Half Way Through the Year Check-In

We are actually past the official half-way point of the year. That would be June 30th, but it's only been 21 days since then so I think it's safe to still call this post a half way check-in. 

I'm still collaging like crazy. Some weeks more than others because life, work, other things come up. I've definitely found my niche and I love creating collages with vintage materials. I love old books, old children's books illustrations, old letters, old envelopes and stamps, old ledger books with actual handwriting in them, old newspapers... basically anything old. And my newest obsession is anything tiny.. like tiny flowers, small old keys, tiny hearts and shapes, etc... If you have anything tiny hanging around your house throw it my way. 

I love creating all size collages, even big oversized ones, but my favorites have to be the minis, anything 4 inches by 4 inches or smaller. I've created a 4 piece set on some playing cards and would like to do more. 

I'm taking a huge leap and doing something that's brave for me. I'm entering an art show on July 27. 

I'm entering four 4x4 pieces and a four matchboxes. Yes, you read that right. I collaged on four tiny matchboxes with some of those tiny things inside. So if you're in Houston next weekend, come on out and see me! I'll be there from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. peddling my wares. There will be a lot of great art by many artists. 

My collages have definitely been evolving. Here's one that I made with my mother's old cigar box. My mom didn't smoke, but apparently she liked old cool stuff too. I must have gotten it from her. I scanned the cigar box with my phone and came up with these cool images.

Other than making collages I'm taking on way too much in my life as usual. Sometimes my life reminds me of that last semester of college before I graduated. I insanely took 22 hours and four of those were literature classes. I made all As and Bs. For some reason, when I have a lot to do I organize myself and I get it all done. When I don't have enough to do I get lazy and I procrastinate. Insane, I know. 

I'm still active with the Westcott Cemetery Association and our mission to restore the historical McDaniel Street Cemetery. I'm starting a fundraising campaign in the next week so I'll be posting a lot about that on social media. 

I celebrated my 54th birthday in February and so far so good! First I celebrated with a fabulous dinner at Union Kitchen with all my close friends. Then I celebrated by treating myself out to a night of dancing at my friend's son's club, Mi Amor. So much fun dancing the night away!  I'm going in for my annual physical in August so hopefully I'll have good things to report.

I didn't go to as many Rodeo events as years past, but Miranda celebrated her birthday there and was happy. We had a fun night watching the concert and celebrating at the various tents. 

I won a Publisher's Club award at work, which means I was one of the best over-all sales people for 2023. That was really cool and my work is what makes it possible for me to support my family and do all the things I love to do. 

Miranda and I did a long weekend in New Orleans in March and had a blast. So much fun! I love that city. 

I continued to work on Hearst Gives Back and as a Hearst Change Agent in Action and this makes my heart happy. I love the work that we do as a corporation and as a newspaper. We volunteered again to serve dinner at the Star of Hope Women and Family Development Center and we volunteered with Nerdy Girl Success. 

In April we got to view the amazing total eclipse of the sun in San Antonio. Even though it was super cloudy we got to view a little bit of it and were part of history. The most special part was that we were able to share it with the kids' grandmother Yolanda and their sister and nephew who were visiting from New Orleans. 

The school year ended and my son Seth did really well and was on the Dean's List both the fall and spring semesters at LIU Brooklyn! That always makes a mama's heart happy. He was 6 months old when I started this blog!

My mentee Ashley graduated from the University of Houston Downtown and received a promotion at work right after. She works at one of my customers, the Houston Humane Society, which on a personal level is close to my heart. They helped when Seth rescued some kittens from a mechanic shop last summer. 

In June I had the privilege of having a front row seat watching my cousin, the author Oscar Casares add to his creative project, Postcards from the Border. I can't wait to see the finished production in January. He conducted family interviews at a family party in the Rio Grande Valley. Here is a link to view what the production is all about and now he's adding in the interviews. 

Then finally my own writing. The whole reason I started this blog on November 25, 2004. The novel I mentioned 20 years ago, Broken Cousins, can be found on Amazon's KindleVella. It only took me 18 years to publish it. It's not my best work, but I had to put it out there to move on mentally. 

Yes, I am still writing and working with the Central Nebraska Writing Group. I've read and re-read my novel to them and I know where I need to do the work. I know what I need to do to make it better. I just have to make the time to do it. Meanwhile (yes I'm insane) I'm also going to start a new Kindle Vella short novella, publishing one episode at a time, as I go. Keep an eye out for that soon. You can google me on Amazon and see what I've written.

I still have five Little Libraries in Laundromats, but I'm delegating it to Miranda while she's working and still living in Houston. She's already designed a new business card for us! 

Yes, I live a busy life, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I work full-time selling advertising and defending the free press, I try to exercise regularly and eat well. I volunteer with work sponsored events, I volunteer with the historic cemetery, I make collages and I write. Soon I'll be adding another board position to my plate, but more on that later. Life is good and I am grateful.