Or to put it simply, the rugrats have descended upon us. Tomorrow is the AIDS Benefit at Wrigley Mansion, and I am doing last minute shallow tweaks to my person. (New nails put on, and one more visit to the instant tan, for instant color) Tomorrow I am getting my hair done for the event,and I have just picked up my dress from alterations. And of course the usual running from basketball practices and drama classes and Kumon for Riley.

I think Tracy from Just For Future Reference asked me what Kumon is. It is very similar to Sylvan Learning Centers, for kids. Right now, I have Riley going twice a week for both Reading / Comprehension and Math skills.They give him homework for 6 days a week, as well. I’m dropping the reading/comprehension for him in March, and Kevin and I are going to work with him on it. Yes, I think we can do a better job at this than the Learning Center. We’ll see.

The rest of my week will be devoted to the guest post I’m doing for Kim’s blog. Which means I’ll be neglecting mine, until this project is complete. It’s either neglect mine, or my reading. I prefer reading my favorites.

Have a productive, stress free Monday!

And on that note, a girlfriend sent the following as a farward. I loved the message, so I’m sharing it with you. As it was a forward I have no clue as to who wrote it, or I would give the proper credit. For now, it’s anonymous. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Anonymous
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven’t thought about it, don’t have it on their schedule, didn’t know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I’ve tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn’t suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word “refrigeration” mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched ‘Jeopardy’ on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, “How about going to lunch in a half hour?” She would gas up and stammer, “I can ‘t. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain.” And my personal favorite: “It’s Monday.” .She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.

Because North Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

We’ll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained We’ll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We’ll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of “I’m going to,” “I plan on,” and “Someday, when things are settled down a bit.”

When anyone calls my ‘seize the moment’ friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas.  Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you’re ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It’s just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?

Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you.

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask “How are you?” Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, “We’ll do it tomorrow.” And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say “Hi”?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.

“Life may not be the party we hoped for… but while we are here we might as well dance!”

Love,

3T