I Could Be Reading…

So state testing has started. Some years, it’s easy, the kids are into it, it’s chill. Some years, it’s not. This year? Not. Fun times. Today will be worse…it’s the performance task. Some kids will just skate through it. Some will pretend and then hit submit after writing one sentence. Some kids will just repeatedly lose their minds that they’re being asked to test at all, to sit still, to be quiet, not disrupt those around them, not bang on the table or pile up all their snacks and drinks (that did really happen yesterday. All of it.). So by the time 12:15 comes around, all my patience for the day (and possibly three or four days afterwards) is gone. Not great, because we’re testing again today. And I still have to teach for days until the end of the year. One kid was already like, why do I still have to do work? Because they know they’re promoting (probably) or not and they think we’re done. We have 29 days left, dude. Don’t stop now. Sigh. My stress levels are high…my face is breaking out…my blood sugar is a mess. And today is my 500th pilates class! Not sure it matters. It’s not like I’m stopping now.

OK, artwise, I’m in a weird place. I did finish the book piece. I managed to construct it properly…

The first two pages are shoved into that envelope of the last two pages. There’s certainly a few things I would have done differently, but it’s done now.

I need official photographs so I can enter the show, but I’ll do those when I’m home in daylight.

Eventually, I’ll have my photographer take photos, but I don’t have time for the thing it’s being entered into, which has a tight deadline. If it gets in, it’ll be in the downtown library for 5 months. I’ll let you know.

So what next? Well, I don’t have my head around the next big quilt, although I know there will be one over the summer. I was thinking of doing something smaller just to keep me mentally going through the last weeks of the school year. I haven’t figured out what that is yet, though, because I’m trying to finish my friend’s mom’s quilt. I was diligently working on it in January and February and then a random deadline popped up and I got sidetracked. I mean, I did purposely put this one away to finish the other thing. So I’m finishing this…I’m almost done anyway. Well, for some definition of ‘almost’.

Her mom made the quilt and sandwiched it, but unfortunately was unable to quilt it before she died. So it’s here and I’m quilting it. I’m in the outer border at the moment, with the rest done. I think. Honestly can’t remember if I finished the center panel. I think I did.

I did. So I finished outlining the symbols in the blue border and will overall quilt that starting tonight. Then I need to outline the reddish brown and black borders. Some things have happened to this quilt over a long time (fabric replaced, not by me, possibly already partially quilted? I just don’t know). And then I’ll put the binding on. And hand it over. And then, like I keep saying, not offer to help ever again (which is really not in my nature…sometimes I say no and then go back and say yes; please don’t take advantage of that). So when I’m done with this, I’ll start something new. Or maybe in between. We’ll see.

Clay is going. I made most of a priest and 3 handmaidens on Monday…

I was thinking when I went in next, I could start underglazing, but no. I still need to give him a cross and a head. Most definitely a cross. Head? Hmmm.

We watched the first episode of Season 6 of The Handmaid’s Tale last night…made us both cry. Good times. So Friday, I’ll go in and try to make a head. And a cross. And THEN I can start underglazing.

The bees left yesterday. I figured they would. I came home and washed the composter lid and side, then sprayed it with citronella, hoping it will cut the bee pheromones. They keep coming back. Not sure what to do about that. I have a bee-friendly yard…maybe a bit TOO friendly. And no, I haven’t fixed the damn sprinklers. I think I need two solenoids now. I don’t know. Maybe I need a new controller.

I had two cats on my lap in rapid succession last night. Luckily the chonk here didn’t stay long.

He’s a year old now and solid. Sometimes sweet, sometimes not. Like all calicos. I have a hole in my right hand from his morning whack. He’s harassing the old lady, who basically needs to be carried into the litter tray and food multiple times a day. She can get there, but he attacks.

OK. Testing. Afternoon is science planning. I’ve managed to grade quite a bit so far, so that’s good. I had to get a loaner computer Monday after school because my screen just went black when I was at lunch. Fun times. So Monday was stressful. I guess the good news is the eye with the vitreous humor detachment is fine (as fine as anything with a big blob rolling around in it is), but she thinks the other one will detach too. Except the right one has always been worse, more nearsighted, with an astigmatism. The left isn’t as bad. So let’s hope it doesn’t. She does think the blog will wander south with time and only show up when I first get up in the morning. Sounds good. Somehow I found the energy to go to ceramics after all the running to the IT department (not at school) and getting a new computer. After school, I have a telehealth appointment with my doctor where she will tell me I need to get my numbers down and I will ask her how to do that and she won’t have an answer. So there’s that. Then my 500th pilates class and book club. And someone else is cooking dinner. I’m already exhausted because I didn’t sleep well, so I’ll be quilting after that and going to bed. Oh! Also trying to finish my book before the library sucks it back from me. I went to the gym last night to help me finish it, but I’m at 86%, less than 100 pages. I’m up early to go to the meeting my principal just canceled. I could be reading. I should be reading.

My Oomph

Morning morning. Definitely Friday. No sleeping in this weekend. Ugh. I just never get to sleep enough. My fault most of the time. Last night, I stitched early, so I graded until 10:45 PM. Bad plan. Then the brain is ON. It’s fine…it gave up the ghost quickly, but man. Don’t do that again.

I got the fourth page ironed down on Wednesday night…

So there’s all four…

Now they need stitchdown and then quilting and then assembly. Not sure what that last step looks like. I stitched down one last night. I’m hoping to do the rest tonight. We’ll see. Then sandwich and start quilting tomorrow. I’ve got meetings I need to go to and I’d like to hike. But there’s yardwork too. Need to fix that solenoid! And weed whack. Fun times.

Plus there’s a shit ton of grading again. Although state testing starts next week and I can do some of it then. Meanwhile, it’s May now and all of my calendars are still on April. Fix that.

By the way, here’s the uncropped photo…

I needed a flat light-colored place that was low enough for me to get the camera semi-straight. I have at least 5 photos that I tried to do on the ironing board. Mistake. Bowie is happily watching.

Yesterday was principal’s day. We had shirts made with our principal dressed as Elvis (it’s a thing he does) and we all had Elvis glasses.

Some had sideburns. He was pleased. This time of year is a shitshow for everyone, so I’m glad he got some oomph to get him through the rest of the year.

My oomph is coming from exercise and books and art. There’s a few kids who just need to figure out their stuff, maybe realize they’re going to high school in August. There’s a lot of stress bumping around about promotion and those who might not promote, plus all the end-of-year stuff. I’m missing a half day on Monday for an eye-doctor appointment and I’m not even gonna tell the kids…they’re worse when they know. I totally changed what I’m teaching next week…couldn’t get enough understanding into them to get to the next point. Next year. We’ll fix it for next year. It took us 7 years to get 7th grade curriculum set up. This is only year 3 and I didn’t have help for 2 of those. It’ll be fine. Today, we’re doing a natural selection simulation that’s pretty good (until the bunnies take over the world). Next week, we’ll finish the unit and start state test review for science. That’s a big ugh for me and them, but it needs to be done. Meanwhile, I’m hoping all the adults involved figure out how to help and stop hindering. I have a meeting after school for a kid who will probably not promote because parents waited until MAY to figure out what was going on. Fun times. Then ceramics and fabric and I probably have to make dinner…I think. Although the Man is now eating fairly normal food…but his official dental appointment to release him from soft food is next Wednesday. From what I’ve seen, he’s already released himself? Who knows. And then, into the weekend…which seems to be getting shorter and shorter the closer we get to summer break.

Hopefully on Time…

OK. I lost a week in my head. I seriously thought I needed to be done with these banned book pieces by next week, but I have a whole ‘nother week. Whew. Although it’s still a rush, it’s not an insane, probably can’t do anything else rush. The Man’s show isn’t until next week. I have a weekend coming up with two back-to-back meetings (difficult, but OK), but the rest is pretty clear. I got two more pages ironed (basically I’m getting through one a night). Here’s page 2…

The embroidery did really well with the dark background…it hides the tails even better than I’d hoped. Here’s page 3…

There’s one more…it’s got some complicated hair in it, but I’m hoping to start a little earlier tonight.

Last night, I worked on the sculpture…I had to fix some things again…the damn fingers on the left hand keep breaking off…

But I’ve started to build a head…not sure if it’s too big though. Hard to do it this way, for sure. I also added a bomb and an atomic explosion…

I think that arm might be officially done. The other arm needs some stuff though.

I think I’ll be cutting into this for the mouth. It is a removable head, so I can work on it separately from the torso. The torso really needs to get fired, but I need to underglaze it first…and I obviously haven’t even started. And the base needs to do something. Besides take up most of my shelf at the moment. Hard to get my head around the 3D stuff, but that’s good for me. My brain needs the artistic workout.

Oh hey, I got into another show, Sebastopol Center for the Arts’ International Fiber Arts XII exhibition. War Zone will be traveling there in June. The show opens June 21 and runs through August 3. I’m debating going up for the opening. We’ll see. It is summer break by then.

It’s not a huge piece, for once.

This is too true.

OK, school today is still chaos. We had a lockdown that fucked up classes last week for a shooting in the neighborhood, then a sex trafficking assembly that fucked up classes Monday and a little bit yesterday, and I’m still trying to get everyone on the same page for instruction. Hopefully by Friday, at the rate I’m going. I’m about 15 minutes off at the moment. Interestingly, the classes that have had the most time are the furthest behind and those with the least are the furthest ahead. The best-laid plans…are not laid at all. Then the human sexual health curriculum parent meeting is after school…no one showed up last year, but you never know. I have fewer kids opting out this year than ever, so either parents aren’t paying attention or they’re more accepting? That seems unlikely. But whatever. After that, I’m coming home and cooking dinner and making art…and maybe replacing the solenoid so the sprinklers can run. I’m so tired when I get home that I don’t want to start in case I fuck something up. Sigh. It’s fine. I’ll do it. And then iron things so I can do stitchdown tomorrow. Getting there. Hopefully on time.

Will They Want Mine…

It’s kind of amazing how much I think and dream and talk about sleep when you consider how bad I am at it. 1 AM, 2 AM, and 4:44 AM. All good. 4:44 was something scrabbling on the roof though…so that was a dog response and that woke me up. Not sure what the others were but I don’t appreciate them; don’t appreciate starting the work week on low energy. Not that I slept much this weekend either. It was a busy weekend; I need another day to just relax. And finish my book club book. Ha! That’s gonna be a miracle if it happens. Miracles do happen though.

So Friday, I went and spent over an hour putting shit back together that slipped/broke/fell on Tuesday when I was putting it back on the shelf. I felt some things go but I needed to get out of there.

I added another burnt out building and part of the head. Not sure what’s gonna happen with that. Just know that the head can’t bump into stuff on the shoulders, so I’m trying to figure out what that looks like. The base came out of the kiln. There’s a crack in the bottom that will be hidden. I’m trying to decide what to do next. The gray is stronger than I thought it would be…so I might do another layer? And oxide it? That’s not a verb.

Need to think about it.

I managed to cut out all the page pieces…with a little doggie help.

It didn’t take long to finish the last two pages.

There were a lot of things I should have done over the weekend. I did pick up a quilt from the photographer. Haven’t dealt with that yet. Plus went to one of two meetings I was supposed to go to (too late for the second one), but it was also SD Book Crawl, so Saturday afternoon, I went to four bookstores and Sunday, I went to one. Here’s the baby haul…

I say baby haul because my coteacher did this as well, but made it to all 14 stores and has a real haul. I tried to pick books I hadn’t heard of, although the bottom one is the second in the 3-body problem series and I have read the first. It was fun, but it does take a chunk of time to drive around and park and wait in lines. I thought it was well-managed though. I’d do it again…that said, it’s always this 4th weekend in April, when I have two other meetings. Ah well.

Last night, I ironed the cover page together…

And then ironed it onto a background.

Seems relevant. They did say politics was OK, but IDK if they’ll want mine. We’ll see. I’ll turn it into a comic strip if it doesn’t get into the show. Like four panels in a row. In my spare time. Yeah. Right now, I’m kind of at a push to get this done. Wish me luck. Maybe I’ll blow off grading for a week and a half.

I’m hoping to get a page done a night, maybe more. This one took an hour. The others are more complicated. Although the next one has fewer pieces, so maybe it’s not more complicated. Hard to say. Then stitchdown Thursday, all of it, sandwich and quilt Friday…oh wait, the Man has a show Friday night. Fuck. Um. So Saturday/Sunday? Yikes. Deadline looms. I got this. Here’s the ex’s dog, complicating the couch…

Today though…today, I teach three classes…they’re finishing one thing and starting another. Hopefully. Then the other two classes are a mini-assembly about sex trafficking. Fun times. Then two staff meetings. More fun. Come home, finish reading book club book. Yup. Then iron. Maybe sleep. Big maybe on that one. The last 7 weeks of school are always a challenge. Nothing new this year.

Wicker Flamingos

It’s Friday. What a delightful sentence. Although this week is kind of a crazy mess…all life related, not school related. I finished progress report grades last night, way earlier than normal. Kids are still trying to turn in late work, and that’s fine, I’ll grade it, but not for the progress report. I’m actually, as of this very second, CAUGHT UP WITH GRADES. Shhh. It’s OK, as of the moment I start teaching, there are things being turned in that I need to grade. So much drama with school at the moment though. Yesterday was a lockdown because of a shooting in the neighborhood…glad we weren’t at the high school. I think they were locked down for more than four hours. And it was my prep period, amusingly enough. So I didn’t have kids. I think that’s the second time that’s happened. I’m OK with it. The shooting…not OK with that. Someone did die and that’s sad. Sigh. AND now two of our classes didn’t get full periods yesterday, so they’re off on time, and on Monday, we have a sex trafficking assembly (fun times) and two OTHER classes will lose an entire period, so scheduling shit at the moment is a clusterfuck. Anyway. School is always on the crazy side…and the last half of the last trimester is even more so.

I’ve been ironing stuff down still…finished page 4…

I just had all the hair versions to do. Then I started ironing down page 3.

I didn’t get very far. Last night was my stitching Zoom, so I cut out page 1 (aka the cover).

So many tiny pieces. The new Wonder Under doesn’t stick enough, releases too easily. So when I’m cutting out a complicated shape, it just releases. Annoying.

Then I went back to ironing page 3 to fabric.

I almost finished…just need to do the pile of books in her arm. Then I’ll keep cutting stuff out tonight, tomorrow night, and Sunday, and then hopefully be ironing it all together by Monday. That’s the plan. The deadline on this is tight. I’m running out of time. It’s a good thing grades are done. Here’s all the fabrics used so far…

I don’t think I actually added any last night…no wait, I added a black. And a red? Maybe? Oh yeah, the red hair. Otherwise, I’m just reusing fabrics I’ve already used…makes it all look like it goes together when you repeat fabrics you’ve used elsewhere.

This is also this weekend.

I’ll be lucky to get to a few of the bookstores. It’s a busy weekend. Do I need more books? Of course I do. I just don’t have anywhere to put them and I haven’t actually finished any of the ones I have already. Minor issue.

Some political notes…

Of course, it’s very 1st world to just be worried about my 401k (and I’m really not only worried about it…quite honestly, there’s much more worrisome stuff out there). Although this is good news…

And good reason to get rid of Thomas and Alito. Because they are both idiots.

And this…seriously, so much.

Not just a president…all of the crazy lackeys who don’t know how to do their jobs, how to be safe and secure, how NOT to ally with Russia ffs, how not to alienate an entire group of intelligent and competent people who run a shit ton of the tech in this world and definitely hold jobs and pay taxes. Also I found out last night that I can’t eat fast food burgers anymore (well, I don’t eat a lot of those anyway) unless I go only to one that I can’t remember the name of (dammit). You know, I’ve stopped spending money at a bunch of places due to their political leanings and contributions, and it’s saving me money, but also, one of them emailed and threatened to shut down my store card and I’m like, um, this is how you’re going to deal with consumer dislike of your policies? Go ahead. Shut down my card. If I wanted another one, you’d give it to me. So wah to you. Really. I replaced you with a store that has hundreds of wicker flamingos (no joke, I was so tempted). But I don’t NEED wicker flamingos. Or do I?

Anyway. School today. Try to get everyone on the same (similar?) page. Start teaching GMOs. Evil? Or no? Tough one. Then ceramics to fix the thing that broke off on Tuesday and hopefully to build more. Then tomorrow is a bunch of chaos, but hopefully some is fun, and repeat on Sunday. I really need more sleep too and I don’t think that is happening any time soon. And I need to schedule a measles booster and an MRI of the boobage. Fun times, fun times. Art is gonna happen today. That’s the focus.

A Bag of Rocks.

Well hey. I’ve taught two whole days and already feel like a semi truck has driven through me. I’ve got new shoes arriving Saturday. Kept thinking I would have the time (and mental space) to drive up to the shoe place and just buy them, but you know what? I didn’t. Let’s talk about my reality of time…there’s never enough. That’s it really.

So I got my titers tested for the measles vaccine, because I’m in the timeframe of ‘possibly not protected’, and sure enough, I’m probably not. We’ll see if that turns into needing a new vaccine. I’ll wait until school is out to do it, just because these days, about half of the vaccines cause me issues. Don’t need to deal with that during school, for sure.

In clay news, I finally (FINALLY!!!) got the base in the bisque kiln. It was a logistical thing, lifting her down in there. Certainly makes me wonder about the next layer, how it will sit in there. How the fuck I’ll get it IN there.

They’re just incredibly fragile at the greenware stage. As I realized AGAIN last night. I did more work on the upper torso…had to reattach the hand again because I think someone bumped it.

She doesn’t fit on my shelf, so she’s on the shared shelves, and covered, so people can’t see what they’re bumping. So I reattached the hand, but some stuff was slipping too…so I tried to fix everything I could, and then broke the damn coathanger for the 17th time, plus the two classes that come in Tuesday night were showing up, so I needed to get out of the way. I put some burnt out buildings on the left arm. Then went to move it to the shelf, and I don’t think I bumped anything, but I felt the guy with the gun fall off. Fuck me. I didn’t have time (or the mental space) to reattach at that point, so I’ll try to go in tomorrow and do that. This part is also at that incredibly fragile stage. Everything just breaks so easily. This is clay though. This is what it does. I did also start a neck…you can see it there. The plan is to have that piece harden slightly in place…the torso is hardened (mostly), so it’s done some of the shrinking it’s supposed to, but if I start the head there and let that piece harden up a bit, and then make it a support, I can build the head separately once this part is done. I think. I’m a little concerned about how the piece is going to balance. The bottom is super light because it’s empty. I might need to put a bag of rocks in it. Seriously. Problems for summer, I think. This piece is taking forever.

In quilt news, I finished ironing down page 2 (or page 1, depending on whether the cover is page 1 or not numbered).

I trimmed and ironed the first of the embroidery pieces. I tried to be super neat with the stitching, using very few carryovers, trimming all the knots, but there’s still stitching showing through. I’m OK with that. Really, I’d have to be because I don’t have time to start over. Black thread on white fabric was always going to be problematic.

Last night, I got a goodly chunk of page 4 done. Why did I skip page 3? Because I forgot to number that page consecutively, so it’s in a separate box, and half of page 4 was already laid out because when I realized I fucked up with page 3, I started page 4 from page 2. Got it? Hope so. Well, really, doesn’t matter if you do, because I do. As I’m ironing, I’m separating each page into its own box anyway at this point. It’s just easier.

I ironed everything except the hair, which is complicated as all hell. I’ll do that tonight and start page 3. Hopefully, I’ll finish ironing down tomorrow night and start trimming, which won’t take long. I’m hoping to be ironing this together over the weekend…although that’s busy too. AND grades are due. Fun times. I shouldn’t have to do progress report or report card grades over the weekend…and I always end up doing it…which sucks.

If I were teaching 7th-grade science next year, I’d totally use this in class…

I mean, the boys always ask if they can eat things in class (chemistry), and I always pick up the phone and say “Hang on, let me dial 911” and then give them a scary smile.

OK, today the kids are doing a mostly independent assignment. I can’t direct teach another day; my voice won’t handle it. I’m trying to plan out the rest of the unit, but people keep adding things, and there’s literally no time left. We have like next week. And then we go into state testing, which means shortened days, shortened classes, tired and cranky kids (well that’s nothing new). And then sex ed. And then they graduate and get out of here and we start over with the next group. At least we know we’re doing 8th grade; my brain is already planning next year, trying to find 5 weeks to teach the shit we missed. Ha! We’ll be meeting over the summer for sure. I really have no plans for the summer, pros and cons. I might do a self-created residency. Maybe. We’ll see. Money might be an issue. It often is. OK. School. Mutations. Looking forward to kids’ reports on that.

Ready or Not

Well there’s nothing like the shitty Sunday sleep that comes after two weeks off of work. I’ve got a few thousand things to do rattling around in my head for today, and sleep was not my friend last night. I mean, sleep is never really my friend, but sometimes it comes along for the ride. There are 41 days of school left. It feels doable until you consider the details. Grades are due next Tuesday. I was really good and didn’t grade until last Friday. I didn’t finish, but that’s OK. This is a progress report so I don’t have to be done. The texts are rolling in about how we have new projectors, but they’re not set up and our rooms are messed up. Fun times. School starts in less than 90 minutes and now we have to set up beforehand. Ah well. I’m not rushing to get there. I’m boggled the district doesn’t send an email out about having to set shit back up and how. I know they assume we all come in over break, but I stayed away and it was a good thing. I needed a serious reset.

I forgot to post on Friday…it was a busy day. I had to pick up art in the morning, long drive, then doctor appointment, then I graded all afternoon and did some yardwork, then we went to see Regency Girls at the Old Globe.

It was fun, a good women’s-rights-friendly musical. So no art happened on Friday though. Saturday, I made it to ceramics. I was supposed to load the base of this piece into the kiln, but it was too warm. I’m going back tomorrow. I did add some bullets and money to the upper torso…

I had to fix the flag and some fingers first.

Sculpting is definitely a skill that needs developing.

This thing is a little crazy at the moment.

I also worked on the new quilt, after delivering the last one to the photographer and picking up the one before it. This is Portrait of One Self.

She’s big. She took four months to finish. Crazy really. Thought I’d hit a deadline; didn’t even come close. Ah well.

Started ironing with the Statue of Liberty…

Second Statue of Liberty in one of my pieces.

Yesterday, I washed all the embroideries, then realized I’d missed a bit. I’ll fix that tonight hopefully. Then I started ironing page 2…or is it page 1? Because the statue is the cover page.

Easier for me to think of it as four pages. I didn’t finish. This one is more complicated. So hopefully by the end of the week, all the page pieces will be ironed to fabric and I can start trimming. There’s a super tight deadline on these guys.

This is a thing.

Real people helping real people. Seriously, if you think she’s a caricature, you should listen to Dolly Parton’s America, the podcast. She’s not who you think she is. And she’s better than those dingbats who went to space.

Simba agrees.

Wishful viewing of the bunnies in the front yard.

OK. School. Apparently need to put my room back together before kids get there. Nothing is set up, I think. Or did I do it before I left? I don’t think I did, because they were gonna do our floors. Deep breath. It’s fine. Today’s teaching is easy. Then a 2-hour staff meeting (ugh). Then errands, dinner, art. The Man is having dental surgery today and is on liquids and soft food for about a week…so my dinners are my own problem. Pros and cons to that. I’m expecting some exhaustion this week. Going back to school always does that, more so as I get older. But also, I’m reading two books, making some art, dealing with yard stuff. Nothing new. Grades. Damn. Grades already. OK. Well, that’s happening whether I’m ready for it or not.

Set Them…

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

I ironed on Friday night…

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

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

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

Then I started stitchdown…

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

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

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

The back is not as exciting.

This is the second level in progress…

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

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

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

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

I’m with you, spoon. Got your back.

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

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

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

First Figure Done

I was sure yesterday was Friday. Also Wednesday was Friday. Today is Friday. There are 6 school days until Spring Break. My house has reached that state where everything needs cleaning and reorganizing and pitching and I need a new bookcase. Don’t tell my kid…he’ll tell me to get rid of books, which is harder than getting a new bookcase. He’s probably right, but…all is not right with the world if there are no books.

All is not right with the world anyway, but that’s another story. Teaching stuff is going OK, because it’s Punnett squares and they’re not super hard and they’re kinda fun. I finally finished grading all the packets from the last unit and almost finished the last academic assignment, so work is only feeling slightly overwhelming (oh, give it time…I’m sure it’ll ramp back up) instead of overwhelmingly overwhelming. And I’ve made progress on the quilt! That has to be done in like three weeks and I’m gone one of those. Uh huh.

Tomorrow is ironing and taxes. Probably not in that order. The good ironing…not that crazy shit where you make your clothes look nice. Fuck that.

This kind of ironing…

Above was Wednesday night…below is last night…

I finished the first figure and made it through the first 200 pieces. 460 to go. Hoping to do about 100 tonight on the second figure, then finish tomorrow. Knock on wood. Taxes are gonna take a solid chunk of time. Unfortunately. I wish I could be more organized during the year so this wouldn’t be such a pain in the ass, but I’m not. I guess I choose to sacrifice four hours on a Saturday rather than bits and pieces all year. Not entirely logical.

I needed this last year around this time…

I still do.

OK, ceramics after school today too. I do need to set up for Monday, which has me filling a bunch of paper bags with pink and blue slips of paper. Like you do. I’m still doing some direct instruction on Punnett squares today, and then they have to finish digital things that help them understand, but some of them are total assholes about. So many will watch a video and refuse to put headphones on to hear the content, and then get an absolutely shitty grade on the assignment…yelling out “Is it academic?”…like why would you watching a video that has the answers in it and then giving me those answers be academic? I have officially reached the irritable stage of teaching. It’s fine. And I will hopefully get a chunk of the academic stuff graded next week. Hopefully. I’m not taking the rest with me. It’s tempting, because I like to get it over with. I’m more likely to do work at the beginning of break than at the end. Ah well. Whatever. Seriously whatever. I think I have to cook tonight too. Ugh. It’s fine. It’ll be fine. I’ll listen to my book. Or watch ceramics videos. Both are fine.

March. It’s almost over. Weird. Super fast for one of the longest months.

Fly By…

Some weeks just fly by and you realize you didn’t get anything done. Some flow sticky like molasses, and guess what, you still realize you didn’t get anything done. This was a fast week, but I’m trying to get real progress on this quilt and I feel like I’m behind. I wanted to finish ironing to fabric over the weekend, and I didn’t get there until last night (4 nights beyond the prediction). That said, I know why…it’s got a lot of complicated details that take longer to pick fabrics for…I have to think harder about a smaller set of fabrics than normal.

Wednesday night’s ironing…

So close, yet not there yet. I got most of the 500s done. The 600s were fast…that was last night.

There’s not actually a lot of color variety in this piece compared to some. This doesn’t really show what it will look like though. It might have a lot of the colors on the right and just a few of each of the others. Here’s just the fabrics, which I will count eventually because it’s one of the weird things I keep track of…

I do like to put them in order colorwise. And then here’s the box I’ll start cutting out tonight…

It took 12 1/2 hours to pick fabrics for about 700 pieces. That’s a lot. I don’t know how long they will take to cut out, but usually less than an hour per 100 pieces. So 7 hours…early next week, if I can pull it off. Then start ironing together. That’ll take a while. I want a solid chunk of this done before I go on Spring Break. I’ve got some tight deadlines coming up. Trying to stay on task. Ha! Day job plus being minorly ill is not helping. Field trip today to the Midway Museum (big aircraft carrier). Lots of walking and stairs. My knees are thrilled.

I haven’t been buying stuff lately…probably a good thing.

I owe kids food though and I keep flailing on buying more. The Ramadan kids don’t want food, which complicates things. I’ve got a reward thing I ordered over a week ago, but it’s not Amazon, because I’m trying to stay off Amazon, and it’s taking forever to get here. Need to find another option locally. Harder to do.

This is absolutely me…

Yesterday, I was putting stuff in the composter and heard a bird song I’d never heard before; turns out it’s a bird that is considered rare in my area, according to the Merlin app. Intriguing.

Kitten is still here. Scrawny and squawky, has to be carried to the food bowl and litter tray.

Still happy to be around though. And I’m happy to have her.

Simba got stuck with me last night instead of his preferred bed partner, the boychild.

I had my meditation wind down running and I forgot that this one has yipping foxes in it and he lost his mind. Then there was something on the roof (probably raccoon) and he lost his mind for that. There was something else at 5:30 this morning. I did not sleep well. He looks traumatized.

OK. Today is gonna be different, interesting, possibly painful. Behaviors at school are nuts at the moment. Plus the field trip, then coming back and having two periods of kids to deal with. I’m hoping to put on a movie and grade through it while they behave appropriately. We’ll see how that goes. Then I’m hoping to have the energy to go to ceramics and maybe finish underglazing that beast. The Man is trying to get me to do a long early hike tomorrow and I’m thinking I don’t have that in me, but we’ll see. This low-level cold thing is not great. I feel like rest is kind of important. Anyway, it’s all up in the air for now…