How Do You Do It?

Happy Wednesday All,

Whew. I'm tired, are you? For one thing, Texas is back to yucky weather. Luckily it's not supposed to be as bad as a week ago, but it certainly wasn't fun to be woken at 4:30 a.m. with a Tornado Warning.

Now, I appreciate the National Weather Service (NWS) doing its best to keep people safe. In fact, I'm grateful, and I respect what they're doing. Honestly, I do. What I don't like is the fact that after being woken at 4:30 a.m. (when I finally was able to sleep after dealing with Youngest waking up every 1-2 hours because Youngest is going through a rough patch right now--something all people go through and it's not dangerous, just hard) is that I couldn't go back to sleep for the longest time! I finally conked out

around 6ish, I think. Only to wake up again around 6:30 or so. Then I went back to sleep until Youngest decided that at 7:27 a.m. sleep was a rotten idea, and it was time to get up (this was after Youngest had been a little restless here and there).

Now I've been in the very little/no sleep position as a Mom before. This is NOT my first sleep deprivation rodeo. However, it's not any easier than any other time. In fact, any time it happens is harder than before because I'm older now than I was before. (That's the funny thing about the years passing, huh? You get older!)

Does sleep deprivation kill the writing side of my life--the creativity? Sometimes. Not always. It really depends on where I am

in a story or what's going on. Currently the incredibly talented and awesome Stacy Hoff is looking over one of my WIPs (Works In Progress) so I'm not really working on it too diligently. My husband teases me because I've been working a little on several stories at once. He thinks I need to focus on one story at a time. He might be right, but I figure if I have an idea for something, get it written so that I can focus. 

In fact, I got an idea for one story that I'll be implementing while I'm waiting for Stacy's comments. (Speaking of which, Stacy's novels are fun and imaginative, I urge you to check them out. Particularly her Desire series. The television network in her stories is just itching for lawsuits! LOL).

A lot of people ask me "How do you do it?" I write whenever I can grab a minute--or whenever Real Life Hero (my husband) takes the

Offspring and I have a flash of inspiration. I think about my stories and work almost all the time. Laying in bed at night, I'll contemplate scenes before falling asleep.

When writing is what you want to do--really want to do--you find a way. I've learned that whatever you have a passion for you will make time to do. As a mom, I have a responsibility to my Offspring to be Mom to them. I love them, and want to provide for them. So, I find ways of doing it. I love to read, so I find time to do that, too--even if that means reading off my E-reader apps on my phone. You have to be flexible. But if I didn't have the passion

for these things, I don't think I'd make the time. It's not easy and if you're doing one thing other things will suffer (like housework) but you have to find a balance (if you can, sometimes you don't find a good balance, but you have to do your best)--and sometimes you just have to accept the bad with the good. Some days are good, some are bad. I think that's what any mom or person goes through with whatever they do. I don't think it's exclusive to Moms/Dads who are writers. Based on what I've seen/heard, it's just life.

Anyway, I hope your week is going well and if you're in Texas, stay dry!

If you cross paths with Stacy Hoff, tell her I said hi. :-)

Have A Wondrously Whimsical Wednesday!

The Secret Is...

Happy Monday All,

Happy Easter to all who celebrate Easter! Hope your Easter weekend was lovely, peaceful, and fun. The Averie Household keeps busy during Easter, Mass, family, etc.

I've covered this topic before, but now I have another perspective on it...the question of "how do you do it?"

People look at me with my Offspring--those demands, wife, home, writing, etc. The truth is--and everyone will be so disappointed--I don't. Some days I just do one thing. Some days, I run around feeling like if I could just clone myself everything would get done. Sometimes I'm lucky if I remember my name (it's "Mom" or "AAAHHH", right?) The fact is, this is my life. This is the life I've been given and chosen. I don't expect anyone to do it for me, and I don't expect people to know how I do it. I don't know how I do it. I just do whatever I do for each individual day.

Some days it means Real Life Hero (my husband) takes the Offspring on some sort of adventure, and I write. Or it means I listen to nine thousand reasons why my choices as Mom are horrible ideas and why can't I be better? Or I listen to "Mom, can I get...can I do...will you add this to my Wish List?" Offspring has at least 12 things on one wish list--and it keeps growing. I know next week something else will be The Coolest Thing Ever--and maybe Offspring will want the other thing, and maybe not. All my Offspring have different types of days on any given day and strong personalities. So, yeah, I don't really know how I do it.

I think a lot of it has to do with my faith. Without it, I don't think I could do any of what I must do. I'm very happy I've maintained my faith so I don't have to find out. Sometimes it's hard to keep the faith, other times it's not. Same with motherhood, same with writing.

So, if you're wondering "How does she do it?" That's my answer. A lot of God's grace, determination, and the fact that this is my life, and I must do whatever is needed at any given time to make things work.

How do YOU do it?

Have A Marvelously Merry Monday!