I've moved...

www.redbullmom.com

under construction

bear w me please!

The Day for Change

On a beautiful day with fresh snow on the ground my entire family made its way to our polling station to VOTE.

I awoke giddy and will hopefully remain so throughout the week. It was as if our weather this morning -- a fresh new blanket of pure white snow covering the ground and layering the branches of trees -- was a sign of the new season of hope and change coming to greet us.

With the 5 yo and 3 yo in tow, my hubby and I cast our ballots into the big red box. People in line were smiling and chatty. There was a man there who was participating in his first voting experience, as he'd moved here from another country (not sure where from Europe) and he looked as if the whole experience might make him tear up. The kids behaved like saints -- asking educated questions and sticking tight to mom and dad.

The whole aura was one of optimism.

It was perfect.

Lighten up...or else!

My 3 yo son is obsessed with light up shoes. You know, the sneakers that light up when the kid is walking (or stomping, as my kid often does).

Before my son really came into his toddler years I always thought they were somewhat frivolous. I mean you can get a rawkin' pair of Vans at Famous Footwear much cheaper than purchasing say...light up Iron Man shoes or Wall E shoes from Payless Shoesource. And you all know how I feel about Wall E (if you don't read back a few posts).

In June we bought a pair of Spiderman light up shoes for the little man at Ross. They were $15 I think, so it was somewhat a non-issue. Now the shoes are beat. And by beat I mean there isn't an area around the perimeter of the sole that isn't scuffed and "burned" away. They have holes on both sides of the foot towards the toes from a summer full of skateboarding and learning to ride a bike and using his feet as a set of brakes. They need to go.

We tried getting rid of them last month, only to engage in daily morning battles about which shoes he would wear. Correction: would *not* wear. He desperately wanted only to wear his light up shoes.

So now I am embarrassed to write that not only do I continue letting him wear the shabby shoes, but I have yet to find an adequate replacement pair. One night I showed him a pair of Diego light up shoes from the Payless website. I finally got the green light for a purchase, which was tough. You see, they had to light up in front and back and have two straps, not laces. So I put the shoes in the virtual cart and got distracted for a day or two. I went back to the Payless site only to find that the Diego shoes were no longer even available.

I had committed a cardinal sin with the kid...told him he was getting the shoes - and let him see them - before actually purchasing. Now it's been ~two weeks of him asking when his Diego light up shoes will be here. Boooo....bad mom!

"Ummm...Mommy is still looking. I'm not sure, little man. Soon though.." Crap, I did it again.

And back to eBay, Craig's List and the like....

What is it about toddlers and the obsession with light up shoes!?

UPDATE Praise ebay! I scoured high and low until I found the Diego light up shoes and they'll be arriving to our house early next week!

It's booby month!

October is breast cancer awareness month. If you’ve read this blog for more than its last 5 posts then you know my mom has been working to kick cancer’s butt for over a year now.

And let’s say for no reason you want to do something nice for me, nice for others, and another reason to feel good about your day – just because.

Well, then it's your lucky day. Here are some things you can do:
• Visit this site which will provide funding for preventative diagnostics, aka a boob squishing mammogram that could save a life through early detection

• Shop here or here or here to purchase items that have a portion of the proceeds directed back to cancer research, diagnostics support or medicine

•Check out this site or this one for information on how to conduct a self exam and other educational information

• Check out this network of beauty bloggers that have united to form Total Beauty - Total Cure to generate additional awareness

• Send a Boob-e-Card to someone else

• Comment here and tell my mom how much she kicks ass for putting up such a fight

In case anyone wanted to know

Found this draft and thought I'd post, although it's a little tardy.

Took the kids to see Wall-E and there was some good and some bad. The good part was that the kids wolfed down a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bag of carrot sticks by the close of the previews. Then, we lasted about 20 minutes into Wall-E before the kids looked at me pleadingly and asked to leave.

In my opinion, the lack of dialogue and effort one must put in to follow the nuances of the robots’ “body language” was just too tough for toddlers. I wasn’t entirely surprised, and knew it had been a gamble. Luckily, the theater I went to gave me three rain check coupons so we could try again with a different movie. And, of course we will. They have a movie goober for a mom.

Dear Rep Party: You see our lips moving, but do you hear what we're saying?

I’ve been stewing since Friday’s U.S. Republican VP candidate was announced. At first, emotionally, I was just infuriated because it felt like “Hey look, here’s a HRC replacement for you women out there” and Palin is no HRC. And now I’ve read all the rationales around why McCain opted to move forward with Palin, but I’m still stuck in place, processing my initial gut reactions.

Despite all the other reasons that may or not be obvious, three days later his choice still feels insulting – not because I believe the Republicans think women in general are “stupid” or that we’re blind enough to vote by chromosome only, as some have lamented. I get that the R party needed someone to woo back those on the far right and that there was a "marketing opportunity" to seize with HRC out of the '08 race.

What is so infuriating to me is the feeling that they are using Palin to reach out to HRC "fans" but obviously weren’t listening to WHAT women wanted and saw in HRC that inspired them. The Republican party just seemed to react to the fact that women were talking, and talking LOUD.

I’m still processing the information disseminating from both camps daily, but I already know that I won’t be voting for the McCain/Palin ticket. I knew that before Palin joined the camp, but now I am actually a bit frightened about what our family, and my daughter specifically, may face in the years to come if McCain is elected with Palin by his side. We're basically opposites when it comes to ideology.

Don’t get me wrong… as a woman, I respect what Palin has done in her career and obviously there's a number of people that support her in Alaska, but I don’t want the career she's built based on the foundation of her personal convictions affecting mine. And that's my choice.

However, to reiterate my main frustration at the Republican party again… they just don’t seem to get that “a woman” isn’t what women are looking for, especially not disaffected HRC supporters. Many of us are looking for an EXCEPTIONAL woman that believes in family and women’s rights – in the workplace and out.