Remember…

Remember. Remember that school only started about two weeks ago. That you feel this exhausted every year for the first few weeks. That it kicks your butt. This might be why I write a blog…simply so I can go back to early September every single year and read, “I’m tired. I’m so tired.” And then I don’t feel so bad about it. It’s normal. For a teacher.

On top of that, I think I’ve developed an allergy to chapstick after all these years. Or something. I feel like I could sleep for the entire weekend. But I can’t.

So I have completed many tasks in the last 24 hours…sending photos for a show I’ll be in come January, trying to get new house insurance because the Auto Club doesn’t like me, paying this bill and that bill, making a label for and packing up a quilt that needs to ship today!, trying to find a cord online so I don’t have to buy it in a store, stupid shit. Grading papers at a stitching meeting because I need to get them done (I didn’t get them done yet). By the time I got home from the stitching meeting, I was exhausted again. Shocking really that doing a lab all day made me tired…OH MY, we all have one period, sometimes two, where Listening to Instructions just doesn’t happen…but the best was when a kid asked “How do you measure length?” 1. The same way you did yesterday. 2. Weren’t you listening yesterday? 3. What did you do yesterday? 4. I repeated instructions today. Were you listening? I think I got a tad frustrated with that class.

Our team has had to be hard on these kids. It makes us feel bad sometimes, but there are certain behaviors I won’t deal with and now is the time to crush them. They’re really elementary kids at heart…and this is 7th grade. So while I’m standing up front giving instructions, some tiny beast will be wandering up to me and standing right in front of me and wanting to ask a question. Um. What are you doing? Go sit down. I swear, I wonder sometimes what goes on in other classes. I suspect they are just like us and kids are just like dogs…they want to be in your space. They want your attention. They hate to wait. They do believe they are the most important person in the world and no one else exists. This behavior training is exhausting as well. Sit down. Raise your hand. Ask the people at your table. Look at the board/screen for instructions. What part of it do you not understand. Don’t say “I don’t get it.” I will just walk away. “Don’t get WHAT?!” Meditation. Yup. During passing periods. Already meeting about kids who are unable to read or write in 7th grade. Meanwhile, count your extra books, put your books in piles by period for the state government check on whether we have textbooks (which we can’t check out to kids because the state hasn’t checked up on us yet), then we give you two new kids and you have to find them books, and how many headphones do you have? Tell me by Friday. Tell me the number of extra books by Thursday AM, but 10 minutes later you need two of them.

Sorry. Ranting. I have no one to talk to most of the time. That’s kinda sinking in as well. When I’m buried in work/art, it’s easier not to think about it, but last night, it was not easy to not think about it. My brain says, “Hey walk down the hall and check on a kid, just say hi.” “There is no kid.” “What? No kid? When will they be back?” “Almost 4 months. Shut up.” So that’s going well. I’m sure it will get easier. But not before it gets harder.

After a day like that, even though I had an enjoyable coupla hours with Julie, I was not ready and willing to sew, but I knew I had to. I wanted the legs done last night…and that didn’t happen. I got the second leg done down to the first…

I really am so close to done on this part of the sewing…

That’s it. That’s all there is. Here’s the purples already laid out for that last leggy bit (that was at 11:45 PM)…

For tonight’s sewing excursion.

Then I’ve gone through what happens next about 100 times in my head and I’m not sure exactly what will happen, but I’m not pinbasting anything. I do still want to add some stuff on top, and I don’t think it would take much time, but I’ve basically told myself it has to happen tonight. AND I have to trim it to size tonight, which won’t be easy either. All that after an exhausting week. Then tomorrow…spray baste to batting, cut a backing, sew it on, flip the fucker, iron it, maybe stitch it a bit. Have to remember to insert tabs so I can hang it up. Install is Monday. House is still a mess. Brain is a mess. Woo hoo! Incredibly behind on grading. Haven’t put any grades in the computer at all. Could be a shocker for the kids…

Anyway. Wish me luck. I’m really wanting to be done with this one and back on the other one. Although I really really have to finish the commissioned boob first. It won’t take long. I’m hoping to get it done by the end of the weekend. I’m hoping to get some sleep too though, so we’ll see how all that goes.

She’s Got Legs…

Yes. Now that song is in my head All Day Long. And probably yours too. If not, don’t think too hard about it. Avoid the earworm.

So after totally sucking Tuesday night (well, at least on the art front…wait, I lost both games too, but I was close for a while on one), last night I completely rocked. Four hours of sewing and ironing (hello chiropractor on Friday, because that twist and turn I do to get the fabric and iron to the side without standing is a killer). I’m feeling much less panicked about getting this done now (although still not completely out of panic mode…I might need a margarita party Monday night once it’s hung). I’m actually thinking about the next steps…OK, so I thought about those on Sunday and called the Mom Store for supplies…I really would have gone out and bought them, but she handed it to me and…well…there we are.

You have to understand that I am doing almost nothing else when I get home. I feed myself (barely) and the animals. I pet them. I sleep and shower. But I’m not (really) cleaning. I occasionally move something or throw something out because it seems easy to do it right then, but the house isn’t getting cleaner or even presentable. Sigh! Art waits for nothing. Deadlines wait for nothing.

I started before dinner last night…decided to get to a certain point before I was allowed to eat. I needed to finish the ribs to the hole. That sounds awful, but it makes sense when you’re looking at it. Have I mentioned this thing has a giant hole in it? It does. Originally something was going to hang through it. I could still do that, but it would probably have to be a baby doll and not fabric. I thought about gluing small pieces of fabric all over the baby doll…like decoupage of old, but…eh…time and I just don’t know if I want that.

So it was still daylight when I started on the other side (which I technically started Monday night)…

I had originally sewn the outline with this red old thread from Sandi, and I think the stitching was too close together with the muslin being so light and foofy, so to keep the base fabric flat, in some places I have to rip out a stitch and pull to lay it flat. This section was particularly bad for some reason…

I finished the side, and girlchild called from Boston. An hour later, I’m pretty proud of all the things she’s trying to do. Apparently moving 3000 miles away makes you braver. Good for her. I cooked dinner while talking to her and then ate after she went off with her friends to study Anthropology.

Then I finished around the hole. I thought I had more torso until I hit pubic area, but no. It was right there. So I formed that over the purple that would be the legs.

I keep burning myself on the iron. This one looks worse this morning. I don’t know how I’m doing it…just reaching around the fabric and hitting it, I think. I tried to move it behind me after that so I wouldn’t keep burning myself.

Sometime around 10 PM, I got all that done and tried to see the whole thing. It’s getting harder…

So all that’s left now are the legs. I put away a bunch of the blue (at least the smaller bins…I’ll wait on the larger bins) and pulled purples.

I don’t have anywhere near as many purples as blues, but I still have a lot. Purple’s weird though…such a range of red-purple to blue-purple. Seems harder than blue.

Here’s the legs coming off the bottom…I think they’re at least as tall as I am. If the whole thing is 17 feet, then 5 feet for legs is actually a little short, but I did make the body the biggest part. Oh yeah. And now you can really see the hole. Although it’s not currently a hole. Yeah.

Purples piled for legs…

I rested for about 20 minutes with the dog on the couch in the dark before starting this. I could legitimately have gone to sleep, but I am still worried about having enough time to finish, because I honestly don’t know how long each step will take.

That’s the plus to keeping track of your time. Then you can estimate better for next time. I spent about 45 minutes on this part of the leg (and picking fabrics out). It’s halfway done. I should be able to finish the legs tonight after my meeting. Really. I should.

I’m 15 hours into the piecing. Someone asked if I would sell this. Thing is, I’m already almost 19 hours into it and it’s not near done yet. And it’s weird. Where are you going to hang it? A wall that’s over 17 feet high or long (I could hang it in my hallway or my living room or even my entryway), but it’s not even configured to hang on a wall. It could be, but that would take more time. And it’s not going to be cheap because of the time involved.

So that’s not why I make art. I suppose that’s obvious to most.

OK. School calls, along with about 75 damp and mushy gummy bears (don’t ask). And I try not to look at the calendar and see Monday looming (that’s install day, although I can push to Thursday if I have to, but it’s not like Tuesday and Wednesday are days that have a lot of sewing time available). I want this fucker done and out of my hair. I like how it’s coming out, but fuck me. It needs to get out of here. And my head.

Stuff That’s Out There

So I didn’t get any art done last night. I didn’t get home until 10:30 and then I was exhausted. It means I’m kinda panicked about tonight, getting lots done, so wish me luck…I’m going to come home from running a lab with 150+ 7th graders and gummy bears and water, and then I’m going to NOT lie prone on the couch like a corpse. I am going to get in here and sew all night. Really. I am. I mean, I had fun last night playing games and hanging out, but aack.

So because I don’t have pictures of anything I did or didn’t do last night, I’ll have to use stuff that will be in exhibits this month.

The SAQA exhibit Celebrating Silver with my piece Awakening the Crone will be at the St. George Art Museum, St. George, Utah, from September 12 through December 31, 2015.

This piece was just at Quilt! Knit! Stitch! in Portland, Oregon.

The SAQA exhibit People and Portraits with my two pieces I Was Not Wearing a Life Jacket and Fully Medicated will be at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts in St. Bonaventure, New York, from September 25, 2015 – December 19, 2015. Ironically, these two quilts will be a whopping 128 miles away from my son at college. No, he will not go see the show and no, I cannot afford to see the show and him. Oh well.

I Was Not Wearing a Life Jacket below…the only quilt whose description is a haiku. Or a short poem anyway. I might not have counted out the syllables.

It’s got some crazy going on.

Fully Medicated…whenever people go on about homeopathic this or that (and holy crap, there are some things you just go to the doctor for because it’s crazy not to), it makes me feel bad for being on so many meds. I do a lot to try to keep myself healthy and my body just doesn’t freakin’ care. And I do take a lot of vitamins and natural supplements as well…but…so homeopathic for diabetes? Not so much. This is Fully Medicated…

All about the meds in my body. The background I hand-dyed myself. Not on purpose for this quilt. Just for fun and it happened to work out really well for this piece. Both of these are relatively old. The first from 2010; the second from 2011. Funny. I think they feel older than that even.

OK, I’m dealing with a vomiting cat and prepping my lunch and I still have to prep at school, so nothing coherent is coming out of my head except EW GROSS at the moment. Hopefully tomorrow will show progress.

Sewing Ribs…

I should listen to my left eyelid. It’s twitching at intervals. It’s stopped again, but it was going like wildfire when I was feeding the animals. It’s a combination of high stress (too many deadlines! too many people want something from me! too many things need to get done!) and not enough sleep. You’d think if I were that tired, it would be impossible for me to wake up at 3 AM and be unable to go back to sleep, but no. It’s not. Because my brain’s in overdrive. I keep forgetting to do things because my calendar didn’t remind me (let’s put blame where it belongs…I didn’t put it in the calendar because I was sure I would remember…ha!) or it reminded me too early and I couldn’t do it right then and then I forgot about it. I’m a chicken with my hair on fire.

The funny thing is, I know in about a week, a huge part of the stress will be gone, although I think I’m replacing it with more stress (just bid on a copyediting job…but dammit, I need the money!). Whatever.

So yesterday I did manage things quite well. School was exhausting, but it always is for the first month. I have to remember that this is only the second full week of school. I especially have to remember that with certain students who are already an issue. Because I have 37 more weeks with them before I boot ’em to 8th grade. And maybe, just maybe, I can get that crazy under control. Or not.

I even went to the gym for the first time in a month, post-procedure. It was awesome, but I wanted to read my book and I had to deal with dueling texters and a Clash of Clans end-of-war that was kinda disastrous…so I didn’t get to read much. It helped to have dinner already pretty much cooked from the night before (keep that in mind). I was able to start sewing around 9 PM.

I had piled up the next batch of blues the night before…darker and more vibrant blues.

You can tell I’m not even trying to match anything. I did originally think this was going to have more color, but…well…it’s not. There’s enough chaos going on. There will be more color as I go down, because it did finally color itself in my head the other night (while I was asleep), so that’s a good thing. It’s nice to know where you’re going.

I had sewn a dark strip down the middle of the torso the night before, because I thought this would be the best way to fill in the space…kinda like ribs.

So I set the first piece as a triangle and followed it down.

It’s tiring to do this kind of sewing late at night. Lots of turning and twisting in the chair to iron and cut and get fabric. I wanted to quit many times, but I needed to get a significant amount done. The clock ticking down is freaking me out. So I got all the way down one side to the giant hole that will be in this thing.

You can see the dog’s legs underneath. There has been a lot of animal interest in this space, since I am the only human around.

Here you can see the arm next to it. The arms will hang down towards the ground. The rest will be suspended above. I hope.

Kitten has taken over the keyboard area. Midnight was behind the sewing machine for a while.

I even started the other side and thought I could get another big chunk done…until a wave of exhaustion kicked me in the ass. So I stitched it down to get rid of the pins, and then I packed up for bed.

Here’s where I’m sewing and ironing. You can see how much of the side is left, plus the legs coming down.

Oh holy moley. I’m not out of the woods yet. So my new goal is to have all the pieces covered, sewn down, by the end of Friday night. Then Saturday I can do batting, background, sew it all down, etc. Whatever that’s going to look like. I left Sunday open because I know I will need more time than I think I will. I have some other things I’d like to do if I have the time, but realistically? I may very well not. But there’s an eyeball and a uterus and a heart that could go on there…if there’s time.

Sometimes, though, you just have to do what you can and accept that it’s done. Like this blog post (school!).

Black Head…

What was my goal for sewing this weekend again? I know it was get the torso to some point…which I did. I feel like I didn’t get as far as I wanted though…the head wanted to be black…

There’s a reason for that. Interesting thing about severe depression. It actually changes your brain. Like physically. And then when bad shit happens, even when you just have a bad day, the brain spirals much quicker than it would before the depression. When I was sewing the head, my own head was in a bit of a spiral. It’s mostly out again, but it’s hard to kick that black head.

I sewed the head down over a neck piece that was already there. Then I started filling in the upper chest, which was kind of a pain because I couldn’t just string piece like I did on the arms. So I messed with it and made it work.

The dark is for under the breasts…it has to go down first so I can sew the breasts down on top of that.

That’s where I quit on Saturday…wanted to be further, but that didn’t happen.

Sunday, I really hoped to have more time, but that’s life. The plus is that my school website is up and running, all my school stuff for the week is done (well, mostly), and I prepped food for the week as well, hopefully to forestall the lame foodness of last week, when I didn’t really prepare. We’ll see how that works.

So Sunday night, late, I started in on the breasts again…

And got both done…plus a plan for the torso above the hole.

This is not the easiest thing in the world to photograph. But there’s the rest, the torso and legs, which still need to be done.

No. It’s not a small amount. The plus is that it finally colored itself in my head, and I think I have a plan for finishing the whole thing, although it may not matter, because if I run out of time, I’m cutting the finishing out.

I’m still not feeling OK about this getting done in time. I do have to teach and sleep and eat. Maybe I will feel better by Friday. I hope I feel better by Friday.

This piece is for a show called Response…

I don’t really know what to say about the response part, because that kind of disappeared for me at some point. But whatever. I’m still responding to them, even though their response was to run away! OK, not really. Sometimes a response is to hide or gather in a circle for protective reasons or to pull the blanket over one’s head. The opening is September 12 from 6-10 PM at Space4Art in downtown San Diego. I’ll be there for the early part at least. Not sure how long I’ll last.

There’s always at least one animal in here with me, often Kitten. Sometimes all three are in here. Right now it’s Calli. Last night it was Kitten.

I did take time out on Sunday to see the traveling bit of the SAQA trunk show that is in Southern California.

It was a nice break, got me out of my head for a bit.

Then I came home and prepped 12 breakfasts (bacon, egg, and zucchini muffins)…

Yes, they taste as good as they look. Plus 2 dinners and 4 lunches. Five lunches would have been better, but it didn’t work out that way. No, I don’t mind eating the same thing for breakfast and lunch for days. Dinner though? I need variety. So I tried to build that in there. We’ll see if I have the energy to actually cook it by the end of the week.

Wish I had more positivity with which to start the week. I think it’s just Head Down until I get enough done that I can breathe.

What Color Is My Head?

Getting better. At least I got some stuff done on this long beast of a quilt last night (will it be a quilt? I don’t know. Better start calling it fiber art). I’m getting a better idea of how to construct this and how long it might take. Still frightening, yes, but I think I’m OK. Maybe.

So I had made a pile of lighter blues on that side table and went all the way up one arm until I ran out. Then I started on the other arm Thursday night, but didn’t get very far. So last night, I kept working up the one arm until I ran out of the lights again.

Then I neatly (well sort of) folded all those up and considered the giant pile again and pulled more midrange blues to continue up the arm.

I have to admit to having very little clue what I’m doing at the moment. I occasionally try to visualize the whole piece, see where the colors might go, especially later last night when I was trying to decide where to go next. But I can’t. I can’t see the whole thing. I mean literally, I can’t see the whole thing…it’s freakin’ huge…but also in my head. It’s not coloring itself yet.

Here were the lighter blues by the way. Still dipping deeply into Mariah and Sandi’s stashes, which is nice, but pulling stuff from mine too.

It’s amazing how small of a dent this giant thing is putting in to my stash. I still have a ton of fabric. I make more and more quilts, and there’s still so much fabric (yes, I do know how to fix that, but I’d rather fix it by making more quilts).

This was my setup last night, trying to keep the rest of the body out of the way while I’m working on one arm at a time. I did finally cut the arms away from the body because they were driving me bonkers being all tied up. Most of that sits on my lap as I sew. I think at this point, I had one arm done all the way to the shoulder, and I was working on the second one.

Same deal as before, use all the fabrics before you and then do the same on the other side. Obviously I’m not using them in any particular order.

Here’s both arms all the way to the shoulders. I think the arms are taller than I am.

I do kinda want them to hang down almost to the ground. From the ceiling…or the beam, to be specific. Which means I might have to do the same thing on the back of them. Or not. I have one part of my brain parceled out to shortcuts at the moment, a list of steps that I could do if I don’t end up with time to finish. Because really, it’s going to be OK even if it’s not exactly how I originally wanted it. I can be experimental. I don’t have to finish all of my edges (although I will need to do something to them).

Meanwhile, I’m quoting on copyediting jobs, writing stories, and teaching school. I entered two shows this morning. I missed one last week because I calendared it and then forgot to do it when I got home from Boston. Really it was incredibly stupid to think I would remember to enter a show in the hour after I got home, but whatever. My fault.

It sucked to come home to a very empty house last night. It was bloody hot, over 90 degrees inside, because I have to close the windows due to Kitten’s new escape tendencies. Once I got all the windows open, it took forever to cool down. Plus I was exhausted so I just lay prone on the couch for a while. I even stayed at work late to finish stuff because why come home? There’s nothing there but furry beasts, and they are needy, and sometimes I don’t need more needy. But I don’t have time to go hang out with people much; I really need to be here finishing things. So that is what I shall do.

So back to that part of coloring it in…I’d really like to do the head before I do the chest, but that would mean I already knew what color the head should be, and I don’t. And I really do need to know…like now. Like as soon as I post this. I could just use blue for this whole thing, but I don’t think I want to. And the mood I’m in, it’s telling me one color, but is that what I really want this piece to be about? It might be too late. I think it is.

I’m just sitting here, staring into space, trying to visualize all the possibilities. Each means something different. I guess you’ll know what I did by the next time I post.

Giant Shift

Wednesday night I made a giant artistic shift, putting down (well…hanging up) my current project that has been my obsession for about 6 weeks so that I could finish the project that is supposed to be installed on September 7. I can’t really guess how much time it will take to make (although sometime around the 6th I should have a good idea, right? One would hope…), because it’s not something I normally do. It’s just all about sewing strips on over and over and over. It would help if I weren’t exhausted most nights, or if I didn’t have 17 other things to do, like type up rosters and figure out who my low language learners are, or even who my resource kids are (that was a bit of a surprise, I must say. I kinda like teaching the first week not knowing that, because I had pegged 7 OTHER kids as resource…OK, no, one I was sure about…and now I’m having to seriously rethink). ANYWAY. School sucks up your brain. My brain.

But I was trying to fall asleep last night…went to bed early (not much) because I was so tired, and then couldn’t get my brain to stop trying to figure out the final construction of this piece, because honestly, I don’t have to do that step if I run out of time. It will still do what I want it to do if the edges are not finished. If there’s no batting. It will still work. So I should worry less about that and more about how to find a bunch of hours and a burst of energy to get this thing done.

I should admit that I had a union training after school yesterday, so I didn’t even get home until 7, so I should stop being growly at myself for not recovering sooner. It’s true I didn’t start until 10, but it’s not like I wasn’t doing anything. I had rosters to do etc. and then I had to eat.

So I kept going on the hand I’d already started, heading up the arm.

The biggest problem with this is that it’s unwieldy. I finally cut the arm away from the body, because it was easier to sew it that way, but the majority of the rest of it is sitting in my lap. And it will be seriously heavy too. Fabric is heavy. So I tossed a bunch of lighter fabrics in the mostly blue range onto that table and I sewed the one arm until I ran out of them. Then I debated in my head whether to pick another bunch and continue up the arm or whether to start the other hand, since they’ll both be hanging down together and I want them to be similar, but not the same.

I decided to sew the other hand using the same pile of fabric, and when I’d finished those, I could continue up the arm.

I didn’t get very far until I realized how tired I was. So I didn’t get super far. Sigh. Yes, I went to bed before midnight. A shocker.

Here’s the two so far together…

That’s about an hour and 20 minutes worth of work (which included pulling all the fabrics). OK. Seventeen feet of torso and legs to go. Plus the rest of the arms. And some of it will be much fussier than this. There’s a hole in the middle plus there’s boobs and I don’t know if I want to make that obvious. I think I do. But I’m not sure how I’m going to do that.

My plan is to come home tonight and just sew (except I really need to remember to eat at a reasonable hour). There’s a work gathering at a bar, but I will just get more tired and will get nothing done. Plus I’m not in the mood. I’d like to see how much I can get done if I come home (after one or two errands) and just sew for 4 or 5 hours. I need to see that I can get a considerable amount done if I focus. I know I’m stressed about this because my eyelid has been twitching again.

It would be a lot easier to do all of this if it weren’t so hot in the house, I have to say. Oh well. Heat does suck energy out of you too.

I’m going to be a much happier camper when this thing is done. I hope it looks OK. Then I can get my butt in gear on the other one. Which also might make my eyelid twitch. So I’d like to see a significant part of this sewn down, at least to the belly, including both arms and the head, by the end of the weekend. See. I set a goal. Let’s see what I do with it.

Ah Yes. Overwhelmed. I Remember You Well.

OK. OK. So this is what overwhelmed feels like. I get it. I’ve been here before. I came back to multiple emails about when I’m installing a piece I really haven’t started (two weeks. breathe deep), a bunch of classroom changes (whatever, remember your mantra), and something that’s due on Friday (homework?). I’m still not anywhere near caught up for school, although I’m better this morning than I was yesterday morning. I used to have prep period right after homeroom, so if I needed to set up or plan for classes that day, I did it then. No longer! I have a 2nd period science class, so I have to be ready to rumble before school starts. And then 3rd period comes and my brain freezes. I need to get to the point that I’m prepping for the NEXT day during 3rd period. Yeah. Maybe next week.

Mom delivered a new iron last night, but my exhaustion level almost took me to bed at 10. Then I remembered all those emails I was supposed to answer and some bills I had to pay and other things to be put right, so I did all that and then the clock said 11:45. Weird how that happens. I tried to get the dog to go to bed in my room, because that’s where she ends up anyway, but she was having none of it. I think she really wanted to sleep ON the girlchild’s bed, but I haven’t finished the 8 loads of laundry yet, so that wasn’t an option. Moved her bed back in her mom’s room. Went to bed myself. Dog in my room 10 minutes later, whining. Do you need water? Like having a 2-year-old. No water. Just whiny. Go to bed, you silly dog. You’re not sleeping ON the bed with me.

Dirty dishes washed, dinner was frozen leftovers from two weeks ago. Smarter things that I did. Have to go back to the grocery store today, because I thought I had meat and I don’t. Lunches are still cobbled together from whatever I can find in the fridge or the cupboard. There’s lots of cheese and crackers. I am still exhausted.

And no art got done yesterday after all that. Not surprising. But I need to get my head down and get this thing done. I feel like if I could start, it would get done quickly, but I don’t even know. And maybe I don’t care as much as I should, because it was supposed to be a collaboration and that fell apart. Whatever! The mantra. Don’t lose it. And the other piece will be awesome, but I’m gonna have to bust my butt to get it done on time as well. Basically, besides school stuff and the meetings/stuff I already have on my calendar, don’t expect me to leave the house except for my job and groceries. I’m going to try to fit the gym back in (I meditated last night too). Three things on my list for the Fall: Meditate, go to the gym, eat healthy.

The rest of it is more for family and friends who know the girlchild and are trying to imagine her in a triple with two roomies (hey I was there, and I’m still trying to imagine it). Or if you’re sickly fascinated with our college ritual of shoving kids who don’t know each other into tiny spaces together and waiting for explosions…

Girlchild has the top bunk, because she arrived last. It’s a bit rickety (I know, because I climbed up there and made the bed)…

Three closets (tiny!) in a row. Crazy when you figure winter clothes have to fit as well.

A view out the door to their second room, with the other bed on the right.

There are three desks in the other room and not a lot else.

Girlchild is trying to fit everything she owns on and in this desk…

She does have a nice view of tree-filled hillside.

Her desk in the first incarnation (I’m sure it will evolve).

It sucks to be on the top bunk…no underbed space. So underdesk space it is (trust me, I tried to find another option. It’s her problem now).

Her actual dorm. That small building in front is connected and has a kitchen! She may survive yet.

And her quad. Probably will look much different in about 3 months.

Anyway, she’s there, I’m here, her dog is on the floor next to me, and now I’m late to school. Whatever.

17 Towels Stuffed in a Hamper

It’s official. I’m living all by myself for the first time in 26 years. You know how I know? I had popcorn for dinner. Ok, now just to clarify, I got home from Boston at like 10:30 at night San Diego time, which was really 1:30 AM Boston time, and I ate “dinner” at Logan Airport before I left but that was at 3:30 PM Boston time and then a fruit and cheese plate on the plane at 7:15 PM Boston time, and then I got home and I was hungry but because my body has no clue what time zone it’s in or when I should eat. Plus I kept forgetting to eat in Boston. So there’s that. This morning, I am eating breakfast like a good girl and I have prepared a lunch of whatever was left in the fridge that had not grown mold or gone bad in some other stomach-twisting way. So yeah. That’s cheese, crackers, and kiwi. It’s a fruit and cheese plate!

The cats missed me. Maybe the dog did. The ex and I are still sharing custody of her. Yeah. Whatever. I’m home more during the week and they would miss each other if they didn’t hang out. So she lives here and goes to Daddy on weekends. You can be sure I will inherit all vet appointments, but he will clean her ears out and bathe her and take her for walks. It’s on my list to take her for walks.

I managed to keep it together when I said goodbye to the girlchild. It was OK. I had already cried all over eastern Boston area, from Home Depot to Target, to Bed Bath and Holy Hell What Don’t They Sell Here (one BBB had a mini Cost Plus inside it?!). She hugged hard and I held onto the tears until I got about 2 minutes down the road. It’s really unsafe to drive while crying by the way, but I’ve perfected it over the years. I cry more in the car than anywhere else.

Certainly the whole thing makes you re-evaluate your entire life. I really don’t need that much pressure right now, though, because it’s the 4th day of school and I’m only semi-prepared for the week.

I do have college dorm pictures. Oh so exciting, right? When you look around at your own personal space and realize how far away from that you are, then yes…yes it is. Girlchild is in a triple…should be interesting. So those will have to come later, when I have time to deal with them.

By the way, I have no idea what’s going on with the first picture on the last post. I’ll have to try to fix that later too. They both came from the phone camera app in exactly the same way…no idea why WordPress had an issue. I did draw on the plane both ways and in the room on the last night there. I wasn’t thinking too hard about drawing…just wanted to get pen on paper. I don’t think I’d drawn all summer, except finishing up the cats (what cats? I haven’t done any cats. Shhh. Maybe no one will notice that they are still piles of Wonder Under that have been cut out.) and the drawing for the big quilt I’m ironing now. So it was kind of a relief to fill up a few pages. Very meditative. In fact, my meditation app prompted me in the middle of the plane flight, and I thought, this is the perfect place to meditate, but then I drew instead. Ah, priorities.

So mom, you’ll have to wait another day (or so) to see dorm pictures (yes, she’s stalking me, but for a reason), but here’s what I drew on the plane…

In keeping with the Mother Earth where the plants are covering her. I like it. I could make this into a smaller quilt. In my spare time.

Speaking of quilts, Mammogram got into the Interpretations: Celebrating 30 Years exhibit that will be at the Visions Art Museum opening in October.

They have been good to me. No censorship there (that I’ve seen). Impressive. I should be at the opening; stop by and see my giant boob.

Really, it’s hard to miss the kids. I just found 17 towels stuffed in the bathroom hamper and a bunch of the girlchild’s socks. I wonder if she wants them.

Death of an Iron…

Yup. Killed it. I’m sitting there last night, trying to finish up the last of this damn piece, at least get it ironed together before I fly out, and it won’t stay hot. I can put my hand fully on it…it’s warm, but it’s not making anything stick.

This is not good. I manage to shake it around like a mariachi, and it clicks on again. And then off. Oh you bastard. I am so close to finishing.

I think Kitten did it.

The head has buildings coming out of it. With a million windows. Each.

I fought the iron for a good long time.

But I did manage to finish ironing the buildings.

The pieces in that box are all that’s left. Seriously.

I was so frustrated last night. And I knew I had to get up early to get on a plane. Here she is, almost done.

Boychild left last night, and I’m typing the last of this in a Boston hotel…exhausted. But we got here pretty easily. Boychild’s flight was on time for once, but they left his luggage behind in Newark for space reasons. Don’t think he has clothing, but he has deoderant and a computer.

We are in a room with a mini-kitchen, but there are no dishes, not even a cup in the bathroom. Bizarre. The paper cups the front desk gave me are burning in the microwave.

We went to dinner and then drove around campus. Then we found a grocery store. Right now, we are just vegging out on our beds, complaining about how tired we are when it’s actually three hours earlier. I should be wide awake. It’s amazing how travel kicks your butt.

I read and drew on the plane (and honestly, I napped too). I’m getting almost nothing done this weekend except depositing the girl. And that’s ok.