Losing My Body…

My blood sugar device alarm went off at 4:56 AM. Not because I was high or low but because the phone (under my pillow) couldn’t find the signal in the device (on my arm, next to my pillow). Usually that resolves pretty quickly, but no. Not last night. After about three alarms, my sleep self turns the alarm to silent, which means it vibrates instead of sending a loud tone. I put it on the floor, because I can’t sleep through the vibrations either, but I can still hear it vibrating on the floor. Because I was half asleep, I turned them off for an hour, and that usually solves it, but no. At 6:04 AM, the alarm was blaring again. My fucking god. Please stop. I haven’t slept well all week. I got up at 6:30 and the damn thing had found my sensor. On my arm. Where it had been all night. Technology good? Well, yes, it’s helped me bring my A1C down to prediabetic levels, so that’s great. The part where I want to throw my phone across the room at 5 AM? Not so much. Of course it’s fine now. Now I have to get up and go to work and be functional and not cranky (I’ve been cranky all week).

We’ve got Santa Ana winds again, so it’s also hot and dry and migrainey. It’s fine. Really. I’m going to sleep some day. When I’m dead.

Meanwhile, my quilt is due to the photographer tomorrow afternoon, so it has to be done, ironed, and clean. Wednesday, I sewed all the binding and sleeves together and onto the quilt and then pinned it all…

Cue artistic photo of a pile of pins ready to stab me.

Then last night, I started on the binding.

I did most of one long side, then all of a shorter side, then about 2/3s of the other long side. Tonight I need to do the rest and the two sleeves. Plus grade stuff. I did that last night too.

Still hot, still windy, still dry. Some big fire up in Camp Pendleton closed Interstate 5 last night for a bit. The boychild is at that fire today.

This is Simba tolerating Scribble.

He was there first, but he’s scared of her (she has whacked him when he is too inquisitive).

Bowie is still curling up next to me most nights…

I made him a little sleep spot. He seems to need it.

And Simba the other night, after I picked him up from the other house (with the other dog), was exhausted.

Mostly from barking at people, apparently.

Sigh. We’re camping next weekend, so hopefully the Santa Anas are done by then. I think they are. And no rain please. The Man is working again this weekend, so I’m going to finish my quilt and then pull camping gear. And then work on the next batch of quilts. I’m excited about working on them…dye paintings from the summer. Different stuff. Don’t get me wrong; I love a good big quilt in the way I normally make them, but doing different stuff is also fun. I have the next big quilt as a rough idea in my head. It’s a start.

School today…finishing experiments on force and motion. Then (possibly mistakenly) giving kids time to catch up on work. Depending on them, of course, and they are notoriously lazy about that. I make them check for what’s missing. I’m not doing it for them. I need to write a makeup test for the thing I gave them last week. The surprise thing. And I need to grade a bunch more stuff…grades are due in two weeks for the trimester. I’m powering through, but very slowly. Everyone in the house is cranky. Dogs, cats, people. I could do without that. Hoping camping will help. But for now, I’m pretty sure I can sleep in a bit tomorrow morning. A delight. Really. Maybe. Unless the alarm loses my body again. You’d think if we could design AI that can hack into major companies and have conversations, then we could design a sensor that doesn’t lose the body that is right next to it. Happy Friday y’all.

Lovely Rain…

So we got rain, a lot of rain, lovely rain. Still raining now, but pretty lightly. No flooding here, although I did a little sweeping, sand bagging (without sand or bags), and trimming in the rain. It came earlier than they said it would, so I was caught out a bit. Plus I’ve got a cold, so the body is not fully willing…or able. I’m functional…just tired and achy and a little spacey at times. Right now feels like “at times.” I’m hoping breakfast and some tea and the meds kicking in will help with that, but you never know. I have two relatively chill days here…although maybe giving a test isn’t a chill day with this crew. Hard to say. They do fight the power, albeit very ineffectively and with no real conviction. I wish them luck in their futures.

Temperatures have also dropped drastically from 105 degrees a week ago to the high 60s today. I’ll take it! It’ll be back up to the 90s on Friday apparently. October is always a little nuts weatherwise. It used to always be the beginning of Fall…and the end of it, honestly. Right now, it can’t decide. I was going to go to an art in the park event on Saturday after my art group meeting, but it was pouring rain by then.

So I managed to finish the stitchdown on Friday night…

This was after a 45-minute nap on the couch and a dinner that consisted of toast.

Impending cold, plus flu/COVID shot…ugh. Dog for comfort.

Then Saturday, I went to an art meeting and bought binding for this thing, because my quilt store is not open late enough during the week, and if I’m going to finish this in time to get it to the photographer, I can’t wait until next Saturday for binding fabric. Then I cleaned the floor, washed the batting, pieced the back, ironed everything, and pinbasted…

With kneepads on. Great suggestion from a friend. Totally makes it easier.

Then started quilting on Saturday.

I quilted a lot this weekend…

I got all the outlining done last night…

Almost 6 hours in. Background quilting starts tonight.

We’ve had some animal friends this weekend…this guy on the roof…

I also have video of what looks like him coming in the yard. And this video near the big hole we found near the tree…

We’ve always known there were coyotes around. This was around 1 AM. We have seen them in broad daylight though.

I did do some school stuff this weekend, although being sick made me forget about one thing I was supposed to do Friday night (I didn’t feel well…). So I did that last night. No emails from students, so I guess that’s how it goes. This week starts a new unit, but a lot of my coteachers will be out for a couple of days; I’m expecting some stupid behavior from that. Routines are good for kids! I’m just going to try to get as caught up with school as I can at school, so I can come home and finish this quilt. And rest up. Possibly more importantly.

There’s this…

I’ve never been much of a fan of religion, but especially not in the case of retribution and vengeance. It’s a little dark and evil for me. And I’m not a bright, sunshiny person in general. I would like to put all the pedophiles on an island (ironic) together. With no one else. Think Lord of the Flies but with the perverts. Works for me.

With that thought, I’m going to need to go to work. I’m medicated. I have tea. I remembered what I’m eating for lunch. I’m giving a test today (they will have a hard time with this one, for sure). And collecting more packets (ugh…I just finished grading the last unit). We have a staff meeting after school to cover some (cough) very important things. Plus meet with our special ed teachers (like we don’t talk to them all the time). I’m debating ceramics after. Not sure I’ll feel up to it, but I didn’t go all last week. I’m just thinking I’ll be too tired and I already need to get this quilt done. We’ll see. I have to cook tonight too, so that’s an added task that gets in the way of making art. I need AI to do THOSE things. Cook and clean and grade…it does a lousy job of the latter. Unfortunately. It’ll be fine. I’ll figure it out. And make art in the process. Been doing that for years.

Not a Fan. Using Fans.

Hello Friday…a Friday off from work…well, notionally. I will still be working, but around the 70 million errands I need to do this weekend. Right now, I’m downing a ton of water so when they take my fasting blood tests, I won’t get poked 17 times while they try to find a vein. I’m hopeful anyway. So yeah, I haven’t eaten, no caffeine yet. I’m leaving soon (not sure I will finish this before I leave). Also delivering two quilts to a local show, then I need an oil change AND a smog check, plus I have chiropractor, and I need to grade a bunch of tests. And other stuff. Plus it’s supposed to be 105 degrees here, staying hot until next weekend. Not a fan. I will be using lots of fans. Right now, it’s not bad…it’s still in the 70s in this room. That will not last unfortunately.

I started ironing (the best thing in the world to do when it’s hot) a few nights ago. Here was Wednesday’s progress…

Mostly I worked on that mushroom circle…

It was easier to iron it separately and then put it on top of the background fabrics.

Last night’s progress…

I spent two hours ironing things last night. I’m missing one mushroom piece, but it’ll probably show up. I had to cut another missing one because I couldn’t iron down without it. I’m in the 200s at the moment…really hoping to finish it all this weekend, but the oppressive heat might work against me. There’s no air movement at all at the moment. I can have a fan, but only below the ironing board level, and it’s basically just moving hot air around. So I’ll probably mostly iron at night.

I went to ceramics on Tuesday and was trying to clear the newspaper off the base of my piece, and I broke the arm. FUCK. I had done really well, with zero breakage. So frustrating. So I tried to patch it but I don’t think it will hold. I can fix it in the bisque stage, but trying to get it into the kiln without damaging it more will be a challenge. Clay can be such a pain. So I’m avoiding going in because of that, probably. Also, it’ll be really hot there. There’s A/C but it is a challenge to cool a room that big.

I met my parents’ new dog last night, Frida. She seems sweet.

Mom looks tired in that photo. Frida was just spayed; she’s 5 years old and looks bigger in that photo than she really is. She came up and got pets and scritches and licked my leg. So we’re good.

Anyway. So I have lots of stuff to do, most of it not relaxing or chill. There will be no chill for the next week. It’ll just be hot and sweaty. But hopefully ironing will happen around the hot and sweaty. Do I appreciate the random day off? Well, notionally…because yesterday with kids after a morning assembly was more than I really wanted to deal with, and I have a ton of work to get caught up on, but it’s a silly time for a day off. Hopefully I can at least check off a bunch of things on the to-do list (I forgot Home Depot for lab supplies). That would be a plus.

Probably Not Enough Times…

Well that was a busy weekend. I’m still tired from it. I may have been semi-productive around all the things I had to do. I dropped a quilt at a gallery for a show that opens Saturday. I went to another exhibition closing reception and then pulled all 6 of my quilts down and packed them into the car to drive home. I was there for the artist panel, which I enjoyed, but I did work through it.

Writing and sending our team’s weekly email. And then grading warmups and test corrections. I was supposed to be on a Zoom from 3-4 and totally forgot. It’s fine. Hopefully they recorded it.

It was a nice panel. I’m always up for listening to fellow feminist artists.

I cut stuff out Friday night…that’s the moon. Ironically, after the shitshow of a day I had on Friday, I found out the full moon was Saturday.

Everything makes sense now.

Saturday night, after the Man’s dad’s birthday dinner (and 3 hours of canvassing for the local school board and another 3 hours of grading).

And then last night, I stayed up late to finish.

Almost 11 1/2 hours. Ready to iron together? Well, no…it’ll take an hour to sort all the pieces into 100s for easier ironing. So that’s tonight. Am I behind my schedule? Well, yes, I usually am. Can I catch up? We’ll see. I’m buried in grading; hence the grading at an art event and every afternoon/night this weekend. Never stops. But I’m closer.

Friday night, Bowie needed to be close.

And then, so did Simba. Well, he always needs to be close.

It’s hot again here, although we got a tiny bit of rain last night…leftovers from one of the hurricanes off the coast. There’s like four of them rotating around out there, throwing shit our way, but mostly hot and muggy shit instead of decent rain.

The Man’s dad turned 89 this month, so there was a dinner for him.

Not actually in Venice unfortunately.

This is too true.

I’d like to thank my brain for all the overthinking I do when I’m trying to fall asleep. I have a couple of potentially stressful conversations that need to happen today with other adults at school. One I think will be OK. The other one is defensive as shit and there’s no way it will go well. So that’s fun. Imma try anyway because I’m a mature adult who knows she has to work well with other people. Crazy, huh?

Otherwise, there’s like two hours of staff meetings, plus reviewing PE/KE for the roller coaster project, plus grading ten tons of stuff and buying a bunch of other stuff and trying to fix the sprinklers AGAIN and packing quilts to be shipped and/or delivered. Pro: got into four shows. Con: all the packup, dropoff, and pickup. Then grading and cooking and book club (timed dinnermaking wrong, didn’t I?) and then sorting fabric. Probably more grading. Did I mention grading? Yeah. Probably not enough times.

Be an Adult

Hello Friday…before weekend of chaos. Seriously, this weekend is a shitshow. Already looking forward to next weekend. Today, kids will need to finish a unit packet and turn it in, and then actually be mature enough to evaluate their own work and progress and complete missing work. It’s babysitting hell. But I brought it on myself. I can monitor and bug the shit out of them with our monitoring app, or I can ignore that they’re all on games and Instagram and get some work done. It’s exhausting either way. Like sir, your progress report is available to your parents today and you don’t want to do anything about your F in effort? Interesting.

Meanwhile, I did test corrections at lunch yesterday and 48 kids signed up. I had every chair in the classroom full. Only 40 showed up, luckily. And now I have to grade those. That’s 2 hours probably. On top of this week’s tests, which I barely started, and the packets they’re turning in today. I couldn’t deal with any of it last night. I graded two classes of homework after my stitching Zoom. I finished my book (it was at 83%). And I cut things out for two hours. I should be able to do that.

Anyway. Here’s Wednesday night’s trimming…

I forgot to take the official setup photo last night. I even set it up but then took a photo of the dog instead. Here’s last night’s progress (taken this morning).

Starting to see progress there. Left side is done; right side isn’t. I wanted to be done this weekend. I don’t think that’s possible. Here’s the dog picture though.

The boychild is gone a lot in the next three weeks…so Simba is sad. Or he’s an old man and this was after 10:30 PM and he wants to go to bed. Me too, Simba. Me too. Oh wait, it’s morning. I can’t do that for another 15+ hours.

I’ve been going to the chiropractor, trying to get the neck and shoulders to behave. Definitely much better, but it takes up my ceramics time. So I didn’t get there all week. Pro: neck is better. Not best, just better. It’s getting warm again here. It’s not fall yet until sometime in October. Still 90 degrees plus. On top of that, we’re getting the tail end of a few hurricanes, so the humidity gets bad, and that’s worse than the temperature honestly.

Anyway. Today at work was summarized above. I’m not looking forward to it, but I’ll try to be as efficient as possible. Then chiropractor and hopefully pharmacy pickup (they’re so annoying about notifying when there’s a delay in processing…I don’t want to drive up there if it’s not ready). Then grading and housework and cooking dinner and grading some more and then cutting stuff out. Tomorrow isn’t as chaotic as Sunday, but they’re both pretty bad. My fault for getting into shows and having to take them down and having to canvass for work and all that crap.

OK, be an adult. Do adult things.

Ebb and Flow

Weird week. Really hot…supposed to be 105 degrees today. My studio was 91 degrees at 10:45 last night…right now, there’s a tiny coolish breeze coming in, but it’ll be gone by the time I get home again. This house just holds heat…it sucks. This is the time every year when I think about air conditioning. Because we barely slept last night…it was just too hot. Sigh. One more day of the really bad, then one just in the high 90s, and then some reasonable semblance of a fall temperature in Southern California. Low 90s sounds lovely. If you say 80s, I may swoon.

But today is still hot. And ironing fabric when it’s hot is hard. I did manage to do the small piece for the ceramic sculpture that’s been sitting around, waiting for it.

This piece is obviously not much of a rush.

Then I started ironing for the new piece. It has some really big pieces because I was trying to keep it simple.

For some definition of simple. Last night, I managed about 40 minutes of dirt before I gave up in here…

It was (still is) hot and I was tired. It was a long weekend and a long day. I’ve been taking care of my parents’ dog, and we knew she was near the end. Well, yesterday was the end. Poor Katie girl…a good long loved life.

It sucks. But it was time; she was ready. And she was a good girl.

Luna is also a good girl, but very much alive…and kinda flat.

All the cats are kinda flat. It’s hot. Looking forward to Friday’s temperatures. Sooner rather than later.

I’m unfortunately going to have to sit in the heat this evening again, trying to grade papers or iron in yucky temperatures. I could stay at school to grade for a while, but it’s not very comfortable. Can’t iron there. Anyway, hopefully I’ll be able to stand it in here for a little bit tonight, at least an hour. This one is on a deadline. Aren’t they all?

I got two pieces into Quilts = Art = Quilts, so that’s cool. I had a dearth of acceptances at the end of the last school year, so it’s nice to get into a few this fall. Appreciate the ebb and flow? Or not.

Today, I’m teaching energy…despite my lack thereof. I might need to find some stuff when I get to school. Sand. Thermometers. Ice. For a demo! Not my shirt. Although last night, as I was attempting to fall asleep, I thought putting all the ice packs under the sheets wouldn’t be so bad. Union meeting after school. Then home to swelter, grade, and iron. Maybe sleep at night, but probably it will still be too hot in here. Ice packs, y’all.

All Those Things

I swear yesterday was Friday. Today is Second Friday. I know why; I gave a test and had kids turn in their science packets and they were not prepared. And I thought it would be easier…I at least should be prepared for the chaos and I guess I was not. So I ended the day with a parent meeting for a different kid than I thought it would be for (pure confusion on my part; we had already met with the parent of the other kid, so yes, I am losing it)…got home, and sat in exhaustion. I eventually rallied. I usually do. I had a stitching Zoom meeting and all I did was seating charts, because I need those this morning and one of the classes is like an impossible chart. There is no way on Earth to separate the kids who need it and support the kids who need it with the languages they need and not have it turn into a chaotic disaster. I have 7 mosquito bites from school…to be specific, from my classroom. My workload is shite. I have stuff copied for Monday, but need to copy stuff for Tuesday. Copier jammed yesterday and IDK if anyone fixed it (I didn’t have time) and I bet there’s no goddamned paper.

Deep breath in, deep breath out. Pro: I think we finally got my blood sugar to stop crashing at night…by reducing my insulin by nearly half? Like WTF is happening there? It’s been fine and now this. I guess at least it’s reducing and not increasing.

So. Today. Plus. We start a new unit; it’s usually a pretty chill drawing day. I can get stuff organized and maybe start grading for the weekend. I need to make ice cubes for next week’s demos. I keep forgetting. I’m hoping the two-day lab isn’t for another week…I think we need materials. We should check that today. Deep breath again.

I’m still in the boring trimming stage. It’s boring to look at, but I don’t mind doing it because it’s meditative and I need that right now.

Compare Wednesday night’s progress (above) to Thursday night’s (below).

Yeah. The trash pile looks deeper? Maybe. I think I have two yards left. I might only have one. I was too tired to look last night. I’m hoping it’s one.

This old lady is staying with us right now, my parents’ dog Katie.

I love this sweet baby. But we are near the end. It’s always a matter of where the end actually is with pets though. I mean, it is with humans too…we just have fewer choices. Trying to make the best decisions for her…and that’s hard.

This is cool. IDK if it’s legit, but it’s fun anyway.

And I don’t need one of these.

If I want to read another chapter, I probably will…and I realize the negative effects of not enough sleep on my next-day’s self. Although I do still stay up too late to make art. I’m rolling on a sleep deficit most of the time.

Sigh. OK. Today will be easier. It has to be. Well. Except maybe for the dog. I’m hoping she’s OK today. And tomorrow. And all the days until my parents come back. I’m hoping to go to ceramics today (depending on the dog). I’m hoping to do some art this weekend and enter some shows and a residency and to clean the kitchen floor because it needs it and to read the books I have and get far enough ahead in grading that it doesn’t feel like it ate up my weekend but so that next week doesn’t feel as heavy. All those things.

Make a List…Another One…

Yup. Totally writing late today. Just woke up running and didn’t stop until right now. Tomorrow’s to-do list is equally nuts. I made it to ceramics Monday? I did one layer of skin color…

I ran out of the two brown colors (and forgot to do one hand obviously). I went to the clay supply place Tuesday and they only had one of the two browns…so I had to order them. I’m not going to finish the underglazing before I leave unfortunately.

The skin needs two more layers and then I can do all the bones and flowers and everything. So that will all happen when I come back. I’m going to go in tomorrow and pull the neck (which is a separate thing) and put it in my damp box so it doesn’t dry out too much. Also leave a note about the stuff that needs to be fired.

Quiltwise, I started quilting on Monday…

And I did more yesterday during the day…

I’ve only got a little more than 3 hours in. Last night, I spent over 2 hours cleaning, ironing, and packing 6 quilts for the Master Glitch show opening in Oceanside on August 15. I delivered those today, hallelujah, finally got into a show (OK, it was kind of guaranteed, but I’ll take it)…in case you think I always get it…uh uh, I don’t. I go through dry periods and the rejections pile up and I take deep breaths and enter more shows. That’s where I’m at right now.

ANYWAY, I want to get this quilted before we leave, or at least mostly quilted. I might need to buy the binding fabric tomorrow, because when I get back in August, I can’t go to the quilt store until Saturday, and it’s already pretty booked up. Tight deadlines. So I’ll be quilting tonight and tomorrow for a while at least. I might be halfway through the outlining…and there isn’t honestly a lot of solid background, so I don’t expect it to take forever, but tomorrow is kind of crazy.

Here’s the Open Studio announcement for my residency!

Excited about that. Although I guess I will have to have something to put on the walls then. Ha! I drove back from acupuncture today with all the things in my head that I needed to remember to pack. Clothing is in a pile on my bag. Not sure it will fit and I’m missing a few things. Last-minute laundry tomorrow night.

It’s been super warm here…and Simba was feeling it last night.

Poor crazy dude. Honestly, I think they won’t miss me when I’m gone…where am I supposed to sleep anyway?

Foot of the bed, obviously. Bowie eventually moved, but put his claws in my foot at some point during the night.

Little psycho.

I got this ad from somewhere…

They’re wool. Seriously? I’m allergic. I would die. Obviously they’re in my head though. I am packing light. Maybe. Maybe not.

By the way, the World Cup semifinal today between England and Argentina was all decided between my getting in the car and arriving at school (I had to copy some stuff for August). And Hegseth doing testosterone testing? I’m so confused by this guy. So confused. But if he’s overdosing on the stuff, it would explain a lot. Here’s where we are right now…

I am appreciating the lack of work thought in my head (OK, yes, I did copy something today, but it’s because I didn’t have time the day I left and it’s been bugging me, and I’ve learned that when things bug my mind like that, the best thing to do is find a way to make it go away. Now it’s gone. Poof!). But I have lettuce anxiety and voting anxiety and ICE anxiety. And anxiety about reproductive rights. And women and children and LGTBQIA in general…and POC. All of those. But you know what? I no longer have daylight savings’ anxiety?

Oh wait, I do. I don’t know if we are falling back in fall or not, and if we’re not, it’s apparently going to be dark until 9 in the morning. Or something. I’m not sure. I’ll let you know in November what that really looks like.

OK. Gotta go quilt or pack something or IDK what. Make a list for tomorrow. I’ve charged everything that needs charging. I’ve figured out what cord goes with each thing that charges, but I still have extra cords. Always. I think the Man just bought us something else that needs charging too. I’ll let you know. Next time I post, I should be in a car somewhere. The boychild will be here dealing with animals and watering for a bit, and then the ex. Then I’ll be making art. Hopefully lots of it.

The Eve of Destruction

Happy day before the 250th anniversary of our country…as it goes down burning. Arresting people for touching the reflecting pool liner, but pardoning all the crazy shit on January 6…and some of those people have gone on to do heinous things they couldn’t have done if they’d still been in prison. Not sure how to celebrate this level of crazy. Women being prosecuted for having miscarriages…women DYING for having a miscarriage. People being arrested by ICE for no legal reason. A president who admits his children are benefiting financially from his position…illegal, but hey, since when has that stopped them? A Supreme Court with justices who do not understand the letter of the law. A senator who has disappeared for 17+ days and is probably on life support, but we’re gonna hide that too in case they replace him with someone more woke, more left-leaning.

Today, though, today is the day before we celebrate all that. Today is the day…I go to the dentist for my 3-month cleaning. Exciting, I know.

I did start ironing the quilt together though…not sure how I’m going to get it done in time. As I get closer to my leave date, more and more shit gets shoved into those days. But here’s about 3 hours worth of ironing (for those who think it looks quick).

And here’s last night, after another almost two hours. I’m about 370 pieces in or so…out of approximately 1440. My days are full of tasks and people. These aren’t bad things, just complications to the art process. I can’t take this thing with me to Oregon.

I can take this thing though, so I sandwiched and pinbasted it. It’ll take about an hour to quilt it and then I’ll debate putting bindings on before I leave. I can do all the handstitching in Oregon. I have another one to work on as well that is quilted and just needs embroidery.

Yesterday, I drove the Man up to his show in Solana Beach, but had to wait for the show to actually start. Found a winery with the soccer on (although I also read my book).

They played at the Belly Up, opening for two other bands.

I was up front and could barely see the Man.

Luckily someone taller took video.

This is Bowie trying to intimidate Luna into leaving the cat bed.

This is Simba…super tired. He would like to go to bed earlier.

We already had these showing up at school. Annoying. I don’t want to police glasses and phones and watches.

I wish people understood political/theoretical systems better. I’m ok with a lot of socialist ideas, including this one.

Only Michael survived though…

Reality here.

And there we are going into the holiday celebration. The Man’s band is playing tomorrow down at the bay with all the crazy traffic. I’m going but we plan to come back before the fireworks, both for the dog’s sake and our own. He’s ok with fireworks; just barks at them. I know this because they were going off at 1-2 AM last night…and so was he.

I made it to the dentist, where I wrote half of this, and now I’m trying to finish it on my phone. I also made it to ceramics. More about that next week. Now I’m going to Pilates and then down to Liberty Station to see some art and eat dinner…then back here to iron. Looking forward to that part.

Last Day Number 24

Today is it, y’all…the last day of school. It’s promotion! The end of this school year has taken so long to get here, it’s crazy. Yesterday, I was at school for 11 hours…standing or walking for most of it. I got home and iced both knees and the left heel and took pain meds when I went to bed. Both hands were fucked up from squeezing the water spray bottle at kids (it was hot out, and we had to line up and walk three times in promotion practice). Somehow I am not sunburnt, although I am probably dehydrated. I’m definitely exhausted. Today should be easier…do promotion, ONCE (not three times), then finish cleaning up the classroom (mostly, this is done), officially check out, and then go to the end-of-year party. Return home, collapse. Tomorrow, do 17 million things because I thought flying to SF to see the girlchild on Friday made sense when I originally planned it (it does; mostly). Yeah. Crazy. And in between all that, I manage to make art. Somehow.

I ironed Monday night…

I think that was the sunflower on the arm…and some other stuff. Last night, I did the heart…and some other stuff.

I have 2/3rds of the 700s ironed to fabric, but also about half of the 800s. So I’m calling it at 800? More than halfway, I think, but holy hell, this is taking a long time. I think I thought I’d be done before I left for SF. That’s not happening. Ah well. And it’s a short, busy trip, so taking stuff to trim is probably a mistake. These are hard to travel with. I’ve done it, but only when I would be staying in one place for a while. So it’ll wait until I get back.

I also made it to ceramics Monday and did some underglazing of the sgraffito arm.

I’m not done. I had done over an hour and needed to get home to cook dinner.

It isn’t dry on the neck and chin here…hard to deal with glazing vertically and NOT having it drip.

I’m using tiny needle-tipped squeeze bottles, so honestly, it’s the ability of my hands to continue squeezing that is sometimes the problem. I don’t think I’m going to get back there before I go to SF? I don’t know when if I am…maybe Thursday night? If I’m not dead on my feet after 17 doctors’ appointments, Zooms, and phone calls. We’ll see. Plus pilates.

Yesterday, back from 11 hours at school, icing one knee. They tolerate each other.

This is not a friendship unfortunately. There will be slapping, claws, or snapping. Or someone leaves. I think they both left, actually.

I actually am having issues with this, due to a lack of other sewing supply stores in San Diego…

I need some stuff for my daughter and I’m not sure where to get it. I hate having to order online for stuff that should be easy to find locally. That USED to be easy to find locally.

And this…

When I don’t create, I start to get a little wiggy. So I make things. Every day pretty much. It works.

OK. Ugh. I need to find a lunch to take with me, find a spare set of shoes for later, get to school and remind myself how to pronounce all those kids’ names…correctly (don’t panic!). Then sit in the sun for a couple of hours. Oh wait, find the nicer sun hat before I go. I’ve got this. I’d tell you how many years but I’m not sure I can count right now…this is my 24th end of school year, but my first year was only half a year. So my 24th anniversary of teaching will be in January 2027. Long time. Only my fourth (?) promotion…I was always a 7th-grade teacher until after COVID. It’s always a relief going into summer, even as I’m planning for August so I won’t be panicked when I get back. It’s all good. The things will all happen. It’ll be fine.