REALLY Michael Bloomberg, REALLY?

*Note to reader: For some reason this whole thing irritated me to no end tonight.  Sorry you got the long version.  I didn't have time to edit!  :)

Dear Michael Bloomberg,
Are you seriously wasting New Yorker's tax dollars on a law against sodas bigger than 16oz?  What are we 6 years old?  Are you our parent?  Are we not BIG enough to make our own decisions?  Seriously?

Did I vote for you? No, I live in Nebraska, where we are more worried about you eating beef and pork to help support our farming industries.  I'm sure you have a problem with hamburger too......

But seriously America, I see Bloomberg's point to a degree.  I understand he would like to fix obesity.  Well here's a clue America, we are a fat, lazy, over indulgent, uneducated (about food) society.  That's the long and the short of it.

Right now some, okay lots, of you are up in arms.  And I would be too if I was lumped into this group (which I am lumping myself in here), but that's it.

Americans sit a desks, eat candy and drink pop and celebrate everything with a cake because it tastes good. Then we go home to watch the millions of channels with nothing on them.  We eat out and pop in a prepackaged dinner far too often.  And then we LOAD up our plate like it's our last meal.

The weight loss industry is ridiculous.  Everyone can make you thin and trim in no time flat.  Just drink this, wear this, do that for 7 minutes a day, monitor your portions....BUT do we do this????  NOPE!

Get educated people.  Get off your rump when you get home and play with your kids.  I mean play.  Rough house, dog pile, tickle fight, run around in circles saying "I'm going to get you", have random dance parties.  Clean your own houses, I'm talking hands and knees scrubbing.  Tell you children about what is and isn't healthy when you're eating and eat lots of healthy and a little bit of the unhealthy.  Eat that way yourself parents!!!!  And if you don't know as a parent, there are tons of resources out there.

Don't eat out or rely on prepackaged foods as much.  They always say the fresh fruits and veggies are expensive, and they are, but frozen ones are about as good for you and I found frozen veggies, 16 oz for 98 cents the other day.  Some of you could get those cheaper with your coupons.  Last I checked 98 cents didn't even get me a candy bar anymore.  HUM, candy that feeds me for a little bit and packs on calories for 98 cents or 16 ounces of veggies that feeds my family of 5 for part of their meal, way less calories and loaded with vitamins and minerals....yep I'll spend that money on veggies.

I'm off on a tangent...but I'm irritated.  We as a society need to get back to the basics in life.  Eat with your family, at the table, with the TV turned OFF.  (Gasp, off?  YES OFF).  Visit with your kids.  You don't have to be an amazing chef, but READ THE LABELS.  Be aware of what is going into your bodies.  Be conscience eaters.

People say that I can say all this because I'm a tiny person.  True enough I don't have an obesity problem, but I can tell you being pregnant made me realize what being big is all about and I don't want to be big.  And big isn't the issue here for me.  I don't believe you all need to be little stick people, but we need to be healthy.  I believe healthy is all shapes and sizes.  We need to instill healthy ideals in our children.

Back to Michael Bloomberg, seriously man, I realize sometimes we can all be a bunch of idiots, but let us make our own decisions in life.  Let people drink their soda if they want.  Let them drink buckets of it if they want.  You're not solving a problem, you're limiting a freedom that we should have living in America.  Put your money towards showing people how much sugar is in each soda they drink.  Educate them about the health problems associated with too much sugar.

What are you going to do next Mayor Bloomberg, make everyone give up their cooking knives because someone might get murdered with one???

Start with education and quit treating people like they're idiots.

(End rant here)

Finding the perfect fit

I hate shopping.  I hate just about all kinds of shopping, but I especially hate shopping when I have to find something that fits.  The basics groceries, toilet paper, shampoo, etc don’t bother me.  Although I will say that I hate Wal-mart and given a choice I will try to find a less populated Target or shop on the “off” hours. 

Back to finding things that fit….As all women know shopping for jeans is an Olympic event.  There are millions of choices and nothing fits just right in the waist, thighs, and then doesn’t feature your butt crack when you bend over.  And then in my case you must add finding a pair short enough.

While I could tell you stories of jeans this story is about something else that needs to fit just right, has just as many millions of choices, and in my world just might be more frustrating: bras.

I recently got done nursing baby number 3 and discovered that I own one non-nursing bra that fits.  One.  And not one nice bra, but one beat up, older than my 5 year old son bra.  It was originally white but was a dingy shade of gray. 

After making this discovery I think, there has to be more so I dig and find some ancient sports bras from back in the college days (which has now been 10 years).  Do you know what elastic does after 10 years?  Yep, when you pull it, it snaps, crackles, pops and then just laughs as it stays in it stretched out state.

I lump along for about 4 weeks with 1 lowly, decrepit bra.  I tried purchasing a new one about 2 weeks into this fiasco, but I was shopping with 3 kids in Wal-mart.  That’s a completely different blog topic and other Olympic event, although I must say they were good kids.  (We’re just not “street” savvy.) And it’s because they were being good that I asked them if they thought we could go check out bras for mommy.

It was that day that I discovered the plethora of selection: t-shirt bras, push-ups at levels 1, 2, and 3, padded, unpadded, with a wire, without, lace, black, white, cream, wild and crazy, with matching undies….. I freaked out, told the kids just how proud I was that we had survived Wal-mart, but that we were giving up on the bra quest.

Two weeks later I managed to get to go to Wal-mart by myself (mind you we live 100 miles from the closest Wal-mart).  I went to the bra section first thinking I would begin my quest by looking at the white bras.  White works well with most everything, right.  Of course I have NO clue what size I am and they don’t measure in Wal-mart.  So I wing it.  Something’s got to hold up these droopy, old nursing mommy boobs!

My first trip to the dressing room I try to take in as many sizes and styles I can, but I’ll be darned if some sizes exist.  I have a few underwire and ones without a wire, a couple of band sizes and cups sizes.  The goal, find one that works the first time.  I went in with 8 bras and left with not a one working.  Guess cup size increases with droopy, nursed for 3 years total boobs?

Back out and I come back with 5 more.  One might work, but I’m still not convinced.  By now it’s been about 30 minutes of this nonsense and I’m thinking I can survive with one bra.  By now I’m pretty sure I’m either one of those popular sizes or odd sizes because I cannot find anything where the cup and band size meet what I think is going to be comfortable. (Maybe my body is just that odd of a shape!)  J

One the third trip in I find one that I think I might be able to live with.  I decided not to get in too deep and only purchased two. 

So far I’m two days in with the new over-the-shoulder boulder holders and it’s been going pretty well.  I’m recovering from my dressing room experience and don’t think therapy will be needed this time.