Latino Book & Family Festival ROCKS

Last night I had the privilege of attending the 5th Annual Latino Book & Family Festival VIP Reception. I was so PROUD to be a part of this event and that I have been a part of it every year since it came to Houston. Ironically this was the first time I attended the VIP reception. I absolutely loved it. I loved hearing some of the authors speak and meeting them all up close and personal. Authors and journalists, such as Michelle Herrera Mulligan, Mario Bosquez, and Teresa Rodriguez. They were all very inspiring.

Then today I took the children to the book fair and they had such a good time. We went to the PBS booth and they made crafts, they spun wheels for gifts at different booths.

They even had a private audience with a children's author who I also met last night, Marie Elena Cortes. She was SO SWEET! We went by her booth and she read to the kids (I met my mother-in-law, niece and nephew there) from her book and then I bought the girls the book and she autographed them for me. The book is entitled "My Annoying Little Brother," so it was very appropriate for the two of them. I read it to my daughter tonight when she went to bed.

After the book fair I came home for a quick refresher and then I went to my reading. I was so touched to see four of my friends there. One of my girlfriends also took her brother and niece. My mother-in-law, daughter and niece also went. Everyone was so kind to go out and hear me read.

I was especially impressed with all that the Houston Institute for Culture has done with the kids they mentor. A group of girls created some awesome public service announcements. If you don't know anything about this organization go to http://www.houstonculture.org/ and check it out.

The other author who read, Wendolyn Lozano Tovar, with Literal Magazine was really good. She read a beautiful moving short story from her book "Tiempo de Agua."

I love being a part of the literary community in Houston. It is such a great group of people. Tony Diaz and Nuestra Palabra do so much to promote literacy in our city. I'm so proud of what they do.

Looking Forward to the Weekend

I can't wait until the Latino Book & Family Festival this weekend. I'm taking the kids on Saturday to see Maya and Miguel and to hear children authors read. I also want to meet Michelle Herrera Mulligan, one of the editors of one of my favorite book of essays by Latina writers.

I'm excited about our special pull out section that is running on Friday in La Vibra. It's going to look really cool! It has a great cover. I really worked hard on getting that out to promote the event. SO if you live in Houston please pick up a copy of La Vibra on Friday and check out the pull-out section in the middle. We'll also have copies of it at our La Voz-La Vibra-Chronicle booth at the book fair.

I love reading and literacy is really near and dear to my heart. That's why this event is so important to me.

You are Invited

Hello all. It's official. I will be reading some of my work at the five year anniversary of The Houston Institute for Culture. Please join us if you're free next Saturday evening. It starts at 6 p.m. and goes until 8 p.m.

I'm not sure what time I'm reading but I'm sure it's close to the beginning. There is one other writer reading, Rose Mary Salum, the Editor and Publisher of Literal, the Latin literary magazine. Then there's a party.

Who: Loida Casares Ruiz
What: Reading poetry and prose
When: Saturday, September 29, 6 p.m.
Where: Havens Center
1827 W. Alabama St
Why: Because reading keeps me on my writing toes and because you want to come hear me actually read in person. :)

By the way, (something totally superficial) I've lost around 10 lbs!! Yes, I'm back on the Weight Watchers wagon and I'm exercising more. Yay!

My Recent Discovery

Who would believe that we'd be so close to the end of September? School has been in session for almost a month now. I've had my good days and my bad days. Some days I get her there early, a couple of times I've gotten there late, but most days I get there right on time.

Now that I'm starting my second round as a mother with a child in school I'm finally catching on to how things work. No one really tells you.

Remember the really popular girls in school? The cheerleaders, the dance team members, the flag corp and any other popular girl kind of team? OK, if you don't remember them just think of the movies, "13 Going on 30," "Never Been Kissed," and "Mean Girls," to name just a few. Remember the really popular girls that were slightly or outright rude to everyone when you were in school? They were the ones giving the parties and being invited to parties.

Well those girls get started in Kindergarten and First Grade. They are already popular when they start school! It's amazing! But I found out why. These are the daughters of the parents who are very involved with the PTA.

There was a PTA meeting on Thursday at my daughter's school and the first graders were performing, so of course I made it a point to go. They sang around five songs while all the parents said ooh and ahh. Three or four little girls were standing in front of the microphone and they were the main little spokespersons.

My sister leans in and says to me, "There go the future cheerleaders of Waltrip."

I cracked up but I realized that it was true.

I was talking to my sister in California, who has raised two children, and I told her what I had discovered. "Oh yeah," she says, "That's how it works. The PTA mother make sure to put their kids right in front all the time. That's why Hannah (my niece) always wanted me to get involved in the PTA."

Well I just now caught on. And who are the PTA mothers? The really active ones, the officers, the ones who have time to volunteer, are the stay at home moms or the moms who work part-time. Interesting... but just like all organizations that's how the politics work. If you want your kids to be active and popular you must lead by example.

The reason I wouldn't know anything about this is because 1. My parents weren't involved in school at all and 2. Well, I wasn't popular. Of course I wasn't a total outcast and I wasn't a total nerd, but I wasn't in the popular crowd either. I was in the middle of the road group. I was the high school newspaper editor.

The closest I got to popular was our senior year when one of my best friends started dating one of the popular boys, who was actually a couple of grades below us, but part of that group. The summer after we graduated she dated him and my other best friend started dating one of the popular boys too and that summer they attended all the popular kids' parties. It was really strange to have friends in the popular group all of a sudden and after school was over with.

So my parents weren't ever involved. I was fortunate if they went to Open House and met my teachers. My parents were older and their motto was, "No news is good news." They didn't worry about me and I was left to defend myself. I guess by making newspaper editor and not being a total outcast, you could say I was a self-made woman.

Now I'm a parent and I'm faced with the important question. Do I become very involved in school? As involved as I can working full time. Or do I stay semi-involved to teach my daughter the type of self-reliance I learned? I don't want to be totally uninvolved like my parents were. That's not good either. It's an interesting question to consider. If you're a mom tell me what you're doing and how you feel about going either direction?

New York, Here We Come!

I felt a strange exhilaration today when I bought our airline tickets. I'm already registered for the conference and I already made the hotel reservations but there was something really exciting about buying the airline tickets. It made the trip very real. YAY! We're going to NYC! I'm so looking forward to the trip. It will also serve as our 10 year anniversary trip. The anniversary that never dies! We're just going to make it an anniversary year celebration!

By the way, I finished "Middlesex" today. It was excellent. Very JD Salingerish.