Adventures in Bento

 

 I've decided this school year to be the year of better eating while at work since teachers tend to be the biggest stress eaters and have the health problems to match because of it.  Luckily this week is the in-service week before our students make their grand entrance so I can figure out my bento lunches while being less pressed for time. 

What's in tomorrow's bento? 

Seasonal Mix Salad with cherub tomatoes and dubliner cheese crumbles, a small handful of strawberries, Vienna Bread, mixed nuts, honey ham, and petite carrots. I also have a jello temptations for dessert and a activia vanilla parfait crunch for breakfast. 

I'm a  bento-fiend.

Back to the GRIND and a food obsession

I head back to work this week, since the work drama has ended, with a few important things left to do before the children actually show up. I've been very lucky this school year to get a great new school with a very supportive staff behind me in my endeavors as an art teacher. Now I just need to get off of my lazy butt and write up my lesson plans for grades K through 5th with the theme for this semester, Grimm's Classic Fairy Tales. Working on a theme makes life much much easier when teaching.

 I've been on a cute trip recently after toddling around people's website such as Shrinkle, Twinkie-Chan, and Chubby Bunny, just to name a few. Namely its been Twinkie Chan's food lovin' creations that have inspired the piece above as well as a few others. I've personally created still life pieces of food in the past but never taken the time to shove it together with my little abstract figures. Its a good fit and hopefully I can apply it to other places.

Blah Blah Blah - Work Drama

Everyone should be aware that these two ladies, Utena and Princess Peach, are no strangers to drama. It should be only fitting I did cosplay portraits of them considering the high level of drama going on since Wednesday in my city's school district.  I bet you are wondering what happened here in the south. Well, the city pays the schools every year to maintain themselves but the board of education wants the money wants the money by a certain date (sooner then they normally get it). Since they can't get this money right this second, which by the way is less then 10% of our operating budget, the city school board has postponed the start of school indefinitely until we get the rest of this money. There's knives and daggers being thrown about with a lot of finger pointing and yelling to boot. I just want to get back to work and start the school year off right so my students have plenty of time to pass the state exams as well as complete their required course work for the year.

Recovery Clean Up

I'm notorious for dumping stuff into my studio and not picking it up right away and since it had been one week since my surgery I thought it was time for a post surgery clean up. I main just wanted to show everyone what my work area looked like, a drafting table flanked on each side with a table, and its tiny wall of inspiration. I keep a lot of toys on the desk to put it simply because I like them. I've always been a toy obsessed person. The majority of the room though is bakers rack like the last picture filled with books, supplies, and other things I need for my own art making or for my classroom at work. Maybe I'll show you the rest later but for now the desk to me is the most interesting spot in the room.

Susie Snapped

 A long time ago, in a far away place, okay more, like the week before I got married, I came up with a character named Susie Snapped. Susie was a play upon the typical house wife that can not cope with her new massive work load and responsibilities and sorta loses her mind as a result of her lack of help or coping skills. I had a series of her in different variations with little aprons over her straight jacket with a different expression on each face that hung with vintage aprons a clothes line for my surface design 1 project.

I'll admit I'm pretty much feeling like Susie these days with a full time job as an educator, finishing graduate school, being an artist, wife, and mother. I could use a vacation at club crazy like her occasionally if I didn't have the support I get sometimes.