Are you doing it?

Today, in honor of Feel Your Boobies Week, I am giving a shout out (well, a whimper out to my imaginary audience) to Feel Your Boobies.

I know the founder, Leigh Hurst, from Ladies Who Launch. And I proudly have a FYB magnet on my car (which attracts lots of attention!)

Leigh started Feel Your Boobies when feeling her own helped her detect early breast cancer when she was only 33 (!) She made t-shirts for her friends with the irreverent statement "Feel Your Boobies" and they took off. Now she is spreading the word and encouraging young women (and those of us who wish we were young enough to be in her target demographic) to be familiar with their own bodies and know when something is not quite right.

I love all of her marketing tactics including the great graphics, cool t-shirts, and my favorite, The Boobies Bus. She even did a Boobies at the Beach tour this summer including planes flying along the beach with FYB banners. Too cool.

FYB is currently in the running for a MySpace Impact Award - so if you are a MySpace member (I became one so I could vote) please give a click to Leigh and her great cause.

Glad to be Me

I am so glad I am not famous. Famous sounds fun. And money would be nice, so I guess to the extent that famous = money I might not be completely opposed.

But the whole part where everyone knows your business and everyone is watching you and drawing great attention to every misstep, weakness or embarrassing situation that you experience...that part I am happy to go without.

It is bad enough to be falling on your face in front of people who know and love you. But having to think about what it is going to look like in the press (and paying someone to help minimize the damage). That must be no fun at all.

Do I want eat like Oprah?

In my quest to be healthier, I saw the article that Oprah was undertaking a 21 day "Cleansing" diet. And I was intrigued by this idea. It isn't a fast. It isn't a "diet" per se. But one bold move in the direction of taking control of what you are (and in this case, aren't) eating.

No meat. No dairy. No gluten. No sugar. No alcohol.

Oh yeah, and no caffeine. That one hurts.

I have read through her blog which, on some level, makes me think that the only way you could pull this off is to have a professional chef who can make salad taste like things other than salad...but on another level makes me think, I could do that.

Gluten-free waffles don't sound so bad...

Mike says if I tried this I would be a flaming b__ch. But that he would do it with me.

I have the book: Quantum Wellness: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to Health and Happiness. I am reading it. I think I need to get the full scoop before making such a bold decision. But I just might do it!

It's not easy being green...

OK, so I am not the greenest. But I am trying. Really hard. Well, hard-ish.

I have the reusable bags for the grocery store. But I feel a little odd about bringing my Giant bags into Genuardi's or Acme. So sometimes I leave them in the car because I don't want to hurt their feelings at the other stores. (I am guessing they have no actual feelings on the subject and would probably rather have me in their store buying a big pile of groceries regardless of the bags I bring).

I do have one Whole Foods bag, and that one just makes me feel kind of cool. In a pseudo-green poser sort of way.

I am beginning to think there is some rule that the cashiers aren't allowed to touch the reusable bags. Or else I am giving off some manic control-freak vibe when I plunk my stash-o-bags on the conveyor belt. But they basically won't put anything in the bags. I stand there wildly opening the bags and attempting to sort through the deluge of stuff as it piles up at the bottom of the bagging area...and they just sort of watch me...and don't help.

Sometimes if I run out of space in my 6 bags (which is not often) - they do put the extra stuff in a plastic bag. Thanks for that.

So I am feeling all righteous when I use the bags - but not enjoying the process all that much.

I went to the farmer's market last week. Trying to "eat local" and do more "whole foods" and all that good stuff. But there are like BUGS flying around. And I didn't recognize many of the varieties of produce, which seemed to be heavy on the "fancy lettuce" category. So I ended up buying a loaf of bread. Lame, I know. The planet needs saving and I am buying bread.

We are transitioning to compact fluorescent bulbs. We are using the water bottles with less plastic. We are not taking receipts at the ATM or the gas station (I don't want evidence of how much I am spending on gas anyway!)

My dog eats food from Whole Foods. My children, for the most part, do not.

I still don't buy organic milk. Because if I had to dump 1/2 full glasses of milk that costs $8 a gallon down the sink I might have to kill someone. And trust me, that is much scarier than whatever might be in non-organic milk.

We are finding small ways to get greener. It is a long road. But as in most things, I think better is better...and if we keep getting better, maybe someday we'll get it all the way right.

Some good resources (even if we can't follow ALL of the suggestions, following any would be better, right?):

The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time very digestable. Some of the suggestions seem strange, but some are really good. And you can read about what the celebs are doing to be "green" (if you are into that sort of thing!)

Ideal Bite is a very fun website/newsletter that sends you one "green" tip each day.

The Lorax (Classic Seuss) is a great way to talk to kids about natural resources.


And I want to read these three - but there isn't room in the pile at the moment!

Gorgeously Green: 8 Simple Steps to an Earth-Friendly Life

Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style

Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World

My name is Kristen, and I am a quitter...

...but I am trying to reform.

When the going gets tough, I want to go somewhere else.

When the s__t hits the fan, I want a new fan.

But then there is this child. Well, these children, but especially my girl child. And if something is hard, she doesn't want to try. And this child is brilliant, and talented and she could do ANYTHING she tried, if she just put a little effort into it. And she won't try. Until she is dragged kicking and screaming, and then she is brilliant. Until it gets hard again. Then there is crying, and quitting, and convincing. And then she un-quits. Until the next time.

Apparently this is genetic.

But now I must be a role model to my child. So when I order the wrong labels and pay someone to stick 600 of them on, I need to not throw a tantrum and stomp around and talk about what an idiot failure I am. I can't quit. Rats.

I need to be a grown-up and go order some new labels and realize it isn't SO bad. Recoverable. Not a huge disaster.

A small-ish and yet hugely infuriating disaster-like occurrance. That caused my heart to stop momentarily. And lights to flash before my eyes. That can't be good for you.

And then there was a (tiny bit) of crying and ranting (while holding a big sharp knife and attempting to cut up veggies for dinner, which caused my poor husband quite a bit of concern as he attempted to comfort and calm the crazy lady with the BIG KNIFE).

And then he offered to help. I can ask for help. I don't have to do everything.

Which I knew. But sometimes I forget. Because it feels like there's this big THING that is some sort of TEST that I need to complete. But it isn't a test. It isn't a big THING.

It's a thing that I (normally) really enjoy doing. That someday (please, please) will be a great success story.

And then I will look back on the wrong labels, and the crying and the BIG KNIFE and we will laugh.

And I will say, thank goodness I didn't quit.

Right?