The Chore I Hate the Most

On February 20, 2018 By K. S. WattsIn Mom Life2 Comments

baby shoes

I hate to do chores. Well, that’s not really true. I hate the need to do chores. I procrastinate with all the other things that I need to do before I will resort to chores. Call it being messy, a slob, whatever. My step-mom even calls it “But First! Syndrome”. As in, I need to do the dishes, but first I need to answer emails. And then, I need to answer emails, but first I should really make that vet appointment the dog needs and check in on Suzy Q from church who just had her baby to see if she needs me to bring her dinner tonight. It usually ends up meaning I have a whole lot of half done chores and nothing to show for it.

However, once I really get into a chore, I love the productive feeling I get. That sense of pride that something is getting done. That’s what really drives me. Because when I’m done, I take a deep breath and feel better. And I don’t just feel better about my to-do list. I feel better in general. I accomplished something. It feels good.

So while I really dislike scrubbing the pots and pans, I feel good about it being done. I really don’t like to do dishes. Especially since it’s a never-ending cycle of scrub, dry, put away and then a few hours later, get back out, used to cook, and then have to scrub, dry, et cetera all over again. But I do it because, in those few hours between the new cleanliness and the start of the new mess, it feels good. Although, I might have, on occasion, gone out for dinner just to preserve the clean state of the kitchen for a few extra hours. Don’t even pretend you can’t relate.

I dislike doing the dishes, I dislike this particular chore on a level above the others. Still, it isn’t the chore I hate the most. The chore I hate the most is one I only have to do every couple of months. It’s one I’ll have to do every few months, sometimes weeks, for the next several years, and then one day, I won’t have to do it anymore.

I hate cleaning out my sons’ closets. Like all other chores, I love the feeling I get when I know I’m being productive. Unlike the other chores, I don’t procrastinate on this one. As soon as it’s time for one of them to move up to the next size because he has several other things that don’t fit, it’s time for the small stuff to make room for the bigger stuff. However, the feeling of pride over my productivity is often overshadowed by another feeling altogether.

With every piece of clothing I pull out of the drawer, or off the hangers, I realize just how quickly my children are growing up. I realize that those days that seemed long, were shorter than I thought. Those moments that seemed like they would never end, when one of them would cry and reach for me because he needed me to do every little thing for him, are getting fewer and fewer every day.

I get more chores done around the house now. I can scrub pots and pans, do laundry, and even cook simple meals without either of them having a conniption that I’m not standing or sitting right next to him every second. My house is cleaner. My to-do list reaches completion more often. They don’t need me to entertain them at all times because they have learned to entertain themselves and each other.

We still have play time together. We still have reading time together. They still need me to make meals, give baths, kiss boo-boos, and do all the other things that a small child needs a mom to do. But they already don’t need me all the time anymore.

With every pair of pants that is now too short or too snug, with every shirt that isn’t long enough, with every pair of socks that no longer completely covers little feet, one of my children has hit milestones that mean he is becoming more independent. He needs me less.

They are my sons. To some degree, they will always need me. Even if it is just to love them. But one day, that’s all they’ll need from me. And that is so very bittersweet. One day they will be grown. They will have jobs, homes we don’t share, possibly families of their own. They will have these things because each day we (I’m not in this alone, after all) teach them new skills. We teach them right from wrong. We are slowly, each day, teaching them not to need us. Not to need me.

There are still days, usually when I am carrying the youngest into church or the store, when I think, “Little man, you need to learn how to walk because you are getting heavy.” And then I know that one day he will be able to walk, run even, and I will chase after him and wish he was still small enough to carry. It’s already happened with his brother.

I open the box the old clothes go into and look at all the other outfits in it. He was so small once! I remember when he wore this. He woke up every three hours to eat and I felt like a zombie. I prayed he would sleep through the night so that I could, too. I remember when he wore that, he couldn’t crawl yet and would just roll across the floor to get to his destination, which was, more often than not, me. Now I put a new batch of clothes in the box. Ones that I will long for a few months from now. Ones that I’m sure I will weep over someday when I clean out the attic and this is not the only box of things they have both long since outgrown.

As a mother, the days can seem very long. You have laundry to wash. You have dishes to clean. You have floors to sweep or vacuum. You have shelves to dust, towels to fold, toys to pick up, and bills to pay. You have food to cook. You have emails and phone calls to answer. You have a million little things that you need to be doing and you have this little person, this beautiful, wonderful, adorable, hugely needy little person pulling at your pant leg. You wonder, will this phase ever end? And then? It does. It’s over. You still have a million things to do, but that little person isn’t as little anymore and is off doing something without you. It makes your to-do list easier, but your days are shorter. The years are shorter. And that breaks your heart.

I’m proud of every milestone my sons hit. I’m proud of every new thing they learn how to do. But I know just how fast time is going by. I know because those deep, wide boxes of clothes I have for each of them are almost full. I’ll have to start new boxes now. Another box to pack memories into and close the lid on.

Now, if you’ll excuse me I have chores to finish. I need to do the dishes, but first I think I’ll play with my sons a little longer.

Book Review: Dark Deeds (Book Two in the Class 5 Series) by Michelle Diener

On February 15, 2018 By K. S. WattsIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

Dark Deeds Cover

Fiona Russell was abducted from Earth and forced into manual labor aboard a ship of unfriendly aliens who beat her, mocked her, and tried to hide her very humanity. She was waiting to die. Until the day a group of murdering pirates boards her vessel and clocks her over the head.

Hot on the trail of those pirates is the handsome Grih Battleship Captain Hal Vakeri. Fiona is a human, which makes her only the second of her kind ever discovered in his region of space. He rescues Fiona, determined to take her back to Battle Center Headquarters and find out how and why she was abducted in the first place, not to mention bring her captors to justice.

But as soon as she gets on board his ship trouble starts. Long range communications are down, The investigation team hasn’t shown up at the rendezvous point, and there could be a traitor on board trying to kill the human who might know too much.

When someone kidnaps Fiona from right under his nose while his ship is docked at a way station, Hal goes after her. She was his charge, after all. It has nothing to do with how attractive she is or the way her singing captivates him so.

The trick is, when he is finally reunited with her, the question becomes who saved who? Before they can answer that question, they are thrown into a tangled web of secret hideouts, alien experiments, and political machinations that could spell trouble for the Advanced Sentient Beings across the galaxy. But alone and cut off from anybody who can help them, except a ship with a child’s personality, they may already be too late.

I did something so out of character for me that it still surprises me when I think about it. I read a book in a series out of order. This goes against everything inside me. It’s not right. And when I read Dark Deeds, I know why.

Because now I already know the plot of the first book in the series and I have been robbed of the chance to be as delightfully surprised by it as I was by the second. And you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll end up reading the third.

Not all of the aliens we meet are humanoid, the ship is a character, there’s a parrot with a foul mouth, it has a romance arc (but is still a clean read); what’s not to love?

My disclaimer over my love for this story is that I read it because it was suggested to me as a comp for a manuscript that I’ve written. So, clearly, I’m drawn to the themes and concepts.

I will say that at times the pacing felt a little off, and there are a couple of plot points I would argue are a little too convenient. But overall, if you are looking for a good, quick, sci-fi romance, this is a good choice.

Slicker Than Owl Shit and Other Colorful Southern Sayings

On February 13, 2018 By K. S. WattsIn Southern Stuff, Uncategorized5 Comments

I grew up in the South. I was born in rural Mississippi, lived for a brief few years in Florida during elementary and middle school, moved to Alabama as a teenager, came back to Mississippi for college, moved to Tennessee afterward, and now I’ve circled back to Mississippi again. Don’t get me wrong, I have lived other places here and there. I have traveled to other parts of the world and I have loved and appreciated beauty beyond my own backyard, but there is something about the South that always calls me back home. My roots are here, my family is here, and down here I don’t stick out like a sore thumb. Most of the time.

In the South, we learn there is always more than one way to do things. The cotillion and debutante ball crowd have a way of doing things, and the bumpkins from the backwater have another. Thanks to the strange and wonderful characters who dominated my childhood, I’m schooled in both. My mom was a debutante, but we were all from the backwater. I can bless your heart or butter your butt and call you a biscuit. I’m multi-talented like that.

In the South, we “bumpkins” tend to be particularly descriptive. We have to be. Satellite and GPS can’t find us, and there aren’t an abundance of street signs, so giving someone directions can take some very specific landmarks. Beyond that, there isn’t a lot to do in the middle of nowhere sometimes, so storytelling is in our blood. We sit around sharing anecdotes to pass the time. We could sit around telling stories that start off by saying it was hot, or we can talk about how it was hotter than blue blazes, hotter than a two dollar pistol, or hotter than the seventh circle of Hell. With all those options, hot doesn’t really seem to cover it anymore. Hot is boring. Hotter than a goat’s butt in a pepper patch is illustrative.

It works with cold, too. It might be freezing, but there is no need to use such mundane language. Not when you can say, “It’s as cold as a well digger’s ass in the Klondike out there!” Or, even, “It’s as cold as a witches tit in a brass bra in Wichita in the winter time!”

Of course, we have equally articulate sayings about topics other than the weather. For instance, if something is quite slippery, be it object or person, it is “slicker than owl shit.” Just how slick is that? Well, in the words of my own father, “Pretty damn slick.”

And if something is extremely rich and thick, it can be described as “three feet up a bull’s ass.” I’ve heard this used to describe decadent desserts. Ponder that for a moment.

We also have important words of wisdom to pass along to all who may need guidance in this world. And by guidance, I, of course, mean a huge old-fashioned reality check. Precious, timeless gems like “if you’re gonna be dumb, you better be tough,” and “the only place you will find sympathy around here is in the dictionary.” The latter of those two has an extended version, but I think I’ve already used enough curse words for one post. I do avoid them when I can.

And while you all know that someone who is caught off guard, and looks a little nervous looks like “a deer in the headlights”, they can also be “as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockin’ chairs.”

And we could tell someone to grow up and act like an adult. Or, and hear me out on this, you can tell them to put their big girl panties on and deal with it.

I have no earthly idea where these things originated, but when using a few of these quips in front of people who are not at all accustomed to my way of life, I have been met with more than few quizzical looks followed by “Excuse me?”

You should try it sometime. It’s fun.

crazy cocktail

Of course, don’t be fooled by the prim and proper way of saying things in these parts either. That little old lady from who you got directions back to the highway? When she said, “Bless your heart, I know you must be road weary,” what she really meant was, “You look like hell. Please get off my property before people start to think we know each other.”

I am sure there are other sayings from around the country, or even the world, which are equally hysterical and I assure you, I would love to know them. Please pass them on.

10 Things About Mississippi

On February 10, 2018 By K. S. WattsIn 10 Things on the 10th1 Comment

Today is the tenth! As promised, here is my first 10 things on the 10th post. Since it’s a quick turnaround, I’m going to share with you about something I already know a bit about–my home state of Mississippi! While there are far more than ten interesting tidbits I could share with you about Mississippi, rules are rules. So sit back and get your learn on.

Many people know that Morgan Freeman, Jim Henson and Oprah Winfrey were originally from Mississippi, but you may not know that Lacey Chabert and James Earl Jones are also from Mississippi, and Parker Posey–while not born there–grew up in Laurel, MS.

Again, while many know that athletic stars such as Archie Manning and Brett Favre are from Mississippi, you may not know that Cool Papa Bell–said to be one of the fastest players to ever play baseball–, Steve McNair, Travis Outlaw, Walter Payton, and Jerry Rice were all born in MS too.

Musicians from the state include 3 Doors Down, Lance Bass, Brandy, Ray J, Jimmy Buffett, Bo Diddley, Faith Hill, Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, Denise LaSalle, Elvis Presley–he moved to Memphis as an adult, but is from Tupelo, MS–, Leontyne Price, Charlie Patton, Charlie Pride, LeAnn Rimes, Conway Twitty, Muddy Waters, Tammy Wynette, and Hayley Williams. This list is, of course, not all-inclusive.

Root Beer, as we know it today, was invented in Biloxi, MS in 1898 by Edward Adolf Barq.

Barq's Plaque

The Teddy Bear gets its name from President Theodore “Teddy Roosevelt”. President Roosevelt was invited on a hunting trip in Mississippi. When the party caught a bear, they offered to let the President fire the kill shot, but he deemed the situation unsportsmanlike and refused to fire the shot. The toy, originally called “Teddy’s Bear” appeared on the market almost immediately after the story hit newspapers.

Burnita Shelton Matthews, the first woman appointed as a judge of a U.S. district court was from Mississippi.

Dr. James D. Hardy performed the first human lung transplant in 1963 in Jackson, MS.

The X-Men Comic Book character Rogue was a self declared Southern Belle from Mississippi.

S.B. Sam Vick from Oakland, MS played for both the Yankees and the Red Sox. He was the only player to ever pinch hit for Babe Ruth.

William Faulkner, John Grisham, and Eudora Welty are well known writers from Mississippi. However, you might not know that Richard Wright, Angie Thomas, Charlaine Harris, and–contrary to what his nickname might suggest–Tennessee Williams are also from Mississippi.

So there you have it. A lot of very talented and very smart people, not to mention some cute toys and delicious drinks, hail from Mississippi. There are many other interesting facts about the people and places of Mississippi. This doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface, but I thought I would share a few things with you to whet your appetite. Don’t let the drawl fool you. For all our faults, we’re a pretty interesting crowd.

And so it begins…

On February 9, 2018February 11, 2018 By K. S. WattsIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Welcome to my blog! I’m just getting started, but have no fear. My little list loving heart already has a few topics hidden up its sleeve. For starters, I will be posting book reviews and I’ll be starting a series called Ten Things on the Tenth, which will consist of a grouping of ten facts you might not know about whatever topic has presented itself during my research. As you can imagine, as a science fiction writer, a lot of my writing time is actually research time. If you can’t write what you know, write what you can thoroughly research! And sometimes I get sidetracked from my pertinent research because I’m a nerd and love to learn. I’ll share a few snippets from my findings with you along the way.

I will also provide pertinent updates to my own writing career, links to valuable resources from other authors, and probably a few photos from my neck of the woods. Like this very telling gem:

Your GPS is Wrong

Because where I’m from, even Google and Siri get lost. Yes, this is an actual street sign. It’s about a mile from my house.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope I haven’t scared you off just yet. My particular brand of crazy isn’t dangerous, but it might be contagious. Subscribe at your own risk.