Tag Archives: mosaic studio

A cow in love… with blue flowers

19 Wednesday Apr 2023

Posted by in Daily Life, Dating, Finding Me, Mosaic and other crafts

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“Open the bloom of your heart and become a gift of beauty to the world.”  ― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

Life progresses likes waves in the ocean, with highs and lows. As the spring flowers blossom, so does M and I.  We continue flying high, so excited to have found each other and so eager for a future together.  

Unfortunately, at work now is a low point.  My co-worker will be having another surgery on Monday, to deal with cancer.  Fortunately, she thinks that it will be an easier operation this time. Is there anything easy about cancer?  I am bracing myself for another 3 months without her.

As she is leaving to have surgery, I am leaving for Brazil.  I am still trying to figure out how to do her job while in Brazil, without driving myself insane.  This time I am unwilling to take it all upon myself.  I have done that for over 20 years at this job.  Everything has always been seemingless and perfect no matter what the circumstances were.  I am not willing to do it anymore. Some people here will have to step up.

In the meantime, the mosaic studio continues to be my happy place.  There, I often do more talking than creating.   The ladies there look forward to hearing about the latest news about M.  They are so happy for me, as you all are.

This cow is the latest piece I finished.  It is a cow that is in love and sees flowers all around.  She was going to have legs, but it seemed too complicated so I just put her behind some bushes. 

              

“Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it’s not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize. For all those men who say, “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?”, here’s an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it’s not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!” ― Frank Kaiser

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A star, not on the forehead

05 Sunday Feb 2023

Posted by in Daily Life, Mosaic and other crafts

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“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Happy Sunday everyone!

I go to the mosaic studio twice a week, so I am always working on something.  Often, even before I finish a project, I already have an idea of what I am going to work on next.  This time I didn’t.

Looking around the studio I decided to do a star.  But the star shapes we had there didn’t appeal to me, so I decided to use a square frame and draw a star.

Very often, the end project is very different from my initial intention, for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes my initial idea is too ambitious (not in this case), sometimes the materials are not doing what I need them to do, sometimes I lose interest and I just want to get it done to start something else.

It is easy to dream up something… getting it done is the hard part.

I love doing mosaics, and the studio is my happy place,  but there are times that I only focus on the result and not in the process.  Mosaics is a my constant reminder to enjoy the journey and to stop focusing only on the destination.

I am, and forever will be, a student of mosaics and life.

Here is the star I made.  It is done with colored glass, and some small mirror tiles. I used black grout, instead of something lighter, to make more of an impact.  In the end it is not what I initially had in mind, but still I am happy with it.

“I know that I am mortal by nature, and ephemeral; but when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies I no longer touch the earth with my feet: I stand in the presence of Zeus himself and take my fill of ambrosia” –  Ptolemy, Ptolemy’s Almagest

Holiday Season Anxiety: feeling the pressure to give the perfect gift

20 Tuesday Dec 2022

Posted by in Daily Life, Daily Message

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“A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.” ― Seneca

The holiday season gets me very anxious.  My source of anxiety is gift giving and tipping.  I think I have mentioned here before that I hate shopping.  I will do some online but I rather just put cash in an envelope.

But, how much?  For the personnel at my apartment building(8 people) and my office building (9 people) I have an excel spreadsheet that I keep track of how much I have given in the past.  I just update it.  Some people are gone, some new people have been hired.  Still, I obsess over it.

Do I give the same amount?  Do I adjust for inflation? Or do I adjust by how much they have helped me throughout the year?  If that is the case then I would give nothing to some.  In the end everyone gets at least what they got last year.  I have the feeling that I overtip, but I guess that is better than undertip.

What do I do about some people, such as my friends, that I cannot just put cash in an envelope?  My second go-to gift is a gift card.  But to where?  Starbucks?  Amazon? Or is that just lame?

I am one of those people that have good intentions.  Every year I plan on paying attention to people, to their conversation, likes and dislikes, so that on their birthday and at Christmas I will know what to give.  Big failure, I never put those plans in motion.  Pay attention to conversation?  That is so foreign to me.  I am too busy talking or thinking of what to say next.

“Thanks to my mother, not a single cardboard box has found its way back into society. We receive gifts in boxes from stores that went out of business twenty years ago.” ― Erma Bombeck

Tonight is my last night at the mosaic studio before Christmas, and I still don’t have a gift for the owner/teacher.  She is such an amazing person.  She is so thoughtful and giving. Throughout the year she has given me little things here and there just because.  She already gave me a couple of things for Christmas.  I need to find the perfect gift for her, not only because of those gifts but because of the joy she gives me by having the mosaic studio. Her guidance and joy is priceless.

The clock is ticking… I can probably buy myself some time and announce that I have something coming, but its arrival is late.  Yes, I am considering lying and blaming the mailman.  I will probably just come clean and tell the truth: I don’t know what to give, so I freeze.

I am always hoping that people don’t give me anything, because the pressure to retribute is immense.  The more thoughtful their gift is, the more anxious I get.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love to give.  The moment I know someone needs something I am the first one to give/donate.  I struggle with coming up with ideas for people that have everything.  My problem is feeling the pressure to find the perfect gift.

For some new acquaintances I like to give a bag with 3 of my favorite books: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, and The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.  I also bring soaps and lotions with natural ingredients from Brazil as gifts.  Perhaps there is a bit of thoughtfulness in me after all.

Happy gift giving and receiving to you all! I have some more obsessing to do.

“Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it’s much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world!” ― Neil Gaiman

Freedom, not loneliness

29 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by in Daily Life, Daily Message, Finding Me

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“You can change the place you live, your clothes, your interests, your friends, your religion and even your partner. However, if you forgot to change your mind, attitude, beliefs about the world, how you treat people and how you plan to be different this time around, why did you even bother?” ― Shannon L. Alder

After 5 years of living with me, my sister moved into her own place. It was not planned.  It happened very quickly.

I was 17 years old when I moved to NY.  She stayed in Brazil.  For the next 34 years we would see each once or twice a year.  In 2017 she got her Green Card and came to live with me. 

We are both fiercely independent Aries, loving our freedom and independence. Living together came with some adjustments.   Apparently I was doing a lot things wrong until she got here and showed me how to do it correctly 🙂  We both think we know it all! Things were better than expected though, we settled in a nice rhythm, and 5 years went by.

My tenant moved out on June 15, and I decided to sell the condo.  No more tenants for me.  I took my sister there to see it for the first time.  She fell in love with it.  

She is now my tenant while she saves more money for an official down payment.  She has been saving and investing since she got her first job here, so it will not take long.  I am extremely proud of her for being in the position to own something of her own here in the US.

We are both very excited to have our own spaces again, but she won’t be far.  We are in the same building. She is only a floor away. 



THE ABOVE CARTOON SAYS:
You get home, make coffee, sit on your favorite chair and there is no one…
You are the one that decides if that is loneliness or freedom.

So now I have my second bedroom back.  It is a good size bedroom, but I have so many ideas for it, that I will need 5 additional bedrooms to do it all.

Guest/Mom’s room- I will need a day bed or a sleep sofa. Comfy, but stylish.

Library/Reading corner -I will need a bookshelf and a comfy chair.

Mosaic studio – I will need a table and storage space for the materials.

Exercise corner – I will need to buy an elliptical. Need space to store mat, elastic bands, weights, etc. There are 2 closets, but I rather have those items easy, ready to use.

Sauna corner – need a space for my sauna blanket.  I am tired of rolling and unrolling it to use. And somewhere to place it – on the floor is not that comfortable.  Perhaps I will use the daybed when I get it or some small futon.

If you know me, you know I am a saver and not a spender, so I am not running out and buying a bunch of stuff to fill the room.  Specially after I take a look at my investments-scarily low. I will take my time.

“Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.” ― Maya Angelou

https://www.instagram.com/blessedwithastar/?hl=en

 

Friends are the ornaments that light up my life

13 Sunday Dec 2020

Posted by in Daily Life, Daily Message, Finding Me

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“The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

(written yesterday)

Today I woke up feeling so grateful – even more than usual.  Today, I am especially grateful for friends.  It is said that if a man has friends he is rich.  In that case, I am a billionaire. Not in the amount of friends, but in the quality of my friends.

I am grateful for old trusted friends, but today I feel specially blessed for the new friends that the Universe surprises me with.

Some people appear out of nowhere.  They are gifts.  All of a sudden they are standing by the door to your heart.  You welcome them and they fit right in, as if they belonged there all along.

They come bearing acceptance, promise, possibilities and so much love.

“There’s not a word yet, for old friends who’ve just met.” ― Jim Henson

Friends are lighthouses.  They represent guidance and safety just by being there.  No matter how far apart they are or how long in between conversations, they know you are there, and you know they are here.

A friend claps when you win.  A friend cries when you lose.

Above all, a friend inspires.  New friends wake you up to new potential.  They see you in a brand new light.  The see the “you” that you don’t see in yourself yet.

New friends are hidden gems, buried treasures, winning tickets, unnamed stars.

Thank you K (N), my sweet, darling Canadian friend, for coming into my life and breathing new air into it.

“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.” ― Linda Grayson – (or macarons 🙂

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Monica at https://brilliantviewpoint.com/2020/12/16/a-christmas-surprise-at-the-mailbox, suggested I make mosaic ornaments. By chance I had done them last Saturday.

I am posting them here unfinished.  Glitter is missing in a lot areas – I couldn’t tell until they dried.  I also need to Dremel the sharp edges.  I can’t finish them at the studio because the studio is closed until further notice.  Thank you covid! 😦

“Friendship … is born at the moment when one man says to another “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .” ― C.S. Lewis

“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.” ― Jane Austen

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”
― Rumi