The Next Stage

Summer is winding down; it's been a long, glorious one. Not as hot as past years, which has been a blessing. Lots of rain, but not too much. I've hardly watered the flowers at all.

Right now my son and his friend are swimming in the pool, diving for toy animals and playing with the shark ship toy. DS is holding his nose and swimming underwater now. He's thrilled with himself and so am I. I thought he'd never overcome his reluctance to get his face wet. I bought him some goggles and he's diving under the surface like a little fish. He told us today he's going to wear his goggles forever. "Even to bed?" asks his friend. "Yeah!" "Even to school?" I asked. "Yeah!"

I feel as if I am on the verge of the third stage of my life. Don't ask me what the first two stages were. School and my career, I guess, and then the first six years of motherhood. Now I will have time to write while DS is at school, and will be teaching one math class at the community college. Part of me feels incredibly guilty as I hear DH leaving for work at 6 a.m. every day, and part of me just feels blessed beyond belief. I don't know if I'll ever go back to full-time employment. If I could get published and continue to write steadily while teaching part-time, that would be ideal. But I'll never know until I finish the blasted thing!