Go Read a Book…

Hey there. I’m convinced Nature doesn’t want me to finish the DIY project I started Monday with the boychild. It poured this morning. I’m not sure it’s done pouring. I painted this morning. Fun times. It was lovely and sunny as I painted and then it was pouring. And then WordPress wants to charge me a million bucks for more storage. Did you know I’ve had a blog since 2004? And been on WordPress since I think 2014? Or something. There are things I can do, but they require time and brainpower. I’m debating things. Also, the last two months have been really expensive…nah, the last 6 months or so. I’m not ready to drop a shit ton of money this month. Or next month, to be honest. So it must be January…when all these things are in my head, plus grades are due in a couple of weeks (no, I haven’t finished grades) and I need to get this quilt done and I was sick for a week and now I stabbed my finger with a cactus spine and it hurts to type. It’s fine. Really. All of it. It will all get done. I don’t think I’ll finish painting today though. That’s a reality check.

OK, so I finished tracing Wonder Under pieces last night…

It took about 11 1/2 hours to trace it all.

Last night, Scribble woke up when I had about 30 pieces left and was quite insistent…at one point, putting her foot/claw through the Wonder Under as she realized it was not solid and she was over the edge of the light table. She caught herself on my hand.

In general, she’s not super bitey and scratchy, so that’s fine. And the hole is manageable…I’ve dealt with worse. So there’s the 4 1/2 yards of Wonder Under I now need to trim. Which I guess I have time to do with the wood needing to dry out again. Plus I’m not entirely sure it’s not going to rain again. Sigh. It’s progress at least.

My piece is still hanging at MOCA in Connecticut…

They posted this yesterday…

Which was cool.

This is not cool.

Whole milk and red meat. I guess it’s too much to hope that certain key politicians follow these guidelines as well as the vaccination schedules and succumb to the reality of that. Yeah. I thought so. I guess more people will have heart attacks. I do worry about the kids…I can’t understand why we wouldn’t want kids to have everything they need to survive. Mind-boggling.

Yes, I got my measles update. I have Hep A and B (I’m a teacher). I have all of them except the updated TDAP (sensitivity to the T part means I can’t get the DAP part). OK. Well. I’m going to get some painting done today…I got the first three sides of the primer on. Was about to flip it for the fourth side. Then I need probably three coats of actual paint. Looks like we’re installing Friday…so much for a quick job. Ha! I have some grading to do. And I can start trimming Wonder Under. I’m sure there are 78 other things I can do as well…I just don’t want to. Not shocking that. I go back to school on Monday and I will never ever be ready. It’s nothing new…happens every year. Get your shots, all. Eat healthy. Don’t let the brain worm take over. Read a book! Did you see the data that the majority of Americans didn’t even read one book last year? I read 120. I shouldn’t be making up for the rest of you. Go read a damn book (I know; my readership is probably not the problem).

Ramp It Down…

Well. I just realized I haven’t written since 2025. OK, it’s only the 5th of January, but normally, I would have written on Friday…Friday was a shitshow. It’s fine. It was also the boychild’s 30th birthday, so in true son fashion, he disappeared and did his own thing. I love that for him…considering it for my birthday this year too. It was actually a health insurance issue, which in the end, worked out (well, apparently), which is better than all those sweet people trying to find affordable health insurance at the moment. It is one of the things our district does right…provide good insurance…although they keep threatening to make it cost more (it costs more every year almost, so it’s an empty threat). In general, though, the coverage is good. Except when they fuck it up…which is what happened on the 1st. Anyway, it made the day stressful for me, but eventually I got my meds and went to the knee doctor (good news…it’s not weak, it’s not ligaments…it’s just old. Still.). Back to physical therapy for me. Whoo. I’d rather do that than surgery, so there’s that. Anyway, I’ll blame all that and the remainder of this damn virus for making me forget to write. Saturday and Sunday were all about packing quilts up for the Virginia show, and then shipping them today.

In between all that, I’ve finished grading one whole assignment (only two to go…but both are big) and more importantly, finished the next drawing and started tracing. That’s been fun…tracing with a kitten in the house? Between Luna (attacker of paper) and Nova (eater of paper) a few years back and then Bowie (PARKOUR!), it’s been a bunch of kitten incursion into my artmaking over the last 5 years. Scribble is no different in her love of the process. So I wait for her to fall asleep…and then she wakes up anyway.

Here’s sometime last week, when I was still drawing…some cat (probably Nova) took a bit out of the drawing.

Scribble denied it. I have a system in which I cover the drawing when I’m not actually working on it so no cats can attack, tear, or eat it. Because they’ve done all those things.

Still drawing…this is last Wednesday night…so the same day as my last post. New Year’s Eve!

Everyone in the house but me went to bed early. I didn’t even make it to midnight, because flu. Thursday night, I finished drawing…

I have a size limit…and a time limit. It looks complicated (and it’s not NOT complicated), but not huge, so only about 760 pieces. I numbered it that night too…

About 6 1/2 hours to draw it, then another hour to number it. I think that night went past midnight…finally starting to feel well…ish.

I started tracing it on Friday night.

In this photo, Scribble is under the drawing. Makes it hard to trace.

That said, she’s not scratching, attacking, or eating it, like the other three did, so win-win situation here. Bowie is definitely tempted here.

He also knows now that it’s not allowed. I say that like it matters to him.

She’s cute. That might be what saves her. There’s Bowie, thinking about it again.

He definitely argues for equitable treatment. Sigh. Scribble is easier to pick up and move than the chonk Bowie though.

And she wanders off and plays with feathers in between.

Anyway, I’m more than halfway through the tracing. This one is on a super-tight deadline. I’d really like it traced in the next couple of nights. But also, I can’t just do this. The boychild and I are replacing the deck railing. We bought wood today and I spent a couple hours this afternoon trying to move planters for access. During COVID, I put up all these shelves and planters on the deck so I wouldn’t have to listen to/see my neighbors’ kids all the time. It’s gotten pretty overgrown. I accidentally broke two pots today; one was an Xmas gift, so I feel shitty about that. I still need to go back out there and deal with one shelf, a couple of pots, and an entire planter. I needed a break though.

Other stuff: we had a bunch of rain again and Simba doesn’t like to get wet. He has a raincoat. I’m not sure it helps, but he looks cute in it.

Scribble sleeps like a kitten.

Plays hard, zonks hard.

Then again, there’s been a lot of cat snarliness over that blue blanket.

Bowie covets it. Nova doesn’t care. I don’t know why none of them curl up with each other when it’s cold…except for the two sisters.

The boychild found a baby bird.

It’s a bushtit. We panicked a little and left it for mom…

It unfortunately did not make it and is now buried in the backyard.

I tried using Google Translate live to translate a video I was watching…not so effective sometimes.

Although maybe that is what she was saying (seems unlikely).

I find this amusing.

I tell it to fuck off constantly; same with Gemini. Like just go away. I’m using my brain now. Make Copilot clean the ceiling fan blades. I did that and wished I didn’t have to.

This is also too true. Damn US, the political bullshit in the last week has been nuts.

I’m not ignoring it. I’m just still processing the damn Epstein files. And the ACA. And Jack Smith. And now bombs? And kidnapping? I’m boggled. Also someone please tell Erika Kirk that we don’t need to do another round of Phyllis Schlafly. She was an idiot the first time around. Anyone who can’t see the parallels in this bullshit with Serena Joy in The Handmaid’s Tale? Either you want to stay home and be a freakin’ trad wife, or you want to have rights…you can’t have it both ways. Unless you want to be a feminist? I highly recommend it personally, but if you want the trad wife life, do it. Just don’t make the rest of us come along. We have brains that work too…and we want to do different things. Right now? I want to curl up on the couch and finish my book with a cat or two and a fire in the fireplace and a nice cup of tea. But no, I need to go finish hauling shit around on the deck and then probably stand and trace for a few hours after grading some shit. So there’s that.

Anyway. I’m thankful for a week that has mostly no plans (except the to-do list) and time to recover fully from the flu (I’m still coughing up a lungful of mucus) before I have to go back to the crazy. Although if the rest of the country could ramp the crazy down a bit, I’d appreciate that too.

A Good Book and a Warm Kitten

Well hello, last day of the year. I am alive. Although still shaky on that front. Not really. Just not feeling 100% yet. Although I managed a pilates class today, plus two whole stores! And a shower! That was fucking amazing. I should do that more often. No really, I (and the girlchild) came down with some coughing feverish extravaganza on Friday night that downed us…well, like I said, I’m mostly functional today, but felt exhausted by having to break the meat up for the lasagne sauce. Yesterday, it was the walk down the driveway to the mailbox. I’m mostly upright today, but still need a rest…past the napping and fever though, but some coughing still pops up occasionally, mostly in the middle of the night, when I’m trying to sleep. Fun times. Got the old guy sick too, but mom, boychild, and ex seem unscathed. Trying to take it easy seems the best plan. Then Man overextended himself into another day on the couch earlier this week. It does seem like lost days, not getting anything done (because it is)…but I read three books? So that’s something? And slept a lot. And communed with cats and dogs.

Good Scribble, keeping mommy warm. Or maybe it’s the other way around.

I did start drawing a little on Sunday…or maybe Friday. I’m not sure. The days are a bit blurry.

Oh yeah, that was Friday. Then there was a massive blur of time on the couch in pajamas and some crazy stuff like going to get my labs done (shocker, my white blood cell count is low). You know, I had a damn flu shot. Fucking RFK and his minions.

Monday night, I inked a little and then had to lie down again.

This was in two batches on Tuesday. More standing, but then got nauseous. Nauseated. Yup. That.

Gonna do more tonight. Don’t know if I’ll finish, but it’s raining here and we don’t go out on NYE unless we have to (and we don’t), so the lasagna sauce is simmering, my drawing is waiting for me, and the Man might let us watch something that’s not just his choice (hard to say; he’s definitely still recovering but went to work yesterday for a half day).

Look, it’s Scribble on my lap again!

I always feel so bad when I have to stand up to do whatever. I mean, nothing is as important as being a cat couch, right?

Poor dinos get their extinction blamed on everything, don’t they? The poster in my room blames their not reading.

Seems fair.

Trying not to think about this…because I haven’t done much of it. I was doing OK and then the plague happened.

Fun times. I had to redo my year in books for Goodreads…they calculated it 5 days ago, before the plague forced me to finish four more books.

Forced me. Ha. I don’t think I’ll be finishing one tonight, so that’s it. Not bad. The most pages I’ve ever read while documenting on Goodreads. Not that it means much…when I was a kid, I read a lot. It does make you wonder though…I read to escape. Maybe too much escaping this year? I managed to make 6 full-size quilts too though, which is one of the other things I look at for sanity. So yeah, 2026…ugh. Please make us healthier, let us read and make art as needed, cut back on the day-job crazies, make the home life smooth and lacking major repairs (I already know that’s fucked). And all the best to y’all as well. May you have the equivalent for you of a good book and a warm kitten (oh wait, here’s where I admit that three of those four books weren’t that great). Ha! Happy New Year…if that works for you. If not, I suggest tucking into bed early with a nice meditation recording and hopeful thoughts.

Set Them…

OK. Five days. Anyone can do five days. Tomorrow will be the longest day, because apparently Tuesdays are now the longest days instead of Wednesdays. Not sure why. A 2024 school year thing? Who knows. I feel pretty good about the weekend; I got the things done that I planned to get done. I could have done more, but that is always the case. I feel prepared going into this week (well, mostly), unlike almost every other week since Winter Break. I’ve taught this before; I know what it looks like. It’s not all direct instruction. I get time to grade the two weeks of homework I haven’t gotten to yet. All good. Plus the quilt progress is ahead of where I thought I’d be, so that’s awesome.

I ironed on Friday night…

Got a good chunk of the second figure done. Saturday, I finished her…

And Sunday, I had picked a background fabric that was big enough, but when I unfolded it to iron everything down, there was a square chunk out of it in exactly the wrong place…it wasn’t going to be big enough (it was just big enough in the first place), so I picked a different one. And then ironed it down…

I’m glad I had another one that was big enough…although this isn’t a huge quilt really.

Then I started stitchdown…

I got a good solid start…did all of the torso on the more complicated figure. I should be able to finish tonight or come close to it, then pinbaste and sandwich tomorrow night and start quilting. This one is on a deadline. Hell, everything I’m working on right now is on a deadline. I need to prep the embroidery I’m taking with us on our trip too. No worries. Just got two Zoom meetings at night this week and packing to do, plus keep up with school stuff. Although I’m mostly caught up (breathe…knock on wood).

I also went to the ceramics studio on Friday. It was delightfully empty. A bunch of people are at a ceramics convention, but Fridays have been empty lately. I finished (for reals this time) the underglazing on the base…

It’s currently drying. It’ll get bisque fired soon. When I think it’s dry. I started the base on November 4. I wasn’t working on it all that time…I needed it to put the next level on to make sure they’d fit and work together. I should have underglazed it sooner, but I was distracted.

The back is not as exciting.

This is the second level in progress…

I think I started it in January. It’s solidified nicely, but is still pliable enough to attach more things. And attach more things I am doing. Probably for a while. Yes, there will be a head…haven’t figured that out yet.

Still horrified by the stupid shit my government is doing. Everything they do hurts almost everyone but rich white boys.

I’m amused that they’re butthurt about Tesla protests, but not about the racist/sexist protests of the Proud Boys and their ilk. Their protests where people died. I still see people claiming January 6 was Antifa. My lord, people. Read. Please. I’m just waiting for more of those pardoned assholes to commit more crimes. They’re ‘good people’, my ass. I had to shop once this month with Amazon (wedding registry…no way I could deal with it otherwise)…but I’ve been avoiding any brand with MAGA ties. I can’t say it’s easy. My local quilt store. Target. Staples. Honestly, I just don’t buy things that normally I would buy. I guess that’s another way of saving.

I spent 7 hours on Saturday doing my taxes. I wish I could say I’ll be better this year and document things as they happen, but I know I won’t. After doing all of it, I remember what the notes meant that I took last year. Maybe I’ll be proactive this year and set it up properly for next year. Maybe. Maybe not. Hopefully.

I’m with you, spoon. Got your back.

The Man took this picture of his three cats all in the same place and not moving (a miracle that)…

Luna, Nova, and Bowie. He’s a big boy. Almost a year old now. Still cross-eyed.

OK. School. Punnett square project. It’s Eid, so a bunch of kids will be absent (end of Ramadan). Pro: they will be eating normally again. Con: I’ll have to get them all caught up tomorrow or Wednesday. Pain in the butt, but can’t stop teaching right now. Too close to the end of the year and testing. Then staff meeting, possibly another meeting, then hopefully clay. We’ll see. I need to start going to the gym again…so I’m trying to save Tuesday for that. Progress on the quilt…maybe finish stitchdown. That’s the goal anyway. Set them, meet them or break them…it doesn’t matter as long as you set them.

I Am Neither

There’s a very vocal crow up early this morning. I don’t usually hear them in the morning at all. It’s close to dark and I can even see one of the crows (there must be more than one) on an electrical line out my window. The other one, the loud one, is in one of my trees…cawing away. It’s usually super quiet here in the morning…the occasional trash truck or neighbor slamming a car door, but the lower neighbor doesn’t seem to go to a job anymore (on his motorcycle, which was fun at 4 AM). Quiet is nice.

There are 8 days of school before Spring Break. I’m trying to get everything copied and planned for next week and the week we come back, so I don’t have to worry about it. Grades are due right after we come back (of course they are), so I’m also trying to make that an easy thing too. Normally I’d collect packets before we go on break, because kids lose them or parents throw them out, and I’m not doing that. I’m not even done grading the last packet (it takes a while…I stayed late after school the last two days to get two classes done; I’ll probably do the same tomorrow and Friday). I know I’ll have two academic things next week that I won’t be able to finish before break…ah well. They will survive. Because you should always get your oxygen first before getting oxygen for the people around you. I need to take care of myself to take care of the kids around me.

With that, I’m trying to get this ceramics piece done…I think it actually is done. I’m trying to deal with some persistent cracks, but I think the underglazing is done.

Don’t worry about the inside. A quilt is going in there. I darkened the peach up a bit. Or brightened it. I’m probably going to use some oxides on it later. I think this one will go in a glaze fire as well as a bisque. We’ll see. I’m going to have to get through the other two parts first before I figure that out. Anyway, I covered it up and I shouldn’t have…it needs to fully dry so I can stick it in the kiln. So Friday, I’ll start working on the upper torso again…see how the arms are literally holding up. No head yet. Not sure how I’m gonna do that. I started this base on November 4.

In quilting, I was really feeling behind, like I was never gonna finish, and then all of a sudden, staying up 20 minutes late, I was done trimming pieces…

That’s 7 hours and 55 minutes. Last night, I sorted them…

Luna watched…

Tonight I’ll start ironing them together. I need this thing fully ironed together by the end of the weekend. Then stitchdown early next week, and sandwich it before I go on Spring Break. When I come back, quilt and bind it. Start the next one. I know, I packed some deadlines…and hopefully I can pull both of them off. We’ll see. I also need to get my taxes done in the same time frame. That’s harder. I spent another hour last night going through charges on the credit card and Amazon invoices for art, copyediting, and school stuff. Collecting the info takes longer than putting it in. Pro: this year, I seem to be on the refund side instead of the payment side. Con: that’s because I didn’t sell as many quilts last year. Ah well. It happens. I feel like I’m barely making anything lately (I know, the last one was big and took a long time). Sigh. School. There are less than 50 days left of school. It’s still a lot, but that’s usually when I start counting. Honestly, I’m counting less these days…not because it’s easier…because I can’t look that far ahead without panicking.

We are going camping over break…although honestly, mostly we’re NOT camping…

And that story is way too true. A whole family of them.

Because of when we’re leaving, I can’t march in this…

And I would. In case you’re wondering. I haven’t been using Amazon (except to print last-year’s invoices and to buy one video I showed my students). I’ve been trying to shop independent stores. I’ve watched the dismantling of everything with a sense of dystopian horror. My retirement funds have crashed (ah well, that happens). The next four years of school will probably be problematic. My partner is depending on social security for his retirement and is currently dependent on federal and state funds for his healthcare. I can’t afford to take care of him AND me. I may not be able to retire in four years, or I may get fired before that. Eggs are still expensive. Avian flu is out there and we’re hearing nothing from the people who are supposed to inform us. The idiots are trying to start wars with some of the most peaceful countries out there while allying us with one of the most dictatorial countries. I’ve signed up with a few groups that protest, although I haven’t gotten to one yet (that whole day job thing). I’ve sent money to funds that will hopefully protect the people who need it most. I’ve watched some people spew some of the most idiotic stuff; I guess they don’t realize it will affect them in the long run. It’s not going well. It’s stressful to read about it and watch it, and it’s hard to know what to do. So I’m buying some postcards and writing some letters. I have an app that helps me call my representatives and let them know they need to be louder. I won’t be marching on the 5th because I’ll be driving, but I’m hoping to find a way to protest anyway.

A few of you might not agree. Some of you are probably even related to me. Ah well. I guess I’ve read too many dystopian novels to see this working out well for any of us except the supremely rich and arrogant. And I am neither.

Same As Always…

I know it’s not uncommon for teachers to not be able to sleep well on a Sunday night. It’s just annoying. I know it’s a busy week, probably a stressful week, based on the last few, and I need all the sleep I can get, but no, brain…no, you won’t let me sleep. Up three times in the night, awake well before the alarm. Not appreciated. I had to be up early for a parent meeting today anyway, so I think that’s a total of three meetings before and after school today. A few more hours of sleep would have been nice.

I did manage to get some things done this weekend…we figured out that our tent was moldy as hell (I suspected that) from the last trip, I got some of the bulbs planted, I dropped that last big quilt off with my photographer finally, and I got some ceramics time in. I was supposed to go Friday, but I was still fighting that halfassed cold that seems to have wandered mostly off now (knock on wood), plus I forgot to bring my glaze box, and the whole point was to get the base glazed so I could get it in the kiln fire before anything else cracked or broke. So I went yesterday instead, on the way back from the photographer…

Almost done. I want another layer on the flesh…I want it a bit darker. Then I can work on the upper torso for a bit. I started this in November…it’s taking forever. I did do some other stuff in the middle though.

I also cut things out for three nights, although I didn’t get as far as I wanted…never do.

Let’s see if we can see the progress…this is after Friday night…top left is cut out, top right is trash leftover trimmed pieces, bottom is what’s left to cut.

Here’s Saturday night…

All those flesh pieces ready to be cut out now…and after Sunday night…

Definite progress. I’m still in the fleshy bits, but the grays of the other figure are showing up and the box is noticeably emptier. Still got two to three nights though, unless I get some extra time in. Unlikely, because I’m really trying to grade all the things now. I don’t want to grade over break. I’ll have to, but I’m trying to keep it minimal. Best I can. Even rewriting one academic thing to make it more obvious…easier on my end.

Hoping to get to the ironing together part before the weekend. We’ll see how that goes. I’m behind on my original plan. No shocker there. I do have two Zoom meetings this week; I’ll be cutting things out then. I also have a book I’m about 85% done with, and I’d really like to finish it too. I didn’t get to hike this weekend, but I did a bunch of yardwork. Still trying to clean out the outside entryway from the flooding last year. I have a broken sprinkler that I don’t know how to fix. There’s about 3000 weeds in the yard that need pulling. I did some of the entryway…it’s mostly filling up a bucket with dead leaves and/or dirt and walking it down the stairs about 4 thousand times, maybe more. The dirt gets to go in the wheelbarrow and get dumped in the front yard. The leaves go in the greenery trashcan. Fun times. Then I need some gravel and a new replanting plan. I started some of that. I also started my taxes, which is a lot of work and time and needs to be done before we leave on Spring Break. I’m looking forward to getting the fuck out of here though, because I didn’t do it last year and I paid for it later. It’s a mental break that’s necessary to get through the rest of the school year. Looking forward to it. Need a plan for somewhere cool to stop between here and Humboldt though…we have hotel rooms for the drive up. Just want somewhere to go see, walk around, that might be cool. I know there’s some flower fields north of LA that I want to try to find. We’ll see. Anything better than Dateland (on the way to Phoenix).

Here’s Nova the other night…cuddling with me as I cut shit out.

And here’s some owls…

At some point, one of the owls has an animal on top of the box and then almost drops it.

Pretty sure they get it into the box later. We don’t hear babies yet…but this is a pretty good sign that mom is sitting on at least one egg. Fascinating stuff.

OK. School. Parent meeting in the morning. Teaching DNA and chromosomes. Two staff meetings after. Book club tonight (yes, I read the book). Lots of cutting things out. Finish that damn book. Grade some stuff. Same as always.

Ride It Out…

Ah yes, finally typing this on a computer. Not everything is fixed and back to normal, but I am no longer fighting a 10-year-old computer that is slowly (very slowly, because it’s the only speed it had) dying. Yes, it’s taken like three weeks to get functional again. There are some things that I just can’t easily do on a phone or an aging iPad (also needs replacing this year). The boychild was a massive help, although in the end, we didn’t use the backup service I’ve been paying for for years…so fun that.

This weekend was another in a series where I don’t get 1/10th of the stuff done that I wanted or needed to. It’s just my life, maybe? Hard to say. I did some grading and some school stuff but mostly didn’t. I spent time in Home Depot (must be spring) and digging a hole that probably isn’t big enough. I finished one book (actually two) and started another. I made some art and went for a hike. I don’t feel ready for the week. I’m fighting a cold…I’m hoping I can hold the worst of it off, because we have a field trip this week. I’ve drunk a lot of Vitamin C this weekend in hopes it would boost things enough to kick this thing that’s trying to sneak in. Who knows.

OK, art…I ironed a lot this weekend…

I did like three sessions on Saturday…there’s the setup with one computer backing up, one being set up, and the one I was actually watching stuff on…

Too many computers…there’s the beginning of the flesh fabrics, which I spent most of Saturday ironing.

Got through the whole pile…they were interspersed between the 200s all the way to the 600s, so I officially have no clue how far I am in the ironing. But I got the actual flesh done and then still need to do all the eyeballs and the heart and lungs and all those fussy bits that aren’t flesh colored.

I really wanted to be done Sunday, but that didn’t happen. It took too long to do everything on Sunday. I don’t even think I got an hour in, unfortunately.

More of the bits and pieces though. I suspect I’ve got another three nights before I’m done. We’ll see. I have a ton of schoolwork to do as well. As always.

I’m underglazing the base in clay…with Bart’s help (not really…he was wet from outdoors and tried to headbutt the part of this that keeps breaking off).

It just takes forever to do this stuff.

Coral is done, some other bits and pieces in that color range. I’ll be back at it tonight.

We hiked Saturday…got the full 3 miles in this time.

With two coyote sightings…

Broad daylight…

Went out for dinner…

I did draw…just totally forgot to photograph it.

Ah, falcon payments. This lasagna thing was from the book for The Electric State, which was very different than what the movie seems to be.

But lasagna…

The next puppy I get…

This is maybe too real and also applies to my quilts…

Lastly, in cleaning up hard drives all over my office, found this from around 2001 (not 1994 like the time stamp says)…

One of the best pictures I’ve ever taken of the kids.

OK. School today…with an impending incipient cold. And still tired. But hopefully a chill day. Turn the things in, y’all. Then staff meeting (ugh but short) and ceramics (yay). Then home, grading, and ironing (more yay!). Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all who celebrate (most of whom aren’t Irish in the slightest). And may the government fall into a deep hole it can’t get out of (we’re close, but not quite). I checked my retirement funds over the weekend. Thanks to the billionaires in charge, I’m now down a significant amount…well, we’re gonna ride it out y’all…just let me retire when I need to.

Don’t Call Me Maybe…

Oh hey, yeah I’m totally off on days this week. Oh well. Travel does that to you. I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning for Phoenix for QuiltCon, where I found out, one of my quilts IS actually hanging, but in the SAQA vendor booth. Check it out!

That’s my quilt, Woman 3.0, on the right side of the middle. IDK whether it’s random that it’s hanging there (this is part of the StitchPunk exhibit that’s been traveling) or they knew I’d be in the booth, but I love it! If you’re at QuiltCon, you should go see it. It’ll probably be the only time I’ll have a quilt at QuiltCon.

I’m totally jealous of all the people posting that they left early and are touring all the parts of Arizona etc that are naturally awesome (like as In Nature). I won’t have time for that this time. And school makes it always hard to tack on any extra time.

In other quilt news, I finished this piece, which has notionally been called Self Portrait for the four months I’ve been working on it.

I may or may not retitle it. It needs to be cleaned up and photographed. It’s got body bags and bunnies, bullets and a fox, lots of political stuff, lots of personal stuff. All drawn in October, before the election and all the crazy shit that is going on now…stuff I’m not even sure how to process into a visual image.

I have a deadline coming up, so last night, I started figuring that out. It needs to be a certain shape and size (book shape-ish). So I’ll need four ‘pages’. I started drawing one of them last night…

My goal is to get them drawn in the next few days, although I kinda have a shit ton of crap going on, so we’ll see how that goes. In the background, with all the writing on it, is another possible deadline. One I’m interested in, at least…I’m going to have to read a book to complete it though. Not that it’s usually a problem, but I’d need to read it, process it, and draw something in the next three weeks. Hmmm. It’s not impossible. I could. If I have an idea, I can draw it fast enough. And I’m trying to clear some weekends in March (ha!) because February is such a mess. It’s a GOOD mess, but hell, this day job just kicks my butt when anything else is going on.

In clay, girlchild made the boychild a chip and dip bowl for his birthday…

Although she then left it with me to bisque and glaze fire and it just came out. It’s pretty. One air bubble. No breakage! A miracle.

I also finally got to do some building…it’s been rough getting into the studio the last two weeks. I worked on the right arm and hand, which still need work, and lengthened the left arm.

The bottom piece is dryish, but I want to paint it with underglazes…so I’ve been spraying it to rehydrate it, but then not having time to paint (or in this case, I forgot the glazes and I barely had an hour to work anyway).

Normally I’d go tomorrow after school, but I won’t be in this state. So Monday it is. Maybe I’ll remember the glazes. I can paint at the bisque stage…but I think I want to carve into the underglazes, so that needs to be at this stage. I keep having to beg people to NOT put things on the shelf where I pulled the base off…it’s big and only fits in a few places. I’m constantly fighting to keep it in the same space. The top is on my shelf, so it’s OK, but the drying shelves are really full right now.

OK. Today. Yikes. Need to pack. I had ordered supplies for my Saturday class but they aren’t coming now until next week, so I had to raid my stash for stuff. I don’t have much in the way of sequins…plenty of beads. So hopefully the instructor has some or I can buy some at the show. I’m looking forward to messing around with stuff, but I did not do a good job of editing threads or beads. The Man will have to deliver a bag to me right before class so I don’t have to carry it all day. I need to finish/edit sub plans and print them, copy seating charts, prep my kids for not being dumbasses while I’m gone, start a group project, be observed teaching vocab, finish the notes from yesterday, be totally efficient during prep period, go to at least one, possible two kid meetings, and drive to a stitching meeting tonight with a quilt that has sold. WOW. Maybe eat dinner. I mean there are no guarantees. Oh yeah, do laundry so I actually CAN pack. Maybe sleep, but probably not. Why sleep when you can lie awake with stupid songs running through your head (see post title) and a list of all the things you need to get done (grading! FFS). Yeah. Don’t try this at home, kids.

On the Next Step…

January is flying by. It always does. So does February with its built-in shortness and double holiday whammy (for us anyway). Then March lasts for 3 months. It’s weird that way. Having a Monday off is nice; it gives me some extra rest/relaxation time, although I mostly suck at that, unless you count reading, which I do. And making art, which I totally do. I’m progressing on all art fronts, although slowly…which is fine. If I don’t hit deadlines, and I probably won’t…let’s be realistic…it’s not the end of the world. So…I’m still working on my friend’s mom’s quilt…I’m more than halfway, but there’s still a good chunk to do. I’m going to have to pull it off the machine tonight though so I can piece the backing for the final iron down, and then stitchdown after. I’ll do another 30 minutes on the background before I do that though.

The art quilt I’m working on is getting there…I ironed half the tree parts Monday night…

The tree goes from winter to spring to summer to fall (right to left)…so last night, I ironed summer and fall…

And then the last two little bits…the spaceship…

And a catronaut.

Castronaut? sounds painful. Anyway, on the dark background, she’ll show up just fine. Although she has kind of some disco tendencies too. I think. Tonight, I’ll piece the background and iron the whole thing down. Hopefully.

I have a piece in a show at Road to California in Ontario, CA, this weekend. It’s part of the SAQA SoCA/NV chapter’s New Pieces.

It is apparently at waist height. Hmmm. I apologize now for you having to bend over to see the details. I don’t enter Road any more because the lighting and hanging aren’t great, but this was my group and I wanted to be supportive. I feel like they need to accept fewer pieces and hang them with space between and not double hang. But I didn’t hang the show…so there we are. Also, there’s boobs and a uterus, so that will make some people clutch their pearls. I’m OK with that. I’m not going to make it up there…I have two art meetings already this weekend. It’s messy.

I went to clay on Monday and got more details put on the upper torso and started arms.

Still not entirely sure how I will dry/fire arms, but it’s in progress.

I do like the heart and lungs though. So far.

Side view, she’s leaning a little further forward than I’d like. I have to store the two pieces separately due to the size of shelves. The bottom is mostly drying and the top is mostly mushy still, so it’s a challenge. I haven’t even figured out the head yet. I need more clay and the boss has been away at a conference. I don’t actually have anywhere to store the clay, although someone in my shelves is storing it all on the ground. Which they told me was not OK, fire marshally stuff, also I can’t reach my shelf due to all the crap on the ground. Minor issue. I’ll be back there on Friday and hopefully get more clay. Or? Not sure. I was expecting her to be there Monday unfortunately. That does mean I’ve used almost 20 pounds of clay in this so far, minus a few things the girlchild and I made. Fun times.

I’m reading Swordheart by T. Kingfisher…I find it amusing.

Sometimes I chortle out loud even…

Lizards sounds painful.

I grew two bell peppers this summer. I waited too long to harvest them, of course.

I don’t mind feeding the animals…

This is the new government by the way…

So first of all, I’ve never heard of large and small cells to define egg and sperm. I’m not sure why they didn’t use those words (because they are scary???). Second of all, they are idiots. If only it were that simple. But it’s not. I have a 3-hour sex-ed curriculum meeting tomorrow at the district and a prep-time meeting tomorrow. Sigh. I’m tired of being in charge of things, but I honestly can’t trust the world to be smart about this stuff. I’m still off the regular social media. Still trying not to watch the crazy-making shit. Except I saw a conversation between teachers about what to do when ICE shows up on school campuses. Sigh. And our Newcomer population is growing crazily, mostly I think because they’re desperately trying to get here before they’re not allowed to. Such a hateful government. Really disappointing.

With that, I’m low-fi teaching today…just means I’m not directly teaching. It’s review. And finish the things. Tomorrow is an academic assignment. I’m really trying to be mostly hands off this week. Last week was all on, and it was tiring. OK, not gonna lie, but yesterday was also tiring. Ah well. Last night, I had a hard time falling asleep and then once I was finally there, kaboom! Cat fight under the bed. Fun times. Loud. Someone was pissed off. And then the little cat (who is not so little anymore) was up and about before my alarm went off. Squirrely bastard. Pilates after school (already tired)…then quilting, ironing the whole thing down, and hopefully starting stitchdown. We’ll see how that goes. Good to be onto the next step.

Made It to Halfway…

It’s amazing how quickly I get tired…I’ve been trying to train myself to go to sleep earlier again. I just suck at it. The boychild says I can easily train myself to be a morning person, but I’m not so sure. Maybe when you’re younger. I know Monday night, I’m trying to fall asleep, and my brain is just tossing stuff out that needs to be done. I finally gave up and pulled up the calendar app on my phone, and scheduled a bunch of stuff. Then I could sleep. As the week goes on, with every morning an early wakeup (tomorrow is even earlier ffs), I get tired enough to fall asleep before the meditation app turns off. Pros and cons of that. I’m trying to carve out art time, though, and that’s usually after dinner. I should’ve graded last night, but I didn’t. Monday I came home and took a nap…and we didn’t even have kids on Monday! Just an all-morning staff meeting. I’ll get used to it; I always do. Maybe. Right now, it feels like I need a tea injection. My fault for taking the head meds late…they make me tired, so I have a reminder on my phone to take them at 8 PM, but then I keep forgetting and not taking them until bedtime. Ugh. I don’t think they’re going to work anyway. They’re another migraine medication the doc wanted me to try so she could finally rule out migraine for the visual disturbance I have…she calls it a ‘scotopia’ or a visual disturbance. I call it the swirling universe and am convinced it has alien origins. She laughed at that. At least she has a sense of humor. The scotopia is not quite correct, because I am seeing colors…anyway, I think she really doesn’t know what it is and it will either go away, stay forever, or eventually turn into something the docs recognize. But for now, I’m taking a medication for migraines that I don’t seem to actually have. So there’s that.

Art! I am ironing, and finally hit halfway last night. I’m mostly in the fussy little bits, so there looks to be very little progress from day to day. Monday night, I ironed the heart with all its flowers.

There were quite a few pieces in there. I also added some bits and pieces to fill in blanks. Last night, I did the arm and the neck.

I’m in the mid 800s, so halfway. Still fussy shit going on, trying to make everything fit. The bottom was getting too heavy; it kept pulling everything off kilter, so I removed the teflon sheets from the bottom and rolled it up.

You can see it all rolled up there. You can also see the ginormous quilt I’m quilting for (this is my plan) 30 minutes a night. It’s for a friend of mine. Her mom made the quilt before she died and was able to quilt it. It’s large. I’ve managed to quilt all the way around the center medallion, although I will add some quilting in the middle once I figure out the rest of it. The next step is to quilt around some of the outside icons and then do an allover stipple in between all of that. The hardest part is that I got a bag of thread with the quilt, but I don’t know what mom wanted. How I would quilt it vs how someone else would quilt it? I try to channel mom thoughts while I’m quilting…it’s weird…I’ve done finish-up quilting on projects before for people who needed help finishing something up for someone else, and there is a moment while you’re working when you picture the person and try to think what they would want or need. Definitely communing with intent. Or for intent? I’m not sure. It’s a strange headspace. Anyway, I feel much better about it now. It was an overwhelming project when I first took it, and now it’s just ‘do this one thing’ and then ‘do this other thing’. One piece at a time. Much more manageable.

I did more clay on Monday…honestly I thought I’d be doing clay stuff all the time during break and that definitely didn’t happen. I barely made it in. Which sucks. But whatever.

Shoulders. Still not sure how I am going to handle arms. There’s a roll of plastic-covered paper towels holding the boobs up. Some sagging is allowed. But also, the weight is all pitched forward at the moment because of the construction I’m using to fit the two parts together.

Lots left to do. I haven’t even started decorating this part. The other part is over on the drying shelves. AND…I’m almost out of this clay. I’ve used almost 20 pounds. Crazy. Hopefully I’ll be back there on Friday (possibly exhausted by then).

So we dropped the owl box…definitely bees in there…

You can just see a bunch of bees and the honeycomb on the right.

I talked to a very helpful, very nice bee woman who lives too far away to help us, but she gave me some ideas. I ordered another owl box. This one needs to move with its bees, we think. Someone local will need to help with that. The bees probably won’t survive being moved out right now. Not enough resources. So I’m still trying to figure out how to handle the next part, which might just mean moving it over 10 feet so we can put a new owl box on. We’ll see. My brain is overwhelmed with school right now, so I’m taking small steps each day toward my to-do list. Yesterday was an art thing and a retirement thing. Today will be bee things.

Yesterday, we started Unit 4 and I actually finished a cover page the same day I started it.

Sort of miraculous that.

OK. Teaching light vs sound waves today. Kids are reading out loud as characters in a story. We have new seats, new folders, a new unit. Kids are still tired. They got a lecture about trying harder and redoing work when it wasn’t up to standards. About how they’ve already done hard things and they can still do hard things, that hardly anything goes right the first time. Meanwhile our grade file opens tomorrow and I have some more stuff to grade. I do love their confidence sometimes though. Actual conversation: I filled out the regrade form and you didn’t grade it. I did look at it, but didn’t see a change. I got a better score. Did you get my email? No you didn’t email me. I did, on December 27. Oh. If you can screenshot your score, I’ll change it. Otherwise, I can’t grade something I can’t see. OK, Ms. Nida; I’ll do that. Luckily, I keep pretty specific notes or I wouldn’t remember anything.

After teaching, I have pilates. I’m not cooking tonight, so hopefully I can read my book a little and then grade the silly things I have left to grade. And then quilt and iron after dinner. I’m better with routines. I get more done. I need the breaks from school, but the break in routine doesn’t always help. Still tired, by the way.