What Day Is It?

I woke up in the early morning and panicked because I didn’t know what day it was. Would I have to be up soon? Could I roll over and not worry about it? What was I going to have to do today? It took me a couple of minutes to reconstruct yesterday, to realize today was Monday. I didn’t reach for my phone to check the day or the time. I let my brain get there, but then wondered WTF I must have been dreaming to wake up in such a time panic. Guess that’s where I’m at.

Grades are due today. Or tomorrow. Not sure. They keep changing shit. I finished grades Saturday afternoon, right when my boss sent an email saying there was no staff meeting today (Monday) so we could finish grades. Sigh. Thanks for that. Also, IT scheduled a bunch of maintenance for Saturday morning the weekend grades were due. I suspect they scheduled it ages ago and the principals didn’t tell them that they moved the grades to a totally stupid date. Honestly, there are times when I wonder how my frustration will allow me to get through the next three years of stupid decisions at my job (not to mention stupid decisions at the government level).

In other news, I finished the green head quilt. Named it. Named the other one, the pink one. Calculated time. They take notionally less time than my normal method…the pink one maybe not…maybe the same. The time I take on a quilt is compounded by the number of pieces normally. I guess the amount of embroidery on these. I embroidered around the bombs on Friday night…

I finished those on Saturday and added sequins, as promised.

I remembered last night that someone had suggested a bead as an earring on this one. I might add that tonight. It’s not going to the photographer until later this week. I love that I’m using my beads and sequins from crazy quilting days.

OK, to be honest, I bought more sequins last year to go to Quilt Con, for one of my classes, and then they didn’t come in time, but I already had a few sequins here and there from CQ days, but now I have a LOT and will have to use them all. Really. I already pulled four more dye paintings I want to work on next.

That said, I need to start the next big quilt, because I have limited time this summer for that. I’m not taking a sewing machine to the residency. Too big, too expensive for when we’re driving up. Too heavy. I had a drawing I copied back in January that I wanted to do as a lighter quilt after a few heavy ones. It was a drawing I did last August that I really liked. I’m not even sure why I was drawing that day…I could probably look back through the blog and figure it out. But it’s not political at all. It’s just nature. And a person. It was filling space. Oh, you know, it was probably a staff meeting. Or something like that. Anyway, I taped it together last night…

I had to make paper balls of the trashed bits I cut off to entertain Scribble to keep her off the drawing as I was trying to tape it. Then I added to the top and bottom, because this is a pretty idyllic drawing (although her head is on fire?) and the world is really NOT idyllic right now, so I can’t just exist in that space. I’m not sure how I’m going to express that in this drawing, but I am. Somehow. Without just being wishful.

So much for distracting the cat.

I went to an author event Friday night to listen to Martha Wells talk about Murderbot and other stuff.

This is the look she is giving the guy asking her all the questions. She was interesting to listen to. And inspiring, if only in the way that she made me think I could finish the book I started writing over 10 years ago. Plus listening to authors talk about their books and their thought processes is interested.

Shockingly, I stitched while waiting for her to show up. Bowie was not there.

I got the top of the acorn done.

Pretty good achievement, if you ask me.

Bowie is kind of cross eyed.

I always wonder if that explains some of his behavior. He’s a little whack.

I hiked 3.33 miles on Saturday. Not on purpose.

I mean, I meant to hike…just not that number. I was hiking behind someone, not by choice, pretty much keeping time with them. And I realized they were just gonna keep going the way I normally go and so I veered off on another path. There aren’t a lot of people on this trail usually and it was a guy, and I’m female, so I’m naturally always paranoid about that. Anyway, I turned around at about 1.5 miles, like I normally do, and was heading back, and there he was, heading back, must have turned back at exactly the same 1.5 miles. Ugh. So I didn’t follow him because now I was way too close (he must have gone into the bushes to pee), so I turned right and went up to where I normally stop, then turned around and was way behind him, although there were some places where my naturally paranoid brain thought, you know, someone could hide in there and jump out at you and you’d be totally unprepared for it, but here I was, preparing for it. Love that for me.

Yeah, this.

There’s been too many people lately.

Also this shit. So fucking frustrating.

We tried to make things better, a little bit, because shit’s not OK, and the people in charge are just dicks. Ignoring the voters, because you know, it’s not a democracy or anything.

And a lot of other arrested honestly. And war to stop and people to stop being illegally detained and that big old fat orange guy…needs to be gone.

It isn’t often that a Pisces meme/comic actually refers to me (I am an atypical Pisces), but this one felt appropriate.

That’s where I’m at. Also, here’s a bunch of owl videos…it’s definitely crowded in the box because mom’s been out.

I’m hoping I remember how to make them all public.

Lots of loud baby activity.

Last one…

OK, today. Giving a test on homologous structures based on the posters kids did last week in groups. Test is not a group thing though. It’ll be interesting. Then no staff meeting. I’m done with grades. I have to stay on campus for an hour, so I’ll try to figure out the next unit because I know my co-teacher is probably NOT done with grades. Then ceramics and I need gas (ah, Costco line) and to go to the other store and buy the yogurt and milk my store was out of and then pick up the dog and eventually think about drawing on those big empty pieces of paper on the top and bottom of my drawing. Something about voting rights maybe and the Epstein files and birth control and all that crazy shit. Fun stuff.

Hope Is a Wonderful Thing

Ah September. You have held off on horrible days of heat…just a few here and there. I actually needed a blanket last night. Have I mentioned that the hot flashes have wandered off? Knock on wood. Don’t let them come back (I know they will). But as always, school is kicking my butt and making me feel like I have to pack in NON-school stuff to keep me sane. Oh yeah, that’s why I make as much art as I do…otherwise, I’d go bonkers in this job. Yesterday was a slog…getting most of the kids to understand what I was talking about (this pilot curriculum sucks balls, to quote my co-teacher)…but also realizing that about 30% of them were totally and completely tuned out. Sigh. SIGH. Direct instruction. And the teacher who sent a kid down in the middle of that and wanted me to find papers? WTF? Like call first. Seriously. No. NO. I have a student who yells no all the time and I can totally bond with her over that. It might get her to stop too, because I think having something in common with me is her biggest fear. I don’t blame her.

Today they write me 7 whole sentences showing me they understand the standard. On the one hand, I’m kind of looking forward to finally seeing how they write. On the other hand. FUCK. It’s gonna hurt my brain. And depress me.

It’s OK. Sunny smile! I can’t grade them until after next Thursday. That’s the due date. I have a week!

But seriously, I’m so behind and confuzzled and overwhelmed and please don’t ask me to do anything else, but I have two meetings at the same time this morning and I don’t know how that is gonna work. At all. And a 2-hour meeting after school about this pilot curriculum. Really, I’d rather be throwing the Navy UFnotO videos up and having the kids write about that. Totally. Fuck the curriculum. Let’s talk about aliens!

I did go to book club, which was totally fun and interesting. We all loved the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, 4 novellas, and she’s coming out with a full novel in May next year (yay!). It was a good mental release to go hang out with a bunch of smart women and talk about the world and how to escape and books and movies. I really appreciate that group, even though the trek out to Point Loma is so freakin’ far.

I managed to cut stuff out for about 30 minutes before I went to bed.

I have about a yard and a half yet. I’m hoping I have the energy to finish tonight. Hope is a wonderful thing. It’s not hard. I was just really really tired.

Calli was making a really funny face, but stopped as soon as I took her picture.

Of course.

OK, off to the two overlapping meetings. We’ll see how that goes. Yesterday someone sent me a donut and I ate it. It was not a good day for food, that’s for sure, but my blood sugar has stayed OK. Mostly because no more hot flashes, eh? I wish my medical coverage thought sending a diabetic to an endocrinologist who actually knew what they were talking about was a good thing. Or even had a diabetes education program that was useful. They won’t answer email. I have to go SEE them. What kind of old-school world are they living in? Not mine. I need to be able to Skype them in the car on the way to the chiropractor. Anyway. Art tonight! I must!

Quilting Will Be Nice…

Even my computer is moving slowly this morning. It’s thinking about perhaps opening that tab, but um maybe um maybe OK there it is. Whoa. Much like my 2nd period will be today probably. Which should be fun, because I’m gonna make them think again. I made them build stuff yesterday, which was mostly OK, with a few notes, like don’t buy really wimpy spaghetti noodles, because it makes it REALLY hard (although still doable, so there’s that)…

And also you will have those three boys who just can’t sit still and you will already be telling them forcefully on the second day of school what having their parents sitting next to them will feel like. Sigh. Today I will sit with those boys and try to work on the supportive relationship that will make or break labs with them for the rest of the year. This group is ready to roll and we’re gonna have to roll with them in some way, shape, or form. I think today is rolly-chair day. I’m really gonna roll! My favorite. Also I need to get the nurse’s office to stop calling and wanting to have long convos during class. Short and sweet, y’all. I don’t got time for all your words! Oh yeah, and the two kids who will miss my class for 20 minutes every day? Um. OK. Not sure what to do about those.

Moving on. I came home and went to the gym like a good adult woman in charge of her strong body and the mind that wanted to read a good book. (It was a good book…the first of the Murderbot series by Martha Wells. Now I gotta get the other three…) While at the gym, I think I had 3 different school-related conversations going on. Until I was reading, and then I ignored all of them.

I didn’t have to cook last night, which was nice. This week has been a lot of people not around at home or my changing schedules, so I’ve kind of been eating the same thing for days, it feels like. I worked a little bit on this…

which is So Close to being done! After that, I quilted for a little while. I didn’t get a ton done, but I got some…

Most of the land parts and the legs…

Just those mountains left, then the torso, arms, head, and sky. That’s tonight. Hopefully. And the background. So I can buy binding tomorrow and get this puppy done. I have No Freakin’ Clue what I’m working on next. I know I said that before. I’m saying it again. Oh yeah, I need to put a Patreon video up this weekend too, but I’ve gotten pretty good at editing them now, so it’s really only figuring out which of the 15 videos I recorded to use. The Man is playing in two shows this weekend, one of which I can’t go to anyway and the other one, eh, I’m good, I have a lot to do…but it means I’ll barely see him this weekend. I guess I will get a lot of work done, including some copyediting and maybe even schoolwork, although I’m kind of putting the quilting first so I can get it to the photographer early next week. It’s all good! I’m also debating teaching a class, just real short, introduce people to how I make stuff…I got asked to do it. I didn’t search it out. I have been going back and forth about whether to do it or not. It’s paid…but that’s not why. I wonder if it’s something I would want to do. That’s all. So I said yes. I think. Sheesh. I’m crazy. It’ll be FINE. Seriously. OK. This day. This weekend. Quilting will be nice.