Sandra Tayler's Blog, page 148

My Head is too full of things

I have fragments of half a dozen blog entries pinging around inside my brain. They are the result of my life being pretty eventful right now. I would love to give each of them the space that they deserve, but mostly I just need to clear my head so that I can survive the next week. So I offer up fragmentary blog entries in no particular order.

There is a beautiful post in which I describe taking Gleek to the local temple grounds. We went with the activity days group a couple of days ago...

Important Conversations

There are certain categories of conversation which jump to the top of the priority list. Sometimes it is a friend having a meltdown who needs to talk. Sometimes it is a marital disagreement that must be sorted out for hurt feelings to be resolved. Sometimes it is a child asking questions about life, death, religion, sex, friendships, relationships, or belief. These conversations arrive whether I am ready or not. Frequently I am not, but I must find the energy to give the other person...

Attempting to depart the land of fret and worry

I have been fretting. Sometimes just for kicks I've been switching it up with worrying. The difference is in the size of the consequences associated with the thing in question. Looking at a chip in my windshield and trying to figure out if it will split into a crack is a fret. Trying to picture how I will run my life next Fall is a worry.

Today has been a worry day. My brain has been spinning upon many things, none of which I can resolve today. I have done everything I can, gathered all ...

Mixed feelings while nearing the end of a school year

The fact that I have mixed feelings about the end of the school year is not news. My feelings on the matter are generally mixed. This year is more mixed than most. Kiki will be leaving junior high. Link will be leaving Elementary school and he'll have to say goodbye to one of the best teachers he has ever had. Gleek really needs to be done with this year. She's been a bundle of stresses as she valiantly tries to manage a social situation which does not play to her strengths. Patch...

Lilac scented calm before a busy week

The windows are open and the smell of lilac is being drawn in by a fan. The fragrance speaks happiness to the back of my brain. I want to stay right here. I want to hold on to Sunday evening. I want more time to just breathe the scent of lilac before I have another hundred things to do on a short deadline. I am so glad that I try not to work on Sundays. Sometimes it is hard, because I love my work. But I rarely realize how over tired I am until I have a chance to sit down. Then I...

Things I learned while prepping for an Art Show

Preparing eight panels for an art show is at least 40 hours of work. Attempting to cram it into two days means it will spill into a third day and there will be fast food for at least three meals.

During the process I alternate between loving what I am putting together and worrying about whether it is good enough. In the end I am so tired I no longer care either way.

Double sided tape is my new best friend. I especially like type which comes in an industrial sized spool suitable for large...

Preparing for an art show

Kids are better. Yay antibiotics.

In other news, I spent all day mounting and matting artwork. It is all headed for the Balticon art show. Lots of it is for sale and so hopefully that won't be coming back to us. The stuff which talks about our process with illustrative examples will be coming back. That is a good thing. I will carefully store it all so that we can re-use it for other convention appearances. The mounting required two trips to the store for supplies. Tomorrow I'll go in q...

Another sick day

The sore throats are not strep, or so the doctor says. However there were enough swollen tonsils, fevers, and assorted other symptoms that she decided antibiotics were merited. So now we have prescriptions.

We've also got epic levels of cranky. Early bedtimes are in order. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Mirrored from onecobble.com.

Sick Day

I knew the day was not going to go according to plan when we had 5 out of 6 people awake at 4am. All of the kids stayed home from school sick. Patch probably did not need to stay home, but everyone else did. Link, who was the one not awake at 4am, slept until almost 1pm. Gleek had a bad sore throat and spiked a fever by late afternoon. Kiki went to school for a class she couldn't afford to miss, but felt tired and overwhelmed.

Tomorrow: Doctor's office visit.

Mirrored from onecobble.com.

Steaks, boxes, and layouts

We had steak for dinner tonight and I blame the Mythbusters. We've been watching episodes and last Friday we saw one in which the Mythbuster crew attempted to determine if explosives were an effective method of tenderizing a steak. This fixed in the minds of my kids the idea that steak is awesome. Patch in particular requested to eat it. So today Howard indulged everyone's curiosity and cooked some amazing tenderloin. Verdict: The kids like steak and our grocery budget is doomed.

In...