don’t just stay home. (1) Our school doesn’t get substitute teachers. I was even asked to sub my prep period on Friday and I just said you’ve got to be kidding me. I can’t talk. (2) It’s more work to put sub plans together than it is to go in. (3) It’s a lost day for my kids. They won’t get anything out of it…I would’ve had to pull the lab. No way in hell am I having a sub, who inevitably knows no science, do a lab with glass test tubes. My kids listen to me (mostly)…a sub? It would have been a nuclear meltdown. So if I’m well enough to stand, not vomiting, and don’t have diarrhea, I go to school. That is the reality of teaching in a low-income public school.

I felt a little better at night. I graded and even cooked dinner for the fam. And I drew this at around 11 PM because I didn’t want to feel like I’d done nothing artistic for the second day in a row, even sick.

Yesterday, the coughing got me out of bed early. And then I graded for the next 7 hours. Sleepy puppy from the night before…

Trimester 2 grades are due Tuesday. I was behind. I’m always behind. So I got through all the makeup work and two or three other assignments.

While binge-watching Season 3 of Victoria. So glad I didn’t live back then. I’d be dead.

Then I got a strange burst of energy…really strange, because when I took my shower finally, I got dizzy standing up in there. Hmmm. So I sewed the binding on the big quilt. Seriously a lot of sewing…

It took about an hour and a half to get it all on, including the sleeves. I ended up using the more plain fabric for the binding…although I used the other one for the sleeves, so it didn’t go to waste. I really want to be using things up this year…even when it’s a pain in the ass.

We went to dinner and I ate some. And then we came back and I pinned the binding in place and started stitching it down while watching one of the Planet of the Apes movies…

Until my partner in apes fell asleep, so we paused the movie for later and he went to bed. I kept going for a bit, through the first episode of The Passage. You can guess what I might be doing for the next few days. It’s a good thing to do when I don’t feel well. The other option is to start tracing the next one…it’s ready to go.

I’m trying to participate in #marchmeetthemaker and #igquiltfest. I did this last year and flailed through a goodly portion of it, mostly because some of the things don’t apply to being an art quilter on both of them. But I’m making an attempt anyway.

My studio is a not-bedroom that looks over the pool…it’s a sprinkly day out there. I hate the wallpaper. It’s not big enough for everything that’s in there. I look at a tree out the window too. I usually have at least one cat in there, but Kitten has been hiding in the bedroom.

The floor is coming up. It needs a remodel…but probably not as much as the bathrooms and the kitchen. I priced it out last year…to redo the floor and paint it and put in new shelving/storage, and it’s more than I have lying around…until I get all the kids’ college paid off anyway.

It’s worked for me for many years though…so I guess it will keep working for a while longer.

The ironing board moves as needed…and I reorganize constantly. It’s only about 8×10′, but it’s better than nothing…that’s for sure.

The 3×4′ light table is in the living room, along with a lot of in-progress stuff too. And there’s stuff in the girlchild’s room in the closet, plus our closet and under the bed. Because lots of stuff needs storage. And the garage is where all the old drawings go.

One of the prompts is about where you started. Well. Hmmm. I’ve been drawing since I was a kid. And I did screenprints before the kids were born, but then I started learning how to quilt. I began with hand applique, but it just took too damn long to turn a drawing into a quilt. I couldn’t get big enough. So I developed what I do now…

Which still isn’t fast, and is mostly crazy…but works for me. That’s an unfinished hand-appliqued art quilt from probably 2002 or so on the right, and the next quilt on the left, still in drawing stage.

Anyway. So. Today is still school stuff, because grades aren’t done, plus groceries and laundry. And hopefully feeling better. Still woke up coughing this morning, but I mostly slept through the night. Not feeling particularly energetic, but that’s OK. I got about 3 hours of art time yesterday and I’m hoping for the same today. If I have energy, I’ll trace. If I don’t, I’ll sew bindings. It’s nice to have options.

*Welshly Arms, Indestructible

They Don’t Come Much More Sick Than You*

So there’s not much coming out of me today…energy wise, a report from yesterday, or for that matter, voice noise. I can type but I can’t talk. I’m doing a lab at school today. I’m hoping my voice reappears OR…I will write it all down and use teacher sign language to keep them from destroying the room. We’ll see how that works.

We did make it to the play and it was awesome until we had to leave before the end because they started late and our buses had to leave with us or without us, and we chose the former. It’s a long walk otherwise. That part sucked. But I think otherwise it went well. I came back and bought Footloose (the 1984 version) on Amazon Prime and we watched the last 45 minutes to see what happened. It was cool. They were mostly into it.

I then drove to San Ysidro to drop off work for next week’s show and met the curator, who had never seen an art quilt. She was sort of flabbergasted. I’m not sure if it was in a good way…she was still processing. She was expecting a painting, I think. But the guy that works there (he’s the gallery director, so he more than works there) had apparently talked me up from last year…he really liked the work…so I got in. That’s cool. Anyway, I’m looking forward to the opening.

But it took over an hour to get down there, drop stuff, and get back, and I wanted a nap so bad…but no. Need to grade. I got one assignment done…I’m down to one more assignment and all the makeups I didn’t finish on Sunday. Not bad. I think I can do this. But when I finished all of that, I went to bed. I read for a little while, but was falling asleep doing that, and finally gave up and did the sleep thing for real. I’m not better today, but I have more sleep in me.

So I only have two pictures for you: my quilt trimmed and folded up with the two possible bindings on top. Tonight I would like to be well enough to decide which one wins and sew it on.

We’ll see how that goes. I also need to go to REI to pick out my birthday present, so if I feel REALLY well, I might do that instead. Except Friday traffic. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow. I also need to grade tonight and I’m in charge of making dinner, so that’s a thing.

And the second one…the girlchild’s official LinkedIn photo…

She’s graduating in a few months and everything is changing. Well, no…she is still the amazing kid she’s always been…just older and in a blazer and trying to find employment. Scary stuff.

Anyway, let’s hope my voice reappears and then lasts…and that no one breaks a test tube…and that I make it through the day, quite honestly.

*The Fratellis, Flathead

And in Return You Gave Them Hell*

Definitely sick. Named this cold after the snuffly kid who’s been sitting in front of me really snottily for over a week. Stole the Kleenex box multiple times. It’s officially my one cold per school year. It’s never good timing, is it? I mean, no one wants a cold. So a field trip day could be worse…it could be a day when I have to talk the whole day in the classroom. So today, I will be watching a musical with a bunch of 7th graders. I think I can do that. Except I wonder when I will get to pee. I always wonder that. People who have jobs where they can pee whenever they need to…sigh.

We hiked again after school yesterday…I got home early enough and needed the exercise.

So apparently did the dogs…

Random pretty shit you see by the side of the road…

Makes up for any trash we saw before that, eh? The rains mean the weeds are plentiful and sometimes beautiful.

Similar view after…post-dinner grading…with furry beasts.

“I’m trying to keep my eyes open but I just can’t.” So I graded another assignment. Unfortunately, that goes pretty late some nights. Needs to be done though. Then I had to find, iron, dehair, and pack up a quilt to be delivered today after school for this show…

I like the space this annual exhibit is in…

It’s local and there’s interesting artists I don’t usually see in there. Looking forward to the opening.

Then it was 11 PM. I was smart and cleaned the entryway floor while someone else cooked dinner, so it was dry and ready to go. Because no way am I mopping at 11 PM. OK. Well. I have. But not last night.

It’s a challenge to start this that late, especially since I was definitely feeling this cold last night. But I did…laid it out.

And then trimmed it straight and mostly even…

She’s 76″ wide and a little over 66″ high. Big one. And now she’s ready for the binding. Hopefully tonight, I’ll get that attached so I can hand sew for a few days (and holes in my fingers). But first a field trip and driving to San Ysidro to drop off a quilt and the gym is on my list, but IDK if that’s gonna be in the cards. I hope so. I want to read and exercise. I want to feel WELL ENOUGH to do those things. Right now it’s a little questionable.

*Tears for Fears, Shout

Ride Me a Southbound*

Rough day yesterday…sometimes school is hard, y’all. And I’m still not feeling well…can’t separate out whether it’s a cold I’m fighting or the new medication, but none of it feels fun. So that (of course) affects my ability to deal with stressors, like kids who pretend to be windmills. Whatever. Today I will handle it better. I might have to sit next to the windmill for a while, but I can do that. Even when I’m dizzy and headachy. Seriously, that shit can take a walk. I’m trying to stick with the new meds for a week before emailing my doctor, hoping the worst of the side effects go away. We’ll see.

So when I finally made it home, I seriously wasn’t a fan of doing any work for school, but realistically, grades are due in less than a week. My goal is one assignment a day. If I can get some done at school…great! Yesterday was not the day for that. Even the non-windmill kids weren’t in the mood to do anything independently (aargh), so I did a lot of management. Like why are you just sitting there? I’m thinking. No you’re not. Thinking is more active than what you’re doing and you shouldn’t be drooling. Also talking to your friends about what you saw before school? Not thinking. So there’s all that.

I went to the gym instead for a while. I wanted to read my book, plus I’m one of those freaks who actually likes exercise (wish I had time to do more of it), so I went for it. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Should do it again soon. Came back, co-cooked dinner (um, so even when you’re co-cooking, apparently you’re still in charge. Hmn. There’s that. I’m going to go on strike some day.), ate the foods, and then finished watching the first episode of Umbrella Academy (cool show!) and grading that one assignment per day. Success! I did good. Then I input those grades and all of a sudden it was 11 PM. See, that’s the shit that happens. But art! Art is important and WILL be done every day. It was way too late to clean the entryway floor though so I could trim the giant ass quilt. I’ll do that tonight, when I don’t have to deal with dinner. So then what can I do in just an hour?

Easy peasy. Finish the drawing. This is for a show that’s about indoors and outdoors, comparing those of us who live in mostly sunny and warm Southern California to a artistic group in Sweden, where it’s fucking cold and snowy. So their take on being outdoors is significantly different from ours, we think. Or not? We’ll see. I personally love being outside and wish I could do it more. Being in a classroom all day sometimes drives me bonkers. Anyway, all I had left was the sky, so I stared at it for a while. I didn’t have to do anything, but in keeping with the outdoors theme, I added space. I should work on my space though because this is the same space I keep adding. I should research more planets and weird space things (NASA here I come! Insta follow follows…)…

But this will be good. I like it. This is about 3 1/2 hours of drawing…not counting the original three drawings or so that I rejected.

Then it was only 11:30. Go to bed early? Fuck no. Number the damn thing (and this is how I never go to bed at a reasonable time).

So yeah, those ladybugs will need embroidery. Maybe even their little antenna things should be embroidered, but I numbered them for fun.

Lotso bugs on her face. Kinda like the hike the other day. Very buggy. So there’s 803 pieces I think in this thing. That’s not too bad. I don’t have much time to finish it, so yeah…should get on that. Deadlines! I’ve been ignoring them. Doesn’t help to not feel well and be stressed about health issues. I’m working on that…from multiple places.

OK, work calls. Windmill boy and all. Art tonight. I can do this!

*The Marshall Tucker Band, Can’t You See