You Can Do Some Things…Maybe.

Hello. I hope you all survived the last few days of festivities. Now we lie around and pretend to be productive for a few days until the new year, right? Some of us are even working during that time…for some definition of working. I graded yesterday…Christmas day. I had an hour or so and couldn’t focus on other stuff, so I did the simple grading: warmups. And recorded something else that gets graded for me. I couldn’t do anything else. I had already separated the gift bags from the tissue and bagged all that up, but hadn’t put it away, because once I put them away, I will find more bags and tissue, and that’s just a pain in the butt. I didn’t pack up the stuff I need to ship to Seattle because I bought a box and it’s not big enough, but my god, I am not going anywhere today that entails shopping or shipping. Not happening. Sigh. I’m not sure what that becomes OK again. I don’t want to do anything today, but I know I need to, I should. So I recorded the time taken to make the last quilt. I need to get it cleaned up and packed for the photographer today, so there’s that. Because I finished it on Christmas Eve! Well, technically, it was Christmas Day because it was after midnight, but I’m not really counting that.

Oh yeah, Scribble…totally helping.

The Man helps me with these photos. Usually I crop them so you can’t see that it’s me standing on the fireplace hearth.

That is the maximum width of a quilt that I can hold. Now it needs a name. I had one in my head when I wasn’t sleeping some night, but I’ve lost it. It’s OK, because it’s going to the photographer tomorrow and I don’t have to really name it until it comes back. Then it ships to Virginia as part of the two-person show at the Virginia Quilt Museum. I’ll be at the closing ceremonies the end of March. Although this is the 6th bathtub quilt, I’ve only made 4 of them. Interesting that.

Otherwise, it’s been all family stuff…at the Man’s Xmas Eve dinner…

I did hike before that dinner…3.37 miles in the pouring rain. My shoes are still wet.

Then yesterday morning at my house…

Where I took very few pictures. Ugh. I don’t know why I always forget. Then dinner at the ex’s, cooked by the boychild. Still no photos really. Well there’s this, but he wasn’t feeling well…

He went to bed early and is definitely sick with something. But he’s at work today because why burn sick leave if you’re medicated and feel OK enough to stare at a computer! Good question really.

I stayed up late reading with Scribble…I also put one of my presents together.

She liked it.

Awww. Nice. She’s a sweetheart.

But today, I need to start the next quilt and clean shit and pack shit in a box I don’t actually have and figure out WTF is happening with everything before the end of the year. Aack. Lots of money and art stuff to deal with, not to mention the chaos in my office. And work…the day job. I need to do more of that. Don’t want to, but it’s got to get done. The yard too. So much stuff. It’s overwhelming. What does it mean when all your social media is decluttering videos? Yeah. That’s what I thought. But really, need to get a new quilt started because it has a deadline. I did research for it last night and I have the start of something in my brain. So if I just cut the paper the right size and sketch in what’s already in my head, I think I’ll be able to get the rest in.

Seriously though, we all need rest. And exercise. And healthy food and not-so-healthy food. I totally forgot to take photos of the antipasto conglomeration that the boychild put together last night. It was insane. He did well. You know, I even cleaned out the fireplace on Wednesday, but then it was too warm yesterday for a fire during present opening. It’s fine. It got done, even though it wasn’t on my to-do list until I was standing in front of it. These tasks multiply like bunnies. Focus Kathryn. It’s Friday. A Friday. And you can do some things. Maybe.

I Have a Plan…

Good morning (wait, is it still morning? Yes, yes it is) all (or well, most of you…I suspect if you’re reading this, then yes) on the first official day of my Winter Break (I don’t count the weekend…it doesn’t feel real until I don’t have to get up at 6 AM and drive to school with my eyes barely open…and I did go to school on Saturday to clean up because I didn’t have time on Friday due to union things that had a deadline and they’re doing the goddamned Winter Academy in my room so I had to move shit and lock shit up because teachers are the WORST sometimes for stealing and breaking shit. I still might go in that morning and glare people down. We’ll see. WHOA that was a long parenthetical comment.). So I am officially still in Stage 1 of trying to rest because that damn holiday Christmas is coming and there is no rest until it’s done. My gifts are mostly purchased…I think…probably…I am fed, showered, dressed, and waiting for the boychild, who bravely went to Costco to buy the meat for Christmas dinner and has not returned (it’s been over an hour; when do I call in Search and Rescue?). I will then accompany him on his shopping trips for Xmas dinner. My official role is to maybe push the cart and carry shit. I don’t even have to pay for it (the ex is paying for it? I think?). I started wrapping, but I hate doing that shit…I do have to finish before Wednesday night, because the girlchild is coming in Tuesday night and staying at her dad’s so she can work Wednesday (oh that sucks). So I have time. I also need to get firewood in the house before it starts raining, dropping the heavens down upon us, which is our Xmas gift this year. Fun times.

So. Yes, I’m grading. Yes, I’m still tired. Yes, I’m still recovering. I will be for a while. It’s two weeks usually before I get my head straight and break is only three weeks long. Bodes well. One thing I need to do is finish this quilt so I can ship it and five others in early January. So I quilted Friday night…

And then for 3 1/2 hours on Saturday…

When I got the outlining done and started the background quilting, which was dark blue thread on dark blue fabric WHAT the ABSOLUTE FUCK was I thinking. On Sunday, I thought, oh I should quilt during daylight; it will be easier to see. Nah. It wasn’t. I finished quilting after 3 1/2 hours on Sunday…

Nine plus hours total. I’m ready to trim and bind today. Already contacted the photographer. Got to start the next one, but first, I need to go shopping (who knows when I will finish writing this…).

OK, four hours later. Shopping is done, presents are mostly wrapped, tree is still outside, quilt is still not trimmed, brain is still fuzz (see comment on rest above). I’m planning on going to ceramics in the next hour or so. At around 1:30 AM last night, when I decidedly wasn’t sleeping, I typed a short note about the next quilt. That was an hour after I typed a short note about the next ceramic piece…but I have to finish the bowl first. Unfortunately, I’m not really sure what I’m doing next on the bowl. Minor issue. Either I carve or add clay, or I just paint. I kinda want it to be functional, and so I can’t carve the inside. It’ll make it difficult to clean. Huh. Well. There’s that. Some part of my brain (the very tired part) just wants me to stay home and not do anything with it. That’s what Friday brain said, but Friday’s brain had a better excuse. I did not teach all day today, then start cleaning my room up, then race over to the union office through Friday holiday traffic. These days before actual Christmas are just nuts.

I have lots of picture of cats not quite interacting.

And sometimes a dog…

I was sitting there between Scribble and Simba. Simba was on my leg; hence the weird position.

This was when I got home from work (pajama day)…

They appreciate my time on the couch. So do I, but there hasn’t been much of it.

I hiked Saturday and saw one of those weird partial rainbows in the sky

It was warmish…it’s been warm, even today, with the rain barreling toward us.

I appreciate the time to be out in nature.

I was trying to plan hiking before each of the holiday dinners I have, but it’s supposed to be pouring both days. Not sure how I feel about that. I might do it anyway. I need to exercise before eating holiday meals or I can’t eat anything…the gym closes early Christmas Eve and isn’t open Christmas Day, so outdoors is my only real option. I have raingear and I would shower afterwards anyway. We’ll see.

I took a video on Saturday’s hike. There’s this one rock that people always pile rocks on and it drives me bonkers.

And it’ll be back the next time I’m there. Leave no trace y’all! This is not a trail marker…it’s next to a fire road. Go pile your own rocks in your own yard.

I got home and noticed these two weird piles of dirt in the driveway…squirrels or gophers? It’s getting annoying.

The hardest part is always finding where the dirt came from and trying to put it back.

True that. And this.

OK. Well. It’s Monday, but it doesn’t feel like it. School would’ve just gotten out if it were a school day, but it’s not. I’m going to do a couple more things here and then go to ceramics and try to figure out this bowl thing. Then come back and grade a little. I never know whether it’s better to hunker down and finish all the grading quickly or to torture myself by doing a little every day. I know I don’t have the brainpower or the willpower to do it all right now, so I guess this is what I’m doing at the moment. Then trim the quilt and get the binding sewn on by machine and start doing the handwork. Tomorrow is pretty chill: a retirement webinar and then two freakin’ trips to the airport, all after 8 PM. Surely that will be a joy. Luckily the rain has pushed off a little so I won’t be traveling during a flood warning. Finish the quilt tomorrow and then draw the next one. No joke, I’m watching the recording of the Zoom call I missed because I was teaching about electromagnets and I need to have finished this quilt yesterday. The one I haven’t started. No pressure. Seriously. OK. I have a plan at least, thanks to my inability to sleep at night. Or ever. Pros and cons to that I guess. Happy yesterday was Winter Solstice Day and hope the holiday season is OK for y’all. It’s always a bit of stress here, but plenty of food. Maybe too much food. Better than the alternative.

Peace and Joy…

Hey. It’s the last day of the school year…of 2025. School has changed a lot in the last 25 years…I realized this as I was watching a keystroke video of a kid editing their test after school earlier this week, so I could let the parent know that they will still have an F after I grade it for realz. Luckily, mot kids had to submit during class, so they couldn’t do the cheaty thing. Well, she had to submit during class too, but unsubmitted later, and I’m sure saw the message that said I wasn’t accepting them any more. Fun times. I miss the days when…OK, never mind, kids have always found some way to cheat. Back in the day, I allowed a notecard for tests (before I went all standards-based) and kids would try to bring a big card or more than one card. It’s not like we teach them to study…and for my current tests, they don’t need to study. They do need to turn their brains on…longer than it takes to ask AI the answer. What’s mindboggling is that I showed that class a similar video of a kid cheating, and she still did it. Ah well. Some of us learn all the things the hard way.

The quilt is progressing! I got it pinbasted on Wednesday night with the help (not) of two cats, one kitteny.

I pinned fast. Because cats. Then last night, I started quilting…

An hour in. Still on the first bathtub. I’ll be here a while. Hopefully done by the end of the weekend. Finishing early! A miracle. Maybe. Knock on wood. Which means I need to figure out the next one, because it’s on a tight deadline. School is gonna need to back off a bit…a lot. I’m not sure how that’s gonna fly, but I’ll have to make it work.

Lots of kitten pictures…lots of kitten sitting ON me.

Definitely have a lap cat…at least for now. Nova is also a lap cat, and was a little offended by having to share. Scribble doesn’t care about the others; she will sit wherever she wants.

It’s the right attitude for this house. Each evening, I try to read for a little bit before I have to do all the other things.

There’s a lot of furry beasts around when I do that. Sometimes there’s a dog too.

He also doesn’t care when I have other beasts on me. Honestly, it’s the best part of my day sometimes. I mean, I like making art too, and they sometimes come in when I’m doing that, but it’s loud right now with the sewing machine and Scribble doesn’t like that, but she was in here with me when I was ironing.

I’ll have to add her to a quilt soon, in the great tradition of Nida’s cats living on in her art. Her face is going to be more complicated than Kitten’s was. The hardest part is making sure they show up on whatever background there is. I did one quilt with Midnight (an old cat of ours) and because she was all black, I had to add like an aura around her so you could see her. She rocked the aura.

Yesterday, I had to pick up a quilt from a closing show and then do some holiday post office and shopping stuff. Shockingly, both places were empty, mostly I think because everyone and their mother was on the freeways.

It was a 2-hour trip in the long run. Traffic could have been worse. Maybe. I did get this treat of a view…

The palm trees at Costco/Ikea. Nice.

OK. Today. Is a test. Ha! And they turn in a packet. And I have to lock up my room because stupid Winter Academy will be in here and they steal stuff and break stuff. It’s annoying. Plus they’re going to clean my floors. I’m not putting all my shit back for the academy people. They can live without it. Not my problem. Hope they know how to set up the projector. I’ll leave the tech on the counter, but they move my teacher desk for floor cleaning, so I can’t leave it where I normally do. Frustrating. I shouldn’t have to go in over break to set stuff up for other people. I have a packet to grade, a homework assignment, two easy just-record-the-numbers assignments, and two academic assignments. I started grading one of those last night. While they’re testing today, I’m going to try to finish the homework papers and clean up. I’m not fully planned for the week we come back, which sucks. Our prep periods got sucked away this week.

I’m fully looking forward to three weeks off. I’d like to reinstate a drawing a day, but realistically, it’s been hard the last few years to pull that off. Pre-COVID me could have done it. I need to finish this quilt and start the next one. I have a million yard and household things that need to be done (always). The girlchild is home for a quick week. I just want to get some extra sleep and exercise too. That would be lovely. I need a reset. School has been a bitch. Not the kids…they’re relatively decent this year. Just the rest of it. The rest of it needs to fuck off. And with that note, I’m off to work. Maybe there be peace and joy at school today, unlike the last four days.

Mostly…

Back into the screaming fire that is school sometimes. Trying to keep the head above water. It’s three weeks. I can do that. Maybe. I mean, I don’t really have a choice…it’s just how much hair pulling and mental screaming I might do while I get there. All good. Deep breaths. My office calendar still says November. No worries.

I did get the office/studio managed enough to iron in here. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fucking disaster area in here, but I can iron. It’s genetic, by the way…the stacking of things in a studio. I saw my mom’s on Sunday and it was just as bad, although the boychild said hers was organized better than mine. Her studio is also 4 times the size of mine, so I don’t feel bad. I do need to do something about it over Winter Break though. I can’t breathe in here at the moment. Too much chaos.

I finished sorting fabric pieces on Monday night…

I had about 30 minutes of super tiny pieces to figure out, after matting and framing a couple pieces for my daughter. I miss Aaron Brothers for mat board, y’all. Had to wait forever in Michaels for a few beatup pieces. Annoying. Their fabric selection still sucks too. We asked about one that was on the website and said it was available here, and the staff was like, I dunno? It’s over there. People put fabric back wherever. Which is true, but hey, thanks for helping…we’ll go to an independent store (which unfortunately, they all have shitty hours if you work full time). And for those of us still using Alto mat cutters, the blades are hard to find. Too bad they went out of business…the cutters don’t die. I think I’ve solved that problem though. Maybe.

Then last night, while dinner was cooking, I sorted the studio (really I just made more bigger piles out of the way of the ironing board) and started ironing after dinner.

Still a week behind on this quilt, and at some point, I have to catch up. Don’t ask what that is. It’ll be clear later. Ironing like a beast each night from here on out. Maybe. Girlchild is still here. I love it. But I suspect more framing is in my future.

I made it to ceramics last night for a lovely 80 minutes of painting sgraffito. I think I finished the other one (mostly touchups) and it’s drying. This has an hour into the painting alone.

IDK how to make simple things y’all. But I love it.

Scribble missed me my first day back to work. It was her first experience with people leaving all day. That night, she curled up by my face and purred at me all night, occasionally reaching her paw out to pet my face. I didn’t sleep much. I’m not mad though.

She’s still really unsure of the dog, but is doing fine with everyone else. Last night, she settled on my lap while I was trying to grade, and in the way of most cat owners, I let her. Graded around her.

Here’s Simba letting you know how he feels about not being invited to the dinner table.

Yeah dude, whatever.

OK. My left eyelid has been twitching for a week now. Really driving me bonkers. I’m still teaching electricity, plus vocab and independent and dependent variables (sheesh) for a few days before going into magnets. I realized it’s a lot of direct instruction, so pretty exhausting and a lot of talking. I did spend all day yesterday rubbing a balloon on my hair and using it to make a soda can move. Like you do. As one student said, by the end of the day, “Ms. Nida, your hair is CRAAZY.” Well yeah. It does that. Things you do for learning. After school, I have a lovely pilates break, then book club, I think. And ironing. It’s a lot. I do love the artmaking. I don’t mind the teaching…I mind all the minutiae and the adult crap and the school board crap and the state school board crap (which is because of the local school board crap). Anyway, I need to go write a parent email and then go to a meeting with the principal (sigh) and then do the teaching thing. All good. It’s Wednesday and I mostly have a handle on things. Mostly.

Muttering

OK, it’s another short week. Political stuff sucks, but hey, tariffs on things I don’t buy are going down. Hope it helps someone. Maybe stop deporting people who are trying to follow the rules and deport some of those white guys who don’t follow rules back to wherever they came from. I was efficient at grading this weekend and got the academic assignment completely graded, but then spent probably 90 minutes obsessing over how to let kids make it up instead of sleeping. Good times. The shutdown is over…pro, people get paid. Con…nothing changed. Bring on the Epstein files! We’re ready!

Yeah, whatever.

I did iron a decent amount this weekend. Friday night…

I started late because I was grading, and then got all the water laid out for the second bathtub, but also needed to go to bed, because I needed to be up early. So I left part of it for Saturday.

Saturday, I finished the water and did all the fleshy bits of the figure in the second bathtub.

And last night, I did all the non-fleshy bits of the main figure: eyeball, heart, lungs, etc. I’m about halfway through the 800s, maybe a little less than that…so 200 or fewer pieces to go. Mostly her hair and everything on the last rug, plus a plant or two. Probably two more nights, maybe three, depending on how late I start. I’m mostly caught up on grading, though, so that’s a plus. I won’t be after Wednesday, but we get Friday off (really stupid if you ask me; just gives parents more of an excuse to pull them out even earlier) and I plan to grade all Friday so hopefully I won’t have a lot of school stuff to do over break.

I did make it to ceramics on Friday. Mostly I tried to underglaze this well…

It will be much darker when it fires. I’m planning on doing some sgraffito on these. We’ll see how it goes. I haven’t figured out how to make them stand up yet. Or hang. I should do that. I’ll be back there today after school, after a 2-hour staff meeting about stuff I am totally not engaged in. So there’s that.

I caught two photos of my piece The Way Out at MOCA in Westport, CT, part of the Enough Already exhibit of Sara and Michelle Vance Waddell’s work.

It’s looking good.

I appreciate it being able to show in so many places with so much other very cool work.

I took a demo class on Saturday about building figures with a local artist, Moni Bloom.

It was cool to watch; would have been cooler to do as well, but I had misunderstood the type of class it was. It’s OK; the hands-on workshop will be in 2026. I might do it; I might not. Either way, I did learn some stuff about construction that is useful. It makes me want to ditch the frames and build something new. Maybe not as big as the last one. I’m waiting on bisque fix to fix the tree, then I’ll try to make it all go together. Hoping I can get the base to detach from the head; otherwise, I might need to build a new head.

The Man has been tired at night and going to bed earlier than me, which is different. I came to bed Saturday night and saw everyone in there…

Although I put the dog up and then Nova left. Too bad. She’s a sweetheart. Often Bowie doesn’t allow others in there either. He’s kind of a dick. And we may be adding to the menagerie this weekend. I have a hold on a kitten. We’ll see. I’m ready. I think.

I do this all the time. And certainly, I spent a bunch of time this weekend muttering to myself about kids not listening and not reading instructions. It’s fine. Really.

OK, today, I have set up independent work for students to complete. Tomorrow, we start the academic assignment with some background research. Then test Wednesday. I feel like I’m going to need a filler assignment, at least for a couple classes, but I don’t have an idea for that yet. I don’t want more work, so I’m playing it by ear, but maybe a preview of the next unit. I can probably put that together today while designing a google form for redoing the other assignment so I don’t have to give up yet another lunch to makeups, but there’s kids going to away soccer games who miss my 6th period and then miss the makeup. Sigh. I can’t fix all the things. And I’m frustrated by the system that equates grades with the right to be on the stage. I think they should let each teacher pick one kid for the stage. And not have it be grade related. Because I still wouldn’t pick the kid that’s bugging me about his grades. Sigh. Anyway, hopefully it’s a chill day, but we know how that goes. It’s supposed to rain again, although not as much…enough that I should bring my raincoat again though. Just in case. Ceramics after school, some carving I hope, and then home to NOT grade? I might be able to pull that off tonight. And then ironing. Reading my book! I’d like to do that too, although this is a book club book and I’m not entirely sold on it. I don’t care yet. Maybe I will, but not yet. Not enough.

A Day Off…

Late start on this. And if you’re gonna tell me about how YOU don’t have the day off, well, you probably didn’t work through the last three weekends, did you? So there’s that. I did a bunch of things this morning, because I have the day off, yay brain. I went to the doctor, I went to Fed Ex and copied a drawing for the next quilt, plus shipped a quilt to a traveling show that is opening somewhere, but I don’t remember where, ah well. I’ll figure that out. I got dog food (for the dog), plastic wrap (for Wednesday’s lab…forgot to get it at the grocery store yesterday), a new sprinkler head (that seems to be problematic and probably won’t fix the problem; might need to consult with my sprinkler guy, who happens to be my ex husband), plus more glazes/clay tools (local clay place is only open M-F 9-4, so they get very little of my business honestly), and the ceramics studio, where I did things that I forgot to photograph. Like a ditz. Seriously. My head is still in the glaze kiln and my tree is still waiting to be bisqued…probably that will all happen tomorrow and I’ll see stuff on Friday. OR I have a ceramics class next Saturday and I’ll see it then.

Came home, tried to fix the sprinkler, failed, ate lunch, started the dishwasher, made a mammogram appointment (they are scheduling 6 freakin’ months out ffs), read a chapter of my book, and am now trying to get my head straight. It’s OK. I need to do yardwork, but it’s like 90 degrees out there. It’s freakin’ November. Too damn hot. And mosquitoes. Sheesh.

OK. So quilt progress. I’m ironing bugs Friday night

Purple and green bugs. Then Saturday night, I did the body bag and some other stuff, like faucets.

And last night, I did the water. A satisfying grayish brown color. Or is it a greyish brown? Hard to say.

I’m in the 200s, I think. But nearly done with them. I’m ironing stuff on a rug next. Or a darts target. Something like that.

Friday, I added these shapes to one of the frames.

Today, I underglazed this one in black and will start sgraffito on it on Friday probably. I added some shapes to the other frame and didn’t take pictures of either of them. Good times.

I allowed myself a little stitching on Friday night…

Almost done stitching everything down on this one…then embroidery. I’ve had so little time for embroidery or any handwork lately. I’m struggling to get the time to do any art. School is just such a timesuck. I graded all day Saturday, then finished the major assignment last night. I’m not doing school today, except for posting a video I took on Friday for the absent kids.

I’m Floating in a Most Peculiar Way is traveling with Fierce Planets. It’s currently at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center in Stamford, CT.

I’m hoping to see this show when it wanders west.

It looks nice.

I didn’t have time to put all the planets in my quilt…maybe need to do a bigger one?

That piece on the right is fascinating: Jennifer C. Solon’s Untamed Fury.

I have another piece traveling to Connecticut…The Way Out is part of Enough Already, work from the Sara M. +Michelle Vance Waddell collection. It’ll be at the MOCA in Westport, CT, opening November 13. I’m excited about how much it’s traveling with this exhibit.

Speaking of traveling, Simba and I went for a hike on Saturday.

He can’t go as far as he used to, but we did a solid 2 miles. He needed a bath after due to the unfortunate genetics of his butt fur.

Check Bowie out, sleeping like a normal cat. Not parkouring across the coffee table.

Not body slamming my teacup. He must be growing up. Might be time for a new kitten. He’s reached 18 months. Might be out of the velociraptor stage.

This is me always.

The night is better.

I did read the article. And sigh. But the comment above it is the best.

Because we all wanna know.

Anyway. I am not grading today or tomorrow. I have fabric to iron, a political project I joined that I need to do something for, lots of yardwork, some housework, books to read, always books to read, maybe some actual sewing. We’ll see. Short week of school. Nice. Chaos though, because I planned two labs. Like a fucktard. It’ll be fine. I’ll get in fast, won’t kill anyone, get out and take a day off. Sounds perfect. I think I’m giving them a test in between too. So that’ll be exciting. But for now, breathe deeply and wonder where winter…or even fall…is.

Finished One Thing

I didn’t forget to write Friday. My team texted me that we were meeting before the meeting, and it was in about 20 minutes. So I sped everything up and thought, oh hey, I’ll write Saturday morning. Ha! I graded Saturday morning…and afternoon…and then Sunday evening. Grades are due tomorrow and I’m almost done, which is a relief, even though it all starts up again almost immediately. I already have four assignments from last week for the new trimester, which starts today. It’s fine. Really. This is how the job is. I could do without all the last-minute extra crap (this week is full of it), but that doesn’t seem to be changing this year. So I didn’t write Saturday. I completely forgot, honestly, until this morning. I have a routine, so when I bounce out of it, I forget everything.

I don’t think will get better in the future unfortunately.

So I did finish trimming Wonder Under. I should’ve finished Saturday, but the Man had a show and I worked right up until it happened and then went and came back and had a snack and went to bed. So I finished last night. Here’s Wednesday night…

Thursday night…

I think that was the last bit of the fourth yard? Maybe?

Friday night (Halloween), I finished the fourth yard and started the last 1/3 yard.

Then last night, I finished that.

Exactly 7 hours to trim them all. Now to sort them tonight and then start ironing to fabric. The office needs to be straightened up first. I did have the presence of mind this weekend to buy some possible background fabrics, so I have that going for me. Ironing to fabrics tomorrow probably? Although tomorrow is a school board meeting. I’ll be sitting around for 3 hours. Fun times. Maybe they could just pay us enough to cover the healthcare increases? That would be nice. All my other expenses have increased. The money stuff is stressful.

I’m not sure how to prepare for a dying empire.

This one made me laugh…the second part.

Both good though. I have to say, my co-teacher and I have beat the AI issue by not letting them have computers during academic assignments…or running them in assessment mode, so they can’t open anything else but the test. It’s saved us that stress point. Not sure the other stress points aren’t still there (it takes so much time to grade their writing). Working on that. Always.

And this. I love this.

And leave me alone. OK, I mostly was left alone this weekend, minus the Man’s show, where he wore a silly hat…

And the one art meeting I had this weekend, to vote on new members. Interesting conversation about being a master craftsperson but having no new ideas since the 1960s. Not sure how to deal with that. What’s more important? If they are equally so, then are they in the group? Good points made by all.

The Man found a slug on Simba after I’d put him in bed…

We released it to the wild. Glad we found it before lights out.

I do worry about people getting fed.

I’ll be looking up donation info for the San Diego Food Bank later today. It’s on my to-do list, after teaching new vocabulary and finishing grades and maybe going to ceramics. We’ll see. Those are all first-world problems, although the one where I do my job is what makes sure I have food (and money to donate). So I’ll keep doing that. I can’t believe how people are spinning some of this stuff. But please, build a fucking ballroom. Finance Argentina. Tariff Canada. Deport some US citizens. Wander all over the carpet with your post-stroke gait, while the rest of the world looks on with amusement tinged with horror. Meanwhile, I’ll be wearing red so my district realizes that their piddly offer (less than cost of living) is gonna piss us off, in a classroom, saying ‘6-7’ as many times as I can while trying to educate the future generations to think critically. Someone should.

A Hot Mess of Burning School Oatmeal.

I really wish there was a way to force the body to sleep better. Last night was a disaster. 2/10. Do not recommend. So many reasons: temperature, beasts sharing the bed (of all types), weird cramp in the left thigh, BRAIN (ok, most that). Plus I worked on the day job all weekend. Made it through two major assignments, thank goodness (because there are two more at school like them). Fuck. It’s fine. Really. Maybe.

I drew Friday and Sunday…Saturday was another thing. Friday night…

And Sunday…where I decided that two bathtubs was enough and I didn’t need (or want) three.

I’m still not entirely sure it’s done (it’s not), but it’s close.

Otherwise, all I did was grade. Seriously.

Nice. Thanks kid.

Judgy dog.

Same judgy dog, just at night.

And smaller? Not sure.

Here’s a judgy squirrel.

I apologize to him now for the fact that the eucalyptus are getting trimmed on Wednesday. I feel bad. That said, there are other trees in the yard. I hope it isn’t squirrel baby season.

This was Saturday night…

Lots of black light.

This was the whole week, honestly. Really bad.

I’m hoping this week is better, but I have a parent meeting this morning and she doesn’t speak English and I don’t have a translator yet because mom didn’t tell me she was coming until well after school on Friday. Sigh. Thanks mom. We might be using Google Translate.

This swear word from the future?

Perfect for now.

And this…I’m still waiting to hear about the girlfriend of one of the founders of Antifa.

I can’t believe they’re still saying this is an actual group that exists, like Indivisible or the Proud Boys. What fucking idiots.

So true. It seems that all I have to show for the weekend is memes.

Which makes sense, considering all I did was grade and take occasional breaks to pee, eat, or scroll social media.

I did a little reading too. Which is where I got that great swear phrase.

Well, at least I currently have fewer meetings on the table for this week (knock on wood). I’m not going on Thursday. I won’t get up early for a wasted 45 minutes. I’m up early today for this mom and the meeting because the kid has been absent 18 days and has a low GPA and doesn’t talk. Mom and I went back and forth in Spanish (ah, Google Translate, you are a blessing) and I asked her to tell me when she could come in and I didn’t realize she wouldn’t tell me until the last minute. Ah well. Watch. She won’t show up. Anyway, two staff meetings after school, then clay. I’m glazing more. Then reading. Probably grading more. Then drawing? Or numbering. Hard to say. I did wake up in the middle of the night and type something into the notes app that needs to go in the drawing…like you do. And hopefully the rest of the week will be low key, no stress, just the normal stuff and not a hot mess of burning school oatmeal. One can hope.

Iterations.

Tuesdays have gotten so much harder lately. Not sure why. I feel like I’ve run a marathon in only two days of work, and then there’s a slow slide into the weekend. Sometimes that slide upends me into a pile of steaming compost before the weekend, but it feels like the hump, getting over that, is now Tuesday. I mean, the work doesn’t stop after Tuesday? There just seems to be an inordinate amount of it in the first two days…well, include Sunday, because I work then too. Maybe that’s why? Nah, I’ve always had to do that…well, always in the last 5 or 6 years? I didn’t always have to put in so much weekend time. Not sure why. So far, I haven’t managed to grade anything in class. Like the kids won’t chill out enough to allow it. That will hopefully change today. We’ll see. Some groups do well, some are incredibly needy (some for good reasons, lack of English skills and all), and some can’t stay on task to save their lives. I’m looking forward to October, when things seem to chill out a bit (weather and school)…but it’s still an awfully long way away.

The stitchdown is coming along slowly. I’m not getting a full hour at night…I’m coming home later and eating dinner later and then it’s 10 PM and I know I have to go to bed around 10:30. So I made it up to the sun and planets last night, and that’s all that’s left. I should be able to get that done tonight, but I have a union meeting after school and pilates late, so maybe not. Trying to fit in all the things I want to do with all the things I have to do and then the things I should do…ugh. But here’s Monday night’s stitching…

I got through one arm and most of the left side of the torso. I don’t remember where I was before that though. Last night, I finished the torso and the head and the hair, the hands on top of her head, and the barn owl…

And I found this in my yard…

There’s two great horned owls nearby, but I still hear the nightly screech of one of the barn owls, plus the occasional feather. Nice that they’re hanging around. They can all have the rats and gophers. Please.

This piece, Portrait of One Self, got into Quilts=Art=Quilts, so I’ll be shipping her later this month.

She’s got a lot going on too, much like me. Not often you see a fox sleeping with missiles. Or bunnies on body bags. Kitten is in there too…apparently I knew she was near the end, because she’s got angel wings. I miss her lots still. The Man says I can borrow his cats, and sometimes I am a good substitute for them, but mostly, they choose their daddy (of course). So I miss the kitty time. I don’t have the time or energy for a new kitty right now, though; the two dogs are enough. Katie is here! My parents’ dog has been visiting for over a week. She’s pretty chill these days, as long as you give her what she wants. She misses her people too, I’m sure. They’ll be back Sunday.

I have been having a hard time finding the time and energy to make it to ceramics, which sucks, because it’s very meditative when I’m there. I mean, the piece that needs to go in the kiln stresses me out, because I’m not even sure I can lift in into the kiln without breaking it…but the freeform head piece has been loads of fun.

I just keep adding weird shit to it. I actually need to go in when the owner is there so I can put the base back in the bisque fire and then try to get the torso in as well. Then I can just focus on the head, which is now going to have a tree coming out of it? I don’t know how that’s going to work. Shhh.

It was great being there yesterday…one other woman was there who I see on a regular basis, and about three other people just stopped by to drop off or pick stuff up, and then it was just me. Unfortunately, I only had about 90 minutes and then needed to pick up mail at my parents and then go home and cook dinner and do schoolwork and eventually get to stitch stuff down. Busy fucking days. I feel like I wake up running and don’t stop until late at night. And then the CGM has been off again. I’m wondering if my body is fighting this one even longer before it settles, and if that is the new thing. The numbers are still completely off and the alarm kept going off last night but it was like 50 points off. And I don’t have time to call them and go through all the phone call shit again today. Ugh. Why can’t things just work? Why does my body need to make it so fucking difficult. This thing has been really helpful for keeping my blood sugar in the right place. I’d really like it to keep working.

Sweet boy. Needs attention. I reread the same page like 5 times while he kept flipping around and smiling at me. Dork.

This is too true. Also, I think the Man is the caterpillar in Alice. At least right now. Maybe he’ll be the White Knight later on.

OK. Teaching energy while lacking it. Actually transformations today, which is different than transfer. Gotta make that distinction today as well. Then they get an INDEPENDENT assignment, for some definition of independent, right? Then union meeting and pilates and dinner and schoolwork and stitching, then sleep. Repeat some iteration of that. Ugh. September. Double ugh.

Ironing Things in the Dirt Again…

Well today started at 4 AM as a 5-skittle morning, thanks to my blood sugar alarm. Better than Saturday night, when the alarm kept going off because (according to the guy on the phone) my antibodies were attacking the filament of the continuous glucose monitor and I would just need to wait it out OR the monitor was faulty and he’d send me a new one. Sounds like something my antibodies would do. I love that all my medical staff is trying to figure out why my body doesn’t do what they think it should…when I ask about the early AM crashes, they move things around, meds, when I take my insulin, etc, and damn if those crashes don’t keep happening. Fun times. Yes, I do keep skittles in a drawer next to the bed; don’t you? I’m down to one crash a week, which is…um…still annoying as fuck. But maybe we’ll figure it out. Maybe they’ll start doing more science on women and how their bodies are different than men’s (ha! Oh holy fuck, not for another…1243 days? Is that fucking right? And that RFK guy? He’s a scientific dearth of information. He doesn’t understand anything since the early 1980s, I think. He certainly doesn’t understand how the food pyramid works (that we don’t use anymore). Froot Loops at the top of the pyramid…YASSS, because we’re not supposed to eat a lot of the stuff at the top you dumbass and you’re not supposed to eat a lot of Froot Loops! We’re all gonna have brain worms at the end of this. If Biden or Obama had put a guy in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services that was this incompetent, the Repubs would have lost their fucking minds, but now they’re all for it. Crazy shit. Absolutely batshit. Go get your measles shot if you’re like me and only had one as a baby. I feel like that’s gonna be our downfall.

Anyway. This was an arty weekend, as well as being a weekend full of trying to get my work head on straight. I have a bunch of pictures from the Oceanside Museum of Art opening that I don’t have time to deal with today (maybe Wednesday), but we did go to that and I’m glad…it was really cool to talk to some people there. I also ironed things together…here’s Friday night…

Didn’t get far, because I also had to lay stuff out…here’s the first 100…

Laid out in groups of 10…check out the tiny bones on the bottom. And then I had all these that separated…

This is after I paired up a bunch of them…so I’ll figure this out as I go. I’ve already found about four of them, but also had to retrace another 10 or so, which is annoying. Ah well…this is what happens with tiny pieces. And one of them that I retraced, I found it in the next box, so sorting is also sometimes tiring and hard and I fuck it up. Fun times.

Saturday night’s ironing…

With a closeup…

So you can see the skeletal hand that will look way more awesome when it’s outlined in stitches so you can see all the bones. Some level of insanity there. Then last night’s ironing…

I’ve ironed about halfway through the 200s, I think? There’s a pile of stars to go on that flag, and then I start on the little people who are kneeling on the edge of the flag. This is not fast, but it is pretty rewarding, because it’s the first time I get to really see it in color, besides in my head. I really love the red African fabric I used in the volcanic bits…it shades from bright to dark and looks really good. Yes, fabric makes me happy.

I also spent a shitload of time trying to get my classes organized and the basic shit documented. I didn’t finish grading, because there were two harder assignments and I wanted to save those (aka, not grade all weekend). I did read all the kids’ surveys though, for the first time ever. This kid is a snarky one…

Also, so many of them want to not work at all this year or at any time in the future. So that bodes well for the country…not really; I don’t have huge expectations for 13-year-olds. Also the kids who don’t want to be scientists; they want to be engineers. Um. Hello. What do you think an engineer does? So amusing. I wish them all luck in their futures.

I finally finished appliqueing all the border flowers on Sue Spargo’s Homegrown…

Looks really cool. Now I have to spend the next two years embroidering them all. No really. I don’t think this will be fast. It’ll be amazing when it’s done, but it won’t be fast.

Saturday was hot (real feel 103 degrees), but I need to walk/hike on Saturdays or I can’t eat what I want for date-night dinner…and we were going up to the museum show, so I had to go at like 3 PM, which is earlier than I would normally hike anyway, but still hot. I headed for the hike that was closer to the mounting rain clouds, and I did have a breeze and eventually it cooled off a bit.

I only did 2 miles instead of 3 because of the heat, drinking water and dribbling it over my head the whole time. The Man almost texted me at some point because he heard thunder (I was already in the car on the way back) and thought I should get the fuck off the trail. Yeah. Nobody else was out there, for sure. It worked, though. And so that’s my thing for Saturdays, when I can pull it off. Go hike so you can eat stuff.

This is too true. The pendulum of shit they do care about makes no logical sense.

You care about our health, but you get rid of programs that feed children. I guess it’s OK if they starve as long as they’re healthy about it.

The Man took this picture of his bug-eating plants…with an actual bug NOT being eaten.

Impressive.

And here’s my sweet, very hot, very panty boy.

He’s been a pain at night (because he’s hot and then he makes me hot and then he pants and I can’t sleep through it). But he is a sweet baby.

Speaking of not being able to sleep through it, our baby owl is still here.

So the deal is that they squawk when they’re hungry, expecting mom/dad to provide, which they were a couple of weeks ago. I saw a parent deposit a mouse/rat/small rodent on top of the box for the baby (much squawking ensued), but last week, I saw the baby in the tree outside my office, squawking very loudly about catching their OWN rodent and tearing it to bits (predator birds are impressive in that way), so I know it can catch it’s own food. In the past, we had a pair of babies and then triplets, and the mom/dad chase them off at some point so they get the fuck out of the nest and go take care of themselves. They would still come back sometimes, but not sit on the box and squawk all night. This one is an only, and IDK if the parent is the problem, not chasing them off. We’re pretty sure last year’s parent died in the box (not sure why, but we had two skeletons and one was definitely adult-sized and one wasn’t). We never got a fledged one last year. Maybe someone poisoned the rodents? Who knows. So owls return to the same nests every year, pretty much, so maybe this is one of the previous babies as mom? And she’s enabling the SHIT out of this baby. I’ve heard her a couple of times in the last week or so, screeching away, and then the baby leaves for a while, but keeps coming back. Last night, it was gone for longer, so maybe we’re close to being a big bad adult owl, but it just cracks me up that some parents let their babies live at home and take care of them for so long…I joked that housing prices are so high in San Diego that the baby can’t afford to move out. Too true.

OK. School. Teaching about AI today…responsible uses of it and unacceptable uses of it. It’s not going away, so I’m going full disclosure and how you will fail my class if you use it to take a test. Fun stuff. Then a 2-hour staff meeting after (ugh) and book club tonight on a book I didn’t love. But ironing after. And I think it’s supposed to be cooler today. So that’s a plus. Real summer hasn’t hit yet. We’ll go over a hundred degrees for some time in the future. Not looking forward to it.