Tots & Tornadoes

We woke to picture like this on the news.  How scary.  We thought the worst of the weather was going to miss us, but alas... Snow, it misses us all winter.  Tornado warnings, not so much. 

The sirens started ringing.  We gathered blankets, pillows, flashlight, computer, and set off for the bathroom.  (Someday I'll get that house with a basement.)  Jonah thought this was a lot of fun.  We'd never hung out in the bathroom floor.  

Then, it was a lot of work.  Local news, NOAA, Weather Channel, Texts.  It was a lot for a 10 month old to keep up with.  

After 35 minutes the novelty and enjoyment wore off.  He was tired, hungry and confused.  

Thank goodness soon we were able to come out of the bathroom safe and sound.

Joe had a nap and some lunch...  And all was well again.  

Hope everyone stayed safe today.  Can't wait to hear from Daddy and big brother when they get home.

Signing Off The Air,

Tots & Tornadoes

Trying

"God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try."
~ Mother Teresa ~


Sometimes when I feel stressed I find comfort in words.  Tonight, it was Mother Teresa.  There is so much truth in these words.  I can so easily become let down or discontent with unsuccessful endeavors.  But I really think she was on to something... T.R.Y.


I have often said anything worth doing in life is challenging.  I still believe that. But often the task seems too daunting.  At times I feel unqualified or not knowledgable enough...  
So, I don't try.  
Or I feel afraid to try.  
Or embarrassed to try.  


But really, it all goes back to Jonah.


Not my son, the other Jonah.  The one that was swallowed by the whale.  


Jonah was afraid to try.  So, God gave him a little push... 






Sometimes I can try to ignore my push.  Roadblocks slow me down and it is easy to want stop.  


Fear of the unknown
Fear of the change
Fear of the next step.


Martin Luther King Jr. said faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the stairs.  
I want to do that.  I want to move forward.


But change is hard. Sometimes.
It must be done.


So, it's time to try.  Because like Mother Teresa said.  


It isn't always about success.   
It's just about the effort.
It's about the 'try'.    
It is about the journey.


I pray that wherever this path leads me.
I follow it in faith.
Making a difference 
for others. 

I'm Published! :-)

Wow, I am sorry to have just dropped off the face of the Earth for a couple of weeks.  You can rest assured that quite in blog land usually = way to busy in my real world.  But it was a wonderful kind of busy.

Writing is something I've always enjoyed.  Mostly, just for me.  Until I had children... then it was for them.  Which leads me to today's post.

I published a book!

Okay, Okay, so its just self published.  Anyone could do it.  After a couple of emails, meetings and discussion with my very dear friend, Heather, I learned of lulu.com  I have to say in the past I have uttered the phrase that I would never self publish a book.  If it was good enough surely one of the literary agents I've been sending writing to for the past five years would pick it up, right?  

Now, I'm not sure if I'll ever get that call...  Also, with this last round of query letters I realized several of the literary agents on my list were either out of the business or no longer accepting clients.  These were the big name agents, too.  Heather helped me realize how the publishing industry is changing due to electronic formats...  thinking of  what is happening in the music industry this made sense to me.   But most importantly, Heather helped me realize my motivation.

Why did I really want this work published?  Was it worth the wait for 'someday'?

After soul searching and conversations/encouragement from my family and friends I decided...

"No, it's not worth waiting."  I can make now my someday.

These are stories I can use now...   not on someone else's time frame.

So, I published on lulu.com    The only thing I had holding me back was the illustrations.  I found a photo editor program that I liked and learned to convert digital photos to cartoons.

Problem solved.

I'll post more details soon (maybe later today, the baby is needing his mommy right now) about the book(s).

I'm proud that I've done this because it was such a fun process and I learned a lot.  With that said, for some reason I'm still embarrassed to share this with others?

Why in the world is that?  I think it is because I still think it was not 'really' published.

I'm finding that the more I share it on Facebook (and maybe on here) or in person with my friends, the more confident I feel.   (More of this story when I talk about Elijah's book.)

Anyway, thanks for reading my self publishing rambles.  Stay tuned, I'll be posting more details soon.

Poor you,

So,

I used to think

poor you,

poor you - to live a life

with no

me and

no mine.

But,

today it hit me.

It is not really

poor you

with no

me and

no mine.

Because,

I see now

that was never

your path.

Your feet were always

fated for another journey.

So,

now it’s clear to

me

that it was never

poor you,

poor you without me and mine.

As it was always your journey, too, 

all of this time.