The List of Things I Feel Like Doing

Yeah I’m about 10 hours off on my normal writing time. I meant to write this morning before I left, but then I had to deal with doctor stuff and then I just plain old ran out of time. I think I read my book for a while too instead getting on with things. Hey, it’s break. I’m allowed.

So the year is almost over. I like reviewing previous year-almost-over posts to see what I was thinking. Last year’s thought was stop having expectations of years. It’s funny…no not funny, strange…but I already know that the next 6 months will be hard jobwise, so I’m just trying to center a reality in that. Balance, my ass. I don’t do New Year’s resolutions in January…I’m a teacher. We do them in August. So accept some of the shit and try to rein it in, pepper it with things I want to do: some art exhibits, some camping, a music show, maybe a trip or two. Then hope to Goddess that the 2023-2024 school year is better than this one.

I just looked at my calendar in here…stopped crossing days off on the 22nd. Good plan.

So since Wednesday, I had some friend time, two friends visiting, separately, so I parsed some time out of my incredibly busy (book-reading) schedule for them. Yeah, I know. Actually, I worked on school stuff for a good chunk of Thursday afternoon, got 8 days of school planned out for real, minus the daily warmups. That was good. I had done a chunk of it already, but needed to figure out this one 3-day assignment and then how everything else fit in. So that felt good. I also did a bunch of doctor things and breakfast with the one friend, down here from Seattle…here’s the only photo I got, in the elevator (I tell you, this is the year of shitty documentation as far as people go)…

There are two other people in the weird elevator with me. Today? I took no pictures of people today, only piñatas. I always forget. Ah well.

OK. So I finished that little quilt…which got named Christmas Lights ’93 (after the year it was drawn)…

I got the binding and sleeves sewn on Wednesday, I think. Then got the binding sewn Wednesday night…

And finished the sleeves last night…

In case you’re saying to yourself, oh hey, I bet that was quick (it was, compared to most of my pieces)…guess how long it took? C’mon. Guess.

Nine hours and 5 minutes. Yeah. Not bad. It’s not huge though either…15″ wide x 13″ high.

The next one will be bigger. I cut paper at about 44″ wide and 54″ high…dunno if that will work, but it seemed like big enough to do what I want but not absolutely massive like some.

So far, it’s a bunch of really light, vague pencil sketches and some totally appropriate post-its (thanks to the SIL for those). It’s possible that I should start a different drawing first, but at the moment, this one is speaking to me. We’ll see. I have two deadlines I’m looking at, and both of them are far enough out that I should be able to do them both, but last year, I thought I would be done with the desert quilt in April, and that so didn’t happen, not even close.

I was freaked out by my finished quilt list for 2022 yesterday, thought I had only finished 5 quilts in the whole year, although 4 were large. Usually I can pull off 6 or more though. Then I remembered I hadn’t put the other one on the list, so 6 it is. Whew. By the skin of my teeth with a tiny finish in the last week. Two finished in December and one in November. It’s been a rough year for artmaking. Sucks.

I did get two back from the photographer today…this is Same As It Ever Was…

She’s 57” w x 71” h. Took me from July to November to finish her. Ugh to school for that.

Then this one, which has a tentative name or two, so you’ll just have to wait until I post her into the gallery for a real title…

She’s 35.5 w x 43.5 h and was finished last week. Her fake title for the last month was Vomit…so I need something better than that. No suggestions please. I’ll get there. Some of them, like Same, have names from the very beginning. A small few get titles while I’m working, and most of them just need to percolate in my head for a day or two before it comes to me. This one might be more than a day or two. Give it time.

I also wanted to get this quilt quilted…it’s been pinbasted for over a year, I think. This is a Sue Spargo block-of-the-month pattern that I have always called Bird Crazy, but I know that’s not the real name.

I stitched most of these birds at the girlchild’s soccer games in high school. It got sewn together and then there were 90 balls that had to be sewn on…I think that was at the beginning of COVID? I could be wrong. OK, so I finished embroidering the last of 30 birds in July of 2016. This is the 2013 BOM (I like the embroidery, not the finishing). Oh yeah, and there are 96 balls. Anyway. So this is a 10-year finish? Maybe.

I’ve quilted 7 of the blocks so far. It’s not hard, but I have to be a little creative with figuring out what to do on each block. Keep it simple but not? So that should be done next week hopefully. A few a day. Although none today. So far. It’s relaxing to quilt. Meditative, I’ve said it before. Also to embroider. And draw. Bird DANCE it’s called.

I thought I was done with this block (and hence all of the April blocks), but no, there is a giant trellis stitch sun…

Something you have to stitch all in one go. So not right now. This is also Sue Spargo. It is called Homegrown and might be the 2019 quilt? Maybe? I have another one done and ready for pinbasting, but quilting it will be a mess. Probably this one will be too…so much stitching on them. Maybe just lots of stuff in the skies. I prefer the embroidery parts of these to the finishing parts.

I have two pieces that will be in this show at the Cannon Gallery in Carlsbad.

The opening is January 7 from 2-4 PM. One piece has never been in a show, so that’s cool. I will be at the opening.

We made it to the piñata exhibit at the Mingei today. Very cool.

Totally recommend. I love the Mingei…and hadn’t seen the new and improved version. It’s nice.

Also love that I live somewhere that people don’t ban books. Because that’s stupid.

Also going to go add all the banned books to my reading list, those I haven’t already read (which is an awful lot of them). Also Texas? Florida? Fuck you. Grow the fuck up. Let kids read. You’re not solving problems. And the states with 1-10 bans? I’m curious what those are. Is it 1-10 books? Or 1-10 schools banning books? Not sure. Probably the former. What’s the point of banning so few books? One could ask what’s the point of banning ANY books.

OK. So. It’s New Years Eve Eve and the Man and I are doing date night tonight, because tomorrow night is not a time we want to be out and about, between the celebratory crazy shit and the rain that’s headed our way. It’s been cold and drippy all day today, which is good for the plants and the part of my brain that wants to hole up and read, so hopefully more of that tomorrow, plus quilting and drawing and probably (honestly) some schoolwork. Just because it needs to get done and it’s easier to do in small chunks than big honking ones.

I need to make a collage of this year’s finished pieces too. Tomorrow. Today? More tea and then a discussion of food. Then something off the list of things I feel like doing. Also that crazy landscape that created itself in my head in the car today. That. Totally.

Mentally Chill

Please don’t ask me what day it is. Or even what year. I like to pretend I know what’s going on.

So tiny quilt progress…progress on a tiny quilt, not the other way around, although honestly, I could finish a tiny quilt in one day if I weren’t still fighting this stupid head cold that has planted its phlegmy self in my sinuses and refuses to let go. Anyway, I think it’s been a few days since I remembered I write things, so I managed to iron the quilt together…

It’s easier to do some parts off to the side and then put them on top…

Then onto the background…this was all Christmas Eve…

Then Christmas Day, we cleaned a lot and cooked a little…because we delayed a day for the boychild to get off of work…so I sandwiched and pinbasted.

Then Christmas night (which was actually Boxing Day), after all the presents and dinner stuff, I quilted it…

Super fast while everyone was asleep…

She’s got some attitude…

And then last night, I trimmed it and cut binding and sleeves…

Hopefully I’ll get those on today and get the handsewing done.

I was hoping to get some ‘models’ (aka the fam) to take a photo for me for the next quilt, but I floated the idea and there wasn’t a lot of yah sure, in fact, one fuck off (someone was in a mood), so I’m going to do some reading/research today hopefully and then start some rudimentary drawings tonight or tomorrow. It’s going to be big again. It’s better to have a big piece to work on when school starts, so there’s lots to do that’s not thinking too hard, easy to come home and just do the next step without having to work too hard at decisions. Picking fabric is an easy thing. Deciding what to make next is not. And as much as I know I should be taking a break from school stuff and not working, I also know January and February Me will appreciate it if I do some planning and grading. I took a few days off when I was too sick to do anything, but I can’t really afford big chunks of no work at the moment, not this year. It sucks, yes. I don’t have a solution, no. Teachers who aren’t working over break at all? Congratulations. Your situation is different than mine. Sigh.

Anyway, I only have three assignments left to grade, so that’s good. Next week, I’ll be spending 10 hours working with my co-teacher on that damn tobacco curriculum again, same as last year (hopefully for the last time). Somewhere between now and then, I need to finish the roller coaster project planning and plan the next unit. Most of it anyway. So yeah. Luckily the holiday bits are over and (sadly) the kids are both gone, so it is quiet during the day. Just me and the furry beasts. If only I could get motivated! And stop coughing.

In good news, or is it? I went to physical therapy yesterday for the knee and have a plan, plus a further plan if this doesn’t work. I’d like to avoid the further further plan of surgery, so I’m going with it. Also my NP was on crack, but I knew that when she kept saying arthritis. Anyway…after 6 weeks, it’s nice to at least have something that might work.

This year, I sucked at taking family photos, although here is dad with a spoon the boychild made…

Here is the girlchild with Simba, yet again…

Oh yeah, and we pulled the owl box down to clean it…

Sure enough, there was the missing owlet…

I had thought there were three early on, but only two at the end. They lay the eggs days apart, so sometimes the smallest doesn’t get enough food and becomes dinner.

I finally put more than 4 ornaments on the tree (although not a lot more)…

Simba stuck his tongue out at me…

He’s in a donut to keep him from licking his dew claw, which got hurt the other day. He doesn’t like it.

That fabric looks like my mom’s old sheets. It might even BE my mom’s old sheets. Working on a charity quilt for my quilt guild.

Only need 259 more blocks…

The back of a student’s homework sheet…’mini Nida’…I’m laughing.

I love this kid.

Kitten shoved behind me on the chair…

Nova in her new tent…

Kitten in the tube…

And us old folks (because someone else took the photo)…

I wasn’t feeling my best (Christmas Eve), but I made it out of the house. I’m a little better each day, so that’s good, and I go to the doc tomorrow, so she’ll give me antibiotics if she thinks they’re warranted. Would not recommend this cold. Nope. Nuh uh.

Today? I need to ship the girlchild’s jacket she remembered once she got to the airport. I need to get some boxes to ship fabric to some places (donations). I need a sprinkler to replace the broken one and a lightswitch knob to also replace the broken one. I need to read my book. I need to maybe plant some milkweed seeds. I am actually going to an exercise class tonight, first one in 10 days (yeah, I was that sick). Looking forward to it. Plus put the binding on this little quilt and go read some stuff about magnets and planets. Not together. Shit. Should take a shower too. My plans of drawing every day over break? Completely fucked so far. Maybe try now? We’ll see. The momentum is gone. Sucks.

Hoping your week between the weirdness of the gifty holidays and the drinky holidays is going well. Chill. Or at least mentally chill with the power on so you don’t actually have to be cold.

Really Slowly

Hello Christmas Eve! Actually tomorrow is our Christmas Eve. Or something. This year is too confusing.

I had this plan to be drawing every day during break. Not happening. No brain power for it. I get through a few errands and then need to lie down for a while. I am improving, but it’s slow and torturous. What is this thing? The same cold that everyone else has that’s wiped out the cold medicine section at my grocery store. I finally found more of the stuff that lets me sleep through the night without coughing, so that’s a plus. The rest is more about…well…rest. I need lots of it apparently. So the to-do list languishes. Or gets done really slowly. The physical stuff will have to wait until I have some energy back.

I’m doing a little art stuff every day, not hours of it like I would like to. Ah well. The little piece got ironed to fabrics over 24 hours…

There’s not a lot to it, but I wasn’t feeling well, so I did most of it Thursday night…

And then finished it on Friday night…

Only 33 fabrics…some of which were only used for one piece. Then I cut them all out…

With the idea of ironing them together this afternoon, but I did a bunch of other things (made sourdough starter pancakes to freeze, for the first time since August, wrapped the last of the Xmas stuff, graded two assignments, tried to make sense of another one, showered…that was exhausting)…and now I need a nap. We have one family gathering this evening and I’m already tired. I’m also still short on milk and couldn’t find eggnog, although I can make that from scratch if I have to…I’ve done it before. Probably my body is adamantly telling me what I need (as I half fall asleep here in the chair). Should maybe listen. Just 20 minutes for a snooze, eh?

You can see how the drawing isn’t happening. No energy to clean either; that has to happen tomorrow. We got skunked the other night and half the rooms still reek of it. Luckily Southern California has blessed us with lovely weather (sorry y’all) and the windows are open to dispel the smell.

I Zoomed with friends on Thursday night and made a fence and some veggies…

Do I fix the lumpy carrot or let it be its realistic lumpy self? Who knows.

Simba loves everyone being home…

Although the boychild is back at work until Monday and the girlchild was gone all yesterday, which is why I got his loving attention.

Kitten wasn’t having any of it…

She does RBF well.

This morning, Simba got one of his favorite people on the couch…

He was communing with his other doggie friends, passing the word along in boofy paragraphs.

OK. I can lie down and read for a while. Then go find some milk and maybe eggnog. We are food shopping tomorrow like nutcakes. It’s OK. I wrangled meat yesterday from a big guy who was sure I wanted it all cut up (I didn’t) and then winked at me at the end. Ugh. I don’t know whether to laugh my old chubby ass off at that or be creeped out (or both, which is where I’m at right now). Then off to the Man’s fam for a gathering that will be all noise and color and bright, like holidays are, which sometimes my brain appreciates. I’m hoping to get there in the next 3 hours. Until then, hello couch, hello book, hello pajamas. And hoping everyone gets some time to do what they want with whomever they want, furry beast or otherwise.

Will Get Done Eventually…

Hey so if you want to talk to me this week, probably you should text me. My voice is not doing great. I am feeling better, but the phlegm is real, y’all. Mornings are rough until I get some tea into me. The pro is that it is Winter Break, so I am not trying to write sub plans or come in and teach sick because I don’t have COVID or the flu (probably), and there are no subs. I just have to finish the Xmas shopping and decorating (there are four whole ornaments on the tree) and maybe a book or three. Plus grading. How I know I’m getting better? I graded an academic assignment yesterday…it required brainpower and I found it. I had 14 assignments to grade at the beginning of break. I now have 9. Probably more importantly, I need to plan out the next unit plus or I will be hating life in January and February, and I don’t want that. I need to get ahead. At least a little.

I did finish the newest quilt, which doesn’t have a name yet. It goes to the photographer tomorrow with the last one (I never got around to photographing it).

Lame photo hanging over the couch. This one is not huge. Now going into the holidays, I have an idea for the next big one, but I need the headspace to check deadlines and do some planning, plus I’d really like the fam to stage this one so I can see how all the body parts will go, but so far, I’ve gotten some dissension on that happening. Either way, I can’t get a big drawing going until after we do Xmas Day, which will be Boxing Day for us this year, so is it possible for me to NOT be working on a quilt for 7 whole days?

I tried to distract myself with Xmas ornament stitching that I bought last year and never started…

Fun enough, but not the same as an actual quilt. Then at 2 AM, while lying there, trying to sleep, I remembered that funny drawing with the Xmas lights on it that is floating around my office that I keep meaning to make into a little quilt and never do. Some drawings just call to me and want to be a quilt. This one has called for a while. A LONG while.

The date on it is February 8, 1993. In 1993, I was still married. I didn’t have kids. At first, I was like, ah, this drawing, it’s about 10 years old (because I was on cold medication and could not do any form of math). Nah. This fucker is almost 30 years old. I even numbered it already. Like probably 20 years ago. Who knows? At some point in the past when I thought I’d make it. Well yeah. It does deserve to be made if it’s still around after all this time (it’s not the only one that made it to numbering stage and then got left somewhere, in case you’re wondering).

Poor thing. So I graded yesterday (because I felt better), and then I stayed up late and watched a semi-bad movie while tracing this…

It’s only got 97 pieces.

And then cut out the Wonder Under…

No need to do the sort by 100s step. There aren’t even 100 pieces. So hopefully today, after running Xmas errands (and showering…need to do that next), I’ll be picking fabrics for this sweet little thing. There is a lot going on over the next 7 days, and I can’t say I’m feeling totally with it, so a nap or some lying on the couch with my book will probably still be happening, but for now, I have a little project. Which is good. Never throw old shit away, y’all. It might be exactly what you need. Yes, that is part of my hoarder issue, but it’s also truth.

I did spend about 2 hours yesterday ironing and dehairing the two quilts that need to go to the photographer…that did make me need to nap. Ugh. And I’ll still work on the Xmas ornaments. They’ll probably be done in 2025. Certainly starting them on December 20 was probably not the best plan. Ah well.

Simba thinks we are all silly.

And maybe we are…

Certainly he is getting plenty of attention…

OK. Well I’m off to shower and drive all over heck and back for the 4 or 5 things I still need. I canceled almost everything I was supposed to do this week due to being sick. Probably the best thing for me anyway. At least the family is still healthy (and sucking up Vitamin C and Zinc). Some of the things on my to-do list will not be happening this week, due to my not feeling up to the physical crap, but it will get done eventually. Peace out all…may your holidays be what you need them to be. Sending love to all.

Draw Some of That Off…

I fell asleep late last night. As I was trying to fall asleep (which is never a successful endeavor, by the way…either you fall asleep or you don’t, but the harder I try, the more I fail at it), I was excessively stressing about all the work stuff I still have to do over the next three weeks, even though I will be on break, and then I remembered one of my favorite things to do this time of year: a Drawing a Day. Almost every day (and I have 23 of them before I have to go back to school) is to pull out a sketchbook and do a drawing a day. It really stretches me because I don’t have a theme and I just drew the day before, so trying to keep the creativity going and think of something new to draw is really exhilarating. Then I couldn’t fall asleep because I was trying to decide whether I would use the same weird-shaped sketchbooks from last year, or just bounce around, or what. And then I started thinking about the next quilt, because I emailed the photographer about having this one done by Thursday (WHAT??? But also yes), so I will be starting something new next week. And what will THAT be? I don’t know yet. So much art excitement about having the next three weeks off. No, the work stress is not gone (I cried a little about it this morning, no joke, this shit is sucky), but maybe I can draw some of that off. Ha ha…draw it off…get it?

Have I discussed how tired I am right now? Yeah. That. Today we survive and think of our brothers and sisters who are still teaching next week. Bless them.

I started stitchdown on Wednesday night…

This piece is small. Ish. It won’t take long. I did more last night…

I’m probably a little less than halfway? I think. I’m hoping to do some this evening. The Man has a show tonight, which I am going to, but it starts later, and I have to clean up my classroom a little and then go to Home Depot for slats, then pack up two quilts to deliver tomorrow morning, and THEN I could stitch for a while before going to see the band. OR I might nap. If I can. Which I often can’t. So there’s that. But assume stitchdown is done tomorrow and then sandwich and pinbaste, so I’m quilting by Sunday. Sounds good. You can see how I assumed I could be done by Thursday. Let’s ignore the fact that I need to wrap all the presents, buy a few more, clean the girlchild’s bedroom because she’s coming home Sunday night at 10:30 or so at night, and probably do some schoolwork as well. Yeah. Ignore that shit. Just do the art.

Whew. Going into this Friday on this little sleep and very few filters and just plain feeling overwhelmed…my 8th-graders should mostly be done with proposals and packets; they get a video about an egg drop in space. They can sleep through it for all I care. It’s a cool video, but they can live without it. There’s no point in starting something new though. The 7th graders are going to be pushing through the last day of their assignment. It was shitty yesterday. I’m not expecting much better today unfortunately. I can just hope that the worst of them are absent. Also we have short periods because there’s an hour + long assembly at the end of the day today. Pros and cons to that I guess. Then I have duty at the light, then back to my room to clean it so my floors will hopefully at least get mopped with a clean mop instead of a dirty one. Cockroaches on a regular basis. Fun stuff. Almost halfway through the year. Whenever I think I can’t do any more of it, I get a break and it gives me the rest I need to get through the next bit.

But there’s drawing at the end of this bit. So that’s awesome.

So I needed a refill on my insulin and my doc’s office screwed up and ordered an old one my insurance doesn’t cover anymore. Luckily the system caught it and said, hey, do you really want to pay this?

Um. Honestly? No. Start over.

And this is my kid-decorated door…

They did pretty well. I glued the title on for them. I also traced the title for them, but they did the rest. I brought stuffing and the garland and a glue gun too. I didn’t even know about the ornaments…they surprised me. They’re good kids. You know what one of the things I have to do before I leave is? Take all that off the door. Uh huh. I know. Well it was up for less than 48 hours. What can I do?

OK. Off to the place where the good kids show up and do their work. And I don’t lose my mind. Hopefully. Drawing. 23 days.

Fake Words…

My lord how is it only Wednesday. Also, brain, let me sleep. If I wake up to pee, it is not because I want to do a deep dive on how to plan the next unit. I really just wanted to pee and be asleep, honestly, as soon as I get back into bed, maybe sooner. Sleepwalking to pee seems OK to me, as long as I’m in the right place during and after.

Today is egg drop for three classes, something tsunami-related for two classes (and trying to get my last period of the day on track is hell on wheels…11 were absent Monday, 5 on Friday, and if you didn’t do Friday’s stuff, you can’t do Monday’s stuff, and if you didn’t do Monday’s stuff, you couldn’t do yesterday’s stuff, blah blah blah that class makes me want to quit 3 out of 5 days a week). Yeah. That. Friday was actually delightful because without those kids, the class was normal. NORMAL. Yesterday it was like wild animals had infiltrated the school.

Sigh. Three more days. I will still have to work a ton over break to try to get ahead in January (and February? Maybe?), but I won’t have to deal with the kids or the daily bullshit. Speaking of shit, I almost said it in class yesterday (it happens; even teachers slip), but corrected to ‘shinole’…pronounced ‘shi-know-lay’. IDK where this comes from, but it worked. The two I was working with (just edited myself out of a wide variety of nouns there) started yelling “She SWORE!” and I’m like, “I said ‘shinole’. What swear word is that?” Apparently I should be using the word ‘shinola’, which does mean shit. Imma stick with the fake word.

I came home early and went to the gym. I needed to. It’s kind of crazy how many Tuesdays I come home and need to go to the gym. I’m glad to have that. Then I cooked dinner and did some more applique for this secret project I’m doing, and then ironed the rest of the pieces down on the current quilt.

Here’s what I did Monday night…

Almost done…closeup of the Earth head…

Lots of details that need a stitching line. There’s some chaos here.

Then last night, the vomit…

Glad I picked black instead of green…

I ironed each of the little things together, then put the vomit down and put them all on top. At that point, it was almost 10:30, my arbitrary stop point, but I was fairly sure it would iron down quickly, so I just did it.

It needs a steam ironing, but otherwise, I’m ready for stitchdown. Also I’m tired. It only took a few more minutes to get it done though. And now I’m braindead. Maybe if I get more tea in me. Probably not though. We’ll see.

I forgot I did this Sunday night…although I messed up the fence.

It’ll be fine. I’m just needleweaving wider posts than were called for. It’s not the end of the world.

One of my students made this cat sculpture for me…

With tiny mousies…

She’s very creative. Sells them to other students. Also gave me two stickers yesterday…science-y ones. I appreciate her.

OK. Some crazy crap…shinole…going on today. I have a union meeting after school and then a book club zoom after that. Not sure when I will have time to do anything. But hopefully more ironing tonight. I need to put a label on another quilt, so I’m going to do that first, because it has to be delivered to a show this week. Thank goodness for friends who pick up art for me, because I couldn’t figure out when I was picking up from one show, and someone agreed to do it for me. Good stuff.

Not in This Class…

Aargh. OK, I have my ugly Christmas sweater(sweatshirt) on. It has T. Rex on it. Setting fire to a Christmas tree. I’m bringing Christmas cards and cookies to school today for a variety of gift things we are doing for staff. We have a 2-hour staff meeting after school today, but it’s at a local restaurant and there will be drinks, food, and gifts (nice actually…too bad I’m tired and not in the mood…hopefully that will change when I get there). It’s dark and fucking gloomy here…a needed winter rainstorm has dropped a little over half an inch with more to come (makes getting to school fun, plus getting the 17 things out of my car also fun). There is only a week of school until break, though, and I managed not to work most of Saturday, so that was a plus. I did iron though…

That was Friday night. That’s when my iron died, so some of those things are not actually ironed down…

This was Saturday, after I bought a new iron…which I still haven’t used, because the old one resurrected itself. Fucker. I did this in the afternoon, because the Man had a show that night that I went to, and I was way too exhausted afterward. I figured that would happen, so made sure I ironed for an hour or so in the afternoon.

I had already recut this piece Friday night…or maybe even Thursday. But I found it Saturday afternoon.

On the floor near the light table, so I’d dumped it out at some point accidentally (that’s where I sort) and it sat there, on the floor, for days and nobody noticed. Fun facts.

Last night, I had to iron some tiny things that go on top of stuff, so that’s easier to do in a section and then iron it on top…because I can’t really see through the fabric to figure out where everything goes. Tiny cars. Tiny factory spewing smoke…

This is what I got done Sunday…

Both arms done, she has cloud hair and a rocket taking off her head, plus one arm is a wildfire and the other is a highway. I’m in the 400s…just the head and all its crazy details and then the sun and the vomit. Oh yeah. There’s vomit. Might be the first time I’ve done vomit? Maybe? Maybe not. I know I’ve drawn it…just can’t remember if it’s showed up in an actual finished piece. I draw a lot more than make it into quilts.

Saturday night’s band pic…in costume…

And actually playing…

I think my ears finally popped last night…definitely should stand further away from the speakers. Maybe. This was an old crowd…older than me, mostly. Their next show is Friday night. I should be exhausted again by then.

The El Cajon parrots visited my eucalyptus trees yesterday…something tasty in the flowers. They are loud and boisterous.

That one is hanging upside down.

We did Sunday dinner at the parentals…Simba enjoyed some Grandma time…

He’s not allowed on the furniture. She says. He seems happy where he is.

Trying to work yesterday. I’m the damn teacher, Google. It’s me.

I talked to me.

Will I be allowed to sleep over break? I suspect not…

And our winter is never snowy. Although it’s apparently hailing somewhere in San Diego right now. Just raining here. So far.

Kitten just sleeps through it all.

I need to figure out where she’s sleeping right now so I can give her meds. Plus find my boots and my raincoat. I loaded all the crap in my car last night, bunch of folders I ordered for January that I need my TA to put labels on, plus some garland for the stupid door decoration, plus some rubber balls and pompoms for labs in January, and chips for the two classes that earned them, and cookies, and lunch, and IDK what the hell else. Water and goldfish for me. Make 8th grade write hard things (ugh), then make 7th grade write easier things (they will complain just as hard). It’s OK…tons of them will be absent because they are always absent when it rains. Wednesday is chicken egg drop…that’ll be fun. Or messy as hell. Maybe still fun. IDK. We’ll see.

I’m looking forward to getting that quilt ironed down in the next two days, then starting stitchdown. It needs to get done.

Revived by an In ‘n’ Out Burger…

I need to find a way to turn off WordPress’ suggestions for what to write about. They’re annoying. Why do I write? To document. I’m a historian kind of person. I like to be able to go back and see what the previous years were like. Plus it makes me make work every night. I know what works. So I do it. Even when I’m tired. Actually the pro of being absolutely exhausted when I get home from work is that I fall asleep quickly (for once) and HARD. It’s the only time I sleep well. So I’ve slept well (although never enough) for the last two nights anyway. Got my X-ray of the knee yesterday…although I guess I don’t want them to find arthritis. The knee is finally starting to improve, which is good. It’s been rough getting up the stairs into the house. Problematic for the future. Need to design a winch for the front deck so I can get up when I’m really old (or finally need knee surgery).

Ugh. Well, it’s Friday. Finally. The first part of the week is slow and sloggy. Then it speeds up and it’s Friday. Cool beans. There aren’t actual beans in this post, in case you’re wondering.

I’ve been ironing this thing together…it’s not hard so far, because the fussy stuff is in the body, and I did the whole background first…starting on Wednesday night…

Then last night, after my stitching meeting…I didn’t think I’d have the energy, I was so tired on the drive home, but apparently one can be revived by an In ‘n’ Out burger (that’s my theory anyway), and I managed about 42 minutes of ironing to get to here…

Sky and landscape are done…now on to the body etc. That’s the fussy little stuff. Looking forward to it.

I stitched with friends in a Barnes and Noble Starbucks, like we do once a month. Got the roof done in a little less than 2 hours. It’s fancy. Looks cool though.

This is Sue Spargo’s block of the month Homegrown. It’s fun. This block will have a vegetable garden at some point…at the rate I’m going, sometime in 2023, obviously. I’m hoping to get a couple (three?) of my finished Spargo quilts quilted over Winter Break. We’ll see, because I need to finish that other quilt and get it photographed before the first of January, so that could be an issue. Time! It’s fleeting.

Driving up to Mira Mesa and back was tiring…but I’m glad I got to hang with my people…we like words and weird stuff and grammar…and of course stitching. Or things with yarn/thread/paper. Branching out definitely. I’ll remember to photograph my gifted ornaments at some point…because they are both cool.

Kitten has been bringing me things all week…she used to do it all the time and then stopped, but now is getting a little obsessive. I gave her a piece of wool, hoping she’d stop raiding my stitching boxes (she didn’t, so I had to find lids for all of them)…

She also brings me my napkin from the couch (I use fabric napkins and I don’t eat at the table…so there’s often one on the couch where I sit…yeah, that’s weird, but it’s how I roll) and an occasional dog toy (the dinosaur). It makes her so happy…she talks the entire time she’s carrying it. She’s old but seems happy.

I didn’t take this burrito Simba picture…

He was at the other house. Apparently he was cold (it has been cold at night, in the low 40s/high 30s…which yes, I realize isn’t THAT cold, but it is for us). He comes back to us tonight and will hopefully be quiet and happily ensconced in the down comforter that is now on the bed, thank goodness; I’ve been cold at night.

School has been OK the last few days…a few people being out helps. We’re doing hard things in 8th grade (ugh) and easier fun things in 7th grade (the hard stuff will be next week). I’m planning a lot, best I can, but also feeling overwhelmed by details. Too many details. Anyway. At least I know I can iron tonight. And maybe do some planning. And maybe tomorrow can have less (or even no) school in it. My weekend posts from last year did not have school on Saturdays. Ah. Well. This year, I am not so lucky. May the knee continue to recover. May the flu stay the fuck away. And COVID while we’re at it. May my prep period be effective. May the kids who make things difficult have a good day or stay home (seriously, yes, I said that). Happy Friday y’all.

At the End…

Hello very dark in the morning. I do not appreciate you. Sorry. I’m up early to go to the doc for my stupid knee. I’m not happy about being up early. I tried going to bed a little earlier, and then my brain remembered all the things in the world to be anxious about, so that went well. Then it woke me up at 4:30 because it might be time to get up (it wasn’t). My brain and I are barely speaking these days, though, so I guess that’s par for the course. I’m just hoping for a host of referrals to specialist things that I can hopefully schedule over Winter Break (Ha! I’m gonna bet none of them can be scheduled until well into next year) and then solutions to the knee would be lovely.

My office calendar is still set to November y’all. Not a good sign.

In good news, I managed to finish cutting out all the pieces, about 8 hours total…

And then last night, I sorted them…

And started ironing.

Feels good. I like this part.

School was hard, but only in the afternoon…mostly because of this, although I didn’t get to go to this…

Just half of my kids did. Yeah. Well. I get to go in April? Maybe.

Monday night’s sky.

At school still. Ah well. This week. And next week. And then I’m off for three. Hallelujah.

Gotta go. Today is busy and long. But hopefully more ironing (and maybe a nap) at the end.

Way Less Than Optimal…

WordPress is now adding a question to the previously blank blogpost, in case I logged in to write a post and had no idea what to write about. I guess that might happen. Maybe? The question is “what would I want to change about myself?” Um. So many things. That I’m not gonna write about here. But thanks.

This last weekend was the weekend of no sleep. There’s a skunk who has decided that late nights outside the bedroom window are exciting, and the little dog is also excited about this; in fact, everyone except the humans who have to function during the day and can’t nap for endless hours is excited. So I’m running on way less than optimal sleep. On a Monday. Ten school days before Winter Break. Also there’s an on-campus field trip thing tomorrow that only HALF of my 7th graders can go to and I haven’t dealt with that AT ALL and I’m not sure exactly HOW to deal with it because my teacher’s aide has been out and I occasionally am getting a sub, and I can’t send my kids if I don’t have a SECA that day. So how do I present that to a bunch of already problematic kids? Um you MIGHT get to do something cool and fun but only HALF of you get to go tomorrow, the rest have to wait until APRIL and OMG you might NOT get to go if we continue to have too many people out. Yeah. Sounds great.

I worked a lot on school stuff this weekend. The pro is that I am caught up (almost) on grading…I have about 6 redoes that need grading and that’s it. For today anyway. The con is that I didn’t plan all the way through the end of next week…this shit just takes too long. Everything needs editing because it’s too complicated, not helpful, and it’s PDF files, so the editing takes even longer. I beg steal and borrow from other stuff we’ve done to try to help with the planning, and it’s still so fucking time-consuming. I think I spent about 9 hours on the day job this weekend. Ugh.

I did also go to my guild’s holiday party. I took 3 fat quarters for that game they play (didn’t win…but I did last year, so I’m OK with that), but my prize for going to the party was 2 half yards. For you non-quilt-math people, I came out with an extra fat quarter. So that’s fun. We made fabric ornaments…

Which was fun. I did not pick holiday fabrics. And Kitten has already absconded with this. I need to get a hanger on it and get the tree in from outside so she will be less likely to steal it.

I spent a goodly few hours cutting stuff out this weekend…

Friday night with Kitten…

Saturday night after dinner…

And last night after all the things. I’m in the sky. So I cut out basically in opposite order from ironing, although I dumped everything into a bigger bin at some point, so I can see sky and flesh in there, and I think flesh was ironed after sky. So there’s still a big chunk of stuff, but I can see the bottom of the bin, so I’m getting close. Probably not tonight, but maybe tomorrow night. This thing has a hard deadline, so I’m really trying to stay on top of it. I’m behind my original schedule already. Sigh. When am I ever NOT behind? In everything really.

Kitten has been following me around…

This was Friday night’s sleep.

The other two are still cuddling against the cold…

Until Nova wants to sleep in the bedroom, and then Luna loses her fucking mind.

This guy won’t let anyone sleep because of that skunk…

Luckily, boychild is home tonight and can take over…the skunk doesn’t like the dirt outside HIS room as much as the dirt outside MY room. And then maybe I can sleep through the night. That would be nice. Seriously feels like there’s sand in my eyes. So tired.

Saturday night…finishing a drawing from the previous weekend, I think.

I don’t know that it’s actually finished. But I’m finished with it.

Too true below…

I am going in to the doc to have them tell me my knee is royally fucked and they will ask me about my period. The one I haven’t had for like 5+ years. I don’t have a clue when the last one was. Fun stuff.

Last night’s sky was (as always) much prettier in person than my camera will show…

Need a new phone. Sigh to that as well. Just paid the property taxes. At least I could afford that.

OK. Staff meetings today. One grade is doing an assessment (they will be fine). The other grade will have to read by themselves to fill out a chart. So that’s gonna go well. Independent anything has been difficult for them this year. It’s exhausting. But it’s short and I’m not cooking tonight, so maybe I can get more planning done and then cut stuff out for longer. That would be nice. That’s my goal then.