Brave New world

What did I do with my life before I got a laptop. We have had a computer for many years-maybe 13? We have lived back in the Lawrence area for 6 years+ and I played Everquest for 3+ years in Pratt and we had a very low profile ACER for a few years before the Dell came. At least 12 years. A laptop is completely different. It is the mobility, portability (is that the same thing?), it's power-for sure!, I understand it for one. Maybe it is the right thing at the right time in my life. Change is here for sure. Anyway-we got the laptop in the fall-after the wreck? Katie came and set-up my itunes for me. That was an eye-opener. What a gift! Although I still can't find the Kingston Trio Christmas Album. 16 other Kingston Trio albums-but not that. I think it was called '12 Months of the Year'. We kids loved that album. Well-so I bought some itunes-one hurdle jumped. I joined Netflix. Yum. I order alot of bollywood movies esp with Shah Ruhk Khan. So much fun! And I can watch alot of old British comedies and movies instantly on my computer. Katie gave me an older Nikon camera that was refurbished? reconditioned? from Kelsie..last summer. But I lost the battery recharger. I ordered a new one before Christmas. And then I got reinterested in beads this last summer. Katie (again) said 'If you want to make jewelry, you ought to open a site on etsy'. Then she told me all about etsy. and you know what-everything was in place when I had the wreck and quit my job and they did not hire me back. The camera, the laptop, the beads, the etsy knowledge. I started. So now-I take pictures and place them in folders. I created my Etsy shop Gamut. I have a facebook page, I blog, I itune, I play Dragon Age Origins. As well as shop, learn, explore the world. Thank you Laptop.

Connections

We are all connected. So deeply. The older I get-the more I notice it. When I was nursing on a hospital floor we would get the 'special' of the week. We would see a higher percentage of urinary tract infections or increased pain or wounds. We would see trends and cycles. Recently someone remarked how there was a big increase in sales on Etsy last week 'across the board'. Why is that? It affected my sales too. I had 8 days without selling anything then sold 7 things in 5 days. It isn't local, it isn't seasonal. People buy from around the world-I sent things to people in US, Canada, Germany and Australia last week. I haven't looked to see what cycle of the moon we were in last week. Medical people are highly superstitious of full moons. I do know that through the bad weather and the season still being winter-I felt a change in the air...spring breathed on me from far away. As people will say 'I saw a light at the end of the tunnel.'Hmmm. I said it wasn't seasonal. I think of Christ saying whatsoever you do for your sister-you do for me. Spiritual in the best sense. Our Spirits-or should I say our SPIRIT. Love us.

Icy Day Joys

Why do I feel guilty when I love bad weather days? The way I was raised and the person I am I suppose. I think of the truck drivers, the cows in the fields, the homeless under the bridge and I shiver for them. As for me and my house we are all snug inside a clean house with left over party food and nothing to do but read and eat and whatever else we feel like. There is no-'I have to do yardwork or got to go shopping or a good day to do whatsever. Nope-trapped inside like a kid who is grounded in his room and is secretly overjoyed because that is where he likes to be anyway. I plan on working at my craft table-yippee! Making steampunk necklaces today and whatever else pops in my head. Bliss. So-to all you who have to be out and about-you have my prayers and wishes for safe homecomings. To the cows-huddle and think spring thoughts. To you homeless-may my heart be burdened to be more involved in your welfare-stay safe and find warm places.

Cleansing

Today it rained. Not snow or ice-but a real rain-a very cold rain at 33 degrees F. Just one point above freezing. Still it was rain. 17 days past mid-winter the world starts to prepare for spring by cleansing with water and fire. Here in Kansas it is literal with spring rains and the burning of the fields. Makes me think of Imbolc and Bridgit and of course Jesus. We are ourselves cleansed with water and fire. I love cycles. And wonder about other places. The desert. The artic. The jungle. How the wheel of the year is presented to them, what lessons they draw from the cycles around them. Life, death, renewal. Wouldn't those be important lessons? A real reason to travel. May my life be strong, may I dream great dreams, may I learn and deepen.

Funny

I make jewelry. It's funny. I make jewelry to sell. Even funnier. I love it. At first I told my family "It is a hobby" or "just for fun". It is fun. Comprehensive. Encompassing. Get up early without feeling tired and excited about my shop fun. When I posted my first pieces-I cried. I loved it that much. Collecting materials I find beautiful, weird, unique. Making pieces. I don't want to be a cookie cutter jewelry maker. Taking the pictures. Angles, props, what will catch the buyer's attention? Writing the descriptors-how personal, how funny, how weird and still describe the piece accurately? Using my husband as my spellcheck. He is always right btw. Pricing. Accounting. Profiling. Etsy community and resources. Starting a blog. Budgeting-learning the value of real earned money. It is alot harder to make $100 this way. Putting myself on the line. Packaging and mailing. Sticking with my promise to mail within 48 hours. Hoping. Thanking the divine I am in a position where I can do this.

In My Blood

My grandmother taught me to knit when I was 8. My other grandmother had the button box-we strung buttons to make necklaces. She recycled clothing to make room sized braided rugs and painted her own patterns on her linoleum. Grandma Grace made alot of our clothes-she had a dresser drawer filled with just zippers. Her garage was an original pottery barn. Full of molds, slip, paint and a kiln. She did just about everything incl. crochet giant fancy tablecloths out of thread. Aunt Carol was the Embroidery Guild of Oklahoma City President-she traveled with a trunk of embroidery threads. Aunt Marian made beautiful porcelean dolls. My mother's grandmothers both quilted-for income. Every girl and some of the men in my immediate family knit. Every winter we gather and share knitting and talk, eat and laugh or cry. Go to a movie? Grab your knitting. Have to sit through a faculty meeting? Don't forget your knitting. Sports event-knitting is the bag. Yes-had a ball of yarn roll down to the front of the auditorium at my 22 year old son's opera he was in at KU. At least it is easier to carry around than the full size quilts I used to lug with me to hand quilt. Beads-I have been buying beads for 20 years? Started slow. Stopped at times. Love to haunt thrift stores the best-weird unique stuff. I also like estate sales and auctions-but not garage sales as much. We girls get together during blue moons and 'bead'. Everyone loves it. Once had a beading party with my quilt guild-they used whatever beads they wanted for free. Um. Lots of beads made people happy that night. I dont buy clothes, I dont buy stuff for the'house'. I buy colors and shapes and textures-whether beads, fabric, yarn and stuff. I bought SO MUCH FABRIC during the 90's and early 00's. How much? I sold fabric for 1$ a yard at a quilt show-I made $400. Ouch. We will talk about OCD and starving people another time. What's the point? Making stuff is in my blood.

My Day Job

I didn't quit my day job. Never had a day job. I was a night hospice and home health nurse. Occasionally I would do a weekend day. I worked for a local Home Health and Hospice Agency and loved my job. Things change. Planets orbit, time warps and moves. Our family dynamics changed. I was starting to get run down. Infections. Then one night I got hit by a car that ran a red light at a major intersection. I hit my head and it totaled my Subaru Forester. Loved that car. That was the last straw. I needed some time off. Off off. Any nurse will tell you they always need you. They hate to do it, but there will always be that call pleading you to come in 'just this one time.' So I quit. For awhile. I had a dent in my head, no car, tooth infection, tired. On the last day of the year I bought a KIA Soul. Great car-I was ready to go back to work! Called in-great! Come in in 3 days and talk with us. Boom. Not cozy. We will call you next week, Monday or Tuesday. No call. Call on Wednesday-sorry, we don't need you at this time. I was messed up-still am some. I had been a nurse for 14ish years. My bosses always loved me. I burned my bridge. Now I know an experienced nurse can get a job. The prn on-call night job was perfect for my current family situation...hard to replace.

Begin

Creation is messy. The focus is not on order. It is hot to make it. To forge. To strike literally while the mind and hands are hot. I like the clean-up too. Organizing is part of the cool down, relax the mind, go on auto-pilot. Soothing. Seeds are planted as beads are put away, colors pass, components brush by each other and think 'let's get together.'