Move On and Make Something…

Reflection is both the savior and bane of being a teacher. Constantly reviewing what we taught, how they learned, how it went. Oh god, that was horrible. Hey, they really got it! And all the places in between. We don’t always know the WHY of the good or bad…sometimes it seems like our success is dependent on the moon phases (seriously, every teacher knows when it’s a full moon), but it means we reflect on ourselves often too much and too harshly as well. The days after a weeklong break are semi-doomed. We’re tired, they’re tired, they think it’s already Winter Break, we wish it was already Winter Break. There’s a definite feeling that I need to Gird My Loins and hoist my scabbard skyward to survive the next three weeks. The plus is that it is only three weeks. I feel like I can grab onto those 15 days physically and just hold them…unlike the vast expanse of time that is March or May…where days drag on for…well…days. Longer days? I just don’t know how to explain it. They’re longer. They are!

So reflecting on my week off. Well. Yeah. The pros: I played a lot with kittens, I exercised mostly well, and I finished grading the large assignment from hell. The cons: I did nothing else. Really. So little art created. I’m frustrated by that, but that means I’m frustrated by myself, because it really was about mindset more than anything else. I didn’t make time for it. I was a lot of braindead. I suspect I needed to be a lot of braindead, but I also know I needed to make the art, because I can feel it today. It’s an ache of not doing. I should have tried harder.

Ah, those should haves. All I can do is try harder now. When I have so much on my plate. It’ll be fine. It always is somehow.

We walked the dogs on Saturday. You can’t really see it, but there’s snow out there, way out in the distance.

And brand new green stuff on the ground. Saturday was a lot of grading…

Sunday was chaotic. It always is. Started with pilates. Then groceries and schoolwork to prep for today and prepping breakfasts for the next three weeks and organizing my brain for the same three weeks. I think most people have no idea how much prep teaching takes…especially on Sundays. I send the parent email from my whole team, I try to prep warmups for the week (I made it through Tuesday…whoops), set up any online posts that aren’t set up already, answer emails etc. I did do art stuff though. I entered a show yesterday. I was hoping I would hear from another entry before I entered this one (rejected pieces are good for new shows, right?), but ironically, I had just hit SUBMIT and then the other show results came in. Oh well. Frustrating. But I did get in to the first show with one piece, so I can’t really complain.

It was busy. But I did get the last bit of the grading done on that project, so that was good. Oh yeah, I drew Saturday night. I made myself. I was exhausted. But there’s a piece in my head that happens to be next on the list. This is a very rough start to it…

But it is a start. More hopefully later this week.

The kittens are getting more comfortable with hanging out on the couch with us.

Of course, this was after an hour or so of tearing around like maniacs.

Last night during dinner…the blue-eyed beast kept trying to sample off my dinner plate. Her sister was more interested in a nap.

About 10 minutes later, they were racing all over the room again.

This guy wanted to play too…

He’s a little nervous about the kittens still, but he’s a good boy.

OK, so it’s school. Followed by two meetings. Ugh. Then get my hair cut before the holidays start for reals. Honestly this was when she was available. I don’t really care what my hair looks like. I care that I can get a brush through it. Then come home and do some artmaking. Maybe I just make more when I’m too busy not to. Or something. Down time is not my friend? Who knows. I can reflect on it or I can just move on and make something. Going for that.

A Better Person…

I want to be done. With schoolwork. With grading. With worrying about Christmas presents. With worrying about school. I want to take a year off work (ha! So funny. So financially not happening) and make art for a year. Every day for a year. Doesn’t that sound lovely? It does. OK, I wouldn’t talk to anyone probably for that year, but hey…that might also be a good thing.

This attitude will not help me get through the next three weeks of school. I need a better one. I need a long walk today. Outside. I need to finish the grading today…well, the major assignment anyway. I need some artmaking today. Those are all good goals.

I wrote a public post on Patreon today…mostly because I thought I owed my patrons a post and then I realized I didn’t. So I made it public…I keep trying to encourage people to support my Patreon. Because otherwise I’m copyediting during my breaks to try to make up the extra cash I need. Or worrying about how I have nothing really on my Etsy and I could finish some things and get them on there, why am I not doing a Shop Small Saturday thing? I’m small. Sigh. Because it takes too much time and energy for where I’m at right now. I had this great idea last week about what to do with some of the smaller unfinished stuff I had, but it requires time and energy I don’t have right now to do. Yes, they might sell. Yes, they might clear out some of the little pieces I have lying around. But is it worth it right now? Or should I spend more time drawing and working on the current quilt? Those are probably a better use of my time.

I’m constantly second-guessing what I’m doing. Maybe less of that.

So Thanksgiving…I did go to pilates, which was good. I’m appreciating the slow exercise and meditative aspect of it, but focus on the core. At some point, I’ll have to find a better balance with the gym, hiking, and pilates, but I committed to three months of twice a week, so that’s through January…which is easier, because there are a lot of holiday days in there, so it’s easier for me to fit in exercise. We had dinner with the man’s family, short and early…I forgot to take the annual photo of food, but this was pretty…

We came back, did some more family stuff, ate leftover homemade pizza for dinner, felt sleepy, all those things.

Awww. So that’s Luna…used to be Sue-Bob. She’s the bigger kitten.

I also took apart that turkey I cooked, bagged it up for turkey sandwiches in December. Then I finished grading all the kid videos for the project I’m grading. It’s boring, so I have to do something else while I’m doing it…so I drew my November Patreon drawing…

Lots of holiday stuff in that…kittens and holly and snow.

Friday was all about grading. And kittens.

I can’t say I was efficient. I wasn’t. I’m on the last phase of grading this project though so I’m motivated to get it done.

It’s such a pain in the ass. I don’t know how to make it better though.

Oh look! It’s a puppy!

He’s been my companion as well.

Somewhere in the middle of this, I got sick. It wasn’t too bad. Everything came up. I felt off for a few hours. I seem to be OK today. OK then. Food rejection.

This is Nova. She’s the smaller kitten. In this photo, she’s staring at MY Kitten, who is so NOT a kitten, just named that.

It’s a little tense. We’re hoping it gets better. If not, Kitten has me and the kittens have each other.

So no progress on the quilt in two days, which sucks. But it happens. Today will be better. But first, my electricity is going off so they can install the thing that makes the solar panels work with my electrical company. I didn’t know this was happening, so I guess it’s a good thing that I’m home to turn all the electrical things off first. Woo hoo! Art today. Later. I swear. It makes me a better person.

You Do You, Boo…

Happy Turkey Day to anyone who needs it or wants it. If you’re good being thankful for something (like the fact that the turkey made it in the oven without hitting the floor, or that it’s not raining YET), then do that. If it feels like a burden, for fuck’s sake, don’t take on other people’s guilt about gratitude. It doesn’t have to be today. It can be tomorrow, when everyone is gone. I personally am in extreme introvert mode and really not in the mood for people, but y’all know that doesn’t matter today. Stitching helps me deal with that too, but that’s not a thing today either. My parents are snowed in (probably temporarily) in the mountains, my son is going to his dad’s with some pie he made and a jalapeno, my daughter is in Boston doing a Friendsgiving with her bestie, and I will be off to the man’s family gathering after pilates and pulling MY turkey out of the oven.

Yes. This is MY turkey.

Every year, I go to everybody’s else’s party and then I can’t have turkey sandwiches. So I buy a little turkey and I cook it, and I freeze the meat in batches so I can have turkey sandwiches basically until Christmas. It’s a little crazy, but it makes me happy. No, I don’t get sick of them. Honestly, as a diabetic, it’s easier for me to eat something similar every day for my blood sugar. I don’t do it for dinner, but I do for breakfast and lunch. Less thinking is better, as I’m realizing over break, when I just plain old forget to eat and then my blood sugar crashes every damn day. Sigh. Notes for retirement.

Anyway, so that’s in the oven and I need to leave for pilates in about 30 minutes. I’ll have time to shower, pull the turkey out, and then probably will have to leave before I can pull it apart. Oh well. I should have done it yesterday, but I got waylaid. Sort of. In a good way.

I did go to the gym, where I did NOT finish the book that was due to the library in 5 hours, so they sucked it back up and sent it to the next person, who is probably also in my book club, waiting to read the second book in the series.

Then I realized I had 4 other books out from the library. I knew about one, maybe two? So there’s plenty of reading to do in the next two weeks…none of them the actual book club book. Minor issue.

My quilting friend who moved to Portland was supposed to call on Monday (call? Well, we Facebook Messenger video each other) and spaced out, so we decided yesterday was the day…with kitten assist…

She was trying to sew a Burda pattern (my friend, not the kitten), which if you know anything about sewing, you know it’s a pain in the ass, so she sent me photos of the instructions and I talked her past all the mistakes she was gonna make. Seriously, I made a Burda dress once…ONCE…so that makes me an expert.

It started raining and it was cold, so all the furry beasts eventually came and hung out with us.

I spent 3 hours cutting out the newest quilt…

Hmmm…not so helpful…

This one was pretty sleepy…

Until like 11 PM, when he wanted to play.

Yes, we talked for 3 hours. Our normal meeting was 2 hours, so it wasn’t so weird.

I took a break after cutting a bunch of stuff out and we (the actual humans in the house) all made pizzas for dinner. Then back to cutting. Should I have graded shit then? Of course I should have. Oh well.

This was better for my brain certainly. Being pissed off at my job is a constant occurrence, and the best thing to do is ignore its existence occasionally.

That kitten will not fit in a thread drawer forever.

Just to be clear, she climbed in from the back. Open drawer. There is cat.

They might have real names now. We went through the Greek gods, the Norse gods and all their flunkies, the female superhero collection, and names of space things. The hardest part was coming up with TWO that were OK and kinda went together.

I’ll wait for confirmation before I announce.

This is Simba. He came with his name.

And he ignores it all the time.

I just kept cutting stuff out. This is 6 hours in…

There’s still an awful lot left to go. There goes my dream of being ironed together before we go to the mountains. Although we may not be able to go…there was a lot more snow yesterday than they thought. Some of yesterday’s crew did not make it up the mountain. Today there is supposed to be more. So we will see.

Trying to get kittens and puppy to get along. Seems to be working. Nobody is hissing in this photo…

Yet.

OK, enjoy your day. Eat healthy. Or not. It’s one day. It won’t kill anyone. Well, except for some diabetics, I guess. I’m hoping for regulated blood sugar, but also some quiet time to finish stuff and maybe a movie with the man. Here. At home. No shopping. None of that crazy shit. You do you, boo. I know what I can handle. And it’s not much. Love to my fam far and wide.

That One Is for Me…

Ugh. OK. Pros! No 12-year-olds to be seen for miles around. I’m still in my pajamas! The sun is shining on me (but the storm is coming, so enjoy the fuck out of that, because you won’t see it again until maybe Saturday). There are kittens in the house and they are fun to hang out with. There’s a turkey brining in the fridge JUST FOR ME. Yes, I make myself a turkey every year so I can eat turkey sandwiches for three weeks straight in December. It’s weird, I know, but I like it. I earned $50 yesterday doing some research thing for WordPress. Also weird, I know, but they caught me at a weak moment and I’m pretty good at that stuff.

Not-so-pros or -cons: I should go to the gym. I have time and I have a book to read that is probably going to be sucked back to the library tonight, so I really should just go to the gym and read the whole book. I could. I don’t feel like going to the gym though. I need to figure out when to actually COOK this turkey…because I’m supposed to cook dinner too, and I can’t do that in the middle of turkey cooking. But that means looking up times and I think I already threw out the weight thing on the turkey, that was stupid, and I’m feeling tired and not motivated to do anything. My phone is ringing and I don’t recognize the number. I’m tired. Wait, that’s a con I think.

Cons: I only got halfway through grading the kid videos last night. There are 66 of them. I did 34 of them. And you know what? They’re kinda boring and sometimes just plain irritating because we even did a video telling them what to do and they still ignored half of what we said and just did what they wanted. And I suspect they’ve been doing that for a long time, because every assignment is like that. I had two videos where one kid is whispering what to say to the other kid(s) and I’m like, um, so that won’t work in your day job. I love that you want to help, but that kid is flaking and maybe you need to kick them out of the group or have a talk with them outside of the video about what they need to say. Because that kid doesn’t deserve the points. And I remember last year when the kids are like, why did my partner get a higher score than I did and it’s because of that. In the video, you got some extra points because one kid was awesome, but on paper, not so much.

So I have 32 videos to watch today. Ugh. This is how I did it yesterday. Headphones on (until I had to move to the desktop because the internet was being cranky), stitching going…

It’s easy to do this and watch because it keeps my brain occupied. I guess I could have been cutting pieces out for the quilt as well. I forgot about that until later. This was about an hour and a half…but I finished the lion…

Just the bird left and then I’m done with September. It really has not been a good year for working on this quilt…I was reading my blog from a year ago and I was on the August blocks. Plus sewing down the wool for October, which I still haven’t started. I wish at family gatherings that I could sit and stitch, but it seems rude. My co-attender tells me it’s rude. He’s more sociable than I am. I can still talk. It relaxes me. Family gatherings don’t.

Anyway. I need to watch those videos and start grading the packets themselves. They need to be done before we go back to school. I need to grade the CER essay too, but that just hurts my brain. We’re supposed to go to Arrowhead on Friday, but the weather might keep us home. We’ll see. Driving in snow makes me nervous. Reading through past years of November blogposts…I am always doing this: making lasagne (I did that Monday and froze three meals for December), making a turkey, going to family stuff, grading a ton of crap, and somewhere in the process of making a quilt. There’s usually a hike in there (we did that Monday because we knew weather was coming). There’s often a last-minute trip to the grocery store (I went yesterday, but I’m out of one thing I need, dammit, no desire to go there today ffs). My eyelids are often twitching (last year, it was the left one…this year, it is the right one). It’s not my favorite week. Shocking.

So pet more kittens…

Go to the gym because it will make you feel better.

Ouch. Those claws are sharp.

Figure out the turkey stuff…timing and all. I found the tag in the trash, so I know how much it weighs now.

Awww. Sleepy kittens.

They slept a lot yesterday. Like 5 hours straight. Like they’re babies. They were pretty active the day before.

And then cut this thing out. Because you can. Although IDK what I’m going to binge watch now…I finished The Crown…

Whatever. It probably doesn’t matter. OK. I have a plan. Turkey. Gym. Videos (from hell). Cutting stuff out while watching and after. Stern talking to with eyelid. Knock it off! This is what it is, this week. It could be better, but I probably should have started earlier on a relaxation plan. Two pilates classes, a hike, and a trip to the gym will help…so will being done with grading. And ironing the quilt together. Still on my to-do list.

Hope all your holiday making plans are going well. I want apple pie this year. I might make my own. May there be lots of artmaking as well. That one is for me.

Damn Eyelid

Hmmm. Well. I sorta forgot to write for a couple of days. I mean, I usually blow off Sunday anyway, but I’m pretty sure yesterday was Monday and today is Tuesday. In my defense, I’ve been busy and out of a normal daily routine, which is probably why the writing didn’t happen. I haven’t hit relaxation mode yet, and honestly, probably won’t over this break. I just have too much work this week.

In good news, there’s lots of kitten interaction, if only to try to figure out where they’re hiding or to introduce them to the other furry beasts in the house. And I should sleep more on a week off. I really should. Oops.

OK, so Saturday, I ironed for a while…this is Figure 3…all done.

Saturday night, I went to watch the man’s band…and two more bands…

Lots of 80s punk…and the man playing as Exene from X.

Like you do. I was tired after all that and went to bed early. Can’t get the sleep or the eating under control this week so far.

On Sunday, I had tons to get done. Unlike some…

Sundays are always too much stuff. But then I got most of Figure 4 done…

At some point, I realized it was well after midnight…that’s a lot of fabrics…

I was almost done, but it would have taken a lot of time to really get done…that’s it. That’s all.

So that would be Monday.

Monday started at the DMV. I needed to get my RealID and I figured now was better than waiting until the last minute…although I made the appointment two months ago, and this was the earliest I could get in. When I got there, they told me one of the pieces of documentation I had wouldn’t work, even though it was on the list they sent me. Luckily, I had another piece in the car (that expired the day before, but apparently they didn’t care about that), so after 45 minutes or so, I was done. I read my book. Good use of time.

A really good use of time was the 4.3-mile walk we did with the dogs…

We missed one trail but eventually found another one heading the same way…well, not that one…

That was the most relaxing thing I’ve done so far.

Outside. With dogs. And boychild. Plus no grading.

The grading is stressing me out. I keep thinking I’ll just do one part of the larger assignment a day, but that’s not necessarily working. And I won’t have enough days…because I’m assuming Thanksgiving through Sunday are lost days due to family gatherings and travel. I really don’t want a lot of these assignments transferring over into December. It’ll be hard enough to get through those three weeks. Plus grades will be due again. SIGH.

Better to be outside.

And it was a good day for it…supposed to be rain starting tomorrow. Lots of it.

Back to kittens…

They have totally different personalities. And they still need appropriate names. Apparently Sharp and Pointy are not options.

This bag was very exciting…

I just watched for a while and drank my tea.

Back to grading, I persuaded Kitten to come out and be sociable, and then she saw the kittens.

She’s still not a fan.

We lost kittens a few times yesterday. They climbed into the drawers from under the table.

That’s now a thread AND kitten drawer.

I finally made it into the studio around 10:30 PM…with the last bit of the ironing to do.

But I got them all ironed down…

Almost 14 hours…the chaos of fabric piled up…

I stayed up way too late.

There we go. 134 fabrics total. The box on the bottom right is the four different flesh runs.

Going for some variety. Every figure got their own red heart fabrics too. Anyway. The next step is to cut them all out. I also have over 3 hours of videos to watch today…not kitten videos, but students. It might kill me, but I’m aiming to finish it…in between buying snow chains and a turkey and making it to my pilates class. The right eye has finally stopped twitching, but I’m still grinding my teeth. Deep breaths. And more exercise. Wait. Dammit. That eyelid just started twitching again. Aargh.

The Good Meditative Stuff.

It’s my first day of nine days off of school. There’s about 40 hours of grading in there, but let’s ignore that for now, eh? Honestly, all I really want to do at the moment is avoid human interactions. People. Anything needy. Well, except for kittens. Kittens are needy but fun, so I’ll deal with them. And I can deal with a few people. OK, maybe one. At a time. But not before 9 AM. So far today, I’ve done a pilates class (actually talked to three different humans. Maybe four. No, five. But most of it was short and sweet. Take my package. I had knee surgery. My name is Kathy.). I need to go sign all my paperwork for the loan to put solar in. That’s exciting. I will probably need to speak to one person for that. I need to buy milk. No need for speech, y’all. There should be an introvert line at the grocery store. No Need to Ask Me If I Found Everything OK. Seriously. Don’t speak. Yes, there’s self-service in some of the stores, but I’m aware of that taking away people’s jobs, so although I personally prefer the self checkout, sigh. Please just don’t make them talk to me.

After signing papers, I have hours of alone time with my grading and my ironing. Gonna do both. Might have to talk to people tonight. Or not. Maybe not. I just don’t know. I’m OK with not.

So I finished Figure 2 last night…and all the bits in and around her. I’m ready for Figure 3 this afternoon.

Then Figure 4 on Sunday, start cutting out. Be done by Tuesday? Night? Then start ironing together. I’d really like it all ironed together by the time I go to Lake Arrowhead on Friday. Sigh. Then I can draw the next one while I’m in Arrowhead. Get it ready. Because time…it flies. Erratically, yes, but flies.

My right eyelid is still twitching from last week. And people. People are making it twitch.

Sometimes I’m OK with people. I worked on this on Thursday night at my stitching meeting…started the lion…

And finished the tree…

This is Sue Spargo’s Folk Tails 2015 Block of the Month. Yeah. I’m slow. This is September’s blocks. I’m getting closer to done. There were three people there. They were fine.

You’re always getting closer to done if you keep working.

I spent some time with kittens and my book this morning…my toes are fascinating.

Then again, everything is fascinating when you are a kitten.

They love to play…

It’s hard to get good pictures because they are always moving. We are still mulling over names. This is hard.

How do we climb the curtains?

Devious little beasties.

They met Simba. There was fear and confusion all around. A little bit of hissing…

Hopefully they will all get along.

OK, off to the bank. Then back here to grade and iron. It sounds nice, doesn’t it? Well, minus the grading, but let’s just understand that it has to happen. I’ll fit in the good meditative stuff around it. Make that eye twitch go away.

Reading to Kittens…

Ah Friday…Friday before 9 full days off from the neediness and the having to be ON ALL THE TIME. Nine days of peeing whenever the fuck I want. Nine days of grading, yes, that too, but at least I don’t have to do it all at night after working all day. Or if I’ve been working all day, it’ll be on my quilt. I do have a shit-ton of grading to do. It’s a pain. It’s not fun. And we’re not fully planned for the next unit either, so that’s panicking me slightly. We’re close. Not there yet. And then we need to plan the NEXT one. Sigh. This job. Sometimes. Is just so hard and so much.

OK, so think about kittens and art instead.

I got home and went in to the cat condo to let them out and run around…we have them sort of (not really) contained in one room in the house, but it doesn’t have a door, so it’s a problematic thing. A baby gate wouldn’t help…they climb right up the cat condo walls like it’s a tree. So you distract them. I read to them from my book.

They were fascinated, but mostly by the light. And things that move. I should put cat TV on for them. They do spend a chunk of time in the large cat condo while we’re gone…

And sometimes when we’re here, because you have to keep eyes on them constantly and that’s exhausting. I did play a lot with them though before I came in to play with MY kitteh and iron some shit.

She still likes me. I take her in to see kittens and she doesn’t really like it, but I hope she warms up to them. Sigh.

So this is Figure 2 getting ironed down. I’m pulling a run of 7 fabrics for each of them.

Trying to make them all different. Might have to rethink my background options though. They might be too dark. We’ll see.

So the box in the middle is the two runs of flesh. Then everything else of course.

I still need to do all the funky stuff on Figure 2…hair, eyeballs, heart, etc. Then on to Figures 3 and 4. This is a good place to be in for going into a long week off…I predict getting it all ironed together and hopefully stitched down by the time I go back to school. OK. Wait. That might be a little too much for me to be able to do…but I probably should get that far. OK. It’s a busy week. No matter what.

For now? I’m going to school and hoping the kids continue to be as good as they have been (although two periods yesterday pushed me a little over the edge). Then they can turn in the million things I have to grade and I will finish the worksheet I’m drawing (yeah, that’s a little crazy, but whatever). And then it will end with an assembly and I can come home and read my book to the kittens again. Sounds good.

Hoping It’s Chill…

I know. You don’t care about anything but kittens. I barely hung out with kittens yesterday. Just scared the crap out of Sue-Bob (OMG that name. I’m so sorry if that’s your name. I mean I’m a Kathy…along with 75% of my generation) by trying to introduce her to Calli, who snorted excitedly and suddenly I had a tiny thunderstorm with claws in my hand. Speaking of thunderstorms, we had a tiny one yesterday afternoon…best part? Listening to my students scream because…lightning. I don’t understand the screaming. Not at the thunder, a big booming scary sound, but at the light. OK. They were outside. Still. I would understand screaming because of thunder. It’s amazing how loud 400 kids can be.

Anyway. Yes. Storm. Kids don’t come to school because of storms. And then we’re getting CLOSE to a week off, so some kids just leave early and then they’ll be back eventually, sometime in December. The kids who are still here are being remarkably chill (except when there’s lightning, and I think we’re done with that).

I didn’t see kittens much yesterday because I had book club. I rowed my boat (not really, but definitely hydroplaned very slowly) across town and enjoyed the company of some very well-read women. I should do more of that, since my local quilt group is having a hard time getting started. That group also has a crafty group, but they mostly knit I think. I guess I already hang out with knitters. Although I just looked on the app and those meetings disappeared. Huh. I guess I could try doing it with them? Like being the organizer? Maybe after the holidays. I’m overwhelmed right now. I actually wrote curriculum before and after book club…

He was not helpful in any way, shape, or form.

At some point, I ironed. A little earlier than previous nights, but not a lot.

It’s going slowly. I’m tired. I got a rocket ironed, plus the sun, plus all the things in Figure 1 (heart, hair, eyeballs, etc.)…

Calli had post-thunderstorm anxiety and stayed with me.

Yes, I have to step over her multiple times. It’s good exercise.

Here’s where I’m at so far. Lots of sun fabrics there.

I did a cloud too. On to Figure number 2 tonight. Although I have another meeting. It’s a busy week.

I have not been home much. Hopefully there will not be a lot of rain to negotiate tonight while driving. Last night’s excursion was a little crazy, although the people on the road were being mostly careful. Some TOO careful maybe, but better than than kamikaze.

Oh yeah, I signed up for a class in Palm Springs in January. Weird, I know, but it’s something I saw and it sold out and now there’s another one and it intrigues me. I’m not usually a class-taking person, but I guess I took one class in 2019. This will be my one 2020 class? Who knows. OK, off to school and a rewards breakfast for kids…hoping it’s as chill as it was yesterday.

Almost Relief

Well. That’s done. And a relief. Too many people in my classroom, my poor kids stressed out (OK, well, some absolutely blossomed with that many adults in there, good to know for next time). Super long day, a million steps, very tired, they canceled tutoring (oh hallelujah), but I had a meeting later…which was fine, except I’ve never ever seen that Starbucks that full, so we had to sit outside and it was raining (it was covered but cold and dampish). And I was able to come home and finish grading Unit 2, although that was more difficult than you would think due to kittens.

But I can go into the last three days of school before a week off with almost relief. I guess there’s still a shitload of stuff to do. It’s just less high stress. We even got the field trip lunches ordered, so that was a miracle. I’m feeling pretty chill. Knock on wood. Because that never lasts.

I’m back to insomnia though…at least the falling-asleep kind. Brain won’t shut up. Hopefully a week off will help with that.

Until then, there will be lots of kitten photos. Because they’re cute. This is Diva. She’s super cautious and not Diva-like at all.

I suggested calling her Frida. She seems the thoughtful painterly type.

This is Sue-Bob. She is aggressive and boisterous and adventurous. We both have accidentally called her a he, which says more about our social/cultural shit than it says about her. She’s a strong, opinionated female.

She should maybe be called Gloria, but since these are not mine to name, and people names on cats is a little weird, we’re probably not going to do that. I suggested Pussy. That did not go down well.

Oh yeah, here was my outdoor, slightly damp seat at Starbucks, waiting for my meeting, while fixing the holes in my sweatshirt.

We’ll see how it holds up.

By the time I got back, the man was cooking and the kittens were locked up, because they needed a nap.

Oh yeah. Cute.

The man goes to bed lots earlier than I do, so he asked me to supervise the little beasts until I was done. I had grading to do, so I sat in there and tried to grade with the little twerps.

They chewed on units, my fingers, and my toes. Sue-Bob tried to escape about 15 times. Diva almost went down the back of the desk into the never-never land behind. They tried to grab my pen and my phone, and definitely went headfirst into my tea. I forgot what babies are like. Holy Shit.

Uh huh. Thems my toes.

When I was done, I put them back in their giant-ass crate (seriously could fit 50 more kittens in there) and they mewed at me and I felt bad, but Kitten was waiting for me in the studio…

She’s being standoffish. I take her to watch them play or sleep. She’s not keen on this. I’m hoping she warms up to it. Because I think we all might have already bonded. Oops.

I didn’t get a lot done…there are four figures in this quilt and each one will be slightly different. I did all the flesh tones…

I still need to do the heart, hair, uterus, and all that floofy stuff.

I have book club tonight…hopefully I’ll get some ironing in after that. We usually meet outside, so I’m not sure what will happen with that. Not my problem.

OK, need to get to work. It’s raining. Just lightly for now. The downpour comes later. Makes the old lady dog nervous, makes the roads dangerous. Also waters the plants. I’m good with that. I think today is a Plant My Butt on a Rolling Chair Day. We’ll see if that really works. Hopefully.

Nida As Is…Plus Kittens!

Today is a crazy day. But once it’s done, I think things will just slide into a week off (a week off that includes lots of driving and grading and all that stuff, but still a week off, dammit).

My classroom will be full of people today…I had to pick kids to teach during my prep, just to show politicians what science looks like these days. I love that two of the science classes they’ll be going to are focusing on environmental science…because that’s a thing. I’m hoping it goes well…I’m just going to teach like I always do. They keep saying dog-and-pony show, but I don’t dog OR pony well, so they’ll just get Nida as is, maybe minus my commentary on “It sucks to be you.” Or not. I did cherry-pick my class…so it’s way smaller than any real class I have and no one is an asshole. It’ll be interesting. I’m not a fan of this crap, but these are the people trying to figure out how ESSA and NCLB will work, and they need to see real kids in action. So maybe I should have cherry-picked some of the more challenging kids, true, but…my sanity is part of this picture.

Meanwhile, back home, we are fostering two kittens with the plan of adopting them…

They are dilute calicos, which means they have more recessive genes than they know what to do with…both girls, sisters in fact. For now, they are residing in this kitty condo so we don’t lose their tiny bodies in this house, plus dogs and other cat have a chance to get acquainted.

One tiny kitten already voiced her objection to Simba, thus crushing his dreams of being their bestie. That might change.

Kitten has visited them multiple times without incident…

She was the real worry…we want her to have good years as the oldest cat in the house, but we also hope she will love them and play with them. She used to play with our oldest cat back in the day…so we know she has it in her. And with Satchemo dying, she’s been out and roaming the house and playing and running around, and we want that to continue…that’s kinda why we picked kittens, plus we want them to have someone to play with no matter what, so sisters is also good.

They have lame names. We haven’t figured that out yet. This is Diva…

She’s more shy and retiring and cautious.

This is her more aggressive sis, Sue-Bob. No really.

She’s into the love. Likes pets and playing like a maniac, plus pushing her sister out of the way. So I guess there will be a lot more kitten pictures. We haven’t let them out into the house yet. These are the man’s cats really, so he is taking the day off work to bond. Really just to play with kittens.

I did grade last night…just one more night of the big project is left, and then I have about 9 hours of reading CER essays (claim, evidence, reasoning). Then I ironed for an hour. An hour a night is better than nothing, and this was an easy hour…continuing around the background, I did the hills and the mountains.

The hardest part was finding all the pieces, because they were in three different boxes.

Next I start with the first female figure…each one will be a different flesh run, so that’s complicated. But not yet. I think I have to do the clouds and sun first. Can’t remember.

Anyway. Gotta go to work. Yesterday, I got to school and as part of the prep for these important folks coming to our school, they “cleaned” our rooms over the weekend without telling us. All the tables, chairs, technology, anything that was on my teacher desk, and all the lab materials we’d left out on Friday were all shoved in random places. It took me 40 minutes to put everything back. My co-teacher had a morning meeting, so she didn’t have that time. Let’s just say things got managed, but it was a clusterfuck. I didn’t get the stuff done in the morning that I needed to get done, unfortunately, so I’m still behind and I have field trip stuff that has to happen today. And I don’t have a prep today. It’ll be fine, but it’ll be better when the day is done. After tutoring. Plus I have an evening meeting. So a little nutso today.

Ironing tonight though…I hope.

Four more days.