Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Rant: I am not your entertainment!





I have been receiving phone calls from people who believe that I am available to talk to them because THEY are bored! I hate this! "I will call Colleen because I am bored! Then I will pretend to listen to her, but really I am just want to talk about ME."
Well, that's it people! No more answering the phone for me! Email me or speak to me in person, but DO NOT CALL ME BECAUSE YOU ARE BORED!!!!
And now back to the regularly scheduled calmness.
I have been getting ready for my newest adventure: teaching the K-1 at San Jose. On Saturday I went to school with Steven and Brandon and got the room ready--basically. Now I can tweak it this week. Tomorrow is the first day of school for teachers and I will be in meetings most of the time, so I needed the room to look ready for students. I have also been organizing my clothes so that I can plan what I wear and here is a picture of my new sweater. I will wear it with black pants and a white camisole. I am looking forward to a fabulous year!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

If I defend myself, I am attacked


I have been dilligently reading A Course in Miracles since...well, I am not sure. But I had added it to my routine to protect myself in the "Forest." (The toxic work environment). And I told my friend about it and she made two video journals of her readings from ACIM. And...the miracles have been happening as I have been reflecting and putting the concepts of ACIM in practice. I am doing other things as well: Yoga, prayer, church service, readings from the Bible. All designed originally to protect me. And it worked! The miracles that occurred were phenomenal.
But now I am not in the toxic environment anymore and shouldn't need all that, right? No! I am moving to a new school to a grade level I love, and a room I love and I have been very grateful and appreciative. But... I met someone in the new environment who had so many negative vibes that I began to get that old PTSD feeling. I was feeling defensive.
And because I was trying to defend myself, I got the biggest back ache! I realized I was getting defensive and tried to pull away, but too late! My defensiveness did manifest itself in a back ache.
I am really defensive about just about everything, which is probably a normal human reaction. I am however trying to be more like God, so I remember to let the love of God and His forgiveness shine through me.
And on another note, I could not have gotten my room ready without the assistance of my three wonderful grandsons, Brandon, Steven, and Matthew. They worked like troopers to get the room ready for the first day of school. Thank you!
Here is Brandon on the Aero Bed with Stanley guarding him--or waiting for him to wake up so he can play.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Too much time on my hands!


I have been researching sites for teachers of both fifth and kinder since I won't know what grade I will be teaching till next week (I hope it's next week!). There are tons of sites out there and I want to publicly thank the teachers who gave so generously of their time! What a lot of work! I am in awe! When do you all sleep????
While I am waiting for news of my assignment, I am taking advantage of this free time I have. I will never have this time again! So I need to enjoy it! I am making desk accessories out of (plastic) coffee cans (no tinnies!) and glass jars. I made fabric flowers that turned out sooooooo cute! I am in love with these and plan to make lots more! I can make them for the ECW craft sale or give them as presents. I will put magnets on the back. I scanned the ones I have made, so the picture looks dark, but you get the idea.
I made one with the lace I got at the thrift store last year. This is lace that was used to make panties. I think the lace flower looks great but I am not happy about the button in the middle, so I will upload that scan later.
On another note, the woman I was writing to for Chemoangels died on July 19th. She had lung cancer. i wrote to her for 5 months. I hope her family are comforted in their grief.
And finally, I am saying to the universe that I am going to stop complaining! Yes! And to mark this momentous event I am making a new altered book! (any excuse:)). I am making a "Do you know the Way to San Jose?" book. I am going to use it to capture the beginnings of my new adventures at San Jose School. I am so grateful to be in a new challenge!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Art Society



Another Art Society meeting was held Saturday. We watched Lynn make tyvek beads and then Zanna showed us how to make blank journals with fabric covering a cut book cover. I made mine purple since I am into flowers and happy colors and sewed the binding in pink hemp beading string.
Yesterday while procrastinating the clean up that Art Society entails I decided to make another blank journal. This one is covered in black and white fabric with black and white cardstock pages. I watched "Love in the Time of Cholera" while doing it. "Love" is really a Javier Bardem fest, which is not a bad thing at all. I think I need to read the book to get the whole point of the movie other than love transcends all.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Meaningful dialogue--Intimate conversations


I have just finished taking a technology for educators class. It was four days at Cal Poly. I received a lot of info about various aspects of tech ed. However, I was amazed to understand the depth of knowledge that our students need to communicate in the world now.I love technology, but do I really need a facebook, myspace, etc account? The blog is my attempt to chronicle my art journey, but what else is important. The facilitator for the class was talking about how she checks her accounts when she gets home from work and chats with her daughter and other friends. And there's Skype for talking on web cam. And on and on...
I feel like I get enough being talked to during the day. I want to enjoy face to face intimate conversations with people right there in the room with me. Low voices, slow talk, meaningful dialogue. That's what I want after a day of teaching the sound of the letter a.
However, I did get inspired to begin--again--my book of Bad News. I think I will make it an ebook though and allow it to be downloaded.
And finally, my Friend, Shirley has a You Tube video on A Course of Miracles. They are really good and the idea of a video journal is such a good idea. She turned her PowerPoint presentation into a quick time movie then uploaded to YouTube. She said she couldn't see herself writing her thoughts in a an actual paper/pencil journal. See? Technology again! Maybe I need to travel back in the time machine to pre-computers and appreciate the world after their invention. I'll work on that.:)

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Working on Computers



I am taking a class on educational Technology, but I am really trying to see how I can use this for art. So... here are some pictures I took of recent works and uploaded to Picasa.