Faint Whispers of Spring

So the Midwest is a harbinger of blowy snowy weather. Pictured above is a vase of my favorites: roses, sage, and delphinium. It's a bit of hope on such a blustery cold day! Pictured below is Kansas today. 

Coffee, words, and yarn are what's on today's agenda. Haha! 
I started a new knitting project last night a scarf. It's a chartreuse color, which I absolutely adore, mostly because WHO DOESN'T LOVE SAYING CHARTREUSE! It's a neat color too, I think. 

As I write I'm wearing a knitted hat, I made, with a cabled ring in the same yarn. Quite a topical color I think! I also like periwinkle, which again is a beautiful color but oh so fun to say! 




Now that I've surely confused my readers about odd sounding colors I'll proceed with the core topic of this post-- the paradoxical weather and the harbinger of Spring. 



With this Spring comes a completely new feeling as the creeping white periwinkle drips the dew of a brisk morning in my new city. This new feeling of independence is so reviving like a sweet summer wind full of the faint smells of flowers and harvest. This Spring is full of so much promise as I dream about my honey and I dancing in the moonlight or visiting our favorite art museum. My heart is full!






I have found a very nice place to stay that I'm inquiring about, fingers crossed. Maybe, just maybe, I will be in my new city within the next week. Goodness gracious that would be a dream come true! I would be in a location stockpiled with jobs and the modern convenience of a grocery store, coffee shop and bookstore within walking distance. Funny how dreams work. I can't even count the songs I've listened to about dreams just staying dreams. It's quite a battle to dream freely. 

My readers make me happy as well! It is so nice to see that someone is reading my writing and that I'm not just throwing my words at a brick wall. So thank you! Cheers to a wonderful day! 

Morning Has Broken

As I cracked an egg into my mug of Vietnamese coffee I scanned the Classified's job section. Vietnamese coffee is made with eggs. In fact, the whole egg, shell included! Relaxing for me includes watching coffee videos on Youtube. 

                                Vietnamese coffee has a rich flavor of tiramisu. It's a great variation to the ordinary cup of Joe. Its layers are similar to custard and the taste is absolutely exquisite. Besides,  eggs have protein. If you're looking for that extra protein boost plus caffeine in the morning, then this might be your answer. The eggs used in this coffee are processed in boiling water so there is no need to be intrepid about the raw egg factor. 

Tasting coffees from all over the world is a favorite activity of mine. I have been experimenting with everything from Mexican to Vietnamese coffee preparation styles. Drinking coffees with preparation styles from all over the world is an exciting way for me to begin my day. I enjoy reading the paper in the morning, knitting and reading my Bible. I wake up way too early, generally speaking. Which, in a sense is a blessing and a curse. My mornings I try to be productive but recently I've been in rather a glitch. It seems that I'm stuck on trying to escape my ordinary life. I want a change of pace but I want to make an epic move in life. My grandmother, who's an amazing lady!, has a refrigerator magnet that says "Ordinary women did not go down in history." 

                                              Is being unordinary bad, I think not! So with my quirky early morning waking coffee habits, and my endless flame of new ideas and inspirations I'll travel on through this life being grateful for every day I'm blessed with. Thank God for Vietnamese coffee and early mornings!

"Winds in the East"

"Winds in the East storm comin’ in somethin’s a brewin’ about to begin.” This lyric is sung by Dick van Dyke, in Mary Poppins, as he is taking the children back to their home. These lyrics while at surface level might just seem catchy for a rainy day… actually, signify a change or shift in what’s happening for the Bank’s family. England’s Easterly winds come wet and cold weather perfect for staying inside, bringing change. Which provides Mary Poppins and her umbrella a perfect entrance to begin changing the household. This quote sung by Dick van Dyke has an underlying message to the children, is that you don’t have to be wealthy and rich to be happy. He is happy with the simple things of life. This message is furthered by the bird lady, who sings words simple and few collecting tuppence a bag for the birds. Hauntingly, beautiful, this movie is artistically a wonder. With that, “Let’s go fly a kite!”

When the Marigolds Bloom

When the marigolds bloom,
I will come to you.
I will sing from the ground.
My notes floating upward to your cracked window.

When the marigolds bloom,
We shall see each other
Dressed in our Sunday's best.
A white flower adorned at your chest.

When the Marigolds bloom,
The ages will pass
One slipped out the door.
For academia and the lights of sound and fury.
Two, three, four
Five, seven
They go.

When the marigolds bloom
We'll sit hand in hand.
Gazing over the waters of our youth.

Today is the Day the Lord has Made and we Will Invoice

Today is the Day the Lord has Made and we Will Invoice. Do you find yourself in the daily office grind? Or maybe at a factory or warehouse inside all day?


A vocation is not simply a calling to religious life but something that spans much deeper.
What is your career calling?


Huge question, right?

Wowzer, and a big one at that. Just about as big as that catfish we pulled from the river!

So a job. A career. A vocation.

Have you discerned your calling? Assessing what you can do, what you like to do and most importantly after prayer and reflection, what you feel called to do.

A wise Catholic friend of mine once gave me some solid prayer advice when I was deciding on a college. He said, in order to pray, initially, we must give thanks for the things we have and the graces God has blessed us with then pray for our intention.
Intentions can be anything! Remember God is infinite and Almighty.
Then humbly thank him for his time and all he's given you.


So back to our invoice situation.

Getting another job especially in this economy is tricky. The hard truth is, sometimes, there aren't a lot of jobs in your area.
And you aren't able to move due to finances.

So the reader decides I am stuck.

Well, are you?
Have you explored at home jobs?

Some popular ones are:

1. Call representatives

2. Website Designer/Graphic- you can try this at Canva.com

3. Travel Agents

4. Freelance writer: blogger.com, wordpress.com, PoetrySoup.com- start-up is fast and free.

5. Write for magazines: Finance, Business, Collectible, Urban Farming, Country Living: Go to the human resources page of your favorite magazine or newspaper and look at the job board there.

6. Sell books on Amazon using either an individual or professional account. 

7. Start a YouTube channel


8. Open an Etsy store


9. Start a farmers market stand:
And sell literally anything. Bags, recycled coin purses, paintings, pie and other baked goods, first check with your local city rules on this.
Meats, cheeses and dairy products generally require licenses. But specialty crafts are great ways to make a little loot!
Start a garden and sell your fresh vegetables, fruits or herbs to your neighbors or at the farmers market.

10. Volunteer
You can volunteer literally anywhere, your local library, rest home; for specialized programs check out websites like: Volunteermatch.org, Catholicvolunteernetwork.org, idealist.org. These may include stipend, medical insurance, transportation, loan deferment etc.


 I realize that this article is rather higgledy-piggedly, my apologies. I do hope you gained some quirky, if not useful ideas on finding income with what you have at hand and making a difference in someone's life.

For now folks, toodles!

Little Feet Walking on Moonlight

To be unknown
Washed up on some distant shore.
Little feet
Tiptoeing
To your side.

A piano stuck in cadenza.
A flute without sharps.

Little feet
Beckon you.
Leap, won't you follow me?

To be unknown
In some Ozark forest
To get glossed over
By the newspapers
Follow some unknown lead.

To be unknown
Searching for your destiny
Is it far?
The wanderer asks.

Shall we travel farther
Across the states
To rest in some
Foreign place.

To be unknown
Like a wooden cross
Half-made
Is it?

Little feet
Stumble to your
visit.
On the wavering moonlight.

To be unknown
Perhaps,
I'll go out on a limb.
Little feet travel on wards.

Maybe,
That's where all the apples are.

A Lost Sketch Worth your Time

Mollified beyond belief,

I reach for words.

To express my anger, confusion, wrought despair

Like a tiny gnat on a world map

Lost.

I write.

Sketch. Sketch. Sketch.

I sit, ink in hand

Scrolling letters

Lines, feathers, peacocks, and apples.

With my fine tipped brush.

With my lifted quill.

Sketch. Sketch. Sketch.

I think of life

And what it’s dealt me.

I think of distance, love, and struggle.

I write to compose my own justice.

I write to attain my own self-liberty.

Sketch. Sketch. Sketch.

Poetry, pastries, words, ink.

This is what I've accomplished so far.

What next?

I reach for a star

Plucked from the Heavens

I swear it seems that far.

To swing into the metropolis of cinema

Seems a far cry

A small dilemma

I cannot go there

I would struggle and lose hope.

Could inspiration and creation carry me that far?

A small dreamer.

I lift my quill and tuck it tightly into my pocket.

For another day.

My Two-Week Prayer Journey

Have you ever been on a pilgrimage? A pilgrimage is a journey that impacts your life. I am going on a journey of 14 days of intensive prayer. These prayer journeys are also called novenas which are nine days. My intention is to build my life vocation and strengthen my journey and direction that God has instilled in my heart. This journey is to build confidence and assurance that God is leading me in the direction that he feels best.
Often times it is easy to lose hope in Gods' plan and feel that we are lost or we've been forgotten.  But God is always listening and always watching over us. It is important for us not to lose hope when we feel forgotten but to strive for a closer relationship through prayer. That is why I would strongly recommend a prayer journey. This journey's intention can be anything: marriage, good grades, moving success, a successful exam or first day back at work. Whatever your intention this journey can be a life-changing experience.

Sunshine in the Fall

Sunshine in my pocket
Fear of falling
apart.
It's midnight
Somewhere.
Visit the lights
of sound and fury.

Flight Squad #27

Flight Squad #27
Call me in
shoot me
into your
atmosphere of possibility.

In the quiet hush
of stillness
I've kept on my
overgrown red plot
Ph7
I'm leaving
you
my red red plot.
I've earned some
and I've found my spot.

I'm leaving that
Urtica dioca.
Leaving it
to invade
St. John
my spade won't
be on.

A Vasco de Gama
Student, lover, vagrant
everything bad.
Confession
every Sunday
to be had.

Bike to church
in the pitch black.
That's what got me through
all that grimcrack.

Flight Squad #27
crashed in the sand.

No, not you or you or you
or even the party host.
But the trinity
Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

When One Door Closes Another Opens

                      In life we have struggles and depression: insanity and deliverance. As if many doors were opening and closing to introduce and dismiss new things into our lives, including: jobs, relationships and opportunities. When the world seems against you all the doors have been shut abruptly in your face, have hope for its here, in our most needy and vulnerable state that a new change occurs when least expected. Sometimes the doors are shut, but with patience and trust in God's goodness the door will be opened in the most unexpected manner.
9“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.