Post for Misty

I wrote a comment in response to a post by Misty and I wanted to share it because it is a lot of what I have been thinking about lately and kind of sums up my day:

I wonder similar things often about children. I teach 8th grade science and my students can irritate me with their irrational behaviors and brighten my whole entire grey day with their jokes and antics. I love them in the end and with 110 of them they all balance each other out (at least this year). Their sense of time is fairly warped and the things they are so completely certain of I see as shifting sand or the ocean itself.

I printed out your post a few months ago with the picture of you and your son and the quote about children laughing more than adults. Ever since you posted that I have been thinking about it and noticing why my students laugh. I will sit at my desk just staring at them trying to figure out why they find each other so incredibly funny. Every little thing is unbelievably hysterical to them. They are 13/14 and they think the world is at their feet and they don't care one bit about the rest of the world. It is so hard as a teacher to get them to comprehend more than their world. And in turn this means that their problems and crisises completely drown them. That is hard to watch and even harder to save. But the joy they have is something to learn from. So why do adults who laugh have to be incorrect and insane? I don't know. All I know is that I have as much to learn from my students as they do from me.

Lost in Monday

I had to go back today. I had to sit at my desk working and wondering why on earth the students were coming down the hallway 2 minutes and 30 seconds before they were supposed to. But I did leave at 4:15 and sit in the sun for 1 1/2 hours reading and working on a project for a class I am taking...while drinking esselon herbal ice tea. Now I really need to sleep...it was painful to wake up this morning. I guess I only got 5 1/2 hours last night.

Anyway, while I like pondering my sleep patterns it is not that interesting. I had a fabulous vacation and I can't believe I didn't post more...but I actually got sucked into posting on everyone else's blogs. I found many more this week that I added to my feeds...so that now after 2 days of not checking I had 20 posts to read and distract me from my work. hehe

My mom came over tonight and we cellophane wrapped our May Baskets for Kari's swap. My first swap and it was so much fun. I got that done but didn't actually complete any of my other goals...besides a good martini. But I made headway and that was important and mostly fulfilling. I am trying to feel fulfilled even without perfecting every last detail and finishing everything. But I still have the scary last step of bring work to a gallery and seeing whether they actually want it. Well, I have other things to worry about first. Like this whole personalized education project I am working on. I post on a private blog with others involved but I think I will copy some of those posts over here soon because they are becoming more reflective of my work in the classroom. Which of course is something I have blocked out of my mind for the last week. Oh, but it will be over before I can fully process it!

Tears...Inspire Me Thursday

This is part of a larger project for the May Basket Swap, but I liked the connection to tears and thinking about tears as watering growth in our lives.

Updates!

I have neglected to post about the various art I have been working on. Now I can't quite remember all that I was going to post about but here is some at least.

This is quite old. These are the sweatshirts I embellished for "the girls" for Christmas. Now I have two that I am working on for myself.


I added more workspace to the office my husband and I share, with the help of my mom. It is very full right now but getting lots of use.


I also added magnetic boards to hold all things inspiring and put in a sparkly lamp from Ikea.


Then yesterday we added a wire line (mom had picked it up for us a while ago) across the work space to hang shirts on. There was nowhere else to store them as we work on them and who wants to buy a wrinkled shirt? This way they look cool and I can keep the different patterns and color combos separate. Say hello to the first b+j greene clothing line (no pun intended, but oh well).


Lastly, some of you are anticipating a book to alter coming to your door in the coming months. My goal is to get it shipped out by the end of the week, but here is what I have done so far. It is a work in progress.

One More Day

Just one more day...can I take it? I don't know, honestly. Migraines and dizziness have plagued me the last few days. My back hurts right now and my head is fuzzy. Time to sleep. But wait, I came on here to celebrate the coming of April vacation, not whine. Yay! A solid week of whatever I want to do. Goals? Get out the Women of the Opera collaborative altered book (I will post pics before I send it off to Pepita). Get shirts screened and put where they can be purchased. Get back to pursuing a mortgage, etc. Oh...and I should post about the rusty bike seat one of my students found. Good list...lots of fun things! Can't wait. I just have to answer 100 annoying questions and sit through watching the same video 5 times tomorrow. *sigh* ...but first...sleep!