Conferences and Competition

This past Thursday was parent teacher conferences.

Of course Daya has straight As in honors classes, and a 100 average in math!

The kids run the appointments outside the classrooms- keeping the lists and keeping time for the teachers. This is a really excellent way to run the conferences.

While we were waiting, Daya helped run the tables.

****

Dance competition is next weekend and it is a burden.

It is a burden because of the location and the schedule, which the competition people control, not the studio.

Anyhow it is in stupid freaking New Jersey this year. (Last year was Long Island which is much easier.)  The big problem is that Daya has a call time Saturday night and another first thing Sunday morning.

For us to bus it to NJ we are looking at a 2 hour trip, longer with traffic and construction.

I can''t drive and I don't have access to a car...Rob can't help because he is working all day Saturday and I wouldn't ask it of him anyhow.  That's a lot of time and driving.  Some people are staying in a hotel a few towns over which I didn't know about or plan for financially, but aside from the money part I have no transportation to and from the event and the hotel.

I'm super stressed out and upset.

I am not around for Daya's classes and I don't really know any of the other team moms.

The studio does not have a parent communication system in place.

I have been in contact with the studio but I have no answers or assistance.

So this leaves me in a really unpleasant situation which triggers all my nerves because stuff like this hits my physical boundaries and limitations and I find myself without help when I really need it.

Which sums up a whole lot of my experience in having a child from the very start.

I can't even grudgingly book a hotel because I don't have transportation and I refuse to put myself in a place of being stranded in NJ.  That means we have to leave NJ Sat night right after Daya is off stage, get home hopefully before midnight, and walk out the door again at 5:45am to do the whole trip again.

FLIP: Smoke

Carey and I are working with smoke this week!

Amazingly, I finished (and started) this one on Sunday night.

The Ember Tree

9x12 pastel on Colourfix (it was aubergine when I started...)

Mostly Pan Pastels and some Mungyo semi-hards.

I might be addicted to Pan Pastels.

FLIP: Sparkle

Carey and I are sparkly this week!

Here are some Unicornfish!

9x12 pastel on Pastelmat
Mostly Pan Pastels and some Mungyo Semi-hards.
I used several of my iridescent and sparkly pans! :)

oh my gosh I LOVE Pan Pastels!

On the Way to Yoga...

I skipped yoga last week, and I went to visit Rob this past Tuesday, too, so I really needed to get my yoga groove back.

For a while now I have been thinking I should probably try a level 2 class but I love the teacher for my regular level 1 class.  It isn't a matter of choosing; I can do both.  So last night I took the plunge into the level 2 class.

I walked downtown after work.
There are two (2) pictures I regret not taking last night.
Words will have to suffice.

At the corner of 7th ave and 23rd st, a man was playing hockey in the sidewalk by himself.  It was a pretty intense game of hockey.  Maybe he was playing with the voices in his head?  In any case I think it was more of a game for pedestrians to avoid the puck.  Everyone kept walking normally through the hockey game and it all worked out.

There was a wall of signs at the hockey corner.
I enjoyed the irony of it.

Then as soon as I turned onto 13th st, I saw a lady walking a rather large (70 lb ish dog) and she let that dog make an entire LAKE OF PEE right in the middle of the sidewalk!  Right in the middle! Dogs pee outside all the time but people almost always make them do it at the side, or in the trees.  Not smack in the middle.  I really should have taken a shame photo.

*******
So, yoga level 2.

It was more difficult but I felt AMAZING afterwards...and this morning I still feel amazing.

When I was 12 or 13 years old I was babysitting for a lady named Ginger Toth. She had books. I always read peoples' books after the kids went to bed.

There was a small hardcover book called Yoga for Everyday Health or something like that. Ever since then, I wanted to do yoga. It was on my Life List.

I have a cheapie yoga mat at home but Daya nabbed it.
I don't mind because I don't like the mat***, and I have been wanting to get a new one for a long time, A good one.  A nice grippy one like the mats at Integral Yoga.

*** "don't like" means it is so terrible I can't even use it.

So last night I got my Tax Refund Present (Daya got a Hamilton tshirt)- my new yoga mat. It is the same mat we use in class, and it is turquoise!

LOVE.

Even Isis loves it.

Waterworks

I had a full Waterworks Upgrade over the weekend!
On Friday (I worked from home) the super came in and changed my kitchen faucet, and I got a really nice new one which is 1) not on backwards and 2) actually shuts off.

On Saturday Rob came over and put in my new sink and my new door.

It isn't straightforward... wow, he did a lot of work!  He got me a nice new faucet, too.

Rob brought all his Cool Stuff. And he used it.

Faucet assembly!

Hacksaw for pipe-cutting!

Old yucky messed-up door!

Cat-Approved.

Little Star

Daya went to the dentist last night for her cleaning.  (She is still allergic to the light)...and she had a teeny little cavity. Sigh. Under the sealant. Sigh.  

She got a little tiny cavity on her right molar (#30 for the dental-inclined)... the dentist (we both LOVE her) fixed it right away...and she let me feel it with the dental poke-tool and showed me how it wasn't just a stain. Fixing it took all of five minutes- no shot needed or anything, it was just so minor but it would have gotten worse for sure.

It is honestly no big deal, but I was really hoping to get her through childhood at least with no fillings in her adult teeth. It's harder with braces, I know that, and let's hope this is the last filling she needs.

So now Daya has a little teeny star on molar #30.

FLIP: Messy

Carey and i are starting our projects again!

FLIP Illustration- Fun Loopy Illustration Projects.

The theme this week is Mess.

Here is Furball looking clueless and derpy after she knocked over my tray of Unisons.

"I Didn't Do It!"

9x12 pastel (mungyo semi-hards) on Uart 400.

Alas!

I haven't posted anything painting-related in a little too long......

But there is something on my easel, because Carey and I decided to resume our weekly projects.

I'm glad because it really does keep me moving.

So, there is a pastel up on my easel and it needs a lot of work.

I'm using my Mungyo semi-hards, which I love madly.

...and...ALAS!

On Sunday when I started my new painting, my easel gave out and I am really bothered by this.  The.... thingy.... which tightens the painting from the top has gone and died on me so I can't tighten the painting to the mast of my easel.

Which causes difficulty.

It's this thing:

See where the threads are stripped?

I don't know what this is called but surely it can be replaced..... right??

Dignified

Pebbles LOVES Rob and she is also extremely self-satisfied and self-important.

Because she knows she matches the wine.

Cat Barre

Daya has converted her ballet barre into a cat toy.

Pebbles spends a disproportionate amount of time in The Box Drusilla Sent (a year and a half ago) and Furball loves the hanging catnip toy. Isis roams around looking fluffy and scratching things.

I am happy Daya has a room with nice wood floors where she can practice.

She really does have good space to practice.

All artistic pursuits require always-available dedicated space.

(SIDE NOTE: I always find it odd when people with much more living space than I have tell me they don't have room for their painting space, they wish they did etc....you make room. If it is important you make room.)

If it was up to Daya she would sleep on a gym mat in an empty room with no furniture.

(I said no to that)

This year we have removed quite a lot of her furniture and her room at this point is mostly open space.  It is very nice.  And sunny. She likes to put those huge gym mats down with the spare mattress from her top bunk.

She wanted to get rid of the top bunk but I said no. After serious consideration.

We are in a one bedroom apartment- it is an excellent apartment- but it is still a one bedroom and we really have to maximize storage space while still keeping floor space open.

So I said No to removing the top bunk.  We simply need the space and the bunk bed is very space efficient.

When I told her she doesn't have to use it as a bed- it can be mat storage- and we moved the bed across the room- and especially when she figured out she can use the spare mattress to practice back handsprings- she finally decided to like her bunk bed again.

The Room(s) Where it Happened

School is out all week........ these school holidays were so much better when I was a kid and I was off.....well, we didn't get as much time off back then....

Anyhow Daya is out of school this week.

Yesterday she came to work with me. It's been a while since Daya has been in the office.  I hooked up her computer, got her internet, and she played Roblox all day. And she had an unlimited supply of free hot chocolate.

After work we went to yoga together, and it was a good class.

Daya did a pretty excellent shoulder stand.

She's good with the physical part, but she needs to grow into the internal/mental/meditation part.  The infinite part. It is a different pace than she is used to- it isn't dance class. Also, she is eleven.

The asanas do have very definite benefits, internal and external, but yoga isn't about how well you can do it, or even how flexible you are (or are not).

It isn't about showing off, or what anyone else thinks.

Daya is definitely a natural yogi (she even has a yoga name! Daya is a Sanskrit name) and I wish she would embrace the internal part a little more, because it would really help her right now, but it isn't something that can be forced.

A lady came up to us after class to ask how old Daya is and to say she is really amazing. Which is true.

*****

Then we finally used the gift card Rob gave Daya for her birthday and went to dinner.

*****

Daya's phone ran out of juice, so on the way home we each took one of my earbuds and listened to Hamilton together.

BY THE WAY if you are not familiar with Hamilton you ought to do yourself a favor and check it out, it is seriously brilliant and amazing.

We had possibly the goofiest ride home, as goofy as possible without being annoying to others. Daya is obsessed with Hamilton, she knows the whole score and has dance moves.  I already took her to the Met to see the Hamilton portrait, Next up we have to go downtown to Trinity Church to see the grave.

Drusilla says the Museum of Finance downtown has more stuff, too.  

I grew up in New England in Newtown CT, which is a pre-Revolutionary War town (founded 1705)- so we heard a whole lot about Revolutionary War Stuff pretty much all the time.  But NYC is, of course, a fantastic place to scout out historic sites. So I'm really glad Daya is into it- we live in a perfect place to explore.

Aside from having a nice talk at dinner, I think it was a really good thing for Daya and me to just spend time together having fun and being a bit silly.

Dixie and Harvey

Dru and Branwen came over last night for a little birthday party for Branwen.

Rob came over, too.

Here is a little painting I did of Branwen's cats.  Harvey (who is a girl) is on top and her mom Dixie is below. 

Pastel on black Richeson sanded paper, 8x10

V Day

I always do something for Daya for Valentine's day...usually chocolates.
This year I got her a box of chocolates and 2 cards... one from me and one from the cats. I sneak into her room when she is asleep and leave it for her to see first thing in the morning.


                        


**********
Rob took me out which I really appreciate, especially on a Tuesday night after work.

We went to a really nice place in Brooklyn- actually right in my old neighborhood a couple of blocks from Pratt. It was lovely, and the food was really good.

He also gave me a big bouquet of flowers.
The cats were intensely curious until they decided it was boring, after all.

All three cats kept photobombing my flowers...

A Conversation

She: Mom please massage my back.

Me. Ok.

I massage her back, then her legs.

She: No mom! Not my legs.  My legs are fine!

Me: Since when are your legs fine?

She: Never.

Isis is pretending to be a pillow.

She un-perfect-rounded herself just in time for the picture.

Topiary Snowcat

Here is a little topiary cat in pastel. ( all Nupastel)

It is on that second sheet of blue colourfix- primed watercolor paper.

I used acrylic glitter glaze in the background for the sparkles.

5x7

Back at the Met

Last month when I went to the Met there was snow.

Same for yesterday.

Rob and I went to the Met- I wanted to show him the colonial American furniture, which he liked very much. And the Frank Lloyd Wright room.

He also liked the European Renaissance paintings.

I took this pic of Rob in the dragon mirror.

And I visited my favorite Memling painting.
I love her.

Central Park is pretty in the snow.

All the kids were out sliding around on sleds and having fun.

We found some snowmen.

Here are some more snow pictures.

Orange Clouds

Here are some orange clouds.

My focuser is kind of broken so this was a small quick study that still took 2 easel-sittings.

5x7 pastel (assorted brands) on blue colourfix-primed Strathmore WC paper.

You Can't Wear Just One

I did a double-take when I saw this.

Yep she's wearing two backpacks.

One for school and one for dance.

Snow!

It is snowing!

I'm working from home and schools are closed.

We will go out later if weather permits, I guess thesnow is supposed to continue all day...we are supposed to get about a foot.

The cats are curious about the snow!

Furball has left the window but Isis is camped out there, taking up the whole window sill...she'll be there for a long time.

UPDATE:

Furball is fascinated by the snow.

The window is open and the snow is hitting my screen.  She was trying to catch the snow while looking freaked out.

She did catch a snowflake, and she ate it!

Hoping for Snow

We are supposed to get a good amount of snow- I heard 4-8 inches.
I would LOVE a good snowstorm; we are overdue for a good blizzard.

*****
Taxes are done and I'm as confident as I can be about my job stability going forward....this is a huge relief.  A massive relief.

And so I need to keep conserving and chip away at the financial mountains of dance and braces and Life in General.  Dance is killing me a bit because tuition went up a lot last October and I don't know certain costs up-front, like competition fees- how much and when. Recital is here too, more $$.

And that stupid basketball game she is required to perform at in April that I DON'T WANT TO GO TO but I am required to purchase tickets for me AND Daya...$66.  I'm really peeved about that.

How LOUDLY can I express that I DON'T WANT TO GO TO OR PAY FOR A STUPID BASKETBALL GAME?

I need a dance sponsor for Daya. :(
That has to be how people do this- when their kids show real promise and they work crazy-hard in the arts.  If the family is not well-off they must have someone financially backing them.

But I think for the most part people who excel in the arts or go into that world as kids come from money. This stuff costs money- a lot- and that's unfortunately what it all boils down to. I'm drowning. I'm holding up a mountain with a toothpick.

Since Daya is a crazy over-achiever I don't know how I can say no or cut back...she's holding up her end. I can't argue with straight As in honors.  She's also excelling in all her dance classes. She is incredibly driven. I can't take something away that she really is working so hard for.

I have no pictures except for these nice pink clouds from the other day that look like cotton candy.

The Long Dark Party

There is a game called The Long Dark and I have been smitten with it for more than a year...and Daya loves it too.  It is still in alpha and right now is in sandbox mode...it is a survival game in the Canadian wilderness in winter.

In addition to the sandbox there are some challenge modes, one of which Daya and i have been playing- the Whiteout Challenge.  You have a month to gather a certain list and quantity of supplies before a massive blizzard.

So we had a Long Dark party on Sunday night.

I got several food items from the game (except I couldn't find grape soda or energy bars!)

We had our can opener, survival bow (not pictured), and our knife and whetstone. I broiled our Coho Salmon and Lake Whitefish- plain with no seasoning and it was actually really wonderful.

We did not eat all this food, no way, it was too much, but it was fun.

Daya loved it.

It was a nice way to finish our Whiteout Challenge, which we did in 15 days! 

Last night we had party leftovers and we started the Nomad challenge.

******

Rob went to the dentist yesterday and I went with him.  

Everything went very well.