About Breast Cancer

My good friend, Katherine, whose mother died of breat cancer at a young age sent this to me. It is worth watching. Sometimes I get scared by these sorts of reports, but I found this one empowering. Please watch the video link about Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC)below:

http://komonews.s3.amazonaws.com/ibc/komo_ibc.wmv

Creative Parenting

For about 10 seconds I actually thought about it...okay, maybe 30 seconds!

P.S. This is not Cassie!

When 17 Months is the New 2

Okay, this is a cry for help...my child has been possessed by a demon. My once beautiful, smart, sweet little girl has episodes of the following:

1) She arches her back, kicks her feet when I try to put her in her carseat
2) She runs the opposite direction when I call her to come
3) She flops herself on the ground and throws a fit when I try to pick her up
4) She screams, cries, and whines
5) She tells me "no" and then smirks at me

Have any of you seen these symptoms exhibited in your children? From what I've heard, the screaming and whining might be a characterisitcs that typically manifest themselves in little girls. These episodes are sporadic and seem to be brought on by fatigue, but can happen at anytime without warning. They also seem to be especially pronounced in public. Help!

-Frazzled Mother

Radio Head

Do you know how sometimes you hear something and you couldn't have said it better yourself. After a month of packing, moving, Alaska and remodeling, I can't remember the last time Cassie saw a vegetable - that is unless french fries count as vegetables. Organic...what's that?

This report called "Nuggets" is definitely worth a good laugh: http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/145/510130/93015063/KPCC_93015063.mp3

I love it when moms tell the truth!!! Enjoy.

the baby goes to kindergarten

Auden's first day of kindergarten is tomorrow. So far it looks muddy to me. First, his teacher is in retirement mode and working a 110 contract. This means she isn't starting the school year with the kiddos. She isn't allowed to work in July on this contract, but 110 calendar days... Second, she's a tough teacher, has high expectations, and picky, picky, PICKY. Third, I'm still not sure he's ready. And last but not least, I'm not ready... This is it. The end. Someone else out there has the potential to influence him more than me. And I don't like this teacher. I don't want her to be the one that tears down his imagination, dashes his hopes, or turn him into a bitter, hopeless little boy! I don't want anyone to do that to him. I want him to stay sweet and innocent forever....

Free to Good Home

Fantasy Weekend

Okay, so I've been dealing with a lot of change in my life lately and it has made me feel very lonely at times. I have found myself really missing my close girlfriends - the ones that I can tell all the screwed up thoughts about myself to without worrying what they're going to think about me. It got me thinking about how hard it is to find time to nurture the relationships with other women that I treasure and how much I really need that nourishment for my soul. I can't lie...what really started me thinking about this was the drink I was going to make myself once Cassie was asleep later that night. This of course, got me fantasizing about those weekends in college where you could go out with your girlfriends and drink yourself silly without having to wait until the baby is in bed or care about the pile of dirty dishes in the sink. Keep in mind, this was all happening as I sat in rush hour traffic on Friday afternoon with Cassie passed out in her car seat - just to set the scene. Yes, I was paying attention to the road. I'm a woman; I multi-task!

Anyway, I digress. So I started calling a few of my girlfriends in an effort to talk some of this over before I burst into tears on the 91 freeway. Unfortunately, none of them answered their phones...which got me thinking...their lives are as crazy as mine and maybe I wasn't totally alone in my misery. I'd like to say that this made me feel better, but it didn't. However, about 20 minutes down the road (by the way, this is about 7 miles in 91 freeway time), when the self-pity and self-loathing started to retreat, I got an idea. What if we had a reason to get together once a year for something that was affordable and meaningful enough that we would leave our kids, spouse, and take a day off of work if necessary to nourish our souls?

This got me excited because my next thought was about my bachelorette party. No, we're not back to the drinking again. Unlike many bachelorette parties, my sisters planned the perfect girls getaway with plenty of time for talking and catching up with friends while still making room for some pampering. That weekend was one of those special moments in time that I hold on to because I knew it was one of those moments that couldn't be repeated. It was at this great location on the central coast of California called Sycamore Springs http://www.sycamoresprings.com/. A few of you will remember this place. The area is near the beach, wine tasting, has spa and mineral springs facilities, paths for hiking, affordable lodging, good food...what else needs to be said after wine and food??

So now for the idea - A Women's Retreat Weekend. There would be a loose itinerary allowing time for sleeping-in, reading, catching up with old friends, and making new ones, but would also have opportunities to feed the body, mind and spirit. We wouldn't bring in outsiders to facilitate it; it would be facilitated by the women in attendance. Each woman could participate in as little or as much as she wanted.

Here are some ideas to give you a better picture of what I'm thinking about: yoga session(s), book review, cooking class, arts & crafts (although this would not be a sales opportunity for scrapbooking or stamping), meditation, etc. All this would be coordinated by one or more of the women attending the weekend. There could also be time for things such as spa treatments, wine tasting, and exploring the area. There would also be sometime each day where we would all come together, connect and share.

So I haven't worked out any details beyond this, but does this interest anyone? I'd love to attend something like this, and I'm willing to take the lead, but I would need a commitment from other women to help make the weekend happen - an event committee so to speak.

Post your thoughts and if there's enough interest, perhaps we can work for something next year.