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!

A New Look for Spring

I suddenly was inspired last night to overhaul the colors and appearance of my blog. I had been wanting to make a header for a while and then the header didn't go with the background so I gave that a bit of freshening up too. My current color of choice is turquoise. I have this image stuck in my head of a black chandelier in a turquiose room and I'm not sure where I saw it...Lucky mag or Anthropologie probably. The chandelier I am thinking of is alot like this one.


In my mind I enjoy the strikingly modern turquiose and black contrasting the elegance and formality of the chandelier itself. The dramatic feeling of that image was my inspiration for the new spring cleaning of my blog.

I was very, very sleepy...AND NOW I'M ON SPEED!

Monday and Tuesday morning I almost feel asleep driving to school. And not just nodding off one time, I mean the entire 30 minute commute struggling to keep my eyes open. It was ridiculous, flying down the highway and falling asleep at 7:00 am. I tried cold, loud music, and my Spanish CD. Nothing helped. I dragged myself into school and started my long day of five classes of students who don't like to read directions.

Today, to remedy this frighteningly dangerous problem, I got 9 hours of sleep last night and my husband convinced me to have a cup of chai to help myself wake up and, MAN, did I not have to worry about falling asleep! I felt like the world was moving at slow motion all around me, like the squirrel in Over the Hedge or Hoodwinked. My mind was going faster than my car should go. My hands were tapping the steering wheel incessantly. My eyes were darting back and forth at the object flying past my window. I was running around my classroom getting ready, then down to 6th grade and back with materials. I was Superwoman! Except I don't think Superwoman laughs at how ridiculous this all is, she just is Speed.

And to make matters even better I had gummy worms in class so all the students were happy and I did not feel completely depleted by the end of the day and got a ton accomplished! It's not like I don't drink caffeine. I just don't drink it so early to kick start my day and I probably would have been fine with just one remedy, not both. But hey, being Superwoman is fun and everyone knows I take on Superwoman quantities of projects and tasks, so why not?

The Impending Ending

I can feel now that the end of my blissful vacation is near. My days of creative freedom are over. It is a paralyzing thought sometimes, but I am trying to make to best of it and keep the energy up. I have had so many ideas and felt so relaxed to pursue whatever I wanted this week. A nice feeling in the midst of winter and the school year.

Here are some photos from my trip to Rhode Island at the beginning of the week. Just random artistic views of the world.

Can you picture it?

This is A's chair, as of last night, dry fitted and propped up so you can get an idea of what it longs to be. It will have feet and a cushion seat.


I went to the local woodworking shop today and picked up a bunch of ends and scraps of nice wood for very little money. I am so excited to play around with some ideas I have. I have to go get it from the car now...through the wet falling snow.

abandon project

This is not my typical mode of art, but is fits this week's Inspire Me Thursday prompt. This is a dress I started making 2 1/2 years ago. It was cut out in pieces as of last week and now is much further along, but still not complete. I have decided to make it more funky so I bought ivory cotton lace (old fashioned type) and ivory satin ribbon for the hem and the neck line, respectively.

Winter: In Progress

This is a painting I started a couple weeks ago. It has a ways to go still...more mixed media and finish the cars and trees. It represents me staring out my window (it is the view from my desk in our home office) and dreaming of escaping the winter grey and sometimes feeling delusional and seeing things that I am actually imagining. Yes, there is a map in the sky.

So I have decided to deviate from my original idea that this blog would be solely about education...it is going to be both because I don't need to try to keep up two blogs for the two sides of myself.

SIGH, I love vacation...now off to continue working on A's chair. I am actually making progress and will post pics of it later.