Mamma Mia

My husband would do a lot for me, but I think he would draw the line at going to see Mamma Mia with me. That’s why I was really excited when a couple friends called yesterday morning to tell me they were in town for the writers workshop and wanted to know if I wanted to go out to dinner with them and then go see Mamma Mia. I did not need to be asked twice!

We had a FABULOUS time! I don’t go to a lot of movies in the theater (I’m too cheap)…and when I do go, it’s in the afternoon (because it’s cheaper). I don’t remember the last time I went to a movie at night…with a group of women. (Heck, the last time I went to a movie at night was when Spy Kids 1 was in the theater…how long ago was that?) And I can’t think of a better movie for a group of women to go see together than Mamma Mia.

There were five us, ranging in age from 22 to…”older than that.” The 22-year-old really didn’t want to go…she doesn’t like musicals. But her mom talked her into it…and she loved it! So did the rest of us. I think the reason I liked it so much was I loved all those songs when I was a teen-ager. I remember my best friend and I standing on our beds, holding our hairbrushes like microphones, dancing and belting out those songs with our record players full blast until our moms made us stop. I haven’t seen the show (again, the husband who will do just about anything else for me isn’t any more likely to take me to Chicago to see Mamma Mia on stage than he is to sit through it on the big screen), so I didn’t even know what the story was about. And yeah, it was a little hokey, like most musicals are…but I LOVED seeing all my old favorite songs woven into this story. Every time a piece of dialog led into one, I’d smile and start taping my foot. And my friend next to me would smile back. I almost started singing along right there in the theater…there actually WERE people singing along. What a great evening! (Though I’m not sure the poor 18-19 year old guys sitting next to us thought it was so great…they were obviously there with their girlfriends and they looked like they would’ve rather been just about anywhere else. There were NOT a lot of guys in the theater. Mostly it was other groups of women.)

Yeah, I know…it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged. I haven’t done a lot of writing this summer, either. And I don’t normally take a break from writing during the summer (or ever). But first there was London…then the flood…even though we weren’t directly affected by the flooding, it still occupied my every waking moment for a couple weeks there. Then we went to Minnesota…saw my in-laws, my college roommate and her family, my family, did some fishing, did some relaxing, spent a couple days in the Twin Cities…but for me the highlight of the trip was sitting in with the Minnesota Mandolin Orchestra! Wow! I knew I’d enjoy myself, but I had no idea how much. The people were great…it was like walking into a Toastmasters meeting. Everyone came over and greeted me. And then when we started playing…I got goosebumps! I SO wish we had a mandolin orchestra here. I was almost ready to move back to the Twin Cities that night.

We’ve been back for a week now and I’m finally getting back into a work routine. I’m working on a picture book for one of my publishers (in fact, I’ve been nudged…more than once…which should motivate me to focus and get done!) and also a series proposal for the same publisher. I had hoped I’d have both of those done before I have to revise T.J.’s Story (I’ll be getting that back any day now), but I’m not sure that’s going to happen. Too much time not writing.

It’s hard to believe summer is more than half over already. College Student has been gone seven weeks…he’ll be back five weeks from yesterday. And at that point, Junior High Kid (High School Kid?) will have one week of school in. MAN we start school early here! They don’t start until after Labor Day in the Twin Cities…