Another school year already? Seriously? Summer flew by. Maybe that’s because my daughter took summer classes to get ahead this year. She didn’t really have much of a summer, but she was okay with that. (I’m very proud of her by the way…:)

Temps are slightly – I use that word GENEROUSLY- cooler alluding to the approaching fall. That I cannot wait for. Football cheers are in the air and promise of all thinks pumpkin spice inches closer.

Our youngest child just got her driver’s license. Lord, I thought her daddy was going to cry. Watching his baby duck pull out of the driveway the first time by herself nearly gave him a heart attack.

Meetings, schedules, assignments and deadlines. The hustle is back on. I, myself, have three books and a short story coming out before the end of the year. Crazy!

I was reviewing one of my drafts this morning and my daughter asked if we could go do something today, my immediate response was “No, I’m too busy.” As I turned to respond to her, “I saw the hopeful expectation on her face. I don’t know why, but the thought occurred to me that my sixteen-year-old still wants to spend time with us. It won’t last forever. Enjoy it while you can.

So, with deadlines looming and my to-do list long, I am setting that aside this afternoon to spend some wonderful quality time with her and my better half.

It’s all about priorities, isn’t it? Might seem like a little thing, but for me, putting the work aside is a BIG deal. For years, I didn’t. I learned a tough lesson a few years ago.

I looked around and three of my four children were grown and gone. Blink of an eye. I can’t get that time back. I vowed to stop doing that moving forward.

Take a breath. Relax. Sleep in on Saturday and stay in your pjs. Set the work aside and have some fun.

While I had worked soooo very hard to make a living, I forgot to live. Understand that I’m not saying slouch of work. I’m saying prioritize. I said mine were God, Family and work, but I didn’t live that way.

Time flies the older I get. I don’t want to take a minute for granted. We aren’t promised tomorrow, and while I’m not living like I was dying, I am living.