I should've started thinking about this weeks ago...usually I do...I make a little list on my phone of ideas for posts and I start looking through my pictures to think about what would make a good story, a good essay. I put forth some effort to get things ready so that I can be successful...but here it is, the first of March and I'm just now sort of thinking about what to write. Maybe its better this way, more authentic. I've been writing less and less...now that I'm not in school and blogging has fallen out of fashion, but I still have a writing itch, maybe more than ever....I kind of feel like I want to write a real book or something.
This year, I'm busier in some ways than other years, but also feeling kind of like I'm ready to feel busy in certain ways again if that makes sense. I guess I'm saying that lately things have been feast or famine...I'm either SUPER busy and stressed with not enough down time....or there is NOTHING going on and I've just been leaning into being really lazy and not feeling guilty about it. So without further ADIEU, let's do this slice of life thing for the 8th year in a row!!!
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Yesterday felt the most 'normal' things have felt in over a year. I got to school early to unload artwork from the COC show. I felt really productive with grading and getting things done on my planning period. Students were generally well behaved and nice and receptive to everything that I told them. It is a four day week and it is right after spring break, so we all are just trying to make it through the days.
After school, I had a student stay late to work on a painting and she told me she wants to be an art teacher. We conducted an interview with my good friend for the other art teacher position in my building. It felt good to be in a room with a group of people talking about art. I went to Wal-mart to buy a baby shower gift and saw several students at work. I went to a sushi food truck to pick up dinner and grabbed a sonic drink. Then I went to a friend's house to talk and eat birthday cake. It felt normal. We told stories and talked and laughed and confided in ways we have not done in over a year. It felt really good and normal. I also got home too late to write another post, so I am up early on the last day of the Slice of Life challenge for this year to get my last post typed up. This has been one of the craziest, hardest years of my life. I have learned a lot about myself and what I need to be happy. See you next year! You know I'm grasping for ideas when I am writing about a recent dream as a serious 'Slice of Life' post.
I think the 'boringness' of my month really has stymied my creativity and ability to come up with good topics. Okay, so this Christmas Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood did a Christmas special from their home. They were live on air singing Christmas music and it was pretty entertaining to watch them perform. My dream was this: I was on a speedboat with Garth and Trisha. They were performing a concert on the lake. Garth was singing, playing guitar, and driving the boat. People could listen via live stream, the shore or other boats. He got really cocky at one point and started racing through the water at a really exciting part of the show. We were going around a 'bend' in the lake, near a cove. Our boat hit another boat. I crashed into a little dark fishing boat which held two men. One man died and drowned. The concert kept going and it was a huge cover up. The end. Unpopular opinion game...name 12 things you don't like that everyone else likes.....Here's mine:
1. Star Wars 2. All the superhero movies--I’ve seen enough fight scenes. 3. Nascar 4. “Gardening” 5. Cantaloupe 6. Breaking bad 7. RUNNING 8. Pets 9. Babies 10. Casinos 11. Chick-Fil-A 12. Farmhouse decor This was a popular facebook activity last year. I actually posted in on April 1st so it did not make it into my Slice of Life, but I thought it was worth revising this year and reposting so that I can find it again. Originally it was only 10 things, but over the last year I have added chick-fil-a because everyone around here is obsessed with it and how they handle being busy---people actually think the chick-fil-a management should've been in charge of the pandemic. Ugh. Every time I see 4 lanes of traffic in the drive through, it makes me want to go across to Popeye's for terrible service and amazing chicken sandwiches because I'd rather wait way too long for deliciousness, than get in line for a mediocre chicken sandwich. I'd rather have McDonald's chicken nuggets any day. I just added Farmhouse decor as another thing that everyone likes and it annoys me---there are a few things that I like from the 'farmhouse' motif and I'm sad that they have turned liking those things into a cliche that you can buy in the seasonal section at Hobby Lobby. I really hate twigs of raw cotton--it is symbolically inappropriate and offensive to use it in your home decor, in my humble opinion. Here are 10 things I love that lots of people probably hate: 1. Topo chico mineral water 2. The Office 3. Breakfast food 4. My dog 5. Traveling 6. Trying new foods 7. Wine tasting 8. Spring (I like it more than fall, there I said it) 9. Groundhog's Day the movie 10. Dark Chocolate Well it finally happened. I forgot to post yesterday. My first missed 'slice' in 6 years. And for really no good reason.
I had the entire day off. I spent the morning online shopping, Jeremy went to work so I made the bed, put away laundry and dishes. I straightened up the bedroom and started building some shelves for the kitchen. I had to go to Home Depot to buy the wood, but then I came home and took out the recycling, sanded the wood, measured the wood and cut the wood. At 1:00, Leslie picked me up and we went to Wildcat Glades for the long hike---and took Leo. He did great on the trail, he was a very good listener and stayed with us even though I let him run off the leash a little bit. Leslie and I had good chats about plants and teaching and cooking and everything else. When I got home from the hike, I was sore and tired, but I felt a burst of creativity so I started an abstract painting. The creative burst felt like a jolt out of the old pandemic brain funk and into a new mindset, but as soon as Jeremy got home, it was gone and I was in a terrible mood. I was angry because when I asked him what he wanted to do for the evening, he had not thought about it and had no ideas. Literally could not name one thing he wanted to do. He just kept asking me what I wanted to do, and I wanted to do whatever he wanted to do but he had no ideas and no plan. So, I got in the shower, washed my hair, got dressed, and promptly left the house. The anger and rage, it was something I have felt many times over the past 12 months. I think I was jealous and disappointed that I have been sitting around at home and running errands for this entire week off, while everyone else is seemingly at the beach or Disney, and we are so lame we couldn't even come up with one single 'fun' idea for the evening. I've had 9 days off and I've barely left the house, and I've spent most of it alone and it is very reminiscent of the lockdown and also very disappointing. So I went to Books-A-Million and perused the stacks. I picked up a magazine about Colorado, to help with planning our trip in June. As I walked around the bookstore, it seemed like every self-help book ever written was popping off at me: "Control Your Rage" "Finding Your Happy" "Getting your Zen back" or whatever....the titles were signs but I was in the mood to give them the silent treatment. After about an hour, I realized that I was famished but when I got in the car to leave, I could not think of where to go. So really, I was not mad at Jeremy for not planning the Friday night, I was mad at myself because I couldn't even think of anywhere that sounded good, even though I was hungry. I found myself at Magic Noodle. I ordered curry and and sat alone, reading my magazine. Last weekend, I had trimmed the boxwood bushes in our backyard, and a rash developed, it started itching as I sat, my neck red and inflamed. While eating, a coworker stopped by my table to say hi. It was weird to be alone at a restaurant, it felt pathetic and lame. So I went home, mostly because of my itching, but also because I could not think of anywhere else to go. And I went to bed early, feeling both better and worse in some ways. Here are some cute photos of my cute puppy to go with today's post: Another 'errandy' day. I did a lot of work stuff today.
First, I got up early to pick up a palette of poster board that was donated by a local dog food company. I only got one palette because I'm not sure where I will store more than that. It is currently sitting in the back of my car, I'm hoping to unload it at school next week. Then, I pulled into the new 7Brews place and got a coffee and an Italian Soda. I also picked up breakfast at Sonic before heading to Carl Junction. I got to school around 9:45 and unloaded the kiln. Then, I reloaded it with a new batch of clay to be fired first thing on Monday. I spent a little time prepping supplies for my art 1 class on Monday and I also cleaned off a shelf to make room for the poster board. I have SO much stuff at school, and I need to get rid of some of it!! Then, I spend the rest of the 3.5 hours painting the mural. We have started a huge mural near the gym. Hundreds of students see it every day. We actually started it last year but because of the pandemic, we did not get to finish it....we currently have 16 figures and are still planning to add 4 more.......Each figure represents a school activity. The first 100 hours were spent projecting, painting the black outline, painting the base color of the uniform, and then adding shading and value. Since we are almost done with that step on all 16 figures, we are ready to paint the hair and skin. Today, I spent time putting down a base layer for skin, hair and eyebrows on each figure that had not been painted yet. We still have a long way to go, because after the base layer, some will need a 2nd coat, then shading and value, and then some of the outlines will need to be repainted, and then final touch ups will need to be done. After painting, I hopped in my car---it was pouring rain---and headed to walmart for a few basic items, and Aldi for more disposable masks. I picked up a few groceries and unloaded them from my car. I have been finishing up an 8 module Canvas training program for my Crowder class since I got home around 3:00. Now, I need to put away laundry, put away dishes, figure out what to make for dinner and find some time to relax. I was really hoping to get up early this morning and have the 'writing bug' and knock out a few posts.....but here it is 5:00 and I'm not really even sure what to say about today. It was 'productive' but in an annoying way....
I made some cereal bars, bacon and eggs....we took the trailer back to Biff's, and went to Southerlands to buy plants/trees for the yard. We only got a few items for now, as I really want to think about what to put in each location around the yard. After dropping off the greenery at home, we loaded up the recycling and ran it to the recycling center, and then we dropped off the refrigerator door at Metro. (When our new fridge was delivered, one of the doors was dented....they sent us a new one--4 months later---and it is the wrong color).....then we came home to have lunch. After leftovers, we worked out back. I piddled around with landscaping and crap projects, nothing can be really put into place until we get our new garden shed in 5 weeks....and Jeremy worked on finishing up the roof on the back patio. I 'helped' by watching and grabbing stuff as needed. I washed the sheets. All the dishes in the sink. He unloaded the dishwasher and reloaded it. I took out the recycling for curbside, and cleaned out the old food from last week in the refrigerator. I typed a few emails and put away some laundry (not all of it). We took Leo on a long walk to the park, but really it was quite a boring day---makes me never want to retire---lol....It wasn't fulfilling like a workday is, and it was not memorable like a 'vacation' day...it felt like a Sunday but more 'errandy'..... Yesterday, we did something fun!
Well, it was fun to me. We got up early and want to Bearded Lady coffee shop for blueberry scones and hot coffee. We were the only ones in the place, and we made it there just before dawn so the lighting was dark and moody but also kind of exciting. After breakfast, we had a few errands to run. Picked up the grocery order at Walmart, dropped off the pup at doggy day care, and dropped off the truck at the dealership for an oil change. Then, it was time to hit the highway to Springfield. On the drive, we continued to listen to our audiobook, What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. Imagine forgetting the last 10 years of your life, all of the things that would be so different! First stop, the leather shop for a new belt. Then on to At Home, to look at patio accessories and wares. Then, lunch. We wanted Indian Buffet, but no one has buffet right now so we settled for a tray of assorted things like tandoori chicken, rice pudding and naan bread. We parked downtown and enjoyed the weather: not windy, slightly overcast, perfect for a jacket, but not chilly or hot. After eating lunch, we walked around a bit shopping for used records and books. When we made it to the car, we decided to hit the 9,000 square foot antique shop that is Relics and do a little perusing. We left empty handed, but enjoyed the junking experience. Back in Joplin, we returned some construction materials to Home Depot, got gas and picked up the pup from doggy day care. We grilled steaks for dinner and spent the evening in front of the t.v. It was a good day. When I was about 11 or 12 or maybe 13, I got my first job.
My dad knew this old lady named Romaine from working at the local grocery store. Romaine needed some help around her place. She needed someone who could climb under beds, pull items out of cabinets, scrub moldy siding and dust all her whatnots. Romaine needed a lot of help. My dad thought I would be just the person to do the work, even though it was the type of work that I had never really done before. Romaine sat smoking, watching the Price is Right on a tiny t.v. in her kitchen, while she directed me. From her kitchen chair throne she croaked out suggestions and got up using a cane whenever she needed to be more specific with her instructions. The kitchen was old, the rooms were shabby, and none of Romaine's treasures were very valuable. I don't remember how much money I made doing her dirty work, but the experience was extremely worthwhile. I remember her truisms: "a job isn't worth doing, unless you do it right." To this day, I hear that in my head when I start a task. No matter what dirty, painful, terrible chore I have to do, I know it is worth doing right and I know I can handle it because I learned how to work hard from Romaine. Spring break to-do:
-Blood work for doc office -Oil change in Jeremy's truck -Trim bushes in the back yard -Clean up leaves and rake clippings -Re-roof the back patio -Sweep and vacuum patio -Go to school and unload/run kiln and work on mural -Do Canvas training for Crowder -Finish book for book club -Order new garden shed -Haul off recycling -Prep items for garage sale Oy. How is it that last year's spring break involved a trip to Jamaica and this year I have a pile of to-do list which involves work and chores a mile long. How does everyone else have so much time to get everything done and take a week off for travel at this time of year? My husband has 5 days in a row off this week and he is using it to re-roof the patio. A task which is physically taxing and just plain hard work. While he is on the roof, I am spending time cleaning up the landscaping and organizing things in the backyard to make it more comfortable. Until our new garden shed arrives in 5 weeks, we have stuff piled up on the porch, waiting to be put away. Unfortunately, there are lots of things that only Jeremy can do---like re-wire and put up lighting, pick up heavy stuff, move bigger tools and rocks. I'm reduced to tasks which are simple and don't require heavy lifting. Yesterday, I worked with the hedge trimmer, cleaning up the bushes in the backyard and it rattled the tennis elbow in my right arm so badly that I almost could not hold a pen to write last night. I know I will be glad to have the chores done later, but I wish we were spending at least a little bit of his next 3 days off doing something fun together, and getting out of the house. Hopefully I can talk him into it. |
Mrs. Mitchell
This is my 'slice of life' blog. Archives
March 2020
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