Be-Mused — Karen Templeton

. . .you’d think I’d have the hang of this laundry thing. Like why it’s not a good idea to wash the bathroom rugs with the towels, even if they are virtually the same color. Toweled myself dry this morning and am now covered in a fine sheen of sparkly rug threads (which is not to say the rugs are sparkly — please — just that the whatever-the-heck-they’re-made-out-of threads are).

Realized something about myself the other day: When I said I couldn’t wait until the nest was empty, I apparently lied. Or at least, my concept of “nest” extends past my house. See, three of my sons are currently beyond the reach of my personally making sure they’re getting enough to eat, and that’s keeping me awake at night. Well, okay, the hot flashes are actually doing that, but while I’m lying there heating the universe, I might as well worry about my kids. One’s in New York, one’s in Kansas, and other one is currently on a tour with a rock band from Long Island. I think he’s in Chicago today. Or maybe that was yesterday. Heat waves and tornadoes seem to be cropping up along his path, which makes it easy to follow his progress cross country, but I digress.

Anyway, living in a four bedroom house with five boys. . .and I was an only child. . .you get the picture, I’m sure. So it was with untold glee that I saw the first, then the second, then the third one move out. We’re now down to two, they each have their own bedrooms, I have an office, and there are actually times now when I can actually stand naked in my own bedroom and not worry about being walked in on. But the thing is, they were still around, you know? Their dad and I would be sitting in the living room and we’d hear the back door open, then the refrigerator door open, and we’d breath this little “all is well” sigh. They’d eat, collect their mail, plop down on the sofa and interrupt our movie/TV show to talk to us/figure out a subtle way to ask for money (never mind that there is no subtle way to ask for money) Then they’d go away again, and we’d breathe another “all is well” sigh. But we knew they’d be back in a day or two.

Now, however. . . Yeah, we talk. We’ve on Sprint’s family plan, so the cell phone rings alot. (Sidebar: We recently took our youngest son to the zoo; while we were there, all four of the other kids called us at some point.) But it’s not the same, knowing they won’t be coming in the back door with their laundry baskets in tow, that lean and oh-so-hungry look in their eyes. . .

Damn. I miss the little buggers.

Anyway, since I said I’d use this spot to recommend books I’m reading/have read, I picked up UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS by my AOL board buddy, Elizabeth White. Have to be upfront and say I don’t normally read either inspirationals or romantic suspense, but Beth has done an absolutely terrific job here. Her writing is in the Kathleen Korbel/Virginia Kantra vein, with wonderfully drawn characters, a good dose of humor and a plot that just keeps moving right along. It doesn’t matter what religious slant the reader brings to the table, because the characters are far more than mouthpieces for the author’s own faith. For me, that works. And did I mention how fabulous the writing is? Anyway, if you’d like to read an excerpt, here’s a link to her website.

Laters.