I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, though here in blogland it certainly seems so.  Actually, the opposite has been true: falling INTO life, rich, varied, full…descriptors I prefer to use rather than that icky four-letter word, B. U. S. Y.

From April 1st until the 26th, I labeled, sorted, arranged, planned, and executed (along with lots of volunteers to help me) our Second Annual Spring Art Show at the school where I teach art.  I had saved almost all of the students art created in class this school year and we had over 600 pieces to display, hang, sort, etc.  Mind you, this is a “part-time” job, very part-time.  But it requires an unbelievable amount of work to pull off an event like this.  Though there were times I wondered if it was actually going to happen, it went off swimmingly…a great success in the enjoyment of parents, students, and faculty present for the evening.  The only thing I truly regret is that the event fell in the same week as another HUGE event in our family.

The evening AFTER the Art Show, was opening night of Glenn High School’s West Side Story, in which my oldest daughter performed the role of Maria.  For three nights I sat stunned and amazed at not only her talent, but that of all the students who had worked since January to bring this beautiful story to life.  I had sewn a few of her costumes, not pictured here, BEFORE April 1st.  I knew what a crazy month April would be for the school Art Show, so I planned ahead to have them made by the beginning of the month.

Then came PROM.  This took place the very  night AFTER West Side Story ended.  In some ways I think it was a good thing to have something to focus on and have fun with following the play closing.  It can be very difficult wading through the let-down of a huge show ending, all the work and beauty of it abruptly stops and one staggers to find the legs for normal life again.

In and amongst these huge events, I managed to weave in a little knitting, crocheting, and illustrating.  Early April I began what I affectionately call my “Mindless Scarf”…I just needed to knit with pretty colors, not having to follow a pattern or worry about anything fitting.

There seems to be a lot of “life” going on in our neighborhood as babies are being born and due to be born.  I wanted a little something to give to my neighbors as they receive these new little ones into their lives.

And, finally, but certainly not the last of all that’s been going on, I have been drawing Genevieve.  Even though these drawings won’t be showing up on the blog anytime soon, I’ve been working on illustrations for a storybook.  I still have no idea where to take this, a publisher? self-publish?  But I enjoy working out the pictures to go along with the story.  Illustration is quite a different matter from fine art.  Perhaps I’ll blog about that sometime in the future.

May is proving to be very FULL as well:  husband, sister, son, and mother-in-law’s birthdays, teaching Children’s Church, coordinating a banquet for the seniors graduating from high school in our church, and teaching a workshop on visual journaling through Associated Artist’s of Winston-Salem.  There’s always a little nagging question in the back of my mind:  Will I make it to the end of this month?

Well, I made it through April…I think I might just make it through May.  ONE FULL MOMENT AT A TIME.