City of Hope's "All In" Week

All of our lives have been touched in some way by some form of women's cancers. And if cancer hasn't affected you or someone you know yet, there is a good chance it will in the future. I look at my daughter and I see the string of cancers she has the possibility of inheriting and I know that all of us need to do something - together - to fight these battles. 

This week is City of Hope's "All In" Week. A week where nationally-recognized researchers and physicians go “all in” to cure women’s cancers through their multidisciplinary Women’s Cancers Program, working to advance scientific understanding of breast and gynecological cancers, improve screening and prevention, and help women everywhere live longer, healthier lives. Thru Oct. 1, anyone, anywhere can take simple actions that will make a big impact in the fight against women’s cancers.

 Going “ALL IN” is easy, and can be done in any of the following ways:

• “Like” City of Hope’s Friends: During “All In Week,” visit City of Hope’s Women’s Cancers Program web page at cityofhope.org and cast your “like” vote for your favorite “All In” video.  Share the link with your friends, leave a comment, spread the word.
• Text for Hope: Donate $5 on the go by texting HERHOPE to 90999 (message and data rates may apply)
• Spread the Word: Join City of Hope’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/womenscancers and follow the Twitter conversation @CityofHope.  Invite your friends and family to join you.
• Walk for Hope: Get moving and sign up for a City of Hope Walk for Hope event. Find a Walk for Hope near you here.

If you can, please help and go "All In" with the City of Hope this week!

Spooktacular Sextactular

If you have kids, then you know that the Halloween planning and preparation normally starts sometime around mid-July.  Doing for Halloween what the Toys R Us book of toys did for Christmas, the arrival of the Chasing Fireflies Halloween costume catalogue on July 21 kicked off the unofficial Halloween season at our house. 

Gathering on the couch, the kids and I browsed through the 1000 or so over-priced and elaborate costume options thinking about what we all go as this year. I love nothing more than family themed dress-up, but both of my kids are too adamant about their choices to bend to the desires of the other. After seeing that initial catalog, Lucas is firm on being a warewolf, and Zoe is determined to be "AWICE AND WONDERWAND!!!!" ("Alice in Wonderland", for those who don't speak 2 year old). In fact, I capped the words there to express exactly how excited she is - throwing her hands up in the air and EXCLAIMING her anticipation with as much enthusiasm as a 35 lb body can muster.

The sad part is, both kids want to do family costumes. Lucas suggested that we go as the "Twilight Family" (yea, I know he's 6) and Zoe is insisting that we all morph into the various Wonderland characters. At first she told me that I needed to be "DA QUEEN" then yesterday she asked if I would prefer to be the "Sheses Cat." (Chesire Cat).

Let me set the scene a bit better. Our good friends throw an annual trick or treating party each year. And each year, they go all out. At first us adults wore black and put on a hat to compensate, but honestly, it's FUN to dress up. The kids love it and it's a fun family thing to do. But note the KEY words here - KIDS and FAMILY and TRICK or TREATING.  With that in mind, let's check the internets and see what my costume options are!

Um. Well. Okay. We can immediately rule out at least one of these choices since I'm not A POLE DANCER.

Well, let's check out the Chesire Cat costumes.. I bet they have something that covers a little more skin - I mean, it is a CAT.

Well, maybe slightly better? At least option #1 has sleeves of some sort and option #2 are full tights. Maybe I'll be the mad hatter - or the late rabbit - I know they are male characters, so maybe they won't show both tits AND ass.

Shut the front door.

Really? These are my options? I'm trying to find costumes from a classic children's book and Disney cartoon, not to wear as I strip my way through medical school (because all strippers are just trying to earn some extra money for college - right?).

When did Halloween become less about actually dressing up and all about wearing nothing at all? 

Monday Confessional: Unpublished

Looking at my blog, it seems that I don't write that much. In reality, I do...I just don't "publish" very often.

I will admit, my creativity mixed with exhaustion and stress has impacted how I feel about my blog. Maybe "feel" isn't the correct word... the way I approach it? I want to do things with it. I have grand, elaborate plans for it. I also write blog posts in my head throughout the day. The issue is getting these posts out of my head and into my computer. 

Some weeks I do better than others. Some weeks I find myself full of amusing thoughts, or something sparks an obsessive rant, and I'm off. Those are the good weeks. Other weeks, like last week, the back-end of my blog ends up an random cornucopia of unpublished chaos.

But things are always changing, and next week my schedule will lighten up a bit allowing for some more writing time.

So my confession for 9/27: I don't publish about half of what I write. What about you? How do you blog? Do you have scattered, unpublished posts or do you post everything you write?

Monday Confessional

I have a confession to make. And on a Monday, when I'm not feeling all that hot and can go back and maybe blame it on some kind of flu medication. Here it goes... I pretty much like any song that Pitbull is a part of.

I came across this realization this morning while stuck in traffic for SEVENTY MINUTES this morning, going through my iPod searching for anything that might make me happy, like the new Enrique Iglesias song, "I like It".. featuring... wait for it...my boy Pitbull.

At first, searching thru my lists and seeing Pitbull song after Pitbull song...Calle Ocho, Hotel Motel, Krazy (because white girls let's get krazy...) I was somewhat embarrassed. I mean, really?! Carlsbad white MOM and her Latin Rap top 40? But then I bucked up. Dude, the guy makes good, fun songs. They are fun songs to listen to while having a glass of chardonnay and dancing with your girls and kids around the living room. They are fun to dance to at clubs (well, that one I'm assuming because, sadly, I can't remember the last time I went dancing at a club. Sigh) and they are GREAT motivational work-out songs.

So there you have it. My Monday Confessional for 9/20/10: I like Pitbull.

What about you? Do you have a music confession?

Sea World... and it's special place in my heart, and, uh, on my butt

Back in 1997 there was a soon to be college graduate with a dolphin tattoo on her (upper) butt and a dream – a dream to train dolphins at Sea World. Being that eager young thing with a degree at her fingertips and the determination and confidence that comes from 4+ years of college, she researched and talked to people and realized that it was almost impossible to go straight into training at Sea World.  It turns out most trainers start off in other areas, and move into the coveted animal positions. With a talent for public speaking, she was thrilled to be able to try out for a position as a narrator in the Education department. Slightly hungover from the night before (hey, no judging, she was just 22 and living in Pacific Beach) she stood up at the Tide Pool exhibit and gave a thrilling speech about stomach evagination and tube feet, a speech that landed her a job telling people all about the animals living at the park. But little did the perky blonde know that getting that job would lead to her meeting her future husband and father of her children, along with making life-long friends. And while the dolphin dream was never realized, the job would change her life forever.

Ok, so I never became a trainer. Life, love and bad timing got in the way and when I left Sea World 12 years ago to move in with Jason, my then boss (SCANDAL!) and pursue a more lucrative (ha) career in Public Relations. Maybe it’s that long-lost dream, or maybe it’s that Sea World was such a vital part of my early 20’s, but that park will always hold a special place in my heart.

Lucky enough to still have good friends that work there and share the love of free annual passes with us, Jason and I have been able to pass the love of sea creatures down to our kids, and Sea World is a favorite choice amongst things to do. Since we are local, ex-employees, and maybe a tad bit snobbish, we don’t normally go to the park in the summer months, saving the less busy, cooler months to enjoy days roaming the paths and staring for hours at playing dolphins and killer whales.  With Jason out of town this past weekend, it was a perfect day-long destination and time-suck for the kids and I to enjoy. Since we hadn’t been for a few months, this was the first time we were able to see the new dolphin show, Blue Horizons.

As we sat in the stands, the kids got more and more excited checking out the new stage, the birds in the back and the dolphins doing laps in the warmup pools.  Then with a blast of water and the rise of, in Zoë’s eyes, a “PINK PIN-SESESES CA-SEL!” a pink wetsuit-clad trainer started to act out a whole performance of a young girl’s dream of dancing dolphins, birds and jumping pilot whales.

While I guess the “word on the street” is so-so about the new dolphin show, I have to say that the kids and I loved it. It was a performance with a bit of Cirque du Soleil flavor - high divers and flying acrobats and large birds that fly within feet of your head. The dolphins were adorable and the pilot whales were featured more than they had been in previous shows. I was extremely impressed with the performance and am looking forward to seeing it over and over for the next 10 + years.

It’s interesting seeing a place I used to work through the eyes of my children. The wonder in their eyes at the large Pacific octopus, the excitement bolting through their little bodies when Shamu jumps up and splashes the crowd.  It reminds of why zoological parks are so good for kids – zoos and aquariums get them excited about the earth in which they live. It also made my heart do a little flip when Lucas exclaimed “One day I’m going to be a dolphin trainer!” Will he fulfill the dream I didn’t? Or will he also forgo a fantasy job to opt for a “real world” career?

It has been a rough few months for our Sea World family. The death of the trainer in Orlando, followed too quickly by the untimely passing of a killer whale this week has left the trainers a bit raw and emotional. No matter what your stand on animals in captivity, from personal experience I can tell you that the people that work at Sea World love those animals like you love your own pets. My heart goes out to them all…

***disclosure: While we were gifted the annual passes, it was from Sea World employee's that are friends, not through the Sea World PR department. 

*** disclosure #2: Yes, I took the kids to Sea World the same day as the horrible Target meltdown. It was for my sanity.