"Did you have a brain tumour for breakfast?"

Hanna has had a cough for over a month now and since there wasn't an accompanying sickness, I didn't think much off it. Last weekend she had a low fever one day and was pretty lethargic. After that, she had a rash on her torso and the cough seemed to worsen. My kids aren't sick much. Believe me, it's nothing we do here except maybe try to eat well. I think we are just lucky. We moved here two years ago and Hanna has never been to the doctor. The only reason Grace has was due to a planter's wart on her foot. So I'm not one to run to the doctor for a cough but once she had the freaky rash, I thought it was time. Plus, she needed to get her DTap booster before Jr. High and this way I could kill two birds with one stone. Guess what? The kid has bronchitis! My dream to win Mother of the Year is slowly fading. While we meeting with the doctor I had this weird feeling of deja vu. I had been in this situation before, but I was the kid not the mom. I'm getting to this weird stage of life with my kids where I remember being their age and going to the doctor with my mom. It's a weird feeling because I still feel like I should be the kid. We went to Costco after to fill the prescriptions and due to them being idiots, it took forever. I started to whine because I was still in my work clothes/heels which are uncomfortable and I just wanted to go home. Hanna was telling me it would be okay, then laughed and said, "It's like I'm being the mom and you're the kid." That's right sister, feel free.

Nana gave Hanna a paint by numbers kit and wanted me to take a picture of it.


Live blogging while watching the Oscars
I doubt your Oscar party is as cool as mine. We have diet cranberry juice and caramel popcorn. I'm watching the red carpet at the moment and it got me thinking about a couple of things I read this week. First was an very well-written article trying to achieve bodies like celebrities.

New York Post reporter Mary Huhn had five pounds to lose before her wedding, and created what she is calling the Black Swan diet. It basically consists of eating only 1,200 calories a day—all vegetarian dishes (Portman is famously a vegan)—and doing "two hours of exercise a day—with a mix of ballet classes, swimming (Portman did a mile a day), circuit training and whatever extra cardio I could manage." This included several ballet classes, which might do wonders if you're doing it all the time, but a few hours a week isn't going to do more to tone the arms and work that core than a Zumba.

The problem with this whole endeavor, as Hahn mentions, is that Portman worked out five to eight hours a day for a year to get ready to show off her skeleton to the world. That's because Natalie Portman's job isn't really to be an actress, it is to be preternaturally beautiful. The same thing goes for Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Britney Spears, Ryan Reynolds, and Tom Cruise. They are famous people with nothing to do but diet, exercise, and tend to their bodies and they have unlimited resources and all sorts of assistance to do so. The rest of us have jobs, strange food cravings, lazy days, and incidental circumstances that keep us from the gym. There isn't something fundamentally wrong with us, we're just normal.

I'm glad Hahn lost her five pounds and she looks great, but just cutting down her caloric intake and exercising more would do that, no matter if she employed this Oscar-nominated gimmick or not. Still we really need to stop attempting to transform our bodies into celebrity look-alikes. Trying to get Natalie Portman's bony arms (or Ryan Reynolds grating abs) is a losing gambit and endlessly vying to emulate her/him is only going to drive you as insane as she goes in the movie.

I'm guilty of these comparisons but what the article says is true, it's these people's jobs to workout, eat little and look amazing. I bet we couldn't even wrap our brains around some of the tricks they have at their disposal to make themselves look this good. Fantastic genes don't hurt either.

The other thing I read this week was an article on Yahoo News about Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin mocking Michelle Obama and her campaign to end childhood obesity. Rush made fun of Obama saying, "she was no swimsuit model". This was what really upset me though:

In the past week, both Sarah Palin and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) criticized the First Lady's advocacy for breastfeeding. Michelle Obama has mentioned breastfeeding as a way to lower childhood obesity at the same time the White House has successfully pushed the Internal Revenue Service to offer tax deductions for breast-feeding supplies.

What could they possible criticize? No one is forcing you to breastfeed only providing incentives to do so. WIC already provides free formula for low-income women so why shouldn't women who choose to breastfeed be given some sort of break? I think of the teachers at school who buy expensive breast pumps so they can provide breast milk to their babies while they work. Why would Palin and Bachmann have a problem with them having a tax deduction? It makes my brain hurt.

On to less frustrating things such as purchasing clothes. I've been wanting to give a shout out to my mother-in-law Nancy for the fabulous gift she gave me at Christmas. She surprised me with a purse shopping spree at Nordstrom. I picked out this lovely Michael Kors gun metal bag. I'm kind of in love with it as much as you can be in love with a purse. I'm also showing off my new boots that were like a little gift from the fashion gods. I was online browsing one day and these Miz Mooz boots were on Piperlime.com, 1/2 price and only one pair left and they were my size. Could you say no? They have a zipper up the back which is kind of sassy. I love the combo of expensive and cheap in fashion. I've been reading a lot of fashion blogs lately, trying to mix it up a bit. I find Target and the Nordstrom juniors department to be a good place for jewelry and accessories. I got this Target dress for $19, paired it with a $14 Nordstrom belt, $11(sale) Nordstrom cardigan, $5(sale) Downeast cami, $8 Target earrings and a pair of Gap tights. Easy peasy and cheap. The purse and boots were the splurge but the purse was a present. I'm not saying I look fabulous or have a great fashion sense but I'm having fun with what I wear lately.