My "to do" list

I've copied Amy and posted a "to do" list on my wall - hanging it with gray duct tape not blue painter's tape. I've been working madly for 2 weeks to get everything done for our appraisal this Friday and I am supposed to be using this free morning to continue racing down the list. Finish ripping up the water damaged floor boards by the water heater....cover the spot on kitchen floor that Brandon says is black mold....scrub the stairs.....scrub both bathrooms....weedwack the back yard....really the list is endless.

I woke up with great intentions but after a relaxed breakfast, enjoying the sunshine with my morning coffee and talking with Randy I'm not so well intended. I made the mistake of sitting down to catch up on blogs and then I caught the blog bug. My blogging happens infrequently, not because I can't think of anything to write - but because I can't find the time to write it. So here I am, coffee in hand - sunshine pouring in the windows and no grandchildren claiming my attention YET -

I just called daughter #1 to wish her a happy birthday and I told her that today proves my point. Yesterday I planned to set up the family birthday party outside but the weather was too iffy. Cold, windy rain for most of the morning made me change plans and move the party inside. How odd - I couldn't remember a single birthday celebration for Michelle that hasn't been outside in too hot degree weather. Wait a minute - yesterday wasn't her birthday - today is. Today is a gorgeous, perfect summer day - sunny and 70 - just like the day she was born.

So I'm feeling sentimental - my oldest child is 34 today. 34 years ago her dad and I were waiting impatiently for her very slow and laid back arrival. It took me most of the day to even realize that uncomfortable feeling in my back was actually labor and then it took her another 24 hours after we arrived at the hospital to make an appearance. Even then she wasn't at all interested in meeting us - when my doctor finally got back in town Sunday night he started the pitocin drip and made the decision for her!

Our 1st baby...a total and complete miracle...the most beautiful baby we had ever seen. We loved her the minute we saw her and we never stopped. Michelle is the first of my three beautiful, beloved daughters and I am the luckiest mom in the whole world.

Who cares about a stupid old "to do" list when I have moments like this to savor.

Dot dot dot

Now that my daughters are all grown up and married we try to have a "girl's movie night" at least once a year - just us, husbands and kids are left to fend for themselves. This time we added my mom, my granddaugher and my best friend. The 7 of us sat there and laughed and cried through Mamma Mia last night. As soon as we left the theater we all agreed we wanted to go right back in and see it again.

From the very beginning when Sophie is reading her mom's diary - to the scene where Donna leads a parade of middle aged women through the streets singing "Dancing Queen" - to the mother/daughter song as they get ready for Sophie's wedding - to the end of the movie when Pierce Brosnan declares his love for Donna - I don't think I'll ever get tired of this movie!

The movie is on my list, the CD is on my list and if I had "the LIST" Pierce Brosnan would definately be on it - I saw him 1st in "Rich Man, Poor Man" but he became my weekly addiction in "Remmington Steele". And of course, he's my favorite Bond...James Bond.

It's hard to say what I liked best about Mamma Mia but I think it is the idea that underneath all the years and tears, underneath all the burdens and responsibilities there still exists the young, carefree girls we once were. The girls who fell in love and threw caution to the wind, the girls who believed in Prince Charming and happy ever after, the girls who filled diary after diary with stories of Sam, Bill and Harry.

Thank gooodness I burned my diaries years ago...