A Poem: On Poetry

Poetry: fusion.

Emotion and will

tumbled together

balanced on the precipice

of insanity

begging for the strength

of inspiration

to pull itself up again.

Poetry: creation.

Strange animal

devouring wildly

the ambiguities of language

in attempt

to clarify the depth

of desire

which ravishes men.

(Please note: this is my own original work.  Use or reprinting without permission is a copyright infringement.  Thank you!)

Overdue

As a dear friend pointed out to me this evening, this blog post is long overdue, just like my library books were when I was a kid and didn't understand the concept of a calendar.  Nowadays, a calendar is my best friend.  Things change.  

Yep, things are always changing.  There is always some new challenge, joy, or obstacle to respond to.  My life has been full of these changing situations and challenges in the past few months. Let's see:

Foot injury - but you've already heart about that, so I won't elaborate.

Being able to walk, run, and drive again after 2 months.  WOW!  It's such an amazing feeling, and I have come to be much more thankful for my feet.  FEET ARE SO IMPORTANT!  :)

A new semester at school, new classes with new professors, a new major - for once in my educational career I am being really truly challenged.  And how do I know that?  Because I am really having to reach deep down inside myself and stretch in order to get my work done and to understand what I am learning.  It seems like a huge stretch right now.  But I am fascinated by the writings of the Early Church Fathers and how the Catholic Christian faith has remained so steady and solid in its traditions, which in turn are rooted firmly in Scripture.  And I am looking forward to doing research and writing a paper on the topic of the importance of Chiropractic care during and after pregnancy.  The cool thing is that this topic goes hand in hand with another class I am taking: Human Embryology.  It's amazing, isn't it, how cohesive our lives become when they are immersed in Christ.

Yes, situations are always changing.  And sometimes habits too.  The fact is, I have consistently stayed up later this semester than I did last year.  Oh dear.

Goodnight, blogosphere.  

Quotable Quotes

Just for fun, here are the best sibling sayings from the past week....

"But MOM....every time I dust it grows back!"  Gabe was complaining that Mom was being too picky about his dusting job.

"That thing is so awesome!" said Kevin, after taking a shower with the newly installed hand-held shower head.  "I'm gonna take a shower everyday now!"  Let me tell you, it has been one long battle to get this kid to shower every day!

Happy Tuesday!

Ridin' the Roller Coaster

"Life is like a roller coaster - it has its ups and downs - but it is your choice to scream or enjoy the ride." 

- Unknown 

The month of June has definitely held its share of ups and downs for me.  Or rather, God is taking me on one heck of a roller coaster ride.  Sometimes it is difficult, but I know that His promise is true: "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."  (Jeremiah 29:11).  Here is a little glimpse at what has gone on in my life in the past few weeks.

On June 16, the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, my dear Aunt (who was also my Godmother) died after suffering for a long time with cancer.  Her children and husband were all able to be there around her as she died.  Praised be God for her life, her prayers, and her suffering, which I know were often offered for our whole family and for the work of the Apostolate for Family Consecration!  I will miss her often, especially since I was just beginning to appreciate her and all that she did.  But I know she will do much more for us in heaven!  :)  "But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him."  (Romans 6:8)

YAY!  I'm on crutches!  I know this little icon guy doesn't look too much like me, but he was the best I could do on short notice.  Maybe one of these days I will get around to taking a picture of myself on crutches for the blog.  ;)  

Anyways, by now you are probably wondering why I am on crutches.  Well, the truth is, I didn't see this hill coming  (in reference to the roller coaster).  On Friday night we had a really bad storm and I was running out of the rain into our garage, slipped on the concrete, and cut the top of my foot on the bottom of the grill.  Don't ask me how I managed that one...it just happened.  Anyways, several of my tendons were sliced (ouch), so I will be going in for surgery on Thursday and hobbling around on crutches for who knows how long.  *sigh* It's hard not to be active when it is suddenly taken away from you!  Please keep me in your prayers, as I am a little nervous about the surgery...it's the first (and I hope last) time I'll have had surgery.

And, to end this thing on a hopeful note, I have a funny story and a funny video to post very soon!  Also, being laid up gives me an excuse to blog more often.....just saying'...

The Incredible Versatility of a Croquet Mallet

Summer is a time when my family loves to play games together outdoors.  Friday evening, after a lazy dinner (Chipotle) on the patio, we decided to play a calm game of croquet.  Now, anyone who has ever played croquet, knows that there can sometimes be a bit of waiting involved.  My siblings and I, while waiting our turns, began to discover other uses for our mallets.  Some of them involve a little imagination, but try your best to see what we were getting at....

1)  A guitar (or banjo) - this is (by far) the most obvious and popular thing to do with anything that has a handle (broom, shovel, croquet mallet, etc.)

2) A jackhammer - I was really impressed when my sister came up with this use.  I never would have thought of that.

3) An umbrella - "The weather is looking pretty bad today, isn't it?"  *said with a British accent*

4) The pendulum on a grandfather clock - tick tock tick tock

5) A crutch (or a cane)

6) A grappling hook - I didn't even know what a grappling hook was...my family had to explain it to me.  Basically, it is a 4 pronged hook attached to a rope.  You throw it and it hooks onto things like walls and mountains.  Then you can climb up them.

7)  An anchor

8)  An oar - or as my brother G said, "It's a row!"  Hehe

9)  A hammer - not a very creative use of a mallet

10) A hitching post - picture the mallet with the handle side stuck into the ground and a horse and buggy tied up to the mallet part

11) A machine gun - well duh.  Boys always turn things into guns.  It's no different with my three brothers.

12) An axe - "TIMBER!"

13) A wagon handle

14) A bicycle handlebar

15) A pump trolley - one of those railroad cars that has two pump handles that propel it down the track

16) A jet ski - specifically the handle bars.  This is similar to the bicycle concept

17) A car shift, a train lever, or an airplane throttle

I think we had more fun imagining what our croquet mallets could be than we did actually playing the game!  Go figure!

My brother and I playing our croquet mallet instruments.  

Photo by my sister.

Worth It

One of my summer jobs is to get one of my uncle's buildings ready for new renters.  Now, this place used to be a greasy pizza joint, and hasn't been cleaned in.....a really long time.  Needless to say, this job has been an experience (for lack of a better word).  The past eight business days have held tasks such as: power washing the floors, scrubbing the walls and ceiling (in preparation to paint) and scraping wall paper.  I will spare you, gentle reader, the gory details.  :)

You may be wondering: do I like this job?  The answer is no, not especially.  But it is worth it.  Why?  Because I want to study abroad next year and this job is helping me make that dream a reality.  The tediousness and grossness of this job are going to pay off.  All of that will be forgotten when I am able to visit the heart of Christendom in the Vatican, the early martyrs in the catacombs, the places Our Lady appeared at Fatima and Lourdes, the shrine of St. Philomena, the green shores of Ireland, and so many other places that I have dreamed of seeing.  Yes, it will be worth it.

Mother's Day Cards

Here are pictures of the Mother's Day cards that I made for my aunt (who is also my godmother) and grandmothers.  I used several different sizes of scrapbooking punches (in a flower shape), scrapbooking paper, and card stock.  

In the two blue ones, I put heart and flower shaped confetti and wrote "A shower of flowers and love on Mother's Day!"  (That idea came from my mom.)

Don't worry, this isn't going to become the internet's next most popular craft blog.  But, that being said, I DO like arts and crafts....so this probably will not be the last time you see something like this on my blog. Warning given.