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.

Peace and Love and Art…

Funny, I thought I had started writing this already this morning, when I realized my exercise class was 30 minutes earlier than I thought and the girlchild needed to be dropped at her dad’s house. Suddenly, I was leaving. And then forgot completely about not even starting this (I resized the photos…that’s a thing). Now it’s about 20 minutes from when we have to leave for the Man’s family’s Xmas dinner, it’s already dark, and I’m unsure of what I got done today. Exercise! I did plenty of that. I managed to get sopping wet on a 3.37-mile street walk (didn’t want to venture into the wilds in the rain…damages the trail too much and the rain can be dangerous in some places with waterflow), which was exhilarating, though damp. I wasn’t the only crazy person out there. The wind had died down from this morning and it was just wet. Really wet at some point. Almost everything I wore was soaked through. It’s fine, because now my blood sugar is low enough that I can eat whatever is provided…sometimes, I have a hard time if it’s a meal I didn’t plan or I don’t know all the parts going in. It’s just easier to go for a long walk beforehand. Probably better for me too. My blood sugar has been really good since I went on Break (something to be said for reducing stress by removing the day job).

What have I been doing since Monday? Well, almost finishing the quilt…not quite. I thought I’d be done yesterday, but I was definitely concentration/focus-challenged yesterday. Still am. So Monday night, I trimmed it…

So yeah. Scribble was no help at all. In fact, I’d call her a hindrance.

Because I did not want to cut her paw off with the rotary cutter. Eventually I got it all trimmed. Then I sewed the binding on…

That lovely dark green was the first one I saw and it worked perfectly. I hadn’t even figured out what color to make the binding until I saw that green. Weird how that works. Some part of my brain had figured it out…just didn’t tell the cognizant part. I’m OK with that.

I started handsewing it down on Monday night, and then did about 3 1/2 hours yesterday. All I have left are the sleeves, and I plan to finish them tonight. This cat does not understand how this works.

ON the quilt is problematic. But then Nova tries to go under.

There’s pins everywhere y’all. Danger danger.

Sigh. She is a love. But entirely too much IN the process. HELPING. I’M HELPING.

I also made it to ceramics on Monday and worked on the bowl I’m apparently making.

It got more complicated.

But fun. I’m going to add speech bubbles I think…and then do words in it.

And the hands need more details. Fun to do anyway. There was no one there at all. I might go in tomorrow…but I think time will be short tomorrow and I really need to hike before dinner. Hopefully there will be less rain tomorrow. I think San Diego missed the worst of it.

This video was from yesterday, after the boychild stole a bunch of stuff from my kitchen for Xmas dinner (fair trade really).

I could have bought more butter, I suppose, but there it was, being handed to me.

It’s Christmas Eve, the night when many celebrate with some portion of friends or family. And this is what I’m thinking about…

Set an amount of money that beyond which, it just gets taken. It might make the world a better place because (a) it would fund a lot of things that aren’t currently being provided and (b) maybe people would stop obsessing over getting more more more being some form of ‘winning’. It’s a thought.

And this is probably what the next quilt is about.

I should figure that out since I basically have to start it tomorrow. Fun times. It’s fine. I love making art…I just was expecting to make something different next and now I need to make something completely different…than the different thing I was going to make. I’m lucky to have that be part of my Winter Break. (don’t talk about grades!) Oh, I also listened to another retirement webinar, because I was worried about one thing with the date I had chosen, and sure enough, I’m going to have to work one more year than I thought. It’s an easier pill to swallow now, this far out, but it’s frustrating that something like that is based on my birthday. If I’d just been born two months prematurely…sigh…no, that’s not fun for anyone. It’s fine. Really. It is. OK, gonna go burn another solstice intention and then go to a party. Where I can actually eat the food. Maybe. Hopefully. Hope your holidays are full of peace and love and art. In whatever order that works for you.

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.

A Giant Experiment

There are three days of school before we go on break. There’s been some crazy shit (there always is), some crazier than usual. My blood sugar responds to stress, and yes, it is responding to stress. And cake. That was my fault. To my credit, I ate it in two shifts. On Monday, after the holiday party, which was really just a confession and food (is that the definition of a party?), I had to get on the stationary bike for an hour. It’s OK…I finished my book. Although my knees did not appreciate it the next day. They rarely do though. It’s weird…we usually have spirit week before break and dress up most of the days, at least wearing Santa hats and pajamas, and that’s not even happening. I think everyone is just trying to survive. That may be true of everyone honestly. Christmas is coming up and it’s crazy. I still don’t have a box for the stuff I need to ship. I keep forgetting. I have a to-do list but it keeps getting impacted by school. We have three days to get at least the first week of lessons done and we don’t have enough time to teach everything before the state test because the school board did a stupid thing and got sued and now we have to teach stuff that’s not on the test before the test and I can’t even tell you how frustrating that is after we spent hours this summer backwards planning from the end of the year to make sure there was enough time. And now we’re fucked. No one paid me for those summer hours and no one will pay me for the hours it will take to rearrange stuff to fit the school board’s fuckup. Summer self did that work because she knew that May/June self would really appreciate it. And now both of them are pissed off. “It’s fine,” the District says, “It’s only one year and then you can go back to whatever you normally do.” Great. You gonna pay me for the extra planning this year? Nah? I didn’t think so. Plus I have to do more training even though I helped write the damn curriculum. I guess all that is January/February/March’s problem. She’s already irritable about it though. December self just wants the first week or two planned and maybe to have a table of contents for the unit that doesn’t have to be totally rewritten halfway through. Big dreams.

Meanwhile, this is the third morning in a row I’ve had to show up early to school for something…luckily, I think it’s the last one in 2025! Maybe. Knock on wood.

I did finish all the stitchdown on Monday night…stayed up late to do it, which pairs well with getting up early.

Stitchdown is generally pretty fast…this was 4 1/2 hours. Last night, I cut the batting, washed the batting, dried the batting, washed the floor (it was gross), and cut and sewed and ironed the backing. Then it was 10:15 PM and I knew it would take an hour to pinbaste this thing, so I didn’t do it. Did I go to bed earlier? Nope. Totally not. That would make too much sense. I just didn’t want to crawl around on my kneepads for an hour…I’ll do that tonight after yet another early morning and a long day. It’ll be fine. Quilting by tomorrow. Done by? I don’t know. I need a binding fabric…I know I don’t have enough of anything for that.

Cat integration is going really well. These two play during the day (and the night).

Not touching yet, not curled up together…but I know Scribble wants that. Bowie is kind of an asshole (that phrase is said so many times in this house), but he is still kittenish and appreciates the racing around. Scribble bites gently, plays gently (with us), doesn’t hook us with claws, purrs a lot, loves a lot, squawks, and is a sweetheart.

Ceramics! I got this one out of the bisque fire yesterday…

Then glazed both with a clear glaze…hopefully the colors will hold. We’ll see. They do darken in the glaze fire, but I’m hopeful. They are both frames for the wall. I haven’t figured out construction for frames for just standing up. And I forgot to check how much they shrank. Oh well. It’s all a giant experiment anyway.

When I left the studio, Bartholomew had just showed up for dinner.

He’s definitely got more than his share of nine lives.

OK then there’s this…

This might help. Sigh. We don’t solve problems well as a species, but especially here in the US. Dumpster fire has taken over.

OK today. It’s a catchup day. The kids will hopefully get everything done, we’ll do a lab tomorrow, a quick test question Friday, turn their packets in, and go away for three weeks. I need to finish grading last week’s homework and start grading the academic assignment they just finished. Whatever I get done this week I don’t have to do during break. That would be a plus. Pilates after school, then I have to cook (normally I would have done that last night)…oh wait, I did do it last night, but just for me. Then pinbaste, kneepads on. Maybe setup or start quilting. We’ll see. Looking forward to it. Looking forward to some time off too.

Appropriate Responses…

It’s totally foggy this morning, foggy and chilly. It’s also the last Monday of school in 2025. I had a fairly successful weekend, but whenever I picked up my phone, some horrible disaster had happened somewhere…mostly with guns…and I had to stop and take a breath and wonder about the world and humanity. I may always wonder about that. And guns. And how people get so angry that guns (or knives) seem to solve that problem. And then a reminder that Sandy Hook happened yesterday, 13 years ago. I remember that day. That’s why we have gates and fences and locks and were told to keep classroom doors locked for a good long time. We had active shooter trainings before that though. When my students ask, “when will I ever need this?” during lockdown trainings, all I can say is, “I hope you never do…” but the odds are increasingly against that. Who thought celebrating Hanukkah on the beach would require gun avoidance training? Or taking college finals? Those things should be gun and violence free (despite how you might feel about final exams in general). According to CNN, the shooting at Brown “followed at least 75 school shootings in the United States this year. So far in 2025, there have been at least 391 mass shootings and 13,929 shooting deaths nationwide.” Insane.

So in that vein, I finished my Forgotten Words Project phrases. They just needed to be stitched down. I’ll mail them later this week.

My goal this weekend was to finish ironing the quilt down and get a goodly chunk of stitchdown done. I needed to make a video with the quilt for a meeting I’m missing on Zoom this week, and that was going to be easier if I could hang it up, so it needed to be completely ironed to do that. I spent a few hours on Saturday getting that done and making the video (and finding speakers since my subwoofer broke/died and I couldn’t edit the video without sound).

I guess I ironed Friday night too. She was too wide to hang up well…

I usually go vertical more than horizontal. My original plan was three bathtubs…that would have been insanely wide.

And then Saturday night, I stitched down for over 2 hours and got a huge chunk done.

Last night, I finished the larger bathtub with all its rugs and stuff.

I’ve got at least an hour to go tonight after book club. Then sandwich, pinbaste, and quilt. I’m on track to get it done with time to spare, which is good, because shipping 6 quilts is stressful no matter what, and I need to do another quilt fairly quickly. Plus however much free time people think I have over a school break, that’s when I do all the things I don’t have time for when I’m teaching, which is almost everything. Including mopping floors and cleaning bathrooms.

This week is a mess, for sure. Here’s the drawing I kept trying to get done before dinner arrived the last two Saturday nights.

I may give up on it. These aren’t really meant to be finished beasties anyway, just a way to keep the drawing hand in.

Scribble does know how to be IN the kitty tent…

Mostly. She’s been playing with a few of the older cats, definitely speaking her mind, eating more, purring lots, sleeping, and basically underfoot or on lap. Good times.

I guess this is how we end today…

So true. Sanity and kindness too. Those would be nice. Today is…sigh. Someone set up an 8 AM parent Zoom call, which is good, because she wanted to meet at 7 AM and that’s not something I do. Then finishing a test. Two of my co-teachers are out for good reasons; hopefully the kids will be too tired to malfunction. Then a staff meeting that was supposed to be a holiday party that got cancelled due to lack of interest (and probably morale, honestly). At least that will be short. Then book club later. Plus stitching stuff down and dealing with Christmas, because holy hell, that’s rushing at us like a train out of control. The fog is still out there. I’ll have to join it in a second. May today be full of love and peace and appropriate responses…across the board…

Strangely Warm…

Pro: I slept solidly last night (because I was exhausted…wait, I still am exhausted). I got to hang out with stitching friends last night. I didn’t grade anything last night. It’s Friday and I’ll be ironing a solid chunk of the weekend and then stitching.

Don’t ask about school. I might lose my mind. Not kids (well, sometimes kids). Just all the other moving pieces. And there are a lot of them and some of them are stupid. In case you’re wondering. I know why I became a union rep so many years ago, but it’s hella exhausting.

I also have a book that I need to finish reading by tomorrow at 2 PM, when the library whisks it away. There are 78 people waiting for the book, so if I don’t finish it (which might happen), I won’t see it again for 5 weeks and then I’ll have forgotten the already tenuous link I have to the story. I could just stop reading it, but I have a hard time with that. I think I should stop and then there’s a few pages of clarity and interest and I’m back in again, but…realistically…I have 3 hours left in it. And that’s a lot. And I have a lot of other things that need to get done. So we’ll see. Sigh.

OK ironing. I ironed late last night. The night before, I did much better.

I got the whole bathtub water thing done plus all the things floating in the water and the legs.

Last night, I finished the torso and both arms, which are fussier than maybe they look.

I’m in the high 700s and I’ve pulled a few 800s, so honestly, I’ll finish tomorrow and get it ironed to the background and hopefully start stitching it down. I’ve got a new deadline that popped up that I need to get started on, so I’m pushing through on this. Deep breaths.

I had a plan for the next quilt that was kind of a break from the heavy political stuff, but it looks like I’m diving back in. We’ll see what that looks like. I’m letting my brain percolate it as I finish this one, because I’ll have to leap right into drawing sometime in the next week or so.

Stitching last night with friends…all I did was couch down the fly stitches.

It took forever. It was nice to hang out and chat about travel and other stuff though.

When I get really busy on art stuff and school, I don’t have a lot of extraneous pictures apparently. Even of cute kittens. Here’s Scribble sleeping on the bed I bought for Simba a year ago so he could be comfortable out in the living room (he prefers to lie on my leg or on the couch behind my neck).

I think one cat slept on it once. So it just sits there. Maybe it will be Scribble’s. She’s a sweetheart. Doesn’t sleep with me every night, but comes and says hi every night. Very purry and kneady. Follows me around. Holds her own with the big kitties.

OK. I’m giving a test today, which hopefully will be quiet and calm and shut up. But you never know. Also it’s still strangely warm here, despite being December, and that seems to be affecting brains. Some kids think next week is already Winter Break (it’s not). Some kids will be gone even though they know it’s not Winter Break. We got two new kids this week and their names are almost the same but flipped in order, which is beyond confusing. So I’ll probably have them in the same class period and will never figure out which is which. I think a teacher’s brain only has so much capacity for learning names in one school year and I may have already reached it. Also limited patience. Yup. Reached it. But it shouldn’t be a hard day…not a lab. Just management. And then duty after school and ceramics and I need to buy Drano and a light timer. I don’t have to cook dinner. I do need to read for 3 hours in the next 30 (ha! That is so not happening). I need to hike tomorrow. I need to SLEEP. But not right now. Right now, I gotta go.

Alive and Pissed Off…

OK, I thought it was Tuesday, but it’s Wednesday. I was so tired after school and pilates yesterday that I just lay on the couch and considered how it was only Tuesday. Really that was the fault of the pilates teacher…and my body. My knees mostly.

I’m ironing. I’m trying to iron a lot. I need to finish this piece. I think I’ll have time during break, but then all the Xmas stuff happens, and I’m fucked. So here’s where I was at on Monday night…

It didn’t look like much. I did the edges of the bathtub and the words and the flag; there’s stuff hanging off the top as well, but not much.

Last night was a little more impressive…

I got the lamp and some portion of the water done. There’s things floating in the water and then obviously the body in the tub (this one is alive and pissed off), so there’s a lot going on here. I’m about halfway through. I’ll be in the water again tonight and then maybe even tomorrow. I’m hoping to have it all ironed down or close by the weekend, so I can start the stitchdown Saturday. I have a big block of time. Maybe. At the moment. Also need to fix a bunch of things and deal with Christmas stuff.

I’m not putting a tree up until I’m home during the day, because…kitten. I did put some lights up on the deck so that’s festive. I have more lights but no timer…and it requires a ladder and a hammer, which I have, but I need to do it in daylight hours and I won’t be home in the evening in light until Saturday. Ah Winter. So many other things to do. A little panicky about that, as always. I’m teaching more magnety stuff today, hopefully less handholding than the last few days. They really do just want me to write the answers for them, and I won’t. Also, getting kids to talk in some of these classes is torture…or to talk about science instead of whatever they want to be chatting about. Crazy stuff. But maybe I can get caught up on grading before the next big assignment? It’s a goal anyway. Union meeting after school tonight and then about 17 errands, depending on what’s still open (not the post office unfortunately). Then did I mention ironing? I did.

Glom On…

Short week, felt long, rain’s coming, another lab today. Collisions. And at least 5 kids per class period who didn’t show up yesterday and have to take the test today. Fun times. I have two kids who I think went home on purpose so they wouldn’t have to take the test. Ah well, they can miss the lab today. And the three kids who showed up yesterday for the first time in the last two weeks? Shocker for them. I read all these things and watch videos where they talk about treating each child individually, giving them what they need, but realistically, with 33 kids in the classroom and very little support, with 5 absent and a lab going, there’s very little giving kids what they need. I’m just hoping both my paraeducators are here today. And there’s an issue with a kid who didn’t finish after more than 90 minutes, with paraeducator support, plus tutorial, and there’s signs of cheating in the past (someone else is doing it for him), and our new anti-AI approach means he didn’t turn it in in time. So yeah. What do I do with that? I’m not sure. We’ll see. Today. If he’s here. Rain is going to scare some of our kids off. It’s not even supposed to be that bad today…it’s mostly tomorrow, but you know how that goes. Just easier to let them stay home? Meanwhile, my coteacher and I are planning our post-school duty post outfits (raincoats, boots, and umbrellas) because we’re responsible adults who do our jobs. Maybe too responsible. I rewrote an assignment last night, plus emailed parents (who responded right away, bless their hearts…some kid hates me today), and then dreamed vividly about a school reunion I didn’t go to and didn’t have anyone I recognized.

Thank you, brain. I see you.

OK, I did iron over an hour the last two nights though. Yay me! Here’s Wednesday night…

And Thursday…

Sometimes it looks like I just move the bins around and don’t actually do anything. I’m in the mid 500s, but I’ve ironed a few 800s. So I’m halfway, at least. So I should finish ironing down probably early next week, then start trimming. My hope is to get it all ironed down over Thanksgiving break. Which they’re now calling Fall Break.

I went to the Mesa College opening of Reimagining La Linea, an exhibit about immigration of all types. My piece is about forced climate migration…

It’s the purple quilt on the right, with Anna Stump’s pinata/balloons flying over the border wall paintings to the left.

Cupcake Over Trump’s Wall, Pink Pony Over Trump’s Wall, and Sheriff Over Trump’s Wall.

Gail Schneider’s migrating butterflies were all over…

Great use of materials…ceramic bodies and private property/no trespassing signs for wings.

Here’s the whole wall…

I was intrigued by Steve Harlow’s paintings…this is DEMOGRAPHICS 28 (Tijuana Kids with Bug).

And this large graphic painting, Isa Ybarra’s Water-bearer.

I have more photos from the show, but need to go to school before the rain pops off again. Like I said, lab today about collisions. Then hopefully not too rainy to do duty, then ceramics. I’m taking a full day ceramics class tomorrow, which I’m alternately totally excited about and completely exhausted for. It’ll be fine. More ironing tonight, hopefully less collapse than the last two nights. Wishing good thoughts for surviving today. For me. I’m wishing for me, to be clear. Also anyone else who needs it can glom onto my wishes. Here. Have them. They’re yours too.

There Is No Free.

Ah the challenge of existence. In one class, every time I say the word ‘job’, half the class gasps and groans. Oh hey, I get it. That’s how I feel at the moment too. I was getting ready for bed last night, and four separate student emails came in and I ignored all of them. They had all already been answered during the day. I will have to deal with all of them again today, because apparently once (or in one case, 17 times) is not enough. I think maybe 10% of what I say in class sinks in for most kids. That may be normal but it’s also exhausting. I’m trying to get caught up on grades, but have to deal with all this other stuff: this kid wants to move to a class with their friends (no; so many other reasons why that kid can’t move), this other kid wants to move to be with HIS friends (still no, not jamming everyone into my morning class to accommodate your friendships), this third kid wants to move with her friend and sister (also no), I finally email counseling and tell THEM to start saying no (OMG what a load of crap). Then the same kid who emailed 6 times on Saturday, 2 times last night, questions that were already answered during class…every day since last Tuesday. I take ashwaganda for all that. It’s not enough. Also, you should teach and plan and grade and fill out forms for this kid and that kid and then go to meetings for this other kid, and that other kid (there’s three this week) and then there’s an emergency meeting on the one day you thought you’d be free. Ha! Not free. There is no free.

Aack. That’s probably a statement for the year now. And for some groups, always. Land of the Free, my ass. I just watched yet another video of ICE hauling off an American citizen. And you know what? I don’t even think they should be hauling off someone who is illegal. Unless they’ve committed heinous crimes, which most of them haven’t. So many of them are in the process of being here legally, or they came here legally and we changed the damn rules on them. So stupid. They pay taxes. They contribute to a working economy. They are part of a community. This shit is stupid.

Really trying to keep my chill today. It’s a lab and I have a few kids who lose their minds with labs. I need the materials to stay usable and unbroken today. Oh, we also had to fire our teacher’s aide yesterday, a student, because of his other behaviors. So now we don’t even have that. Frustrating. It’s fine. School is always some level of frustrating. I’m just finding it overly so this year. Again. Sigh.

Art! I am finally shipping my newest quilt off to its owner. Got the photos back. Here is Humanity Is in Your Hands…

Lots of crazy stuff going on in this quilt.

First quilt I’ve had someone give birth to the Statue of Liberty. NOT the first quilt with ICE in it, scarily.

First quilt with ALL of the planets; I’ve done some of them before, but not all of them.

Anyway, hoping the owner likes it. She’s good about showing the work she owns, which I greatly appreciate. On to the next one! I’m still trimming stuff.

Didn’t get a full hour the last two nights. Stupid day job.

But there’s progress. I’m in the 2nd of the 4+ yards. I thought originally I could be done by tomorrow night, but ha! Life says no. I’m supposed to have a finished approximate size by November 5. I think it will be very approximate. Pro? I need a background and the damn store isn’t open late enough for me to go until Saturday, so I’ll be doing that. And not wasting time trying to iron things without a background fabric to compare the fabrics to. I’m so discombobulated this week that my weekly bullet journal isn’t done yet. It’s fucking Wednesday. I’m sure there’s shit I need to be doing (besides what’s in my phone calendar); I’m just not sure what it is (order needles. vote. buy slats and boxes to ship a quilt or two.).

I wanted to go to ceramics yesterday, but I needed to buy the stuff to ship the quilt and then put a label on it and pack it up and prep the box. The Man is being nice enough to have them pick it up from his work, because it needs insurance paperwork and picking up from school is problematic. Today is pilates, which I really really need. Tomorrow is now an emergency union meeting. Luckily it’s on Zoom, so I might be able to pull off going to ceramics AND sitting through a Zoom (we’ll see if that’s a thing). Because the head is out of the bisque kiln and ready for glazing.

When they trimmed the trees down below, there’d been a squirrel up in those trees and we were worried. We don’t see many squirrels around here. Well here’s one. And there was another one in that tree, so maybe it’s the same one? I don’t know. But I never trim all the trees at once (who has that kind of money?), so there’s always somewhere for them to live.

Fence squirrel.

You know, every morning, I take deep breaths and try to find some zen for school.

Also that’s Newton’s third law, which I was writing a worksheet for yesterday.

It’s Spirit Week at school and we’re supposed to wear a specific thing each day, and for some weird reason, the staff is competing with the kids (no one is winning). Today for staff is supposed to be something with 6-7 on it (if you’re not a teacher or living in a house with a teacher or living in a house with a kid, you probably have no idea how annoying 6-7 is right now), so I refused…I’m twinning like the kids are. But I would have worn this (and gotten in big trouble for it).

Tomorrow is pajamas and luckily it won’t be 97 degrees tomorrow like it’s supposed to be today. Fall, my ass.

And this…

We could feed the poor if we weren’t assholes.

OK. Sigh. Lab. Newton’s first law, inertia. Crashing cars into each other. Should be fun. Then pilates, then grading, then shit, I think I have to cook again (ugh this week sucks), and finally cutting things out. Maybe earlier because of the last two nights not successfully getting an hour. I will GET AN HOUR. Oh man, I hope so.