I have absolutely no progress to report this week. My youngest son ran a high fever for five days until a second trip to the doctor and an x-ray revealed the cause: pneumonia. The good news is that he responded quickly to antibiotics and began improving within two days.

I thought about racing into my office today and tossing together my last bracelet, hurriedly coloring another project, or attempting to get a few rows of knitting done, but I didn’t. I spent this week just exactly how I wanted: reading aloud to my son by the hour (The Mad Scientists’ Club, Stuart Little, The Swiss Family Robinson), making a dozen trips each day up and down the stairs for ice water, and checking his temperature through the nights. When the antibiotics began to work, I caught up on some much needed sleep.

The point of my project is to enjoy what I have. To race today to meet some imaginary deadline defeats the purpose. If I were feeling particularly philosophical, I’d say the urge to do so is simply my perfectionism rearing its ugly head in a new and different way.

And so, I report honestly that my project didn’t move forward this week, but it will next week. Until then. . . .