The Armoires of Life

Good morning son! Miss me? I missed you. Having our weekly conversation on Monday morning rather than Sunday is going to throw my entire week off. I'm just sayin'.

How was your week? What have you been up to? I know you do a LOT of singing and praising and laughing and sharing and hugging and all through just amazing eyes of wonder. You've had those eyes your entire life. It just seems fitting that you would have them through all of eternity as well.

"for every thing there is a season"

Well, Fall is truly in the air. Most of the windows in the house are closed. I haven't even opened the living room window yet this morning. Actually, that window doesn't usually even get closed but that's not something I really should post is it, that my window is left wide open all night...every night. Oh well, it's out there now. If you remember, Fall is my very favorite time of year. I'm running a little behind. I usually have all the Fall decorations our in August but I'm a little slow this year. I still have a pink floral wreath on our front door. The only Fall decoration currently in residence is the new issue of Country Living laying on the coffee table. Which I might add, has been there, unread, since Friday. I don't know what happened. Usually when I get that magazine the world stops, I curl up on the couch and stay there until I've read it from cover to cover. I'll get there. After all, I'm officially retired, again, since last Friday. This time, I feel retired. Don't get me wrong. I'm probably going to be busier now than ever. It's not like I'm sitting on the couch with my feet propped up eating bon-bons!  Well, maybe once in awhile when I curl up with my favorite magazines.

Last Friday was my final day as a "temporary" Project Partner at KJCG. The temporary position lasted just shy of two weeks of being a year! It's so funny sometimes how quickly time passes. When I looked at the calendar and realized it has almost been a year I finally woke up. How did that happen? But you know what? It was one of those experiences in life I wouldn't trade for anything. It was fast-paced, stressful, energizing, fun, crazy...all of those things that you need some of in your life to stay young. However, I'm ready to do some of those things that I "retired" from the City of Springfield to do. Number one, spend time together with your dad just being. So much of our life together has been spent around "the weekend". We'll do it this weekend. Let's do it the next free weekend. We can't go because it's not the weekend. It's not offered on a weekend. You know all those things that wrap around the weekend. Now we're finally beginning to realize, everyday is a weekend! We can plan to do anything we want, any day we want. We don't have to wait for the week. I would imagine it's kinda like heaven. Every day's a new day and you don't have to wait for the weekend to enjoy it. We're taking Jamison on Wednesday this week and driving to Lake George and just "knock around" and enjoy the day. I have literally a dozen unfinished projects here at home that I am very anxious to get to. The weather is cooling off and I have tons of painting projects. I have two accent walls to paint in the living room, I want to paint an accent (lower wall) in the bathroom and I want to pain the wall below the chair rail in the kitchen. I am going to repaint the armoire in our bedroom. It's currently yellow and black.

I don't know if you remember the story behind this armoire or not, but I called dad one day from the Springfield OR Saint Vinny's. All I said was, "I'm at St. Vinny's and I need you to bring the trailer." Dad never asks questions when I find something and need help. Now I had wanted an armoire forever it seemed like, but I'm not one to spend a lot of money. I also much prefer to find a piece that's actually called by many, "a piece of junk". I can see tons of possibilities. Well, this armoire was that. A door was falling off, it was leaning to one side because a leg was off, one drawer didn't fit (who knows why) a piece of the trim was missing (actually had been knocked off), and there was a hole in the top edge that a golf ball could rest in. I could just see your dad's eyes roll to the back of his head when he showed up with the trailer. I paid the $25, told the cashier my husband was on the way with the trailer (they actually knew dad on site by now) and headed back to work. I can only imagine the look on your dad's face when he confronted that armoire that day in Saint Vinny's but I have a pretty good idea.

By the time I got home from work that day, the armoire was up on blocks over a piece of corrugated. The hole was patched in the top, the drawer was in place. Obviously, the leg was replaced since it was standing. The molding had been replaced. The door was back on it's hinges. It looked like a weird patchwork quilt...but a very ugly drab one. But dad knew I could and would add the brightness. He just primed the canvas for me. This was on a Monday. So guess what? Right, I had to wait for the weekend. Life use to always be about the weekends. I was working long hours back then and there just wasn't time, or enough light, to paint in the evenings. I really need natural light when I paint. So, with tears in my eyes, (Not because I had to wait for the weekend. Because dad could see the possibility I saw and he believed in me...once again.) I wiped my tears and dad and I pulled the tarp over the armoire until the weekend. 

The armoir's first home was our dining room and was used for all my candles, linens. I painted it a light yellow with black details.  When we lost our home and moved it transitioned to an arrmoire in the master bedroom and has been used for that purpose since. It's one of the pieces that I insisted on keeping when we moved. It's funny, the two pieces I was determined to move back East when we came was that beat up old armoire I paid $25 for and a the round, beat up old kitchen table that once again, I found at St. Vinny's that was $35 and dad talked them down to $25. I just couldn't leave them behind. If I had to calculate by the pound the cost to move them across the United States MY eyes would probably roll to the back of MY head. The table has been the only piece I've had the time to redo since we arrived last year. Now, it's the armoire's time. It's going to get a coat of high gloss, almost eggplant, color for our bedroom. I can't wait to get started, but I need to finish the living room first. Tomorrow, the living room get's it's two blue walls. Dad just keeps trudging along beside me filling in the blanks as I go with whatever I need. Just like he has always done. Even with his two bad legs he's the most surefooted partner God could have ever given to me.

That's pretty much the way I enjoy life too. I would rather search for something in which I can see potential. Talk with dad and prepare the "canvas", have dad beside me to help fill the holes and and take that piece of life on, hand in hand.  That's the way we're approaching the new "no weekend" rule. We'll seek out new adventures, prepare the canvas and accomplish them together, hand in hand.

until next week, be Aaron, love mom