Space Buns

My favorite hairstyle of Daya's is called Space Buns.
I used to do her hair like this all the time when she was little. Now it's trendy for middle school.

Medieval Fair!

Another retro-active post, I'm so behind. And fatigued. The years of fatigue are catching up to me; I'm really feeling it.  This weekday schedule is really getting to me and I'm only a month in!!

Anyhow we went to the medieval faire again because this is maybe the only thing I really want to go to every year as a tradition.  Rob came too and it was fun.

I told Daya it was a dress up day so she could wear black lipstick, which got her very excited.
She wanted to wear all black and I gave her the top which I don't wear anymore.  It is actually a romper and I don't like rompers.

Daya looks absolutely smashing in black lippie.
Not everyone can pull this off.  She can.

 

                                                                             LOL

Routines

I'm in one of those blocks of time where days just pass one after the other.
Normal days, lots of them.
These are the periods of time that pass by and when they are gone you wonder where they went.

The fall schedule has reserved more of my evening time than I prefer but there's nothing really to be done about it.

Mondays right after work I have an appointment that was on Wednesdays last year.
Tuesdays are kind of free except I have to pick Daya up at 9pm.
Wednesdays I have yoga and then I have to go wait at dance until 8:45 for ballet to end.
It isn't worth going home after yoga because I would just have to leave again
Thursdays I have to get Daya from dance and she has an appointment right after that was earlier last year on a non-dance day.
Fridays Daya has dance but can come home on her own because she gets out early.
Saturdays Daya is in dance all day- literally- but she can travel on her own.  Rob has class all day.
Sunday is the only day was both don't have something always scheduled.

Daya is still taking a lot of dance (she just dropped Tap) but oddly she isn't at the studio every day right after school like she was last year.  I think it is a good balance for her because she can go home and decompress, get her homework done.

*******
Seventh grade is The Year- the only year- that high schools look at for admissions, so it is a very important year academically.  One year from now we will be starting applications and auditions. It is a big deal, on level with college applications.

In NYC, students can go to any high school in the city (provided they can get in).
We do have neighborhood zoned high schools which have to take the kids in the zone but they all still have to apply.  A lot of those zoned high schools are terrible crowd-control schools and some are pretty good, like our zoned high school...which is a good school because we live in a good neighborhood.  Most zoned schools are awful.

But the specialized high schools- admission to those is extremely competitive.
That includes the academically specialized schools and the performing arts schools.

Daya, of course, will go to a specialized school.
We will apply everywhere.

Her first choice is La Guardia, of course. The top performing arts high school, the one from Fame.
She may go there, she may not- but wherever she ends up will be a good situation. She is more concerned about it than I am.  Even if she goes to Frank Sinatra she will be in an excellent situation.  (They have an amazing space) There are some others too, just not as famous.  I have no doubt between her straight A honors grades, top test scores, and her amazing dance she will get in somewhere good.

We will also apply to some of the academic-specialty schools, as Daya LOVES math and she could go to high school for that, too.  Last year she pulled off a 100 average in honors math for the entire year.

Since she started kindergarten and I knew there was high school admissions, I wanted Daya to go to a performing arts high school or a specialized school. Because the environment is better, and because in NYC it matters where you go to high school.  It matters a lot.

So this year her job is to maintain her academics because the students she is competing with also have top test scores and straight A honors.  And her dance, because she's going up against other students who are just as good as she is.

My job is to get familiar with the process before we have to go through it, and research the schools to which we will apply.  This year will go by quickly.

Autism Walk

Daya's dance team participated in the Autism walk on Sunday.
I think Daya looks great in this picture.

Furball the Perfect

Furball is so very cute and very perfect.  

The Pencils

I saw this picture on my Facebook feed from Derwent:

I have been using Derwent pencils since high school...they were my first professional graphite pencils, and watercolor pencils.

Pretty much all my pencils are Derwents, except for some Carb-Orthello pastel pencils which are really excellent. I have definite brand loyalty to Derwent.

There is a stupid amount of Derwent stuff in my studio. I love all of it.

So anyhow they posted this picture of absolute perfection and a link to a set which I fell in love with immediately.

Drusilla and Carey are both just as susceptible to the New Pencils Virus, and we all ordered the set together.

HRH Queen Isis of the Fur helped me test the pencils, which are lovely on grey paper.  I found this nice grey paper sketchbook in my stash, not even sure when I got it but it is important to buy art supplies in advance for situations just like this. :)

Meow

The pencils aren't as soft as my Derwent Coloursofts but they are good for detail and layer nicely.

Goodbye Munchie

Munchie finally passed on to the Rainbow Bridge last night.

I'm shocked he stayed with us so long.... about 4 days ago he had a stroke, or something happened, which left him paralyzed in his back legs.

He also seemed to have lost all motor control except his arms.

Still, he wanted to eat and just kept holding out.

It was hard watching him flip around to move, but he still showed preference to hang out in his box, and he was responsive to sound and food.

Munchie was really old.  He came from the West Side Highway rescue 2 summers ago, when someone dumped hundreds of white rats on the median at 57th street and the West Side Highway in Manhattan. He was young but full-grown when I got him.

Daya was very upset about Munchie, which kind of surprised me because until the end, she didn't have a lot to do with him. And she wasn't sad when Q-Tip died.  She liked Munchie but wasn't especially involved.  But she always still thought of him as "hers" because she named him.

Seventh Grade

Thank goodness school started yesterday.
7th grade.

Dance started too.

*****
This year Daya wanted to do a duet which is separate from everything else she does, separate as in financially separate.

I'm not paying for it.
I CAN'T pay for it, even if I was willing to which I am not.

She didn't have to do it.
I told her not to do it.
I told her to save for a year and do it next year.

But she wouldn't hear of it, absolutely WOULD NOT CONSIDER IT so I bound her to a financial contract where she has to pay 85%, and I'll throw in 15% which I think is extremely generous of me.  I prefer she pays 100%. I told her she has to pay it all by June 2018. Which puts the timing burden on me.

I would like to repeat again SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO DO IT AND I TOLD HER NOT TO.

But she insisted, so she needs to learn a financial lesson and she really hates it. She is angry and resentful with me for holding her to it, and anxiety-ridden for taking on a large financial burden. Because she says she is only 11 so she shouldn't have to.  Well that's true but the money has to come from somewhere and I. AM. DONE.  Which leaves her.

If a child goes into a store and sees something expensive they do not need and it costs too much money what do you do?  Either save for it or don't get it. Welcome to the freaking world.

Now, Daya actually does have financial means and I know she can pay for this.
Whether she wants to or not is a whole other matter.
Her birthday money plus her monthly allowance would cover it.
And we are seeing if she can get another family for after school tutoring and homework help which would definitely cover her rehearsal costs.

If her completely un-involved grandparents continue to send her Christmas and birthday money to feel good about themselves, she'll have that too.

But I am finding my self very angry today over dance because it is a money pit and Daya is often very mean to me as children this age often are. I am being pulled past my capacity with absolutely no consideration or understanding.

I'm angry that she's mad and resentful towards me for making her pay for something very expensive that SHE DOES NOT HAVE TO DO when I am already giving her so much. She has more than most children in our circumstance have.  Unfortunately she can't see it because dance is full of extremely wealthy girls.

There are some who might disagree with what I have done because it is causing Daya a lot of stress--- to which I say what about my stress and my having to keep the finances stable? She didn't have to do it.  Terms and conditions were laid out well in advance before she made her decision.

So I don't feel sorry for Daya, not at all, but perhaps I could use some consideration for the burdens I have to carry, instead of constant expectations for me to pull water out of a dry dusty well.

SHE DID NOT HAVE TO DO IT.

Finally!!

September!
I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL SCHOOL STARTS. (Sept 7)

Also, I am very behind on blog posts from Block Island and a few other things, I'll have to post retroactively.

Block Island Pictures PRT

Late but better than never post!

Rob took me to Block Island and it was lovely.

Sprinkler System PRT

8x10 pastel on Richeson sanded paper.

This is the last Turquoise Loitering painting.

Fissures PRT

8x10 pastel on Richeson sanded paper

THING SIX

.... and i now have the stuffy cold. Woke up with daggers in my throat. :(

Sundries PRT

THING FOUR:
On Friday we got a LOT of rain.....and there was a GINORMOUS WATER BUG in my bathroom!
I'm super very really extremely scared of water bugs.  :(

Daya was scared too so we shut the door and hoped it would go away overnight....and it did.

THING FIVE:
Daya has a stuffy-cold.  :(

*****
Rob got me really pretty flowers!  And... I have been looking for a can of WD-40 unsuccessfully so he remembered and got me one.  Flowers and WD-40...my man is awesome.

Sunday I went to Jackie's for tea.

Then I came home, made a spinach lasagna in my crock pot, chocolate mint brownies, and a loaf of banana bread.  Then I bleached my whole kitchen..... maybe I breathed in too many bleach fumes because my lungs kind of hurt......

Riverside Park Plein Air PRT

Here is a plein air from tonight, a bit less than an hour and a half.
8x10 pastel on grey Richeson sanded paper, Rembrandt pastels.

big geese to the right

Travelling the Shallows PRT

Another Turquoise Loitering topiary cat.....

8x10 pastel on Richeson sanded paper

(lots of Unisons)

Two Bikes PRT

Daya's bike needs repair so I told her she could use mine.

This bike is 27 years old, I got it when I was 12 and I was SO EXCITED... I waited over a year for it.

Riding my bike was one of the few nice memories I have of that time.

I rescued it from my mother's hoarded house when Daya was in preschool...the last time I ever went there.  It was a HUGE battle for me to be able to take my bike, even though it wasn't being used and was one of three sitting in the garage.  Besides, it is my bike.

However irrational, even when THEY know it is completely irrational, taking something out of a hoarder's home- even if it isn't even theirs- results in much infliction of suffering.  My mother sure did make me pay for taking my bike.

But I had wanted it back for years, and I know that i would be sitting here to this day wanting it back. Now I can give it to my daughter -- in a time of need, too- although it is a cool thing to pass down... instead of it rotting and rusting in that dangerous horrible house.

*****
Jackie bought an exercise bike from a hipster on Craigslist.  She asked me if I would go with her to pick it up, and I said of course because I want Jackie to be safe, even though it was in her neighborhood.

The hipster wasn't very threatening.

DEFINITELY a trust fund kid.
She apparently has a problem with getting drunk and buying expensive stuff on Amazon Prime...she spoke about it quite casually and assumed the both of us could relate. (nope)
Even as we took the bike out a delivery man came with another HUGE box for her.
I guess she'll sell whatever that is on Craigslist too.

So anyhow we brought that bike back several blocks to Jackie's the way everyone in NYC does with no car--- in the ubiquitous shopping cart. It fell a few times, only once while crossing street, and we provided entertainment to everyone sitting out on the stoops watching the neighborhood go by.

Portal Entry PRT

Another one in the Topiary Cats: Turquoise Loitering series.

8x10 pastel on black Richeson sanded paper

Thing Three PRT

In a freakish accident the stoneware bowl of my crockpot shattered.  :(

The replacement only cost $13 with free shipping....relieved about that.

A Plein Air PRT

I went out painting after work... the painting is not great, has been a while since I got my oils out.
But the evening was lovely.... I saw another painter not too far away.

My bug repellant fan thingy needs new batteries or a new cartridge because I have a ton of mosquito bites. :(

The sky is from early evening then the street lights came on later and made nice reflections which I added in near the end.  It is maybe a little too much composition for a 6x8.

Conservatory Water
6x8 oil on panel

Thing 2 PRT

Today is a very Mondayish Monday.

I came into work and rebooted my computer which resulted in my randomly getting locked out of the network (resolved) and the corruption of all my USB ports. 

IT said everything needs an update- the BIOS and all the drivers. 

And it is taking forever and freezing. 

Things eventually go corrupt if not updated properly. 

While I am not especially concerned, there are things I really need to get done today and I cannot work at all.  I am literally sitting at my desk reading a book. 

THING 1 (PRT)

There was a HUGE GINORMOUS WASP in my bathroom.

I have never had a wasp in here before.

I tried a few things but ended having to run out and get spray and then I flushed it and that was scary too because it fell in the bathtub and I had to get it out..

Rob stayed on the phone with me.

It was horrible and awful and scary and I'm exhausted and I think I breathed in wasp spray and I'm a bit traumatized.

I didn't know wasps were that HUGE and I didn't know they wanted to come into my bathroom.

:(