Boobapalooza!

This is NOT an entry with pictures of a bunch of naked breasts! So if you were surfing for porn and found this, you may be disappointed. However, you should read on and see how you can make a difference and possibly save some boobs (er, breasts) in the future.

After careful consideration, I've decided to skip my 20th high school reunion in order to participate in the Atlanta Two-Day Breast Cancer Walk. Most of you remember or have read about when I shaved my head 2 years ago in support of my Aunt Mary who was beginning chemotherapy for Stage 4 Breast Cancer (see recently added scary photo). Aunt Mary's continued fight has inspired me to help raise funds for more breast cancer research.

Now to understand how big a deal this is, you have to know that I REALLY want to go to my reunion. Like most people (I think), there's a certain thrill in going to that reunion and looking fabulous and showing your friends how successful you turned out. Well, that's not my motivation. We all know that not only do I NOT look fabulous, I am almost never even recognized when I run into people from that era. While that has been painful at times, I'm pretty much over it now (being bald changes how you look at life).

And as far as success goes, I guess that all depends on your definition of success. If it's about having a happy marriage, I have that...now. But I had a 10 year marriage fail despite my determination to hold it together. My 3 children from that marriage have in been permanently affected by this particular failure, and I get to live with that every day.

Let's see, other worldly measures of success...oh, my JOB. Well, according to my son's 3rd grade teacher, staying home to take care of children isn't really "a job", so I guess I've failed there too. Unless you consider what CNN's MONEY said today. Experts did REAL research and put a monetary value on the occupation of a stay-at-home mom (http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/03/pf/mothers_work/index.htm?eref=yahoo). There was even a quiz that allowed me to break down the hours I spend a week as chef, chauffeur, laundress, psychistrist, janitor, housekeeper, CEO, etc. According to my location in the United States, my PERSONAL salary SHOULD be in excess of $125,000 per year. WOO HOO! Let's party! When do I get my first check? Do I get a signing bonus??? My signing bonus came in the form of an episiotomy and every paycheck I've received has been paid in hugs and kisses. (Not too shabby really, but is it "success" as my friends would measure it?)

For the record, I went to obtain employment recently. I was looking for part-time work to contribute a little to the bottom line of our household. I figured I had a lot to offer: I have a Georgia Tech education. As a senior I was chosen for a position in a Management Training Program with a high-profile bank while most of my classmates had been rejected. I have 7+ years work experience in Human Resources, Marketing, and Technical Support for a large company, and an additional 3 years as a manager of several different retail stores. So I went through the interview process, going into great detail about how flexible I could be so that the fact that I had five children wouldn't be a negative consideration on the part of my potential employer. Finally after the results of the drug screen came back, I received the job offer. For $8.50 an hour. WHAT? I pay my babysitter $10 an hour to take care of 2 children. Of course she does laundry while she's there, but COME ON! Surely, I'm worth more than that. "Let me talk to my regional manager (district manager, someone)...OK, I can do $9 an hour, but don't tell anyone I did that for you". HUH? I almost choked. Instead I said I'd think about it.

Ummmm, tell you what. I'LL stay home and do my own laundry, save money on the gas and clothes I 'd have to get to wear to work, pay my older kids $0/hour to watch the babies, and I'll just sit and write my blog. You can spend money to train an unreliable teenager to do the job you interviewed me for, and fire him next month when he no-shows for a shift...for the 3rd time. Then you can hire his best friend the next week, go to the expense AGAIN to train a NEW unreliable teenager until you catch him sneaking sips of Robitussin under the counter when no one's looking (except the security cameras!) By then you will have spent what would have been an acceptable hourly rate for me like a million times over. Oh well. Your loss.

How did I get here? Oh yes, my reunion. So while I don't have much to show off, I feel like I have the world. I have five of the sweetest, most annoying, smart, whiny, adorable little brats on the planet. I have a husband who cooks, cleans, moans, complains, and occassionally yells to be heard above the din. But he comes home every day, even after his call to gauge the overall mood of the house, and he changes clothes and digs in to help. My husband doesn't just love me, he's crazy about me. And while he drives me crazy a lot of the time, there is no one else I want to see before I fall asleep and again when I wake up. When all my little babes are gone, I can't wait to spend all my boring, empty days just looking at him. In a very quiet house. Or if he has his way, we'll be in a big RV parked in one of our kids' driveways.

I want to go to my reunion, but I'm walking in this walk to benefit a cause that I believe in. But I can't believe I'm not going see all the people I have such fond memories of from that incredibly weird and foolish part of my life. I can't believe I'm not going to see the people I have BAD memories of just to show them that my life turned out great even though they didn't like me when I REALLY wanted them to. But life goes on. The party will go on whether I'm there or not. But if I walk in this walk, maybe I can make a difference in some small way. Or MAYBE, I can find a way to walk 20 miles in one day, dress up and go to my reunion, and walk another 10 miles in the morning. What do you think?

The team I started is called Boobapalooza.
To support me in my efforts to raise $$$ for the cure, click the link below:

https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=140092&supId=80862095