Something To Crow About

If you haven't visited Something to Crow About, you must. There is a great weekly "project" taking shape there. That's what I'm working on right now. Each week, the group (I think there are over 70 now) receives a set of images that we can use in our collages, journal pages, ATC's, etc. What's great is to see how these images take shape in our own minds and how they land on the page. Mine isn't very good this week, but that's okay. I have been swamped with the whole idea of moving. If you haven't read my last post, you should and you'll get an idea of how freaked out I was earlier in the week! Goodness. Anyhow, the weekly images are such a great way for us to get thinking about creating something. Sharing ideas and inspiration and encouragement is what it's all about.

My journal page connects the images given to us along with my own. I found a photo of my grandma in a swimsuit--which wasn't hard since she had no issues with her body. She loved her body and was proud of it. I wish some of that had rubbed off on me! I also used an image of the Ford Fairlane that was from the front of my grandpa's stash of owner's manuals. He bought a new car every 2 years and kept a chunk of the manuals that I'm now copying and using for my collages. Then I found the image of Marilyn and it juxtaposed nicely with my grandma, who was playing with the strings of her swimsuit. I put all of it together with the images from the "project" and tada. Not the best in the world, but like I said....

Oh, and please stop by Collage Contessa. She, too, is awesome, and I love the work she's doing. She's the one who awarded me the BFF, so I need to give her a shout out!

Holy Moley Quacamole!

Holy moly guacamole! (the phrase that drives my students crazy, I must say!) Let me say, I hate moving. The last time I moved I SWORE it was THE last time, but then I fell in love and decided to get married (silly me), so here I am moving again. Good grief. My house sold on Monday--yeah!

In this market, I thought it would take months and months, maybe a year. It didn't. Good news. Yes! However, could it have come at a busier time? I mean I had June and July that was totally flexible. August means getting ready for school and with the change in schools this year, that means extra work. I had to move all my junk from one building to another, and I'm having to set up a new classroom and learn a new curriculum and get training, and write everything from scratch and read all the new books and stories, and whoa! Now, I have to move my house, too!

So, the new owners take possession of this house on Aug. 29; Jake leaves for college on the 20th, and I am on contract hours---no flex time in the daily schedule on the 18th. School actually starts on the 25th. Can you say NERVOUS BREAKDOWN?

At this moment, I should be doing something else. But, I'm blogging to get away, to channel the anxiety of having Rubbermaid containers in my living room, stacks of things pulled from the shelves and scattered on the floor and every flat surface in my house. I'm trying to decide what I'll be taking with me to Eric's house, which is already fully furnished, but I NEED some of my own things there to make it feel like home; what do I put in the storage unit, knowing full well it could be broken in to (not likely, but it's possible, isn't it?) and what about vermin? Don't wild creatures find their way into storage units? Thank heaven my mom lives close. I'm taking all my photos, yearbooks, my childhood toys and baby "stuff" along with Jake's baby clothes and collectibles, etc. to her house where she has a nice carpeted basement with a corner (very large corner!) I can stack these containers into.

Okay. I feel better. Getting all that out was cathartic! So, needless to say, the next few weeks will be hellish for me. My nice, neat, organized world is no more (I have to have organization outside because as you can see what rattles around IN my head is whacko--outside organization means I can function with the chaos internally :) Art will be scheduled in. Eric, bless his heart, has made it a priority for me to have space at his house for my art work. He has a back porch that's three times larger than mine. It's a bit hot here in Missouri right now, but with a fan and a few open windows I'll make do--for Eric, I can make do.

All this being said, we'll put his house on the market in April and likely find ourselves in this situation at this same time next year--moving two households into our newly chosen home. God wants me to learn something from this experience, I just don't know what. If you have a clue, tell me! I told myself the other day the house would sell when it was suppose to; at the time, it was my rationale for if it took a year to sell; then, it sold and now I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out why now. There is a lesson here. Maybe that life isn't always so neat and organized? Hmm.... Any thoughts?

Award

Yeah, it's my day! My house sold, and Collage Contessa, gave me the Blogging Friends Forever Award. Yeah!! I will have to follow the rules of the award tomorrow, though. I'm off to get a storage unit, to check out the room my son will be moving into at my fiance's and to have dinner with my future mother-in-law to celebrate the sale of my house. But I wanted to take a minute to say a big thank you!!

Finally!

Yeah! Finally, I've gotten some time to do something in my art "room", which is actually my back porch converted into a "room of my own." I really have a lot of other things that I should be doing, but I was able to squeeze a little housework in--though the dishes aren't quite finished, and the laundry isn't all put away, but at least I got the bills paid, right? So, I did a journal page, and then I did a "portrait". I really like them both. I haven't gotten the journal page finished, but it's going to get done soon. I have to write about setting up my classroom, and the fact that several commented that they couldn't believe I sit in every seat in the classroom. Yes, Stacey, I do, and yes, I know that's just like me to do something like that! I tried something different with the journal page. I drew lines on it. I don't typically write my thoughts on journal pages. Usually, I allow the meaning of the images on the page to reflect what I'm thinking and feeling, but I've seen such great things with actual journal writing on other blogs, I thought I'd try it. I love the concept, and maybe that will help me not to be so fragmented. I write here, draw there, paint in another spot. Now, maybe I can combine them all. We shall see! I really want to try a Moleskin journal, but I'm afraid of it. Why? I dunno. Something about making a really ugly page I don't like, maybe, and it's stuck in there forever? I know, the journal is a place to practice and make errors, but... By the way, I discovered a few days ago that the original word for error was "to seek truth". Perhaps I should go with that archaic view of the word and not be so afraid of the moleskin. Maybe I need to keep working on that fear thing I have going as a constant in my life, too. :)

Break

So, I've not been able to do anything this week! HOWEVER, there is a reason. I've been at AP training in KC to get ready for teaching AP Lit this fall. The "class" is AWESOME. I'm so excited about school starting. Now, with that being said, this means that any time to create will be minimal before long. School consumes me. I'm also teaching a class at our local university on Saturdays, and I'm taking a class in "problems teaching the narrative" on Monday nights, so free time will be limited. This week, I'm getting a glimpse of that. I'm not getting home until after 5, and I have about an hour of "homework" each night, and then supper, and well, I'm not use to getting up at 6 am right now, either, plus the hour drive in rush hour to and from the class in KC is causing me to be tired as evening rolls around. The house is a mess, too. You'd think that being gone all day would mean that the house would be perfect, but I think there are gremlins living in the attic or something and as soon as I close the door at 7 am, they clamor down the steps and start tossing things about. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it! I'm hoping that no one wants to see the house this week. They may be frightened by the ring around the tub, the dishes in the sink, the laundry inching its way up the side of the hamper and well, those damn gremlins might be a bit frightening as well if they catch them in the act!
So, instead of doing anything on my own, I'm living vicariously through the true artists on the web. The blogs on my blog roll are a must! Gosh, they are such awesome people and create the most wonderful things. It reminds me of how much I have to learn. I wish, I wish, I wish that some of these awesome artists lived near. I'd love to take a class. Of course, I'm not sure where I'd fit it into my schedule, so, for now, the blogs will have to do. At least with the blogs, I can sit on the couch, catch up on the news from the tv in one ear, keep my homework near my right hand, and keep an eye out for a stray gremlin here and there. Notice I mentioned nothing about cleaning.
Oh, and by the way, I saw Eric earlier, and he said, "Did you wear that to the conference today?" I said yes, and why, and he said, "Well, you look cute in a scrubby kind of way." What does that mean? I think it means that I've been too tired to do something with my hair in the morning--thus the pony tail, and too tired to iron, thus the Levis and t-shirt. But, I did, at least, put on make up--even eye liner, this morning. :)

Sqeeze out some time

I've not created anything this week. I've spent all of my time working on things for school, which starts August 25, which sounds like a long time from now, but time flies and I'm such a process person, so it takes forever to set up my room, sit in each seat of the room to ensure the kids will all have a "good" spot, and start the lesson plans, etc. I make the process tedious, I've been told, but I LOVE my job and I want the kids to feel like they are with a teacher who has really taken the time to make them feel comfortable.

So, last night, I decided to tote along my colored pencils when we went to the races. I'm not much of a car race kind of gal, but Eric loves them, and I love him, so I went along. He didn't mind that I was drawing, so I was able to draw a new head--not much of a creation, but considering I was doing in between cars lining up and waiting for the green light, and watching their tail lights glide away down the 1/8th mile track, I'm happy with it. Plus, I think she'll fit great into some new projects.

Today, I squeezed in some time before the grocery store to complete a journal page. I'll let it speak for itself. I've held on to these images for a while. The little girl with the tutu was actually the start to an altered trading card, but I couldn't give her away, so I thought she'd come in handy. I love this little girl--I suppose in the same way I love the little girl in me who lived in 1972 then was changed forever.

I've decided the little journal I have right now isn't going to cut it when school starts. I need something larger, and I'm thinking of either making my own (I have all the products to do it!) or buying a Moleskin, which I've seen a lot of people doing great things with. I'm not sure.

Busy

Okay, the bottom is back. I'm better. Busy, but better. The business centers around getting my classroom ready. Moving from one building to the next is tedious! Plus, changing classes, curricula, buildings, rules, expectations is just cause for a lot of extra work! We (Eric and I) took all three kids to Worlds of Fun Monday. Yes, we braved the horrid heat---although most did not, which meant no lines for us! There were so few people that a few times, we were able to stay on the roller coasters rather than get off and stand in line again so that we could ride again! I've only seen it like this on special invitation days when the park is closed to the public. It was, indeed, hot, but since there was very little waiting, we didn't notice the heat so much--the speed of the roller coasters and other rides cause great breezes.

So, no art has been done in this week. No worries. I'm planning something for the weekend--if all goes well the next few days and I get all this work finished!