Nature at its best and worst

Did your curiosity ever get the better of you? And were you able to conquer a fear?

We've seen cicadas flying about lately. Liam and I found a live cicada on the ground. 

 I picked it up and asked if he wanted to hold it. At first he said, "NO!" Then he saw it crawling in my hand and asked, "Will it bite?" I assured him it would not, so he asked to hold it. He was thrilled.

"Wow, Nana, his legs are spikey." He meant, sticky. I explained they are sticky so the cicada can cling to trees and other things. I told him he might find cicada shells on trees, as they shed them and emerge anew. Sort of like when a caterpillar leaves its "old clothes" in the cocoon and comes out a butterfly with wings.

At the park he told everyone the cicadas were going to leave their old clothes on trees. He and his little buddies searched the trees for cicada "clothes," but he found a painted rock, instead. Science and nature in your own backyard. Sometimes folks are in a big hurry and don't slow down long enough to discover the little things.

Are you trying new things? If you are a writer, are you considering a new genre or submitting to new venues? I have been stretching my wings, and waiting for a response from five publications. Waiting is the hard part. Writing is easy. Read about a hurricane at the link below.

http://sasee.com/2018/09/01/call-of-the-osprey/ Click on this safe link to read my latest story in Sasee Magazine. 

Seek and you shall find?

Does it ever feel like you're searching in the dark? The scope of your vision is limited? No matter where you shine your light you cannot locate the elusive?

Well that's how it's been all day here. I have a self-imposed rule of 5-7. If I do not send off that many submissions per month, I am upset with myself and have no one else to blame. Well, as you know, the end of the month is imminent and I have been writing, revising, seeking markets, searching high and low for paying markets.

Just when I spotlight a market perfect for my submission, I find in small print there is a service fee of at least $3.00. Or the deadline was last night at midnight. Worse case I had all the blanks filled in on Submittable when a header popped up stating they were NOW closed for submissions, had received enough material. ARGH!

On a good note, I have submitted six pieces, and one more day to seek and find. By the way, those Seek and Find word books give me a headache. LOL

Chicken Soup for the Soul has extended their deadline for Grandparent Stories and I think also Mom Knows Best.

But-but-but butt...

Charlie is three weeks old.

At first, all he did was snooze and eat, but now Charlie is awake and alert more, and he is interested in people and his surroundings.

Liam started preschool/daycare two days a week and is making an adjustment, but he is so tired.

Alex is changing in appearance as he is getting his top teeth. He is quite miserable but oh so cute.

Bill has been going to physical therapy for sciatica pain in his lower back and leg. He completed his morning floor exercises and walked down the hall rubbing his rear end.

I asked, "What's wrong? Are you in pain?"

"No," he said,  "I'm just feeling to see if I'm developing a Kardashian butt."

I'm not in diapers, YET!

Instead of posting more photos of my "great" boys, I am going to talk about how life is a great big circle. You start out in life like baby Charlie, toothless, completely helpless, totally dependent, and in the end, you're right back to square one. In the beginning and at the end you have difficulty walking just like Alex. Hubby is at therapy right now.

Alex is learning to walk, giving it his best effort like Paw-paw... both holding onto things for support.  He's cutting top teeth, one is his incisor. Hubby just got rid of a tooth he's had for 7 decades!

I'm thinking specifically about myself, though. When I was a baby I wore cloth diapers which my dad dunked in the toilet, and my mom washed out and hung on the clothes line with wooden clothes pins because there weren't dryers back then. I imagine those diapers were a bit scratchy, but can't say I remember. I wore rubber pants over my diapers. Not leak proof by any means, but better than nothing.

When my kids came along in the '70s, I vowed to cut something out of the grocery list if necessary, in order to afford Pampers. Disposal diapers were the newest baby product along with the Playtex Nurser, with "a nipple just like mother herself."

Now with environmental awareness, many moms are back to using cloth diapers. And most moms these days provide breast milk, an elixir for newborns.

Everything seems to complete a circle. I am not in diapers (yet) but I am back to wearing rubber-like pants. I just finished hand washing and hanging my stretchy black Capris and jeans made of Lycra and spandex, almost feel like rubber when I wash them.

You knew I couldn't resist. Here are the Three Musketeers.

 Liam discovered a small waterfall in the park and was launching rocks down the "rapids." His vocabulary is superior to most four-year-olds, and he talks ALL the time.

Alex couldn't decide on a carrot for teething or his bottle. He babbles ALL the time.

 Charlie, at two and half weeks smiles and responds to voices. We have three talkers. Pity their mom and dad. They all have blue eyes, but different hues of blue.

I've been babysitting Liam and Alex  a few days each week since their mama came home, thus my absence. Thank you for reading my posts. 

What 's your load?

Here's to motherhood!

Liam has a cold; Alex is teething, getting his top teeth all at once; Charlie eats every hour or two, and mama has had little sleep. Thank goodness for grandmas! I will be spending my days this week with Ashley and the boys. My daughter was her support system this weekend. Women need women as friends, confidants, and helping hands. Embrace the chaos. It will pass.

I call them Sneezy, Teethy, Pee-pee, and Weepy, but shhh! don't tell my granddaughter, Nana's girl. Life can pile up on you, take you on a ride you didn't expect. Life is unpredictable. One thing at a time! 

You may feel overwhelmed, too. If you are a writer, you may feel like you are being pulled in all directions. You have an idea or a thought, and you just don't have the time to jot it down, much less develop it. By the time you do have the time and try to recapture it, poof! Vanished.

There are times when you will feel like giving up or giving in, but believe in yourself, and KNOW THIS TOO SHALL PASS! Take one thing at a time. "Chunk it" we teachers used to say when there was so much to do and so little time to do it. A little at a time, or you will burn out. 

Whether it's your work load or your wash load, you can get through it if you do a little at a time. Don't be afraid to reach out.

He arrived!

 Ashley was in labor all day AT WORK.  She was in no hurry because she was sent home with false labor last week. This time the contractions did not stop.

She  called at 8:00 p.m. and said  she was heading to operating room at 8:30 p.m.

 When the doctor held the baby up to show mama, he clutched the sterile drape.  He weighed 8 lbs 10 ounces and was 20 and 1/4 inches long. And did I say CUTE?!

 I cannot believe I feel the same kind of emotional and deep love all over again.

 Look at this pudgy little guy. He is a jabberer already, and grins. He has blue eyes. He was in a milk coma here, but he is very alert and precious.

 Liam was thrilled to see his baby brother. He  is such a loving little boy.

 Daddy Justin introduced Alex, and he nearly climbed up his daddy's arm trying to avoid Charlie.

 But once we were all in the room settled in, Alex was very interested; Liam was very protective, and Nana Tracey was very thrilled with our precious new baby boy.

 Liam NEEDED his mommy and asked to be close to her. So she snuggled him, too.

He cried at bedtime when he was tucked in at my house and at Nana Tracey's. We showed him the photo of him and his mommy and he said, "That is just what I needed. Thank you." He is such a sweet, sensitive little guy.

 He and Alex are inseparable. They are forever giggling, wrestling, and playing together. Just wait a few months when Charlie is tumbling and rolling with them. God bless baby Charlie.

Oh what a miracle!

Charlie arrived last night. I have photos to download and stories to tell. Please come back tomorrow and meet the little pudgie doll boy.