my week

well the past week has been mixed, to put it charitably... i went back to work on monday which was good because i was starting to worry about the mounting pile of stuff not done - but not so good because sitting makes the Back worse. I am loving my job by the way - i'm up to week 8 of the not so new now job - i'm the policy and research manager for SNAICC which is the national advocacy body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. I'm still in the vertically steep learning curve, feet not always touching the bottom phase but i have some great people to work with and i'm learning so much i feel like i need at least one more head.

so on the good side of the ledger is

• enjoying work
• having lots of ideas for the festival of quilts piece and the wool quilt entry that both have to be made in the next 6 weeks (eek)
• i have a diagnosis (see that black sticking out bit down towards the curve - it shouldn't be sticking out) and lots of drugs to accompany said diagnosis
• the drugs (brufen and tramal) seem to cancel each other out in the deleterious effects on gizzrd so no crummies in tummies
  
• i am forbidden to do any housework
  
• w and i made a fabbo chocolate cheesecake slice (sadly no photos but trust me it was yum to the nth degree)
• it's cold enough to wear layers and woollies
• w can read most of the lorax
  

and on the not so good side

• my back still hurts like b@#$rry despite the drugs
• because i can't sit for long i can't sew :(
• there was a work unpleasantness that i won't go into but was upsetting
• i don't like housework but also don't like not contributing (too many negatives??) i'm used to just doing stuff so it's very frustrating not to be able to put on a load of washing or drain the pasta. i'm happy to shun the vacuum cleaner though :)
  
• i can't crack the jealousy quilt - i have ideas but none of them are savage enough

on the last dot point i think i have worked out that whatever i do has to be big - so long slashes. i tried doing a felted sample that just came out looking pretty :(

i am going to practise slashing with charcoal on butcher's paper this afternoon which happily i can do standing up and hopefully come up with a cartoon or the design. my problem continues to be working out the shapes - the colours are fine but the shapes and design aren't gelling.

i asked on facebook what were people's ideas on the shapes of jealousy and got some interesting answers - diamond, slashes, claws, knotted curves, crowding, jagged, bumpy, spiky... all of which fits with my ideas so far. it's fitting that into a coherent design that i'm finding tricky - it seems to easily slide into decorative curves that don't convey the hardness i'm after.

i'll leave you with a photo of w taking oh&s very seriously indeed