So today was a completely lazy day. I had a Ladies Meeting to go to this morning and I really, really didn’t want to go. But God knows what’s best for me and it was EXACTLY what I needed. I knew I’d enjoy it once I got there, and I did. The devotion and the skit were just for me and I got to ask some questions of a really wise friend and spent some time with my best friend.
On the way home, I spent a little time in Target (it was right on the way) looking for some Valentine stuff for my sister.
Then, I got a phone call. My favorite 13 year old in the whole wide world wanted to come to my house. My sister and her husband had gone to my dad’s house to pick some stuff up and after 11:45 when my niece woke up and had done her stuff at home, she needed some company. So I picked her up.
She bounced out to my car in her flip flops, her flippy little skirt and her dance studio shirt. She jumped in my car and we came home. And then, we did nothing.
I sat in my chair, read emails, poked around on Pinterest and took care of my city and my castle in the stupid games I play. She laid on, sat on, and rolled around on the couch, with the TV remote firmly in hand. While I dozed in my chair, she moved between Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel. She watched episodes of Jessie, Victorious, and iCarly. I took a nap. She ate. Wow, can that kid eat! Most of a box of Cheez-Its, cookies and milk, and then chicken nuggets and tater tots. We took a break for strawberry limeades from Sonic and came back home to more TV.
In between episodes, I washed dishes, cleaned up my kitchen and put away some stuff. Then, we talked. We discussed an issue at school, 8th graders with tattoos and the the boy she likes. In between all of it, she sang. She sang along with the shows when they came on, she sang with the commercials, she sang random songs. She is such a neat kid.
During one show for no apparent reason, she said “I love you, Aunt Sandi.” Another time she said “You’re the best Aunt Sandi and not just because you let me eat junk food.”
For a while, she and my sister lived with me. I saw her every day. Then, they moved two blocks over. I still saw her nearly every day. I feel like there’s so much that goes on in her life now that I don’t know about – and I hate it!!!! I know that it will just get worse the older she gets. So today, I passed her the remote control, watched her roll around on the couch, listened to her sing and just tucked it away inside.
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