It takes a village or something...

Busy, busy weekend with much accomplished on the grant front. So much go-go-go that I'm just finally sitting down now to process all of it (and write a Catcher in the Rye test and grade more essays). So, without further ado...

Friday - D built the work benches. They are lovely. I never imagined I would use the word "lovely" to describe some big, chunky plywood and 4x4 tables, but I am using it, nonetheless, and I discover that it is JUST the right word. While D worked, SB chased the kids around the yard, Ra and G videotaped the sweat on our brows, and I took an important step toward the future cleanliness of our garage by cutting the torn-out carpet from the flooring project into strips, rolling those strips into rolls, and tying them up so they're trash-pick-up-able. Also, I found some time to run out and purchase a downright gorgeous tool chest. I didn't know I could feel this way about a tool chest. Dad-O insists this phenomenon is inherited. The weather was fantastic, and SB and the munchkins had much fun pulling up the solar lights and using them to look for the lost piece of pyrite Munchkin 1 flung into the yard. Someday soon, I will go stick the solar lights back into the ground, but in the meantime they will rest on their sides all scattered around the landscaping, evidence of a night of much productivity and camaraderie.

Saturday - K squared were game for what turned out to be a 10-hour shopping and errand-running extravaganza. With all of this name abbreviating, I feel that I should draw a table of elements to serve as a key to friend abbreviations. The necessity of such a key is just more evidence of this life of abundance, not of the material sort, but of the "it takes a village" sort. Maybe it takes villages to raise grown-ups, too, Hilary. Anyway, we went to...
1. (Starbucks) and the home of a couple on the near northeast side who were Craigslisting a kiln and some molds. We dirtied our hands sorting through the molds, found about 20 or so we liked, and deferred to Ka's negotiating skills to score a most excellent deal. Then we loaded the molds into the Element and crossed our fingers that everything we had left to purchase would fit in there with them.
2. The credit union, where I waited in line behind 14 people to withdraw the kiln and wheel money.
3. Steak 'n Shake. No steaks; just shakes.
4. Broad Ripple. Another Craigslisting couple (apparently, I have figured out how this Craigslist thing works). A wheel, a kiln, some bats, some clay, a stool, and supplies, all gently used and costing less than half their original price. The kiln is small and uses a regular household electrical outlet. I will fire the bigger projects elsewhere. The wheel is a Brent Model B.
5. Taste. Girls have to eat lunch, right? And drink a glass of wine? And have a giant chocolate cupcake for lunch dessert? And El B walked up to the restaurant to join us, even though she was feeling under the weather. And she wore her overalls.
6. Home to empty the very full Element and pick up Munchkin 1 from the fellas, whose bellies were full of Five Guys Burgers and who were ready to podcast.
7. Menards to return some flooring and buy a storage cabinet, some bins, bike hangers (a wise suggestion from the Ks), some Sharpies, and some Blistex because, in the words of Napoleon Dynamite, "My lips hurt real bad!"
8. (Starbucks) and Ulta.
9. The Gap (sweater, Chuck Taylors, sunglasses, t-shirt--okay, so we got a little sidetracked at the end of the day and stopped making grant purchases, but I have some birthday money coming, and I've been getting comments from people about the state of my wardrobe.
10. Old Navy. Because when we go to the Gap, we always end up at Old Navy. And vice versa.
11. Home. Exhausted. And to bed.


Sunday
Out of bed and to Kokomo for lunch with the Cook portion of the family. I took the camera and started to get to know it. I can't figure out how to make it take multiple pictures in succession, though, so I'm going to have to research that. I found the setting, but for some reason it doesn't work when I set it. The girls wore their Chinese outfits, and we took some cute pics of them playing with D and S. Stopped by Harbor Freight on the way back in hopes of finding a cart and a tall stool--no luck. I think I'll look to Amazon for those. Once I find those, I'll be finished with the workshop set-up purchases. Now begins the work of setting up shop. But at the moment, I'm sitting here in the Smartwool socks Ka bought all of the ladies, watching DVRed TV from last week, grading essays, writing a test, and talking to the little people. Spring break soon...

What the heck kind of project IS this?

It occurs to me, thanks to Molly's response to an earlier post, that some people might be reading this and wonder, "What the heck kind of project has she gotten herself into NOW?" So...perhaps this would be a good time (or about 5 posts LATER than a good time) to talk a bit about what the project is, exactly. Much of it is still taking shape, but here is what I know...

I wrote a proposal for a Lilly Teacher Creativity/Renewal grant for $8,000, and the readers liked it enough to say "Sure." The project was originally called "Artist at Last: Pottery, Poetry, and the Power of the Human Spirit," but for the purposes of this blog and the event that will result from all of this work, I think I'll call it "Pottery. Poetry. Place." Many people view the Lilly Teacher Creativity grants as opportunities to travel the world, but I've been lucky enough to have many travel opportunities, and I'm not at a place in my life right now where I want to spend 6 weeks away from my children. Instead, I look at the grant as an opportunity to live the artist's life right here at home (with a few short excursions mixed in). I'll use the funds to set up a "room of my own" sort of pottery workshop in the garage, take pottery classes at the Indianapolis Art Center, go to a week-long poetry retreat/workshop, take photos of places that remind me of my childhood, use the plants of those places as inspiration for creating pottery and poetry, learn to build frames, learn to cut mats, frame and mat my poems, and display the resulting pottery and framed poems and photos at an event. Most of the work will take place this summer, but if you've been reading you can see that there are many preliminary tasks (setting up the workshop, going to Tennessee for pictures, applying for the writer's workshop, purchasing supplies, studying up on pottery, plants, birds, etc.) that I'm blissfully pursuing as the school year wraps up.

The best parts of this so far?

1. The way there are so few rules that I can follow my gut wherever it leads--go to Tennessee, too, for example? Well, why not?

2. The way these funds are "protected"--there's no option for using them to pay bills or keeping them in a savings account. It makes me feel worthy and free.

3. The way the creative endeavor brings people together--to take photos, travel, build, write, film, and learn.

4. That this project gives me an excuse to blog--while it might not be that interesting to everyone else, I am never at a loss for items to write about when it comes to this project.

Am I Craigslist Stupid?

I emailed someone 6 hours ago about a kiln and some pottery molds on Craigslist, and I haven't heard back from them. I also didn't hear back from the two other people I emailed about pottery wheels last week. Am I Craigslisting wrong? Is there a secret language I need to learn? Or am I expecting folks to respond too quickly and therefore a Craigslist stalker? Why don't the Craigslist posters want to be my friends?

In other news, D and I went to Lowe's today and spent a few hundred dollars on wood, bolts, nuts, washers, a shopvac, black paint, primer, and some five-gallon buckets. We're gonna make ourselves some work tables! We settled on two 6' x 2' x 44" tables with shelves underneath. I also scoped out storage cabinets but didn't make a decision about that yet.

Tomorrow, there will be no work on the project--instead I will go to St. Elmo's to meet with a lobbyist because, yes, that is the jetsetting sort of life I lead.

I'll make it a goal to write some things less practical on the next post, but I am a pragmatist today.

Developments...

I took a break from grading Catcher in the Rye quizzes to order the last of the books:
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees--E: Eastern Region [Imitation Leather]

Field Guide to Indiana Wildflowers [Paperback]

Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America

Wildflowers Of Tennessee, The Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians [Paperback]


D and I are now talking about two work benches instead of one. I've been thinking about sizes for these. I feel like at least one of them should be tall enough that I can stand at it while working. Maybe the other would be more of a for-sitting table? Is this nonsense?

The Craigslist pottery wheels must be all bought-up, as I've heard nothing from the sellers in response to my inquiries. I will just have to keep watching for more to be posted--I'm determined to find a deal on a wheel, at least.

Check!

Two posts in one day! Thought I'd take a minute to document today's progress.

1. The work benches from Craigslist don't look like good fits, but through the wonders of blogging and Facebook chatting D has agreed to build a workbench. We'll head out to Lowe's one night this week. Thanks, D! He's going to build it out of plywood and 4X4s, and I think I'd like some kind of metal top for it.
2. I ordered my Indianapolis Art Center membership and checked "artist" instead of "individual." I classify this as a leap of faith.
3. I ordered several books about pottery, a guide to digital photography, and a subscription to Poetry magazine.
4. I settled for sure on the Nikon D5000 with an extra lens, remote, tripod, memory card, and case.
5. I am still hoping one of the Craigslist pottery wheels is still available--it will save me much bank. Fingers are crossed, but I'm also looking for a fat United Art and Education or Prizm coupon...

Pulling One on 'Em

We spent the weekend in Ohio celebrating our new niece, S, whose parents, brothers, and grandma brought her home from China three weeks ago. She is an absolute doll, and it was fun to watch all of the cousins (8 total, and three of them under the age of three) play with a bjillion balloons and each other. Hilarity ensued when G-ma made the seemingly simple request that we take a picture of all 8 grandkids together--the resulting picture is certainly one for the photo albums, but not, I think, in the way Grandma had imagined.

The Lilly check was waiting in the mailbox when we got home this afternoon, and I did a little dance in the driveway. "Heeeeee," I said to G, "they are paying me thousands of dollars to make pottery and write poetry!" G said I acted as if I had tricked the Lilly Foundation into something, and the truth is that is pretty much exactly how I feel. Whoever designed this grant knew something about what it feels like when someone (even a foundation full of people you've never even met) is willing to support an individual's pursuit of creative happy-ness. It feels really good to be on the receiving end of these benefactors.

The last few weeks have been filled with obligations--duties for which we volunteered, time we value with friends and family, work-related endeavors for which we were paid, but obligations, nonetheless. As I write, hundreds of students are waiting for me to post grades for the end of the term (to the students who are reading this...SORRY! I really have been grading and really will post some of those many grades soon). In all of this busy-ness, I realize I have stopped seeing any of the connections at all--I have been thoroughly embedded in the rat race. I have forgotten, in just a few weeks, how to use words for anything other than action items and requests. It's alright, though, just part of the ebb and flow, eh? I must admit I am ready now for a little ebb. Or is it a little flow? I think that check in the mail might be just the tide change I'm looking for. Enough with the pontification...here's what I'm thinking about the grant...

1. Re: the camera. I think I have settled on the Nikon D5000 with two lenses.
2. I need to get to Hobby Lobby this week to see if I can use that 40% off coupon on a nice mat cutter.
3. There are some nice pottery wheels on the Craigslist--I sent out emails but fear the wheels are already gone. Also, I emailed about a few work tables.
4. I need to order the magazine subscriptions and books--those are easy.
5. I wish the Indianapolis Art Center would post their summer class schedule.
6. I'm looking for deals on several items, new or used--anyone have any leads?: aforementioned work bench, locking tall storage cabinet, Shop Vac, 5 gallon buckets (remember when hardware stores would give these away for free?!), pottery wheel, kiln.
7. I need to finish my poetry submission for IU and mail that.
8. It appears I am now making another to-do list and posting it for public consumption. Maybe the ebb isn't such an ebb after all?
9. I will continue with the list anyway. The garage cleaning re-configuration will begin next weekend, weather permitting.
10. G has decided to film this endeavor, so time lapse filming is in order for the garage cleaning.
11. That's all--let's hope I become more interesting after all of this grading is over.