Wha- WHAT?!?!

Cliches....

"Time flies."
"When it rains, it pours."
"Running to stand still."

All of the above apply to me right now. Life is a whirlwind of activity, especially in the summer. I think we, as Minnesotans, try to cram just about everything we can possibly cram into three months worth of nice weather. Camping, bbq's, cabin visits, family reunions, kid-free weekends, kid-centered weekends, girls weekends, guys weekends, Valleyfair, Renaissance, Canterbury, t-ball, softball, soccer, __________ Days (insert your town's "days")...and before you know it, the 4th of July is over and Target already has their Back To School displays up. And you shake your head wildly and utter, "Wha-WHAT?!?!?"

I swear, the last day of school was yesterday. But in reality, it was already over a month ago. It's almost scary how fast time goes. I tell myself every year about this time, "Start Christmas shopping or start saving for Christmas." I never do...and then I'm scrambling for time AND money come November and December, but the fact that I think it now just emphasizes the idea of life being a big treadmill, and the older you get, the faster you run.

I should be in pretty dang good shape by now, dontcha think?

And yet..with all of the busy-ness, insanity and running, at the end of the day I still feel like I haven't done enough, seen certain people enough, worked hard enough, made enough money, ate healthy enough, or just downright enjoyed myself enough. The stress creeps in and suddenly I don't have enough money, or enough patience or enough love to go around. And I've realized that I've been running my arse off (the British version of that word isn't swearing, I swear. Plus, it sounds cool)...but I still feel like I've been standing still. It's not just raining...it's been pouring and yet time....it just keeps flying.

So the question remains - how do we just stop and enjoy the ride? How do we dance unabashed in the rain? How do run to the next landmark of accomplishment? I'm still trying to figure that out, and I probably won't anytime soon. But I do know, in light of people I know and celebrities I don't that have passed on.....life is but a blink, and life can be over in a blink, and if we don't cherish it and LIVE it, we're going to miss our shot. And we're going to miss some really good stuff. The pride in my Big A's face when she drew a perfect rendition of Phineus from Phineus and Ferb, the "rock on" fist Little A gave when she heard a good song, the sweetness of a dog's eyes, the fleeting scent of lilacs in the spring, the sound of my own thoughts actually making some sort of sense.....

I definitely don't want to miss that.

Celebrity Death Week

What exactly is going on in Hollywood these days?

Ed McMahon....Farrah Fawcett....Michael Jackson....now, Billy Mayes.

They were all on different levels of the Superstar Stratospher...but each name rang familiar to probably almost everyone.

With Ed McMahon, I don't think it came as much of a shock to most people. The guy was 86, had cancer and had been battling financial woes for some time. Farrah...well, she had cancer and the outlook was grim. I don't think it was a TOTAL surprise, but it was still a bit of an "OMG" moment when I read it. You see...I was a Charlies Angels child. I remember watching Charlies Angels every Saturday night. And I wanted Farrahs hair...something I almost managed to do in later years...but gosh, was she pretty. Her and Kelly...Sabrina...well, she was the smart one.

As a shout out to Bridget, Ally and Jo....I post the following that makes no sense to anyone but them:

"Sabrina...why is the big bird on fire?"

Moving on....I was saddened by Farrahs death. From what I've read and heard, she tried to live life in her Hollywood bubble as well and as decent as she could. And I was even more saddened when her death kind of got swept under the rug by the news that came later that day....

Michael Jackson - My brother-in-law sent me a text telling me about MJ. My first response was, "Whatever..nice joke." But then is wasn't a joke...and it was real. And I can't say I was sad. My opinion of Michael Jackson in the past 10-15 years has been that he's strange, eclectic, weird, and quite possibly, a pedophile. I didn't follow his life, didn't search out articles on him...he was a non-entity to me. However, the 1982-1983-1984 Michael Jackson .... that was the MJ that I mourned. Thriller Michael....Beat It Michael...Billie Jean Michael. Because that was my youth, and anyone who was youth in 1983 knows what I'm talking about. You either had the one glove, the shades, the red jacket or you knew how to moonwalk...or you had it all. I myself knew how to moonwalk. I may have had a glove. I think as a female I tended to dress up like Madonna in those days (which is just scary in itself). But EVERYONE loved the Thriller album. It really didn't matter which group you ran with....admit it...you liked it.

And now...Billy Mayes. Now, Billy Mayes is not an actor or rock star I grew up with. In fact, I probably didn't really know his name until just recently. However, if you've ever been a new parent sitting up in the middle of the night with an feeding baby watching infomercials, you know who Billy Mayes is. And its still sad to me....the guy was only 50 and just died with no warning. Altogether healthy, happy, vivacious, energetic and he goes to bed one night and closes his eyes, not knowing he won't open them again. That's so sad to me. Nine years ago, that happened to a dear friend of mine, and he was only 30 and it shattered me.

Four lives in just a few days time. Why do we care? Why do I blog about celebrities dying? I don't know them personally, and I'm not shedding any tears over any of them, but for as much as we say we aren't, we're interested in them. And they're a common connection between strangers. I could probably walk up to ANYONE and talk about Michael Jackson. And they bring back youthful memories for me....of watching Johnny Carson in high school and hearing Ed's booming laugh (and mostly, I think of Phil Hartman imitating him on SNL, which makes me laugh out loud) and suddenly, I'm thinking of high school friends I haven't spoken to in a while. Watching Charlies Angels as a child and thinking I wanted to be one, and trying to recreate the Farrah hair with my friends and half succeeding once I hit the mid-80's. Thriller - gosh, that video was awesome. I watched it on MTV constantly...and I never got scared of it. My friends and I would try to learn the moves (and more recently, Lisa and I tried and failed desperately) and the moonwalk. And every junior high dance in the Merrick room would play Michael Jackson songs and I flash back to an innocent, safe time in my life. And Billy Mayes....his voice brings me back to a green recliner in the middle of the night with a baby in my arms staring up at me while I rock, and rock and rock...completely exhausted but oh-so-content holding my beautiful baby.

Remembering these people reminds me of so much more....they bring me to other places in my life, which can make me giggle, smile, cry, mourn or just reflect....and I miss people, times, places..but I smile thinking about them. That's life and I'm living it.

Rest In Peace to all.

Mondane Monday Musings

~ Target can be an eventful place - not just in dollars spent and items bought - but in people interaction and individual actions. Last week, the whole Day family went to Target. I'm not sure why we decided that was a good idea, but we did. We call it "family bonding time" when it's real name is "family spending way too much money time." Anyway, I had arrived at the freezer section because I needed to purchase some frozen juice that Little A likes. There's a very slight, slightly gray-haired man in a very formal business suit perusing the frozen juice. So I politely park my cart a short distance behind him and wait. There is one one doorful of frozen juice in Target so there was no other glass door I could open.

To put this story into written words is going to be hard..if not impossible, but I'll try.

Slight suit Juice man would open up the door, grab one can of juice, read it over, roll it around in his hands, read it again, hesitantly open the door to put it back, appear to think about the juice again, put it in the freezer, and start all over. Over and over again. Meanwhile, another lady and her husband pulled up behind me waiting for the frozen juice door.

Yes folks...there was a line for the frozen juice in Target.

Said slight suit Juice man finally appears to decide on one can of juice. He confidantly grasps the juice, closes the door and looks away. I move in...until he pauses, looks at the can and decides, "Nope...I don't think this is ideal," and he starts all over again. At this point, I look at the lady behind me and we both give the "OMG WTF" looks at each other (that means Ohmigosh What the French, okay?) I kinda start giggling. In the meantime, D walks up with a can of something or other, sees a sign for a scanner and starts jabbing his can against ...the sign for a scanner, as the scanner was not there. I kinda missed this as I was so focused on Slight Suit Juice Man but apparently he tried to "scan" a can against a plastic sign and tried a few times before realizing the scanner was missing.

As an aside - this story was HYSTERICAL to me when I finally thought about it, but I was so focused on the weirdness of this juice situation I wasn't even paying attention.

Anyway...10 minutes, people...10 MINUTES later, Slight Suit Juice Man FINALLY gets his one can of juice. He walks away and I move in but kind of look at the lady behind me and she says this:

"I honestly thought we were on Candid Camera. I started looking around for a camera crew."

Stiches...I was in stitches and so was she. D, being a few aisles down by now, looks down and sees us both laughing and assumes we're laughing at his scanning abilities, having not payed attention to Slight Suit Juice Man.

Blog translation of this story = not so great...but good golly, it was quite a trip.

~ I had a rare weekend away without children this past weekend. I get a text from my sis-in-law last Wednesday saying, "Mom and dad are taking your kids and you and D are coming with us to the cabin. Are you in?" My response, "...WHAT!?!?!" followed by, "If this isn't some sick joke then my answer is ....HECK YES!"

You know..some gifts are better than others...all are appreciated but some are just divine. This was a gift that was divine.

I love my kids more than anything....but good golly if this mom didn't need a weekend break. So the A Team went to Grandma Day's and off we went to the lake. Gorgeous weather, golf, water, sun, good food, good drinks, good friends and the ability to sleep in past 7:00 was perfection.

And ironically - I was excited to see the girls yesterday when I got home.....

...sometimes all a girl needs is a couple of days. And she'll run out the door with glee...but run back almost as gleeful.....

...to hear her oldest say, "Actually...I kinda want to stay at Grandma's longer."

Happy Monday.

Saved By The Bell Reunion Update 3 (6/8/09)

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Saved By The Bell Reunion Update 3 (6/8/09)

Video Recaps Full Episodes Webisodes

(For some reason, I can't add this to the above video so it's in a seperate post)

Okay - so I'm a child of the 80's and was thusly, a huge Saved By the Bell fan. So when I saw this clip on TMZ of Zach Morris, I couldn't resist posting it. I think it's hysterical and kudos to Mark Paul Gosselaar for doing this. I love it when famous actors revisit the characters that made them famous....lots won't do it which is a bummer to me.

This clip is fantastic. It's long, but if you were a Saved By the Bell fan, you'll love it. He never breaks character and for being about 20 years older, he can still pull of the Zach Morris look very well.

And Jimmy Fallon is apparently reuniting the Saved By the Bell characters and all but two have confirmed now. Awesome!

I know...copout of a blog post, but baby...that's just the way it is, baby.

Meet Rico

Big A talked us into to letting her mother another hamster. But this time she had to pay for it on her own. She had some money from her birthday and today we went out and we purchased Rico. Big A came up with the name and as soon as she said it...me, being a child of the 80's blurted out, "Suave!"

She liked that ...since it rhymes with Day. So I introduce to you the newest member of our family.

Rico Suave Day.

(and I'm completely cracking up that we have a hamster named Rico Suave).

Short and to the Point

I know I don't have a lot of readers...but I also know that I have some readers that read regularly and never ever comment.

As you should know by now, I ADORE comments. I don't even care if they say nothing - I adore them. (just like I adore email, mail, a brown cardboard box at my front door even if it's filled with business cards).

So you people...you know who you are (ahem....Darla)....do me a favor and send me one comment. Just one. Then you're off the hook forever.

But I need one. It's not hard. Click on comments...then just type something. Type my name, type your name, type your street name.....I don't care. (well...I kinda care....don't type that I suck or anything, cuz that would totally ruin my Memorial Day weekend).

If it's still a tough task, allow me to type some good comments for you. You can cut and paste these if you so choose.

"Tami..this post is SOOO funny. You made me laugh out loud. I totally relate."
"You know...your kids really are crazy."
"You have GOT to stop taking self-portraits."
"You use too many dang ellipses....but I like it."
"You're pretty."
"You're ....erm...different."
"Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?"
"Good Golly you're a demanding wench with this commenting stuff."
"No..I mean it. You're pretty."


There...so go crazy. I'll be waiting.