Labor Day Blues

Labor Day weekend.

Having a 3 days off is normally a great thing, but this year's Labor Day weekend sort of filled me with dread. For me (and many other people, I'm sure) this weekend was the demarcation line between summer and the start of the school year.

I work in the office at a school. Technically I've been "back" to work at my normal job for the last two weeks (admin staff has to be back two weeks before the teachers return). Teachers come back this week and start meeting with parents and kids. That means my office will be thrown into utter noise and chaos all over again. And for me, this also means that the evening classes that I've been taking to work towards my graphic design degree also start again this week.

Gulp.

I'll be working full time plus taking two classes (and starting the long commute to school again). I took one class during spring semester, but I took two last fall semester and haven't forgotten what it was like. I had no life to speak of at all and the stress levels were enormous. Be prepared to hear about it a lot on this blog, since it consumes my life once I'm in the middle of it.

Speaking of school - my teacher from last semester never returned our projects this summer...in spite of me showing up in person to the school and then e-mailing him. Can you believe it??? I had something like 300-plus artist business cards that I collected for my final project and several other good pieces. I hope I run into him in the halls this semester. )o:<

Anyway, I have two days before the hammer falls and I start classes again. My goal is to be entirely organized by then. Since I started earlier this summer, I'm already well on my way there. I even accomplished my goal of painting the living room and dining room this weekend. Woo-hoo!

Anyone else have a crazy year that's about to start up post-Labor Day?

Transparency

Either my readers are incredibly astute judges of character, or I'm completely transparent. The following was my favorite comment received on my blog this weekend (I've left out the name just in case this person wasn't interested in being mentioned!) This cracked me up:

reader: Honeydew-congrats to your friend-but get painting!!! The deadline is looming, and there is a piece of work waiting to tell it's story... :)
Cheering you on!

Oh man. You have me pegged, that's for sure! From now on, I'm going to leave it up to you guys to give me the much-needed kick in the pants. In regards to the aforementioned as-of-yet-unfinished painting (which has a Wednesday drop-off due date) this is how my weekend broke down:

Friday: when I got home, I immediately went to my studio. I decided to stop working on the portrait part of my piece for a little bit and work on one of the other 3 layers instead. I painted some lyrics to an Edith Piaf song around the edge of my mat. I decided to play the song while working. Bad. Idea. Ok, playing a heartbreaking Edith Piaf song while hovering over a painting of your deceased French grandparents is not a wise idea. I spent half of my evening sobbing before I decided it was time for bed.

Saturday: got up early to work in my studio. I finished painting the edge of the mat while (wisely) choosing to listen to NPR's morning programming. Car Talk and Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me! are much happier choices than Edith Piaf. I also got some work done on the portrait portion of the painting. Work actually lasted into the afternoon--even though by then I was absolutely sweltering. My studio is in the loft. Imagine working in an attic with two skylights in the middle of the summer, and you get the idea. I stopped painting when I received a dinner invitation from my mom. Dinner with my mother and family friends turned into a chit-chat with everyone in her living room until 10 at night.

When I got home, I found out that my best friend had finished his album and his website (which I blogged about below). This led to a flurry of e-mailing and messaging with him. While online I, of course, logged onto Etsy. I was shocked to find that my hearts and views had exploded. I had no idea why, so I asked around in the forums. People said that one of my plush characters had been on the front page for a long time on Saturday. OMG. It's been a mini-fantasy of mine to someday make it to the front page...and I missed it!!! I suppose I can't live my entire life on Etsy, though. (Just most of it. Haha!) I was psyched though. Looks like there were good vibes for both Ryan and I on Saturday.

But...so much for finishing the painting that evening.

Sunday: tried to hit the studio again in the morning. I sat miserably in a puddle of sweat totally unable to function, let alone paint. Once the hubby woke up, I forced him to take the air conditioners out of the closet and put them to use. One goes in our kitchen/living room area and the other goes in our bedroom. I moved my painting and supplies from The Inferno to downstairs at the kitchen table. The hubs left to go hang out with one of his buddies, I watched tv, painted for a teeny bit, got lonely, and then called my sister. We had dinner, a bottle of chilled pino grigio, and watched a movie over her place. (Hey, can you blame me? The girl has central air!) Buuuut...I'm still not done my painting.

This is why I'm thinking I'll need to take a day off tomorrow. It's no big deal. I have 2 personal days that I have to use up before the end of June, otherwise I lose them. And I've got a lot to do. I still have to finish the portrait portion of my painting. The mat is at least 95% done. Then, there will be a painting on the glass of the frame. Which I haven't even started yet. Ahem.

I can do it! Really! I swear, it'll be done by Wednesday. Just watch me. (o;