More Erma Wisdom...

Today Kyle had his guitar camp, we went to "Crack Pots" a paint-your-own-pottery place, and then for a picnic lunch at a local park on the lake. It should have been a lovely day, but Kyle complained, fussed, and griped about the whole experience. It is so hard to find activities that both a 7 year old girl, and a 12 year old boy would enjoy. Someone is usually not happy, and today it was Kyle. This afternoon there is guitar and swim lessons, each for a different child...we'll see who complains loudest tonight! Anyway, between reading the Bible and Erma Bombeck, I can usually gain enough strength to get through the day without pulling my hair out!

Here's another great Erma Bombeck article...sure to encourage you to live it up tonight and eat some ice cream; no matter how your day went!
Seize the Moment~ June 25, 1991
Written by Erma Bombeck

"I have a friend who lives by a three word philosophy: Seize the moment. Just possibley, she may be the wisest woman on this planet. 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 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 gasp and stammer, "I can't". Check one: "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 Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ouselves when all the conditions are perfect. We'll go back and visit the grandparents...when we get Stevie 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 and 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 rollerblades 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 hips 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."

So, go ahead...eat some ice cream tonight...and don't fall for that old trap of, "We don't need to go out, we have some here." Load up the whole family and drive to Dairy Queen, Coldstone, or Baskin Robbins...that's what summer is all about, (bet the kids won't complain either!)