Things I should be doing:

Grading papers

Doing lesson plans

planning healthy menus

balancing my checkbook

Things I should not be doing:

eating chips and cookies on the way home from work

eating leftovers from tea party for all three meals!

wishing I were anywhere else but here - at school.

Well, it's the third day of testing, and the bell for third period will ring in less than five minutes. I have been in this room, with short bathroom breaks, for 4 hours and 45 minutes. I have been with the same kids (with more added during testing) for FOUR HOURS and 45 MINUTES! That is too long! To me, two periods totalling 97 minutes is plenty!

There are two more days to go.

Over the past couple of days, I have worked hard to finish some items to send to a shop in my sister's town of Covington, Louisiana. I sent 6 hammered metal frames with pictures, 6 painstakingly hand re-painted and distressed frames with pictures, and 20 hand painted, decoupaged, embellished and varnished coasters. I hope that they sell!

Yesterday afternoon, I went home - determined to take it easy. Even though my house is still not cleaned up completely after my tea party last Saturday. Even though there are primer coated coasters and painted frames laid on the kitchen counter.

My husband bought me a newer, faster computer with the new PhotoShop Elements package on it. It's a lot of fun. I scanned some images of my coasters, and will post them soon - I am very proud of my loteria coasters - they are bright and shiny and glittery! Love them!

I am going to Abita Springs, LA on March 26th to take part in a town-wide garage sale. I am going to sell my frames, my coasters, and also the Nueva Loteria games I should have delivered in the next two days. I also ordered 100 of what they call loteria pinatera - they are mini traditional games in little plastic bags to stuff into pinatas.

I am so excited about all of my new projects, but feel the need to find some time to slow down and plan some things out. Should I buy the rest of the coasters at the Pier One clearance store to refinish and sell? I probably will, because it was so much fun to make the first sets, but there were 350 of them when I counted on Monday...

And I am working up to having my students design their own Loteria - but, at the moment, I am very disjointed and unorganized. I did find a spectacular Loteria series done by East Los Angeles artist and printer Artemio Rodriguez. His website is fabulous and includes all sorts of things that are right up my alley: Day of the Dead prints, the Zodiac, Loteria, and a juego de la oca (goose game). He also did an adorable children's book based on the cards of the Loteria. You have to check him out!

Despite my good intentions of getting a full night's sleep last night (I went to bed just before 10PM, and even dozed during my favorite program: Scrubs! - but it was a re-run), I woke up at 11:30 with throat itching, and left eye streaming. Could it have been the cream cheese and gravlax sandwich I had for dinner, followed by four currant scones with double Devon cream and lemon curd?