the evolution of Leni

Assignment Overload

I have so much work to do this weekend. I literally must finish start and then finish an entire art board complete with an art lesson plan and samples, two lesson plan write ups (science, math), a reflection for a PE lesson I taught, a discrepant event science lesson write up, and that's not the even the least of it. I am visiting my parents this weekend for Easter, which means that I will be on the road for 8 hours. That's 8 hours less time I have to work.

I hope that I am able to find some time to rest and catch up on sleep this weekend! Week 4 done, 6 weeks left to go!

Positive & Negative Art

This is my version of the nursery rhyme Three Little Kittens that I did in my elementary school art class. We were able to pick any childhood story or rhyme. I'm excited for what our art class has in store for us tonight.

Caffeine

Once again, I am feeling tired and overwhelmed. It seems like the older I get, the harder it is to go days without much sleep. Sadly, I've been having coffee EVERYDAY! I hope I don't become addicted to caffeine!

Tonight will be another late night. It's M's grandfather's birthday. While I don't like giving up sleep (especially when it means that I will be driving late at night), at least I will get to see M and spend some time with him.

I came across this photo of M and I from Santa Barbara. I love M; he's so cute!

 

Beautiful Santa Barbara

Here are some photos from our lovely Santa Barbara visit that we took about a week ago:

 

 

The courthous there was gorgeous, and so were the views from the top! [M and I have put it on our list of possible places to get married.]

 

Hello, Week 4!

On Friday night, M asked me if I wanted to go to San Francisco with him for the weekend to get away. Even though I really wanted to go, I was deterred by the fact that a flight would be expensive. Instead, we decided that it would be a better idea to head to San Diego. Even though it was just a short visit, it was a nice, relaxing one for us.

I am only tutoring on Friday this week since the two boys are on spring break. I also don't have the usual science class this week since we have a 6 hour class next week. That means, hopefully, that I will be able to catch up on all the assignments that I have due over the next couple of weeks!

On my to-do list this week:

• Get caught up with Elementary Art readings [3 chapters] and notes
• Make a list assignments and due dates through the end of the year
• Work on my 28 before 28 list! [I have less than 1 month left!!]
• Go for a run! [I'd like to do this several times this week since I wont be working late!]
• Write up my formal Science lesson plan
• Start counting calories religiously
• Write a cover letter for applying to jobs
• Figure out what art lesson I am going to teach my third graders
• Win our indoor soccer game tonight!

Week 4, I'm well rested and ready for you. Bring it!

Week 3 done. 7 weeks to go!

This week has felt long, too long. It has been a hard transition so far. The early mornings, late nights and drastic change of mentor teacher have been rough.

On the brightside, I officially quit the babysitting job. That means that I get to sleep in spend more time working on my long to-do list! I do have tutoring on both days this weekend, but that is because I am not tutoring today or several days next week.

Here's to a slow paced, relaxing and restful weekend!

Laguna Beach

Art walk in Laguna is my favorite. [Actually, that's not true. Art walk anywhere is my favorite.] I'm not sure why Laguna is filled with artist studios and museums and art on the street. I get the feeling that life in Laguna is centered around art.

That fence hanging on the post says, "This gate hangs well and hinders none. Refesh and rest then travel on."

No Sleep = Venti

My schedule is killing me. It's almost 12:30AM and I'm still up with several items still left to do on my To-Do list! It seems like I'm getting less and less sleep with each passing night. Wait, I am getting less and less sleep every night!

I'm so exhausted that I can barely keep my eyes open. I honestly have no idea how I am going to make it through this quarter.

With that said, I am definitely sending an email to the mother of the kids that I babysit explaining that my schedule is too demanding and that I will no longer be able to babysit. While this is a contributor to why I am no longer babysitting, the main reason is that they do not pay me enough to withstand the abuse from their 5 year old! [It's been two weeks and I still have the boy's teeth marks on my arm and bruises on my body! The benefit to no longer babysitting is that I free up 8+ hours on the weekend to do other things and I don't have to wake up at 6AM on Saturday/Sunday!!

It's going to be a venti day.

Shadow Pass

I'm taking an Elementary Art class this quarter. Our first assignment was to create something similar to Faith Ringgold's Tar Beach using our childhood memories and imagination as inspiration.

My motto for the class is this: just because this is an elementary art class, it doesn't mean that the art I create has to look like an elementary student made it!

Here is my piece:

 

It's a mixed media collage. And yes, I did use real wire to make a fence. It's not perfect, but I like it that way. I wanted the bottom part of the fence to look like it was cut because we really did cut the fence in real life to climb through to play in "Shadow Pass".

 

Here is a picture of some others:

 

Best Street Art I've Seen In A Long Time!

I shot this from my the car.It's off 3rd street near La Cienega in LA. I literally stopped in the middle of the road to take the photo and had cars honking at me! It was totally worth it. Hands down, it's my favorite thing that Alec has done.

It's hard to see, but he's mimicking Banksy with the girl holding the C balloon. He tied in the monopoly figure on the far left (that he put all around LA last year). I love it. And the people standing in between the faces. The whole thing is pure street art genius.