Time out for the Ta Ta's!

Haaaa, made you look!

So I have just been informed by my Dr. that I should not get Ta Ta’s that look like that!  And Husband from Heaven just said "D@MN!!"  That was right before he also just put me on a blogging time out!!  

This picture from a Girl Scout event (yes, I said that-I’m irreverent everywhere and yet they haven’t revoked my membership card) reminded me that it’s that time of year again when even the football players are wearing pink and we are all reminded to fondle ourselves.  Oh yes, I just said that out loud!!  

In honor of the boobies, in addition to our Halloween nonsense, mommy decided to have the girls do a few projects for Breast Cancer Awareness.  Of course, it’s a bit odd talking about breasts to three girls who have no sign of boobies, and who’s mother’s boobs were sucked the life out of (literally) long ago. 

But alas, mommy decided to pursue it anyway,  and here’s what we learned when you turn the world pink:

SHHHHHHHH. . . . . .

. . . . . IT happens!

We all have those days, but it seems that this has just been one of those WEEKS for mommy.

Before I go on, I want to mention family fun.  We visited the San Diego Children’s DiscoveryMuseum in Escondido and they had a pumpkin patch, music, face painting, etc.  The kids had a great time, but did spend most of it inside because it was so bloody hot.  For the next several weeks the museum will be having gardening lessons and live music on Saturdays.  They also have Kids Free October for kids under 12.  I highly recommend checking it out!

The Id is waaaay out there, the Ego is hiding and the Superego is acting crazy!  What else is new?!

No, those two additional blonde children are not mine.  They are my friend's, but they're cute, aren't they?!  :-)

So, rather than pontificate about how insane my life is, I just figured I’d entertain you with all the sh*t that’s happened in the last 72 hours and how you might avoid these problems yourself – also, at the very end I give an update on our real food journey!

Woa woa, I gotta go . . . back to school . . .

FINALLY!

Admit it, you all could just see Michelle Pfeifer in her pink lady jacket, couldn't you?!  

The girls started school and mommy is getting back to some semblance of sanity . . . well, at least for a few hours of the day.  Of course, this post is about a week late because we had out of town guests, a birthday party and the Labor Day holiday and it just didn’t get done.  But, for those of you waiting for the birthday party post, never fear, it will come in the next few days!

In the meantime, here’s what I learned about when mommy’s are left unattended all day:

Time out to take care of the bubbies

The housewives of New Jersey may not be speaking to each other, but I can use one of their phrases that I love – when Dina was on the show, every time they would refer to their boobs (which are enormous, by the way), they would call them bubbies.  It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so today we’re going to take a time out from Halloween family fun to bring attention to this disease and have some family fun with a purpose.  Today’s family fun was intended to teach my three girlies about something they will need to know as they grow into young women, and also bring a little lighthearted fun to a very serious issue.

I am certain that every one of us has been somehow touched by breast cancer.  Whether it’s a friend, family member or friend of a friend, we all know someone who has battled this disease.  My experience was with my friend Laura Roppe.  I won’t tell you her story because she will be telling it in a great book – Rocking the Pink - that will be released in March 2012 (and you can pre-order it on Amazon.com already - http://www.amazon.com/Rocking-Pink-Finding-Myself-Cancer/dp/158005417X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319778390&sr=8-1). 

I will tell you that being with Laura on her journey taught me to cherish every moment and to also remember to fondle your boobs regularly to save your life.  You had to double check and make sure you read that right, didn’t you.  J  In all seriousness, Laura found the lump in her breast from a self exam and that is a lesson to all of us as to how important it is to be aware of changes in your body and to check often. Without any family history of Breast Cancer, Laura learned that she had triple negative Breast Cancer – the most aggressive and hardest to treat.  She underwent months of both chemotherapy and radiation.  Laura is now doing fantastic and before telling you about family fun with the trifecta, I’ll make one more plug – check out Laura’s video “I’m Still Here” on You Tube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5efIFZ7BKM0.  This is a song Laura wrote to Cancer during her chemotherapy treatments and is all about empowerment and triumph.  Also, if you’re able to get a kitchen pass and you live near San Diego, go see Laura and her band play at the Belly Up next Tuesday, November 2^nd where you’ll hear “I’m Still Here” and all of her other great songs live!

Today’s family fun with a purpose was to make pink ribbon cupcakes.  I wanted a chance to talk to the girls about what Breast Cancer is and also have some fun with it.  Here’s what I learned about going pink with my girlies:

I want my mummy . . . meatloaf

So before I dive into today’s Halloween family fun, a couple stories.  Tonight I was driving home from a charity function (which I’ll mention more later) and it occurred to me . . . I missed a HUGE opportunity with yesterday’s post.  The title of the post should have been “Give ‘the finger’ to school lunches”.  I have never had so many people comment to me about how much they too hate packing school lunches.  My favorite comment came from my mother-in-law.  Here’s what she wrote in an e-mail to me:

I too hated to make school lunches - choosing to have them buy instead.  I never felt creative about lunches.  There was a time when [my son]* couldn't remember to take lunch money and I finally had to tell the teacher "No more lunch loans!"  She thought I was really cruel!

(* “my son” has been substituted for my husband’s name so as to protect the guilty).

The best part about this little story, at the very moment that I received this e-mail I had just hung up the phone with the school district’s automated system that said “Dear Mrs. Dugdale – the Superego (yep, the automated system calls her that too) has a school lunch account balance of negative two dollars and fifty cents”.  Now isn’t it interesting that we have three children at that school, all three of whom always have the same lunch scenario, and yet only one of them has exceeded her account balance.  Apparently the school lunch account apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!

Ok, on to family fun.  Today it was mummy meatloaf.  Here’s what I learned about making shapes out of an otherwise mundane dinner:

New meaning to the phrase "finger sandwiches"

I absolutely despise making lunches.  I know I cannot be the only mommy out there who feels this way.  I would rather risk that my children put all kinds of junk food in their lunches than have to make them myself.  Unfortunately for them, there is no junk food in our house, and I have actually convinced them that Veggie Sticks is junk food! 

Not sure what my aversion to this task is, but I hate it.  AND, I also am unwilling to let my children buy lunch everyday from the cafeteria.  So, until I can get a “Rosie” Robot to make the lunches for me, I’m stuck with it (this is, by the way, one of the things I miss about working motherhood – paying the nanny to make lunches).  I know, hard life.

Anywhoo,  today’s Halloween family fun was making skeleton sandwiches and jack o lantern oranges.  Here’s what I learned about making Halloween lunches:

From Wonderland to the Hood . . .

This weekend’s easy family fun began with a visit to the “Wonderland of Treats, Eats and Drinks” benefitting the Poway Unified School District Foundation, and ended with Mommy and 4 of her friends at the Poway Center for Performing Arts for a “Party in the Pit” watching Street Beat (a Theatrical Drum and Dance Show with lots of drumming and hip hop dance moves).  Mommy was hoping to end our weekend fun with a little Halloween activity, but you’ll have to read on to see how that went.

Here’s what we learned about too much sugar, partying with girlfriends and messy houses: