Fake it till you make it, I guess! After sleeping all but a few hours yesterday and last night, and checking in with my doc by phone about the lingering exhaustion and other things, I woke today feeling a smidge better.  Good thing as my house needs some TLC whether I like it or not! My self imposed bedridden status helped, at least for a couple days, and if I can stomach the atb's for a couple more days I'll be even better. Here goes.

I can't believe that my doggies can sleep so much, too. They are a riot and NEVER complain about having to go back to bed. I wake periodically and see them out cold and loving it. My best pals. As much as I say I am done with dogs after this lot, I might have to reconsider. They have really helped me rest during this bout of respiratory mange.  The birds are putting up with less interaction, too, and Hapi entertained himself last night by finding a bag filled with packages of playing cards (meant to be turned into bird toys) and tossing individual cards all over the floor. He had a blast, so it is fine with me! 

On the art front, I am increasingly interested in the whole Boro-upcycle movement that I see cropping up everywhere. I love the Indian kantha blankets that reuse fabric and have one on my bed courtesy of Ocean State Job Lot (On sale this week...might have to grab a second...perfect for year round use) and have been seeing such interesting little stitched pieces made from clothing scraps. The only thing holding me back from cutting up all the clothes I no longer need is the waste factor -- once I cut into something, using only a scrap, what happens to the rest? Isn't that more wasteful than just donating old garments? Hmmm...I suppose they could be recycled in the textile bin near the school.  I have visions of painting and/or using old washcloths, towel scraps, and clothing I've loved but no longer wear. Stitching into fragments to make them as precious as the memory of the garment was...wait, here's another tangent to play with. Brain, stop! Too many options. I better get these chores done early to try to get some art time in, methinks! Cheers. 

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Day 9 or 10, from the institution, depending on the count. What was an annoying cold is still hanging on in the form of sinus and ear trouble, thankfully not lungs. Am on ATB's, so it just has to run the course. It is a long one this time, enabling Hapi to learn and master every disgusting biological sound that I've been unfortunate enough to emit. What a routine he has going this morning!

On Friday I took my classes on a much awaited, once cancelled, field trip to the MFA in Boston.  I just couldn't cancel, again. I felt really congested and shaky-tired in the morning like I felt all week. Was hoping the kids were okay for the trip. At the last minute I grabbed a trash bag in case one of them got sick on the bus, as it often happens. To a kid. Not the teacher. You see where this is going. 

Without sharing more ugly details, let's just say it was my turn to experience bus-sickness on the ride. Humiliating, scary, and most likely traumatizing for the kids who were around me.  Especially the poor kid to my immediate right! Was a terrible thing. Once in the museum, I divided up the kids into the other parent led groups and took off to find the bathroom and a dark quiet place to sit and get ready for the ride home, which thankfully went fine.  Although "fine" is a relative term.  

I slept so much in the past two days that this morning I reflected that if Toby acted like this, he'd probably be put to sleep. I guess I am lucky to not be a dog. 

​My house should be surrounded with caution tape at this point and I am trying to summon the energy to remedy the worst of the cumulative mess that has accrued.  Grateful to have stocked up on bleach and that I live alone, I guess! How lucky it is a three day weekend! Cheers. 

So cold! My bedroom was warm...too warm. Upon forcing myself up and at 'em per Toby's vocal demands I came downstairs to a very cold bird room...60 degrees and dropping. It was warm around 2am when I made the rounds, but must have deteriorated after that. These extreme temps are just too much for my elderly heating system. To top it off, I won a Bird Mom of the Year award for not giving Kizzy his supper. He made it into his cage, but his dinner didn't. It sat on the shelf, out of his reach. Well done, Mom. I am grateful that he is a forgiving, good natured parrot. Will scramble him some eggs this morning to make up for such a lapse. The flu/cold thing that I've been harboring really broke this weekend and got me down yesterday, reminding me how little time I have to be sick.  Will jump back into life today, like it or not. Big week ahead. 

Tomorrow will be tough at school. Layoff notices are being given early in light of a "balanced budget" proposal that is due this week.  The middle schools are expected to take the biggest hit this time, losing all Foreign Language, some English staff, and most likely my colleague's 60% Art position (which was reduced from full time last year.) To think of going back to the art program offered 24 years ago when I first started at Parker, with one art teacher for 600 kids, makes me want to cry. We have an override vote planned for the spring, but people are not optimistic and the cuts are being seen as truth at this point. I never thought it would ever be this dire in Reading. 

People need to wake up and realize that if the schools do not offer competitive courses and rich programming, the property values will fall. Period. People move to Reading because of the schools. To not support them is foolish.  I am hard pressed to afford any tax increase myself but know that it is essential for the value of my home, and really non-negotiable.  We have not had a Prop 21/2 override in many, many years. Facts are facts. Be mad at the powers that be all you want -- the fact is that the schools need the funds to stay functional and appropriately educate children. 

I've seen rumblings online about how Foreign Language and the Arts are "extras."  Well, those "extras" are providing students with career training and opportunities for personal growth that go far beyond other areas, in more meaningful ways. We worry about the mental health of our students and then limit opportunities for learning strategies for successful living and learning.  C'mon, town, step up. I hope the public learns of projected cuts tomorrow and realizes that it is a question of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face, here. 

Off for a day making up for all that didn't get done over the last three days of illness and snow. Including some much needed beading time -- getting close to the finish! Cheers. 

Let it snow! A huge blizzard spun up the east coast and dumped about 15" in my area. Boom. In about 9 hours. This resulted in two days off from school to unbury our little town, which I will gratefully accept as I have a very unpleasant headcold. It was just a matter of time -- all students sick before and after the break, seeing sick family members over the break...was bound to happen. Daquil and me will carry on as the I got the shoveling done last night, and the plows have done a super job.  I am so grateful that what could be a stress filled, catastrophic event has actually turned into a nice time to circle my wagons and rest up a bit. And do art! 

Yesterday I worked on my Stonehenge piece, which I am liking more and more each day for very different reasons. Funny how art can be like that. It is so not-like anything I've done before and has inspired a backlog of new ideas just waiting for execution.  I completed the embellishment step for a few places on the piece, then tried to do the same for a too-regular fabric flower shape that for some reason I thought would look good there when I was collaging it. With my process, once a collaged element is quilted in there, it can't come out. I have eight shapes I am not too pleased with, and have to figure out how to make them work. The first attempt at beading it looked bad, so I ripped it out. As did the second and third. I took a nap as the storm howled around my upstairs bedroom. Gave it a fourth shot last night, and got it to work just fine. The shape did belong there, it just needed the right surface. Iridescent glass chips did the trick, so today between sniffles I will try to finish the other seven. Getting there!

I went to bed listening to Istanbul by Thomas Madden. I fell asleep during the medieval period and awoke to the sacking of Constantinople in 1452 by Mehmet the Conqueror. What a mean dude. Somehow I missed the Black Death, so will have to go back and re-listen.  That city is alive with history and this book is doing it justice. 

What a wonderful thing it is to be an artist and get to make things...the dialogue that occurs between the artist and the work is something non-artists might not be able to understand. It is a special language, a relationship. That never ends. No matter what is going on on the "day-to-day" world, the art object waits patiently for decisions that either work or don't, that live or get recycled. What is the spark that differentiates? When the piece is done and I think of all the little decisions that went into creating it, one at a time, following guidance from a really unknown source. I think "Yes, that is how it should look." But why? 

I put more fresh walnuts on my porch railing for my little outdoor pet, my squirrel. He/she has already visited the spot this morning as there were little footprints in the traces of snow that were left after I cleaned the porch last night. Makes me so happy to have this little visitor and know he is surviving the bitter cold, and isn't too shy to come ask for help. He started coming around last spring and I've seen him almost every day since then. He looks me in the eye as he picks up his treasures and nibbles at them.  Waves his little front paws like he's trying to tell me something. Yesterday he visited four times -- once shivering and covered in snow. He must be very, very hungry and the walnuts will give him the energy he needs to stay warm. Sorry, pal, got up late today. If I make birdie muffins later I'll give you one of those, too.  

​Enjoy the day, enjoy the Dayquil.