So much to do in the woods

Wheee! Too much to report. I wanted to post pictures but don't think that's nice computer etiquette when you're always using someone else's. Anyhow, we're just a half-week away from finishing this paper class, but Ox-Bow asked if I could stay an extra week b/c they're short on manpower. So I agreed: 20 hrs of work (probably in the kitchen) in exchange for room, board, and a studio! As much as I complain about bugs, heat, humidity, sun exposure, sweat, etc., it still is nice to be here. I just saw the black wax sculpture that a fellow here is working on from a cast she made off of the front of my body (right under the navel to right above the knees). That was fun to do and fun to see the product that came of it. The students in my class are great, the food is still excellent, and I still have a hard time sleeping. But it's all good. Andrea's family is up here now and it's so fun to see the kids running around. I've even gone into the lagoon twice! Hopefully soon I will canoe.

I was thinking of going to bed early tonight to get up early tomorrow so I can pull paper before anyone gets there. But now I doubt it will happen b/c I've been on the computer so long and have been talking to lots of great people. Time to return this lovely laptop.

Household delights

What I forgot to say yesterday: Tam and I had salad lunches on the grass in Wicker Park yesterday, when the weather was SO gorgeous (hot in the sun, cool in the shade, lotsa breeze, low humidity), and then went back to sit on her porch, where I read one of her knitting books and she knitted a swatch. I was reading in the book about blankets, and realized what kind of blanket person I am: I tote around bedding from home, always. I don't like having to buy new sheets and never even consider buying blankets or duvets or whatever, b/c I grew up thinking that mom had an endless supply, and so why bother? Since everything old is better (now that I'm old) - things nowadays are just not built to last. So, I'm kind of scared about what happens when this old quilt that I made w/mom about 8 yrs ago just dies (it's undersheet is ripping at the bottom). I lay in bed last night, unable to sleep b/c of fireworks noise, thinking of what clothes I have left that I can patch together. I told Tam I'd just make a quilt in Nebraska, on the prairie.

Then, we shift to the things I'm attached to that are completely unintelligible to me: electronics. The left one is Anne's and the right is mine: I just picked it up this morning, new logic board and all! I'm still installing the OS right now and SO nervous. Which is why I moved Anne's closer - so I can babysit mine and give it emotional support. I like to think that if my iBook gets up and running soon, AND I get back on track w/meditation in the mornings, then I'll feel like I have my legs and arm back and won't feel so crazy. I'd also like to report really exciting news: this morning, I 1. pumped gas into Anne's car (listen, I'm from NY where it's illegal to pump your own, so I've done it probably less times than I have fingers on one hand), 2. got change for a dollar (I don't like asking for quarters), 3. cleaned the bird shit off of the windshield (the last and only time I tried to squeegee w/one hand, I failed miserably and couldn't even do it w/two...so disappointing, after a life of marveling at the guys at the gas station who'd do it lightning speed), and 4. put air in her tires (okay, so the dude painting the air machine did it, but I screwed off the first cap, which got my hand really dirty. And we didn't have a gague, but hey - it's a lot better than it was)!!! I then came home and did a load in the dishwasher and the washing machine, and did my pranamaya and meditation routine. I may be the worst roommate ever, but I make a pretty good housewife.

The face of Saturn Return

Anne was snapping these at the zoo yesterday. I look happy b/c 1. I am sitting down 2. the sun has gone away 3. I'm talking to Ellie as she drives up to Oregon for some R&R before her wedding. I woke up this a.m. w/full-body aches and pains and couldn't understand why. Then I remembered all the heavy lifting I was doing the last two days. But I feel better - today I get to see Barbara, who's in town from NYC, and then maybe yoga and a bbq at Cristal's. It'll be like my "day off."