Save the Ta-tas!

I just had one of those head-smacking DUH! moments. I feel really foolish admitting this, but I just now remembered that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This is very, very dumb of me...I eat a Yoplait yogurt every single morning (I mean, when it isn't Doughnut Friday, of course) and I never put two and two together that the pink lids (which I have been dutifully saving so I can mail them back in) represent NBCAM (I don't know if this is an official abbreviation, but it is now!).

(Let's have some more parenthesis, shall we?)

Breast cancer hits close to home for me. My grandmother was diagnosed a few years ago, had a mastectomy, and has been totally fine ever since. A few months ago, I pretty much convinced myself that I had breast cancer too. Now, I know that I have a smaaaall tendency to jump to conclusions and all of that, but I don't think that frequent aches and pains and lumps in your boob are supposed to be normal occurrences. And the urgency with which the nurse at my gyno scheduled an appointment for me only heightened my fears. It turned out to be nothing...a strange reaction to my birth control (I have since gotten a new prescription) but I know other women aren't nearly so lucky, and my heart goes out to them. SO! I am stepping on the podium for just a minute to remind you that NBCAM is far from over (two whole days left!) and of course there is plenty you can do throughout the year to help educate women on the importance of self-checks and mammograms, as well as support those brave ladies who have been diagnosed with breast cancer or are in recovery. In fact, the simple habit of clicking on this site every day will help give free mammograms to underprivileged women all over the country (more than 16,000 since the the site was started in 2000!). I know there are tons of other ways to help, and it doesn't matter what you do, as long as you do SOMETHING.

Whew, okay. Enough heavy stuff. Scroll down and look at the puppy again.