Look For The Signs

Yesterday my daughter was home from school sick. I was tired, and I thought how nice it would be to just veg out with her in the basement watching movies all day.

Then the little voice in my head reminded me that I have errands to run, a new blog post was due, and I had multiple projects to work on. I also reminded myself that she’s 15 and will only be under my roof for another 3 1/2 years. That makes me sad.

At this age, we can have some pretty nasty fights, but a lot of the time we have fun together. Then I get an email from a client asking when her piece would be finished. That’s it, back to work!

I had to go to Lowe’s to get some supplies for a project. I get in the car, turn the key, and nothing. Dead battery. Well, if that isn’t a sign from God I don’t know what is. Sure I could have called my husband to come jump it, and I could have been on my merry way. But I think it happened for a reason: The older my daughter gets, the less time I’m going to have with her, so I need to take advantage of it when I can.

So I came back inside, changed back into my jammies, and we cocooned on the couch watching movies for the rest of the day. Back to the Future, which she had never watched (and she called an oldie (ouch!)) and Serendipity. Then we watched a couple Tivo’d episodes of General Hospital, made Topher cook us dinner, and basically acted like couch pillows.

Now I know taking the day off is going to throw me behind the rest of the week, but I know I’ll never be sorry for spending the day with my kiddo.

She turns 15 today, and I’m not sure where that time has gone.  She went from a toddler to an amazing young woman in the blink of an eye. So I’m going to try harder to be present and appreciate the time I have left with her — and always keep an eye out for the signs.

Here’s a sneak peek of my newest project. It’s a great old desk, that has carving on both sides. I’ve never seen one like this before. I’m going to stain the top and have the bottom a distressed turquoise.