The Shortest, But Longest Days…

Oh hey, it’s Wednesday. Weird week. State testing started yesterday, so we have the shortest, but longest, days with kids for a couple days. I keep my advisory for 3 hours and 15 minutes and they annoy me the whole time by being unable to follow directions, log in, keep their computers in good shape, did I say follow directions? Be quiet, don’t turn around and make faces at or talk to your friend, stop trying to contort your body into stupid positions. Just take the damn test and then chill out. None of this crew brought a book for after. They didn’t believe me when I said no computers, despite that being a school rule for the last million years. Then they leave around noon and we go get lunch and then try to work the rest of the day. I did actually grade for two hours. It was yucky. Whatever. We have one more day today and then we skip a week, then math and science will be the week after that. I just need all this to be done. I need the rest of the year planned…usually this is when we take a breath and relax a bit because sex ed is a known quantity and it’s all planned for the end of the year. But no. Not this year. Sigh. I’m frustrated. And tired. I know that. I might always be like that at the end of the year. I probably am.

I finished sewing the braids down last night…it took longer than you’d think it would.

I tacked each braid down every few inches or so.

That was after one night. And then last night, I did the rest.

Bowie slept through most of it. I was trying to fall asleep last night and was thinking about what else to do on this piece. I have an idea, so I’ll hopefully work on that tonight.

I finished the heart on Monday at the ceramics studio.

It goes on the fabric piece…not sure when that will happen, because I have stuff going for the rest of the week.

I got a quilt back from a show yesterday…like this…

Luckily, there was no damage inside. It does look like they ran it over with something though. And it was wet, so recently? It rained yesterday. It was packed well, luckily.

I keep thinking of this, how we are all human, despite the stupidity.

And this…

I didn’t get to the history of DNA this year. I usually teach it a bit and always the Rosalind Franklin part.

And I had just heard a new astounding set of numbers about this…

We just absolutely suck as a culture for causing and ignoring this.

So here’s the owls though…

Mom is out and about (probably because those babes are fucking annoying). And you can barely see the two baby heads in the hole of the box. Right now, WordPress is showing that the video is private. Not sure how to fix that. Hmmm. OK, I think I fixed it. Love it when they change how things work.

OK. Today. Second day of testing, usually harder and shorter. But the kids are still here for three hours plus. Then some lunch, some planning, maybe grading. Pilates, pack bug quilts up, book club? Busy. Long. Oh wait, meeting this morning too, ugh. So much adult drama yesterday. Could do without that. OK, though, gotta go now. Art tonight…at some point.

Sewing Braids…

State testing starts this week. Wacky schedules, gotta cover my walls, deal with the same 30 kids for 3+ hours, 2 days running. Always weird. We used to do all the testing in one week and kids would lose their minds…OK, they lose their minds even when we only do two days. It’s a rough week, but we are rewarded with some time without kids and the chance to go out and get lunch (things teachers don’t get to do). At this time of year, that is a reward. So my kids are starting a poster today that they’ll finish after testing, and I am climbing on the counters and covering my walls. They tell us not to climb on the counters for safety reasons, but I’m not sure how they expect the things to happen if we don’t do some climbing. If I finish my walls early, I can leave school early, because my staff meeting time is for covering walls. I have thought this through.

I also didn’t grade much this weekend, because I have to do something while they’re testing and in the 3 hours after they leave when I’m required to still be here on campus. Plan ahead y’all.

So I finished all the bugs. I’m emailing someone who was interested in two of them…

This is Tiger Beetle 3.

Ladybug 3 (which I believe is sold).

Queen Beetle 3.

Staghorn 3 (also believe it’s sold).

And Beetle 3. The three unsold will go up on Etsy unless someone tells me ahead of time that they want them. They’re $100 plus shipping. They hang easily on the wall with a nail or two. There are others on Etsy already and three at Visions Museum.

Saturday night, I braided a lot of hair. I had bought some yarn locally, not exactly what I wanted, but I only have so much time and patience for yarn purchasing (I know, crazy, right?).

Scribble and Nova were very excited about the braiding process.

Possibly too excited. Here, I had just plopped them on top to see if I had enough. I guess I decided I didn’t, because I braided more last night…

And then sewed the tops down to the quilt. Bowie flat out didn’t care about braiding or sewing.

Apparently tired and wanted to be near me.

Also on Saturday, when he was lying on the books I needed to figure out what materials I needed to order for the summer residency. Cats are so helpful.

I’d rather think about the residency than school. We got this week planned, but none of the other weeks. So we need to do that this week too. Please. And thank you.

Meanwhile, the government are still assholes.

Their lack of understanding of all the things medications can be used for besides the one that gets their panties in a wad. Also, get out of my body.

And Viagra is still out there. Don’t need that, right? Not if it’s just about procreation, y’all. It will take so long to fix all the fuckery they have performed. I guess that’s part of the point, eh? Sigh.

OK. Making kids do posters about homologous structures. And stapling up paper to cover other paper. Testing is a fire hazard. Then ceramics, working on the heart (which I forgot to photograph). Also hoping there’s shelf space so I can start on the head. What are the odds of that? Low. Seriously. Then home and sewing more braids down in an artfully messy way. Without cat assistance. I’m almost done with this one, which is good, because the quilt to-do list just got seriously crazy. I need to get these three photographed and then start a big one that can be finished in 10 weeks? Ish? Crazy time. Maybe NOT the one I wanted to do in January. It might need to wait some more. Sigh. I don’t know why a show that doesn’t open until May needs to be juried in January. I was hoping for a few more months, but no. Not. Uh uh. That’s what I get for joining groups that do shows, right? I know. My choices. Good ones to get my work out there. Not necessarily for having work available for other stuff though. Working on it.

Making a Heart…

Hey. It’s Friday. It’s also May. Not sure where April went, but it’s gone. Whoosh. May is state testing month. Kinda crazy. Already! My brain is trying to focus on what the hell I’m teaching right now and until the end of the year, but it’s really checked out and planning excitedly for my residency. And everything that needs to get done BEFORE my residency. All the doc appointments and house tasks and planning. The brain is going a bit overboard with the planning. I know if I start writing stuff down, it’s going to be better, it’ll calm down a bit. I can’t take everything with me. I won’t have time to do everything. I need to stay focused. Ha! Who am I again? Yeah. My foci are endless. And maybe not in a good way all the time.

I have finished four out of the five new bugs…

Just sewing them down to the canvas. Someone asked me what I use to glue them, and I was trained so early in archival stuff that I don’t glue.

One more to go. That’s tonight. Then back to the hair on the green face. I bought yarn yesterday. It’s hard to find what I want, but I think this’ll work. More importantly, I need to figure out what’s in the space to the left of her face. So letting my brain percolate on that. I don’t have a lot of brain power at the moment though. Hopefully it’ll pop up soon.

Simba helping last night.

Both Simba and Scribble help me all the time.

For some definition of help. I do like the love. I was resting here…the cough is not horrible but it occasionally make me stop and try to breathe. I think I’ve kicked it. Not whooping cough. The kids at school have been getting strep throat and I’m like no uh uh stay away don’t breathe on me. I can’t do that right now. I keep cleaning tables and washing my hands and walking away from the kids who are the sickest. Mostly they stay home. They stay home in droves sometimes.

This amuses me.

Agreed. Thanks to the king for reminding us.

So. Today. I’m teaching something…homologous structures? I think. Yes. I finished (?) a checklist for next week’s poster yesterday during prep. My co-teacher says she’s starting today? I don’t know how, but whatever. I’m checked out. This year sucks. The kids don’t. The kids are fine. Well, except for whale penis boy yesterday, who had to be put in a time away…without his computer. The honors kids are losing it. I might be a little too. Whiny little boys some of them. I don’t have the patience for it. Then ceramics after school. Making a heart today I think. Or bugs. Whichever. Or trees? Not sure. Then home to finish the last bug. And work on some hair. Or something. And a weekend! Woohoo! I need one. Totally. Like ASAP. OK, in 8 hours or so.

Gonna Get There…

Gotta write fast; got a meeting this morning. My team had five kid meetings this week and divided them out. We usually all go, but we’re all burnt out on them and so we tried to be organized about it. We’ve been to so many meetings this year for kids…and mostly for the same group of kids over and over. And nothing gets solved at a lot of them. Hopefully today’s will go well…it should.

So art is a struggle at the moment. I guess I got to do ceramics yesterday…

I worked on the hands a bit and then figured out how to add a neck that was removable. There’s still no room to put her on the drying racks, so I figure I’m going to have to start underglazing her and let her dry on my shelf? And then try to do the head? Not sure. Actually, I remembered some other things I was going to do, so now that the fabric has solidified a bit, I might do that. We’ll see.

I managed to paint these for the bugs the other night…

I was going to start attaching bugs to them last night, but started to book flights to see the girlchild and got sucked into an Expedia loop that ended with me on two different airline websites instead, telling Expedia to fuck off. That was 90 minutes I would have spent sewing bugs on. So I guess that’s tonight. It’s fine. Really. I do like a big project. These little fussy ones finish up easy and quickly (well, though, is it?), but I get more frustrated with them. Like, it’s small…why isn’t it done already? So yeah. Getting there.

I also started some embroidery on this dye painting…

Hello Scribble…but I need a specific yarn for the hair, I think. And the yarn store isn’t open until tomorrow. So it’s on my list for after school. I do want to do a big piece next. Like the one I planned to do back in January. It’s been waiting patiently. It deserves to be made. I don’t even remember what it looks like.

I also finished this Critters block (Sue Spargo). The ants were fun.

Meanwhile, political shit is crazy. I mean, no matter what you think about what happened and how people reacted…

The difference between those reactions and those directed toward families who lose children in school shootings is boggling.

And those are the jokey ones. Here’s the real shit.

THAT. Is incredibly sad.

Followed by this crazy shit.

We’re already having issues getting treatments approved. We have an idiot in charge of HHS, increasing measles outbreaks, bad math when it comes to medical expenses (I would like a 600% decrease in my medicine costs please)…and now we’re trying to block new science. This will be why you won’t get new treatments for your cancer in the future.

Only the rich will be able to afford them, and they’ll have to fly out of the US to get them. The attack on science, women, people of color, the poor, LGTBQIA. And the billionaires get more billionairy. Vote, y’all. Vote loudly and often. Yell lots. You know what still hasn’t happened? Epstein files. Cheaper gas. Cheaper food. Nothing is great. We’re still at war. We’re still randomly killing people in the Atlantic Ocean. We’re doing so many illegal things.

Well. Cheery thought. Gotta get out of here. Giving a test on natural selection today. Then starting evolution tomorrow. Through state testing…in bits and pieces. Got lots of work to do. Got lots of planning to do for the summer. Deep breaths…gonna get there somehow.

Not Just a Hot Flash

Last night, I considered what it would take to call in sick today. I am actually sick. I wasn’t sure yesterday during the day, but by 8 PM, when I took my temperature, I’m like, well, yes, that is a fever…not just a hot flash. A hot flash of a different kind anyway. Today is the last day of the sex ed unit, I can’t move it, I have 30 kids opted out who need to come back on Monday. It’s also a wishy washy day because I only have one packet left and it doesn’t take all period. I don’t have time to preview a lovely video (although maybe I can find one related to the unit we had to pause to teach this). I’m not feeling well, so whatever it is, it needs to be easy for me. Writing sub plans is a pain. I’m not that sick. I slept yesterday afternoon, woke up to feed the dog and go to my stitching Zoom meeting, ate a small dinner, stitched a bit, and went back to bed. I’m mostly functional.

Here’s what I stitched on…

Almost ready for the ants. Very slow getting this done.

The last two days, I added beads to this…

There were often animals involved…

Which is complicated when you are using little tiny things cats like to play with.

There’s at least one sequin and one bead lost permanently in the couch. Not my problem. I tried to save them.

I suspect I’ll be done soon. Then I need to make some decisions. I need to get these two dye paintings photographed, but it would be good if I could get one more done. It’s taken me forever to do this one though. Not sure why. And if I start something new, what is it? I had one back in December that was ready to go for the next one and then I had to finish one for the group I’m in and these are for another group I’m in, and I know I need two new ones for next year for those two groups, but I’m not ready on one and the other, I don’t have a true deadline or size yet. So do I do the huge weird one I’ve been looking forward to doing? I think I do. I think I try to finish the other dye painting first. And when I get to like May 15, I get whatever’s done photographed. It might be 2; it might be 3.

This feels too real.

The day job I have is sometimes so irritating and fills all the times and energies. In good news, it looks like grades aren’t actually due this weekend. I think. Even though this is halfway through the trimester. Apparently the principals met and changed it two weeks later. Which is definitely not halfway. No logic to it at all, and since we are lowly teachers, we get no say. It’s gonna be pretty hard to bring a grade up after May 17 is what I’ve gotta say. Hardly any academic stuff after state testing. Also, we can’t send grades home on the 17th; it’s a Sunday. I’m not even sure where all these random dates come from. It’s just so stupid.

Wanna see the owl daddy (?) delivering food to the babes and mom (I’m assuming mom is still in there).

I had to get a new camera because the other one finally died. Now I’m working on trimming some of the plant material. The big tripod I was using had a weird connector that was rusted out, so the camera is a little low. Maybe I can work on that this weekend. Not sure how to retrofit the old, taller tripod so it’ll hold this camera. Definitely two babies at the moment though. Exciting stuff.

So here I am, sick, but not REALLY sick, definitely tired, trying to decide what to do with the kids today. I found the microphone yesterday because my voice was shot. That helped. I really need a video or something. I thought I’d do a blooket game, but that’s way more interaction than I can deal with right now. Damn, I wish this job was better about making it easy to be out. It’s not. I’m teaching goal setting today; then some random thing I haven’t decided about yet. I’d like to go to ceramics, but don’t think I’ll have the energy. Unfortunately. Maybe Sunday afternoon? I think sleep tonight, although I’m also supposed to be cooking (fun times). I feel like I was just sick a month ago (because I was). Immune system not at its best.

Distracted by Actual Squirrels.

Hey ho, why is there so short a time to write this morning? I guess I did things, and then I watched the squirrels running up and down the tree (they’re young ones, so they’re kinda funny about who goes first on the branch thing. But not sure how it got this late. Also I have no photos of said squirrels. Sorry.

So. The weekend. Seemed short. I did things, sure, but not very many things. I planted 5 things, 3 ceanothus (one that had been sitting in a pot for two years) and 2 milkweed. I weeded. I’m always weeding these days. I confirmed that my owl cam is dead (weather damage) and ordered a new one. I bought new deodorant! This is a big thing because I have to go to a different store than the grocery store and it takes me forever to get errands like that done these days. I was on a Zoom for two hours. I went to an art exhibit. I hiked only two miles because the dog wasn’t ready for the third mile. I did some art. I had a mammogram. Ouch. Hopefully no biopsy this year…knock on wood. They don’t find that shit in the squishy mammo…they find it in the MRI. So that’s in July, I think. Fun times.

Artwise, there’s finally progress, although it still doesn’t look like it (there’s three squirrel babies, by the way, and I am distracted). All photos with cat interference.

This was Saturday night…with Nova. I didn’t do anything Friday night because the Man had a show and we didn’t get home until midnight or so. I finished the pink though and then had to search through my stash for a good purple. That was chaotic because I pulled it from something I haven’t finished stitching yet and I have to remember where it goes when I’m done.

Now with Scribble. I have a few blue-green bits I need to go back and do and then I’m going to figure out what beads and/or sequins I’m going to use. There better be less cat interaction with those.

Friday night’s music stuff…

A friend had a 50th birthday party and the Man and his former singer did the last three songs of the night. They did actually sing and not just posture.

Saturday afternoon’s hike with the pup.

He’s old and gets tired easier.

The art exhibit is at Art Produce; it’s a protest show. This is Linda Litteral’s, one of her Don’t Shut Up pieces about childhood sexual abuse.

This is Nicholas Danger’s work,

Tool of the Trade (the machete) and The Orange Monster. The hat says ‘maggot’. Legit.

Back of the machete.

This is Michelle Montjoy’s Bluebird of Happiness.

She must embroider much faster than I do (yes, I know she didn’t do the birds).

We went to dinner afterwards and I was fascinated with the light on the brewery tanks.

Did you hear that San Diego wants to cut almost all funding to the arts and libraries? And give it to the cops instead?

Frustrating.

And ignorant of what the arts and libraries do for the community. Speak up! I don’t actually live in the city, but this will kill the arts in this county. And remember this.

You CAN do both.

I don’t think I had that. I had about 10 minutes when I realized I had planted and watered the 5 new things and then I realized how much more needed to happen and I only had an hour and spent most of it walking from one part of the yard to another with a shovel.

This is the reality.

Except I cleaned nothing; I only did yardwork. Well, I did do the grocery shopping and the laundry. And I made lists. And I graded, because I am always doing that. I also went to ceramics Friday night and I don’t think I took photos? Or did I? No one knows.

Finishing up teaching about pregnancy today, then preventing unplanned pregnancies, then staff meetings blech and finally ceramics, where hopefully I really will take a photo AND find room on the drying shelf for my piece so I can start the head and the owl. Ha! Hasn’t been space for weeks. Then home to dinner, grading (ugh), and more embroidery…woo hoo! That’s a plus.

I’m a Big Girl…

Hey. It’s Friday. I say this once a week. I saw three squirrels cavorting on the slope this morning. I’ve only ever seen two at a time, mostly one. This was definitely three. Fun times. I definitely have the trees for it. And the one I’m watching right now? Definitely a young one. Not super tiny, but not an adult. Cool morning focus…on nature (even destructive nature) rather than the shitshow that is school right now. Behaviors have ramped up in all the classes, and I don’t think teaching sex ed early is helping. The baby squirrel went up one of the trees and is now coming down another one. Adorable little beast. Unlike boys during sex ed. I shouldn’t say ALL boys, because it’s not. But it’s a healthy number of them. Speaking of not all boys but way too many of them…

I mean, I guess I’m alternately shocked and not surprised at all that a ton of men checked into an online rape academy. Certainly I’m holding other men responsible for shutting that shit down if they ever get a hint of someone they know visiting that, but also, why is it allowed to exist? I’d love to have all those men outed. Names published. Fired from jobs. As we teach sex ed and little boys write on the question cards, “how many holes on a girl can I put my dick into?” Seriously disturbing sometimes. Also there has been a huge thing on consent, with parents monitoring kids’ phones and the kids saying they don’t have their consent, (and my laughing my ass off, because who pays for your damn phones and phone bills, you sweet dingbats), and then I explain how you can’t give consent under 18. And you know, it’s always the boys yelling, Bill touched me without my consent; can I hit him? Can I sue him? And the girls are sitting quietly in their chairs. I do mostly clump boys together on one side, girls on the other. Kids get to choose one person to sit with and there are some boy/girl combos. One set is dating and I warned him; usually I don’t let them sit together, but I think this pair is OK. The other pairs are friends and that is their support system. But one (annoying) boy noticed yesterday (on Day 4) and yelled out about it (because apparently we have to yell everything out), and one of the girls answered, “Maybe we just wanted to sit with our friends so we don’t have to listen to you,” and I’m with her on that. I’m kind of done with it, and we’re not even halfway through. My voice is shot; my patience is heading for the basement level. Deep breaths. It’s Friday. I can do it. I’m teaching pregnancy today. That should shut them up.

Artwise, I’m still embroidering. I have a lot done (it doesn’t look like a lot though)…

I finished that blue-green color and the lighter purple, and started the bright pink.

Then I need to find a proper purple; then sequins and beads. Another week? I may pause and do bug legs for a few days. I was too tired for them. They require thought and I’ve been doing yardwork every night and then grading and barely starting embroidery at 9:30 PM and hardly getting an hour in. Ugh.

I did go to ceramics last night because I have physical therapy for my knee after school today and then a show tonight (UGH).

She’s got two arms now and roughouts for hands. I’m trying to do hands differently…put something in them and then carve the fingers, because the fingers are always breaking. We’ll see how that goes. I have to make sure it doesn’t dry out too much so I can’t carve it, and my original plan for the arms changed mid-arm and then I still don’t have enough shelf space available to dry this or start the head and originally there was going to be a barn owl on the head/shoulders and I’m not sure how to pull that off. SO. Yeah. I’m rethinking.

She looks like she’s doing a low row in pilates. ANYWAY. I’ll get there. I don’t plan much in ceramics. That’s the point for me. Brain loosey goosey.

Speaking of loosey goosey, here’s Scribble.

She’s a sweetheart. But still kitteny.

Hey so I finished my taxes a week or so ago and I’m still pissed off that I’m paying for a war. And ICE. And those dumbass goons in the government who quote random shit and say even more random shit. Also my right eye started twitching today and I blame all of this: school and world.

Unfortunately, the monkeys are mine. Every day. In class.

Another photo of my piece at the No Boundaries exhibit at the Virginia Quilt Museum.

And my Stitchpunk piece at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. I always forget that they’re traveling around, although hopefully I’ll see this one in Oregon this summer. Or is that Fierce Planets? I can’t remember.

Woman 3.0. Hopefully dealing with fewer stupid men online.

Leaving you with Simba AFTER I stopped rubbing his belly.

No judgement in that face. I did rub his belly for a long time (not long enough, lady).

OK. Teaching pregnancy today. No videos of women giving birth, unfortunately. The school board thinks that’s too much. I think it scares them and it’s useful. Plus it gives me a break from talking. I talk NONSTOP for this unit with the new curriculum. Yesterday a boy yelled out, “Pregnancy, Why the fuck do we need to learn about that?!”. I calmly said, “well, I guess you never want to have sex with a woman then.” Fun times, y’all, fun times. After teaching that all day (it’s OK, the one class that got to the anatomy review yesterday shut up SO FAST…it was joyful), I will get my knee poked and prodded again, then remember to pick up my insulin (if I forget, it’s OK; I’ll be back tomorrow for the boob squeeze, version 1). Then the Man said I should NAP for the show tonight. Four hours long. But there’s a taco truck. But the three songs he’s in are the last of 43? So holy crap, bring my book and go read in a corner? We’ll see how I feel. Currently I feel like crawling into a pillow fort, but that’s not an option. I’m a big girl and I need to do all the things.

Art Will Be at the End of It…

It seems to be Monday again. Some cruel joke. We start sex ed today, a full 6 weeks early, and I am so not ready. I have 32 kids opted out (I think…something like that)…I have one class that only has 6 girls left (girls opt out more than boys). I clustered them in a little pod, like wagons circled together for protection. Occasionally a girl wants to sit with a boy. Some make total sense, and one this year is a couple…I don’t think they realize how awkward it will get when we start talking about how pregnancy happens and STIs present. I don’t usually let the couples sit together, but we’ll see how this works. Big class. Not a lot of places to put him.

So there’s that. I’m totally behind in grading because I did not have any time this weekend for it (or motivation; let’s be real). I’ll need to be a little more on top of it this week. Somehow. Ugh. I’m too tired for all this shit.

So what did I do this weekend? I picked up quilts and went to an art group meeting and went to dinner at my parents because my brother is here visiting and that’s really it. I was out of it for most of Saturday, even though I did things. Stitching-wise, I worked on everything. I finished the edges of the 5 bugs…

Now they all need legs…well, except the ladybug. She’s got them already.

Pink or green legs? I’m thinking lime green.

This one looks really weird without the rest of its leg parts.

Some of them also need antennae. Maybe that’s tonight’s project.

Then Saturday, at the artist meeting, where I saw an artist’s studio that would be lovely, yes thank you, I would like that much room…I worked on this…

I took an improv quilt class last January? Or the year before? Finished the top and went, eh, I’m not really an improv quilter, what am I going to do with this? So I started stitching on it last summer, put it down after that residency, but picked it up for this meeting and did some more stitching. Because my brain is all over the map at the moment. Proof of that: last night, I was working on the pink head again…

Scribble is not so helpful. But I did pull out all the beads and found the sequins. I’m still doing thread stuff right now though. It takes forever.

The ceramic piece got more stuff on the front…

As I watched this…

Which was awesome and awe-inspiring and all that good stuff. Unlike the rest of everything.

Ok. I am really tired still. Blood sugar has been crashing at night, so I’m reducing my insulin to see if that helps. It’s exhausting to deal with. I didn’t get any yard work done this weekend, so hopefully I will later this week. I’ve got some ceramics time built in. I’m going to need to grade stuff. I need legs for the bugs and more embroidery all over the place. This week is less busy than last week…well, at least at the moment, so that should help. Today is just the intro to sex ed, so it’s mostly my telling them how all the things work and how not to piss me off while I’m teaching it (fun times, y’all…some of the boys lose their freakin’ minds). There are a couple of kids I won’t mind not seeing for two weeks, honestly, so that’s a plus. Anyway…art will be at the end of it and that’s always a good thing, even if I’m jumping all over the place with projects. There’s a reason for the jumping and I’ll get all these little projects done eventually and get onto a big quilt…hopefully by June. Which is a long way away unfortunately. Sigh.

Juggling

So we’ve been back at school for two whole days. It hasn’t been particularly difficult (well, staff meetings hurt my brain…)…actually, here’s a legit commentary on staff meetings.

I’m still obsessing over the word ‘justify’ and what it really means and how it doesn’t mean what people say it means and this is why when you tell a word person that they have to use a particular word, said person will obsess over that word for the next 48 hours and then refuse to use it. It’s OK…it’s mostly an inner conversation that makes me just refuse to do a lot of things (or care sometimes, which is really hard). We start sex ed next week and we’re not ready and maybe it will all just magically get organized, but I find that rarely happens. I’m bringing home piles of work every night, trying to get caught up with all the assignments kids didn’t turn in before break because they left early for Eid or just because their parents don’t think two weeks is enough time to have off…they need two weeks and two days. More work for us, of course, or we could just not teach anything two days before any break, which seems stupid. Anyway, my frustrations with the system aside, hoping the next few weeks of teaching are fairly low-key. We should probably plan the stuff for after sex ed though, and I’m not sure what that looks like.

I made it to ceramics on Monday and did some things on the front of the torso…

It wasn’t what I was originally planning on doing, but it’s what happened. Which is pretty much how ceramics works for me.

I also quilting bugs over two nights…stitch down, pinbasting, and outlining the first night, then quilting the backgrounds last night.

Tonight will be legs…or trimming and then legs? Not sure. Might be easier if I trim first.

One of my students drew me.

Side part not captured. Nice though. She’s super quiet and never asks questions, but draws really well, so I put little comments on her drawings.

Last night after dinner, while watching weird German time travel…

Scribble kept reaching out toward Nova with her paw, suspect not in a gentle, loving way, but it a ‘get off my mom’ way.

This is one of the hardest parts of going back to school…wearing a bra all day again.

I don’t want to be buried as a body anyway, but don’t cremate me with a bra on either. I don’t want that shit anywhere near me.

OK. Today is long. Meeting this morning. I actually have a mental bet on whether admin actually shows up. Hope they surprise me. Then teaching natural selection all day, not bad, I enjoy it. Peppered moths today, maybe giraffes. Yesterday was dogs and pigeons (had to explain what a pigeon was to a large portion of the classes). Then I have pilates and book club. Don’t think I’ll get much grading done unfortunately. Ah well. I do my best. Then I’ll have to decide whether to trim the quilts and maybe put the edge on them before legs? I think it will be easier to see the available leg space if I do it that way. Also have to see if I have the canvases I put these on. Enough of them. I feel like I won’t have enough and will have to solve that problem. Plus pay property taxes. Gotta remember to do that. I finished my taxes last weekend, but not early enough to pay the property taxes, so I’m waiting for some money to move. Fun stuff. Juggling money, time, to-do list items…it’s what I do.

Need More Leg Parts…

Back to school today. No time has passed. The yard and house are still disasters. It’s all good. It happens every year…mostly because I like to travel over break (it makes it a real break from what I’ve been doing). The cleaning and yardwork are constants. They don’t go anywhere. Even when you clean, you will just have to do it again. So it doesn’t matter if you did it over break or on a Monday after school. I did clean almost all the floors over break, so that’s OK. The rest will happen or wait. Whichever works.

Did I finish grading things? Almost. But no. Grades are due in another two weeks, I think. Fun times. Sex ed starts in a week, early this year, thanks to the school board and the state, working against each other, but also against the teachers and the kids. Also fun times. Two-hour staff meeting today about stuff that can’t be done right now. Also fun times. In other news, I’m reading a good book and I’ll be going to ceramics today. Plus my bro is coming to visit. Not me, the parentals, but I’ll probably get to see him.

Artwise, I’m all over the map. It’s OK; I’ve been here for a while now. I’m working on embellishing this dye painting with Scribble’s help.

Nope. She’s really not helpful. At all.

So far, I’ve only done some of the blue-green color.

I’ll do some pink and purple and whatever that combo color is. And add some beads and sequins. Oh yeah, some black.

It’s time-consuming. Then I also started dealing with the bugs I ironed while I was in Virginia.

I’ve stitched two down and picked backings and found batting for all of them. Tonight, I’ll finish the stitchdown and start quilting. Some need more leg parts, but those are hand-embroidered after the quilting. Some of these from the previous make are on Etsy and some are at Visions Museum. Two of these are spoken for and the other three will eventually be on Etsy. Small brainless things right now…good plan. Although I need two more dye paintings done and photographed by June 1. Should be fine.

This is honestly when many afternoons look like…competition for my lap.

Usually this is when I read, but that’s my book on the table, so IDK what I was doing. Doomscrolling. Zoning out. Considering my options. The other option for Simba is to keep one of my feet warm.

Just one. Whether I need it or not. Nights are still chilly, so I’m good.

Bowie takes advantage of my open office window to sample Spring.

He likes it. Also he’s a klutz and knocks my tea over. Tries to be all sneaky to get up there and then is a disaster about it. He is a boy…

Well. There are times that this is totally true. And it’s not ‘drawn to’…it’s ‘appreciative of’. Mostly the men here are OK. They just have their moments. I’m sure I do too. Being a post-menopausal woman. Although young women also get it…

I spent some time yesterday deconstructing two big branches I pulled off a tree (they were dangling; they’d already broken off). The weeds are out of control. But my sinuses are OK (not great; just OK). IDK what it was in Virginia, but I was allergic to something there near where we were staying.

Let’s end on a positive note, because the world is a shitshow.

I am still trying. On all the fronts. Today, I’m teaching…well, I’m introducing a new unit that will be bisected by sex ed because my school board are idiots and the state doesn’t listen…or care, honestly, I think. Certainly, I couldn’t find anyone who had a brain in their head. Did I spell bisected right? It looks wrong. Shouldn’t it be like dissected? No. It shouldn’t. Glad we had that moment together.

Then staff meeting, then ceramics! yay! Where I have to decide what to do next. Minor issue. Don’t have a plan. Nothing new there. Then come back, eat dinner, read book, not in that order, and sew bugs. Repeat. Slight differences each day, but repeat.