MAMMA MIA! 1,2,3,4,5,6,7!

Yep-7 times.
I am obsessed. Just a little bit.

First time I went to see MAMMA MIA! was a last minute late night movie (11:20 PM) the night before leaving for Jay's Grandmothers funeral.
It was so freeing to go and sing, and dance in my seat.
Every song (but 2) brought back so many fun memories.
The music just made me happy. It reminded me of drives back and forth from UT-CO.
We love road trips as a family. We love singing in the car together.
We have loved ABBA music for so long, and it reminds us of way back when.
When we fit into a car not a minivan.
When Savanna was in a car seat.
When we just had 1 child and were pregnant with #2.
And then having #2 and #3 come along.
Around that time the tape (yes tape) got put under the seat to make way for our cd player, then that made way for our ipods. We never bought the ABBA gold CD or loaded it onto our Ipods.
This night, after seeing it, I reached under the front seat of the van and pulled out the bag of tapes.
Found ABBA gold and put it in then danced and sang my way home.

We then sung and danced our way to Colorado for the funeral.
After the funeral we got things settled and I got to go see it again with Jay's mom Carolyn and my sister-in-law Mary.

Once again, it was wonderful. I loved getting to see it again, and had fun going with family.
I saw things I did not see the first time.
Paid attention to details that I had missed.
Cried a little more than I did the first time.
It was a nice relief after the busy weekend with the funeral.

Then move forward 2 weeks the 16th of August and I rounded up my girlfriends for a late night show.

I wondered if everyone would love it as much as I did. (I think they did!)

Allyson, me & Kim

Kim, Allyson, Julie, me & Leslie

This time was fun to have the energy of girlfriends getting together late at night and leaving our "normal" life behind for a bit.
Each of these girls friendships I treasure.
Kim, Allyson, Julie, & Leslie.
This night also made me want to go with all of my other girlfriends from different places that I have lived. Rebecca, Donna, Pepper, Meghan, Holly, Layne, Kaleen. My list could go on and on.
There were a few more details that I noticed this night. And I still cried.

Then just 2 days later my sister called and wanted to go see it with my mom. I jumped at the chance and frantically started trying to find someone to watch the kids. It all worked out, and I got to see it for the 4th time!
I was so glad to see it with my mom and sister. I had wondered if it would work out timing wise to go and see it with my mom. She helps take care of my grandmother every other day-and I really wanted to see it with my mom and sister before it left the theater.
It was so fun (again) and felt a little funny to go see a movie in the middle of the day. I felt like I was getting away with something. This time I had the whole thing just about memorized, and I cried again. The part where Donna is singing to Sophie. I was feeling a little sad about school starting in a few days and having Savanna start middle school, and Luke in Kindergarden. I thought about the time we had spent during the summer, and how time just goes by so fast. And even though we did so much, there was still so many things that we didn't do.

So now, I had just one more person that I wanted to see it with now.
Jay.
The next Saturday after the kids were all nestled in bed, I talked Jay into going with me. I really wanted him to see what I was making such a big deal about. And for the record, he liked it. (But not as much as I did, his fun was seeing me have such a great time, and feel so happy!)


The next Monday I was feeling so sad. School had started. I did not want summer to be over. I wanted to just play and have fun. I told Jay- "I want to go see MAMMA MIA! again!" and that is when it hit me.
I loved the movie for how I felt, and where it took me. It was a total escape.


My sister called a few days later and announced that she was taking me, my sister and my mom to go see the play on stage at the civic center on Friday the 5th of September.

Hooray for something to look forward to!

We all met and had dinner at our house with Jay and the kids. Savanna and Luke did such a good job decorating for the dinner. She suggested going by the library and picking up the MAMMA MIA! pamphlets. Then we brought them home and she cut them apart and hung up the pictures on the wall, the cabinets and the fridge. Luke made "money" and taped it up on the wall.
(to go with the song Money Money Money which is his favorite and he sings it with such gusto!)
We toasted to us, and to our night, and to Grandaddy (this was the year mark of his death) and talked about how happy he would be for us to go, and if he were here, he would slip someone a $20 and tell us to go get a treat, "just between us girls!"



We sang and listend to the music the whole way down, and were so excited and pumped up.

We sat down in our seats and I leaned to the guy next to me and apologized in advance for my soon to be singing. He laughed.
At the intermission he said he did not mind my singing, but "you didn't tell me you would be dancing too" with a loud chuckle. He said he could see why I got so into it and that he was having just as much fun.
My sisters and my mom had a great time.
Seeing it live, and with the energy of a live full audience was exciting.
I was feeling so sad when it was over, but then so thrilled when they kept on singing and dancing. We all jumped up and joined in, just like a concert!
SO MUCH FUN! SO SO HAPPY!!

We danced our way to our car, and had to stop by the trailers and get photos.
Thank you so much Janelle for a wonderful night- we all have a fun memory together because of you!


Then to top the weekend off- I saw it again on Saturday! The kids were shocked that I was going again, and Jay just smiled and shook his head with a little chuckle. Allyson picked me up and off we went.
I was talking with the woman next to me who came with her mother and sister and niece. We talked about how I had wished that my daughter was a little older to see it. At one point during a particular scene the woman leaned over and said, "I can see why you did not want to bring your daughter- she has plenty of time ahead for this kind of stuff!"

Allyson felt just like me, Giddy right before it started, sad when it was ending, and excited when they kept on singing and dancing!
I loved it just as much the 7th time. There were a couple of songs that were not in the movie, but I really enjoyed. And a few things that were not in the movie that were explained a little bit better on stage.
A few of the musical number I liked better in the movie, but then a few were better on stage.
I liked them both equally.
I still missed 2 parts the second time seeing it on stage that I didnt see what everyone was chuckling about. It was like I did not get the joke. I missed it.

I got home, and Jay asked if I was sad it was all over. I emphatically said "NO- I am going to go to the sing-a- along!" And then, there is the DVD when it comes out, and the music I will listen to over and over again!

The end of the summer 2008 will forever be etched in my mind as MAMMA MIA!

Last week Jay and I had a lunch date with the littles, while the big ones were in school.
(Luke was so excited that he got to go!)
I laughed out loud when I read my fortune from my cookie.
It said something about music being an important part of my life, and that it would bring me joy.
So true, so true.