My Life IS a Musical

Really. It is. It's a musical. Don't believe me?

Well, case in point. This morning I heard the alarm, woke, realized I was quite queasy, and immediately I began to sing a little song. And it goes like this:

"No-no no no no no n-n-n-no. No-no no no no no n-n-n-no. No-no no no no no n-n-n-no. "

Ok, so it was only in my head. And it went more like, "Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo."

Same thing. Potato-potato. Hmmmm, not quite the same effect in writing, huh?

Anyway...a musical! Now I just need pj's that look like overalls and I'll be stellar.

Alright, so my life might not be a musical, but it IS a circus...or at the bare minimum, it's entertaining. Why just this afternoon, my youngest informed me, "Mom, before I have a husband, I'm going to have a cat." No idea what one has to do with another, but now we ALL know.

One of my kindies had the prettiest little butterfly hair-pretty last Friday. She came in today, became rather teary and told me she'd lost it at school. So I told her I'd talk to the class and we'd look for it. When I did talk to the class, I asked that if the butterfly had gone to any of their houses "by accident" to please bring it in...and for everyone to look for it. A little boy came up and told me that I should check my house really well too. Search EVERYWHERE. And if I don't find it, "we'll all come over and spread out!" lol He was too cute.

Ok, so today was a bit of this and that, but there ya have it.

Mamma Mia, The Singalong! The Good, The Bad, and ... the Other

Ok, primary point of discussion today is "Mamma Mia! The Singalong!" But before we go there, I've got a question. It's rhetorical...especially since I don't think there are any men out there reading my blog. ('How much they miss!' said the humble-hearted bloggist.) But it's a question, nonetheless.

How do men stand having hair on their chests? I mean...personally...I'm glad they do and all, ::whistling innocently::, but how do they stand it?

I got my hair cut right after "The Singalong" and I keep finding bits of cut hair down my shirt because they're itching and DRIVING ME INSANE! And what popped into my mind when I found about the umpteenth hair??? Was it A), "I should go shower off and change clothes"? Was it B), "Sheesh, why does such a tiny thing cause so much irritation?" Or was it C), "HOW DO MEN STAND IT?? HAIR ON THEIR CHESTS ALLLLL THE TIME???" (I hope you all picked C, because if you didn't you weren't reading too closely, were you???....DON'T YOU CARE????)

Ok, when you're done pondering those deep thoughts, turn your attention back here and let's get down to business....which happens to be pleasure this time. (Yes, sometimes the two mix rather well...just ask Meryl.)

You all know my opinion of "Mamma Mia! (The Greatest Movie Ever)." What a fitting name. And we all know that Kristen broke my resistance by informing it was now out in select theaters IN SINGALONG FORMAT! AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! even.

I've been counting down the days. It's been a definite on my calendar. Even when my hairstlyist (with whom I've been playing phone tag) was trying to find a time to fit me in today, I was unavailable during Singalong's time slot. :D

You all also (if you've read all my blog or if you've ever seen me before 9 or 10 in the morning) know that I'm not what we call "a morning person." But I wanted to catch the matinee. I realize I shouldn't be throwing a lot of money at Meryl and Pierce, no matter how amazing their movie is. So I wanted to attend the matinee and not get off my budget. So that was the plan. The matinee was at 11:35...kind of early for a Saturday, but any later and it would be a bit hard to consider it a matinee (what with matinee meaning morning and all.)

Anyway! 11:35 and the theater was 30 minutes from me. (Yeah my closest theater might be hearing from me about this, lol.) So I set my alarm for 10:30. I knew I was going alone and I was going comfy, so half an hour would do it. I know I'm no Meryl but doggone it if she can wear ovies and tool belt, then I can wear comfy clothes, too. So, alarm set for 10:30....which translated to snoozing until 10:55. (Which wasn't easy with the two dress-shirted men ringing my doorbell TWICE before 10. Sorry, no one in here dressed enough to receive you this morning, dudes. Journey on.)

So I got ready in five minutes, yoga pants (not that I've ever done yoga, but man are they comfy!), a tank top, a tee shirt and a jacket in case the theater plotted my death through freezing. Jumped in the car and off I went.

Now normally I'm a pretty calm driver...not overly worried with other drivers, but well...they wouldn't get out of the way this morning! I tried to tell them I had somewhere to be, but it didn't help a lot. Yeah, I was a little.....bit.....excited.

Finally got there, a few minutes still to spare before even the advertisements and preview started to play. I parked and got out, headed toward the box office. Suddenly I realized I wasn't walking. Hill was on the move, running...well jogging anyway... toward the box office. Caught myself and made myself walk...very amused at my own anticipation (but hoping no one else saw me.) I walked up, requested my ticket, and as I paid, the tiny elderly lady giving me the ticket asked, "Are you going to sing along?"

Anyone want to answer her for me????

I gave a very enthusiastic "YES!!" She laughed, handed me the ticket and I headed in the door...handed off the ticket and took the stub. The lady who gave me back the stub said, "You'll enjoy it, it's a very fun movie." I bit back my smarty-pants thoughts, thanked her and headed off down the hall.

Next thought, "What IS it with the running??? WALK!!!" Yeah, busted myself racing for the theater. Somewhere deep inside, I'm still five.

Up until that moment the whole SingAlong experience was all I could hope and more. My anticipation was HUGE and all was going well.

I walked in, looked around and saw about 8 people in the theater. Ohhhhhhhhh crum. Still, I thought, maybe they'll be very enthusiastic. Let's go for it.

So I take my place...all alone...so as not to drown out the movie should anyone else want to hear it. The movie took off, complete with the big blue and gold singalong words lighting up as I sang along to the songs. Emphasis on *I*...because not a darn soul in there made so much as a peep! Except me. And I sang. However..........it was a bit inhibiting. I didn't want to JUST sing. I wanted to BELT IT OUT!! Ok, I guess it wasn't a Belt-It-Out-Along, but still.... Meryl got to belt it out. ::sniff::

It was a singalong with the party poopers. You've heard that every party has a pooper? Well they were all invited to today's singalong. And they all showed up. All 8 of them. It was wrong....on so many levels.

But I sang.........and I hope they enjoyed it. :D

And Sunshine, I want you to know that Pierce looked just as fine up there on the cliff while I sang along with Meryl. The wind still rustled through his hair and flicked at his colllars. And the the part that I think I like the best was when Meryl took off running toward the church and PIERCE RAN AFTER HER. ::sigh:: THAT's when I wished I were Meryl. :) RUN AFTER *ME*, PIERCE!!! OVER HEEEEEEEEEEERE!!! (Shoot, he could have chased me down in the theater hallway....after all I WAS running.)

Ok, that was the part I like best besides singing "The Winner Takes It All" and "Dancing Queen"...and when Colin sings "Our Last Summer" and when he smiles at Sophie at the end of that song...and Pierce and Meryl singing S.O.S. and Pierce dancing when Meryl's singing Super Trouper and fancy spandex, lol, .....and....and...well, there's just a lot of parts I like best. lol

So let this be a lesson to you. Take your own singing mob along if you're going to a matinee. Or be sure you go to a later performance if you want a lot of help singing and don't have a mob of your own to take along.

Oh and it WAS a little disappointing that I didn't have a pair of ovies or a tool belt to wear to the movie today. It really would have made it...party poopers or no.

My Friday Photos...and Wardrobe for Sunshine

Before I go into my actual entry for CandidCarrie's Friday Foto Finish Fiesta, (as seen at http://carriestuckmann.blogspot.com/) I had to share these photos for Sunshine. If that $300+ dress doesn't work out (WOW! What a dress!), I thought maybe this fashion of Alli's might work out. I know sunglasses aren't particularly cool for wearing inside...or at a ball, but clearly the shades make this ensemble....particularly with what-the-heck-are-those-little-things-on-the-frames...not to mention the crocheted doily on the head. Feel free to steal her idea Sunshine. She'd be happy to know she helped.


Here they are. My Friday Photos. I saw Sunshine's pics of her girls' first day of school....and the fresh new baby pics and it made me feel all mushy again about my own two. So I went in search of some of my favorite pictures of my girls. My only regret is the quality of the photos, but I LOVE this series of shots. The girls would sit together in a laundry basket with pillows and blankies (here they're using a little green bunny afghan I made for Alli when I was carrying her.)





I can't really put words to why I like these best. To me the pictures speak for themselves. I miss the days when they were just babies like this. Alli, big as she was, wasn't even really talking then. (She took her time...but has made up for it!)
They've always been really good playmates for each other and it's always fun for a mamma to watch her children enjoying each other.







Anyway, those are my favorites for this time around...just 'cuz they're my babies.

I LOVE pudgy little "baby hands".

For whatever reason I can't get the spacing and layout on these pictures right...

Lame Post of the Year

Hmmmm...

I'm not sure at all what I want to write about this evening. But I've been having way too many days when I just shrug off the blog because I don't have some great idea to go with. And that's kind of not the point (AT ALL) of me starting to blog in the first place. This is supposed to ENCOURAGE me to use my brain and write...write...write!

So, if you're having trouble sleeping (and judging from the fact that most my comments come while I'm in bed, I'd guess that some of you are reading during what SHOULD be sleeping hours) perhaps you should grab a glass of warm milk, cozy up, and read this boring entry. (You're really hooked now, aren't you??) Oh and by the way, if you're getting some warm milk to wash down this blog, would you please do me a favor and make it chocolate? Warm white milk is ... well ... I think *GAG* says it best.

Ok, yeah, I think I'm done.

Well, geez, that was worth it.

Pleasant dreams.


I guess I COULD talk about Mamma Mia again, lol. But we'll save that for Saturday because...you KNOW...the Singalong is coming this weekend!! WHOOOOOOOOOOO!

The Adventure More Commonly Known as SHOTS!

Today was the day. The day that makes my children wish there were only 364 days in the year...and this is the one they'd like to see taken away. It was the day of their annual physical. I can sympathize. I was never real calm about going to the doctor...or dentist for that matter...as a child. In fact I can remember very early dentist appointments where I hid behind the sofa in the waiting room, because no one could reach back there and there was NO WAY I was going to willingly enter the dentist office. Yeah, dream on, people.

Now, as an adult, I'm better. It's still not a favorite thing for me, but I don't fit behind the sofa anymore, so what's the use in freaking out? People point and laugh...and that doesn't help.

But wait...this is about my girls' big day.

I told them this morning that today was the day. They asked about shots and I wasn't completely sure about them so I just told them I didn't know, that we'd have to see.

After school we hopped in the car and headed for the doctor's office. They entere pre-panic mode at that point. They behaved as though reasonable, but their guards were up. As we were taken back by the nurse, the first things the girls said were, "DO WE NEED SHOTS??!" She tells them that they'd have to wait and see what the doctor said.

They're still functioning pretty well, ... seemingly happy and eager to show off for the nurse. So far so good.

In came the doctor. Before she could even say hello, "DO WE NEED SHOTS??!!" She laughed and said, "Hold on. Don't I get to even introduce myself??" (Nice evasion, don't you think?)

We go through the whole rigamarole (sp?) and yes, indeed, a finger-prick and one shot apiece. They were over joyed and it began to show.

Megan begins getting "pacey." The cage isn't big enough and she'd like free run of the zoo. Historically this is normal for Megan. However, TODAY was also historical for Megan, because today Megan handled ALMOST the entire visit with calm. There was one moment when she began to panic and she listened to me (okay and felt that my bulging biceps were not going to give in and let her bolt) and she took a few deep breaths and stayed calm. Not a tear, not a scream. About the worst of her reactions was "That hurt SOOO bad!" after the finger-prick. And the only reason that was negative was because Allison had tunneled under the chairs and had already been crying for about ten minutes...in anticipation of it all.

With Megan done, the male nurse and I began to try to get Alli out from under the chairs. We found it was much easier to just removed the chairs. (Tonight she told me she thought the chairs were bolted to the ground. It must have been quite a disappointment to see how easily I lifted them, lol.) I won't bother with a blow by blow, but I am confident to say that I could have taken the heavyweight belt in a wrestling match today. Yep, hold down a terrified 7-year-old for a vaccination in her thigh and it will prove how much strength you have. So...bring it! lol (I can't even pull that off in print, ::sigh::.)

Anyway, although Alli did a whole lot of resisting and a whole lot of crying, even she was better than the past couple years. And Megan...WOW...she is DEFINITELY growing up. It's moments like this when I realize how much she's maturing. Two years ago I almost lost my hearing listening to her scream through a couple shots, a finger-prick, and a TB test. I called my mom half-way across the country to ask if she'd heard the screams. And man! What a wrestling match! Add some pudding or mudd and you've got an event at the county fair, I'm tellin' ya! And then Alli did the same thing. It's a wonder I have any hearing left at all.

Thank goodness it's only once a year.

Mornings

I'm not a morning person. I never have been. I mean, it takes something pretty special or important to drag me out of bed before 9...like work...like catching an airplane...like uncontrollable nausea. You get the idea.

From the time I was one to the time I was four, my mom was a single mom. She'd get up at the crack of dawn (or maybe before) to do her makeup and hair and all the things mommies do before they have to deal with waking children. I don't remember how often I did, but I remember waking up a lot of mornings and wandering out to the kitchen where she'd sit at the table with her mirror propped up on a towel, all her makeup and hair gel and combs and EVERYTHING laying on the table and she'd meticulously get ready for the day. I would be groggy and I'd stand beside her chair with my head in her lap, close my eyes, and listen to the radio playing songs like, "I'm On Top of the World Looking Down on Creation" and "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden." Sometimes I'd stand up and watch her working on her makeup and hair. Let me tell you, my mom can back-comb hair like a whiz! It was fascinating. I wanted that time with my mom enough that I would wake up without any external prompts and make my way to her, just to stand and lean into her lap while my siblings slept on. That was something special enough to get me up early.

Another thing (and the thought that prompted this blog) was Saturday morning cartoons. The three of us kids would wake up early on Saturdays and head to the living room to watch cartoons. Mom would sleep in (at least a bit) and we'd keep the tv low and enjoy all the good old cartoons like "Roadrunner" and "Bugs Bunny" and "Mr. Magoo."

Now my kids' childhoods are different than mine in a lot of ways. Our world is so much different. But Saturday mornings are very similar. They are finally old enough that they can get up and watch cartoons and I can sleep in a bit. Because of what I often find when I wander out to the living room now, I wonder what my mom used to find when she got up. Maybe my kids are just more active than we were as kids, but as they watch tv they keep their hands busy with other things a lot of the time, too.

A lot of times, it's nothing too earth-shaking. A whole mess of Pollies. (Emphasis on the word "mess.") Littlest Pet Shop. A collection of dolls. Drawings. Computer games.

But THIS Saturday was different. As I dozed off and on a little while, I remember hearing Megan say something to Alli about "trying to get a tan." No alarms went off over this. I mean, the kid has a good imagination and when they get to playing together they pretend a lot of things. I knew they wouldn't go outside, so no worries at all.

When I walked down the hall and into the kitchen, Megan spotted me and rushed into the kitchen to show off something she was quite proud of. She had taken a sheet of cardboard and wrapped it in aluminum foil. She told me she did it to get a tan. I told her it wouldn't work if she wasn't in the sun and she informed me that she was using a light. So apparently while I avoided "morning," my daughter sat with the living room light bouncing off her aluminum foil, attempting a tan.

Got to looooooooooooooove the way they think.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again!

Hello folks. Sorry I've been away. We'll chalk up the absense to the circus I call life...and my brain needing some rest.

I got on here last night, wanting to blog, but had not a single thought in my head worth posting. I woke up this morning, wanting to blog, but again couldn't think of anything blog-worthy. Later in the afternoon, I contemplated it again...no dice. Then I pulled up an email that had some things that my good buddy, Kristen, suggested I blog about. They were good topics...and will make their way here one day before long, but I wasn't quite in the jovial mood that they require. And if I'm going to write about them, I've got to do them justice. They've got to be as insane as the experiences themselves were, or what's the point in sharing?!

But FINALLY, just a bit ago, a thought came (and I owe it to Kristen...even though she didn't suggest it for blog...it's still her fault). So fasten your belts, the train's leaving the station....

Those of you who've read my first blog entries and many of you who just know me...you KNOW how crazy I am about the movie "Mamma Mia!" I love that it's making it big in the movies, but people!! STOP going to see it so it can come out on video, doggone it!! Every time I have some alone time, I'm SORELY tempted to go and see it again. I'm...addicted almost. Ok, completely. The soundtrack cd just isn't enough.

I have gone several weeks now without caving in and going to see it again, but the temptation still rears its ugly (yet delightfully melodic) head.

What does it have to do with Kristen? Why do I get to blame her? I'm so glad you asked. Last night she and I were talking on the phone and what does she do? She informs me that they've now released "Mamma Mia! The Sing Along" in select theaters. And as I googled to see when it was released and looked to see if a "select theater" was near me, I found that it wasn't at my usual theater. What does she do? She suggests a website to further my quest. I go to fandango-dot-com and voila! I found it!! It's in my city!!

So the tempation continues. And NOW I have a fantastic reason to see the movie again. I mean, after all, I've NEVER been to an adult sing-along movie in a theater before...or anywhere else for that matter. So now I just HAVE to go. I need to belt out, "YOU CAN DANCE**! YOU CAN JIVE!" and "YES I'VE BEEN BROKEN HEARTED; BLUE SINCE THE DAY WE PARTED! MAMMA MIA!!" with other people who are just as crazy as I am. How could I pass up an opportunity like that? It will be like......a cultural experience. It will be like being IN a musical all my own!! SHOOT! I can even pretend to be the star, lol!

Come on, folks....you know you want to, too. Give in to the temptation and attend the sing-along. It'll be fun!

**Notice I did not say "*I* can dance." There's really really good reason for that. But we'll save that for another day.