Good Deeds
I had been thinking about my mum's breast cancer. There are days that she seems to accept it and know that we will take care of it and move on with life... and there are other days that she seems seriously depressed. She says, "how am I going to do all this on my own?" and no matter how many times I try to tell her that she will NEVER be facing this alone, she doesn't seem to grasp the fact that besides me, there are a grip of other people (besides my sister* grumble-grumble) that are more than willing to step up and help her out. That's when the idea came to me.... What better way to show her the amount of people who care than to have a "Boob Voyage" party!
I sat down and began pulling together the invites. I used an old B movie poster and changed the wording on it to say "Attack of the Mutant Killer Boobies". For as creative as I am, I have learned that "invites" & card making are not in my field of expertise. But when it comes to the actual Party planning- I rock! It would be another thing on my already full plate, to plan a party but I knew from the start it was going to be an all around good thing to do and my mum would love it. First off we would make it a surprise.
I had to laugh when I sent the husband out to purchase me the largest sizes in bras he could find for my games. In the months prior he had gone to the same store to purchase me some new underwear and accidently purchased a size WAY too large for me as they were in the wrong spot. I can only imagine the people at the store now think my husband is some type of cross dresser. At home I wanted to make sure the bras would be large enough to fit everyone so I asked him to try each of them on while I measured out extra fabric to make them wider around. He gave me a look of shame but did it anyways and then stood there after for a moment thinking. "so wait...," he asks," is this how it feels for you to wear one of these things around everyday?... that must suck." yes... yes it does that is why it is the first thing to go when I step in the door. The "girls" need to be free!
There were a few kerfuffle's in the planning, such as my sister originally being added in the plan to get my mother here on the day of the party. My mum had decided she had enough of my sister and lied about canceled plans in order to get her NOT to come down and stay the night. Now not only did I need to find a new way to get her here but I also had to try to sooth my mothers nerves about my sister when she stated, "Boy am I glad I don't have to deal with her for another month"- little did she know she would have to see her a few days latter at her own party. I ended up coaching my mum here with the idea of a "date" with my husband for lunch. I almost felt bad when for a whole week she gushed how excited she was for the time to have one on one with the husband and going to a nice place for lunch (something I will need to arrange now that the party has passed).
People are horrible at RSVPing. I know I have always been one of those people as well but from here forth I will change my ways as the whole time I was panicking at the thought of no one showing up for my mum's party. It would defeat the purpose of showing her just how many people care. I have to say I am VERY lucky that apart from 2 people, EVERYONE showed up.
Our family is one loud bunch of people and being apart since the last major holiday made everyone extra chatty. My mum would be arriving any minute and I had to continually tell everyone to keep it down or spoil the surprise. Our look out announced she had arrived and we all crowded in around the door, giddy with excitement. It feel silent as she walked up the walkway to the house... and in the silence my cousins baby let out a loud scream. Eyes all turned to look at her. Outside my mum paused on the walk way. Inside all eyes flew to my cousin who held her child. You could see her struggling with what to do. It would be wrong to cover an infants mouth... but it would only be for a second and there was nothing else to be done in such a short window of time- several hands reached over and clasp them on the infants mouth. Silence (a muffled baby) and my mum continued towards the door, a bit confused. Her hand raised for a knock, my husband yanked open the door and we all yelled "SURPRISE!"
My mum stood there confused with her hand gripping her chest. (Oh dear God please don't let her have a heart attack on top of all the other issues that lie ahead). She cautiously entered and asked, "whats going on?" It wasn't her birthday nor any type of holiday- infact as I thought things over, in all my years of living my mum had NEVER had any type of party thrown in her honor. She began to tear up , I ran in for a cuddle. "Its your Boob Voyage party" I tell her and stepped back so she could see the room.
My 'daughter', cousin Paige and I had spent the night cutting out Tissue paper shaped bras and hung them around the room on a fake clothes line. Each 'bra' held up by pink ribbons. We had gathered together our real bras and made a chain of them as well that draped over the main room. In the middle of the room was a Pink thrown surrounded by all the presents people had brought for her off the list of "things needed after surgery' and as she came into the room I placed a headband with bobbling boobies on springs on to her head.
The guest were awesome and had brought cakes and sandwichs and more wine than I had ever seen. There was visiting and catching up and then I declared "GAME TIME". I had come up with several "boob" related games though I had never had time to try them out to see if they would work- it would be a trial and error period.
Game one "Sling the Slang". Everyone had 1 minute to come up with as many slang terms as they could for Breast. Once the timer went off we went around the room and read some of the funniest terms that have ever been used. "Chesticals" "Milk Missiles" "Milk Duds" - everyone was laughing.
Game Two: Sling shot Boobies. We painted balls to look like boobs and in teams of two they were given a bra and 2 'boobies". They had to come up with the best way to Sling shot their boobs across the yard. The farthest boob would win. It was hilarious to see the teams huddle together and try to find away to make the bra work. The balls rolled in the cups and would fall out and women were running around trying to catch their "boob"s. there were allot of inventive strategies.
Game Three: Feel me up... The same teams would work together. At one end of the yard there was a person in the over sized bra, unable to use their hands. At the other side of the yard were their partners along with a large box of packing peanuts. In 30 seconds they had to grab as many peanuts, run across the yard and stuff them into their partners bras. The team with the most packing peanuts inside the bra would win. The timer went off and everyone ran. The packing peanuts are so light that as they ran, peanuts floated out of their grasp onto the air and across the yard. The air was filled with laughter and cheers. Each team was trying to find the best way to keep the peanuts piling high. The winner ended up being my sister in law who ended up doing some type of limbo move to hold peanuts in her bra and on her chest as possible.
Wine flowed, people laughed and my mum opened each of her presents with tears in her eyes. It turned out to be a great day. I still have one more trick up my sleeve for my mums recovery. With each of the invites I sent out I also included an index card. I asked everyone to write something nice about my mum, a reason that made her special. I collected them all as they entered and I am placing them in a small flip book for her. After her surgery I plan to give it to her. This way she will know just how special of a woman she is and it will give her the strength she needs to recover. Her surgery date has been moved to Nov 11th... 3 weeks to go.
I sat down and began pulling together the invites. I used an old B movie poster and changed the wording on it to say "Attack of the Mutant Killer Boobies". For as creative as I am, I have learned that "invites" & card making are not in my field of expertise. But when it comes to the actual Party planning- I rock! It would be another thing on my already full plate, to plan a party but I knew from the start it was going to be an all around good thing to do and my mum would love it. First off we would make it a surprise.
I had to laugh when I sent the husband out to purchase me the largest sizes in bras he could find for my games. In the months prior he had gone to the same store to purchase me some new underwear and accidently purchased a size WAY too large for me as they were in the wrong spot. I can only imagine the people at the store now think my husband is some type of cross dresser. At home I wanted to make sure the bras would be large enough to fit everyone so I asked him to try each of them on while I measured out extra fabric to make them wider around. He gave me a look of shame but did it anyways and then stood there after for a moment thinking. "so wait...," he asks," is this how it feels for you to wear one of these things around everyday?... that must suck." yes... yes it does that is why it is the first thing to go when I step in the door. The "girls" need to be free!
There were a few kerfuffle's in the planning, such as my sister originally being added in the plan to get my mother here on the day of the party. My mum had decided she had enough of my sister and lied about canceled plans in order to get her NOT to come down and stay the night. Now not only did I need to find a new way to get her here but I also had to try to sooth my mothers nerves about my sister when she stated, "Boy am I glad I don't have to deal with her for another month"- little did she know she would have to see her a few days latter at her own party. I ended up coaching my mum here with the idea of a "date" with my husband for lunch. I almost felt bad when for a whole week she gushed how excited she was for the time to have one on one with the husband and going to a nice place for lunch (something I will need to arrange now that the party has passed).
People are horrible at RSVPing. I know I have always been one of those people as well but from here forth I will change my ways as the whole time I was panicking at the thought of no one showing up for my mum's party. It would defeat the purpose of showing her just how many people care. I have to say I am VERY lucky that apart from 2 people, EVERYONE showed up.
Our family is one loud bunch of people and being apart since the last major holiday made everyone extra chatty. My mum would be arriving any minute and I had to continually tell everyone to keep it down or spoil the surprise. Our look out announced she had arrived and we all crowded in around the door, giddy with excitement. It feel silent as she walked up the walkway to the house... and in the silence my cousins baby let out a loud scream. Eyes all turned to look at her. Outside my mum paused on the walk way. Inside all eyes flew to my cousin who held her child. You could see her struggling with what to do. It would be wrong to cover an infants mouth... but it would only be for a second and there was nothing else to be done in such a short window of time- several hands reached over and clasp them on the infants mouth. Silence (a muffled baby) and my mum continued towards the door, a bit confused. Her hand raised for a knock, my husband yanked open the door and we all yelled "SURPRISE!"
My mum stood there confused with her hand gripping her chest. (Oh dear God please don't let her have a heart attack on top of all the other issues that lie ahead). She cautiously entered and asked, "whats going on?" It wasn't her birthday nor any type of holiday- infact as I thought things over, in all my years of living my mum had NEVER had any type of party thrown in her honor. She began to tear up , I ran in for a cuddle. "Its your Boob Voyage party" I tell her and stepped back so she could see the room.
My 'daughter', cousin Paige and I had spent the night cutting out Tissue paper shaped bras and hung them around the room on a fake clothes line. Each 'bra' held up by pink ribbons. We had gathered together our real bras and made a chain of them as well that draped over the main room. In the middle of the room was a Pink thrown surrounded by all the presents people had brought for her off the list of "things needed after surgery' and as she came into the room I placed a headband with bobbling boobies on springs on to her head.
The guest were awesome and had brought cakes and sandwichs and more wine than I had ever seen. There was visiting and catching up and then I declared "GAME TIME". I had come up with several "boob" related games though I had never had time to try them out to see if they would work- it would be a trial and error period.
Game one "Sling the Slang". Everyone had 1 minute to come up with as many slang terms as they could for Breast. Once the timer went off we went around the room and read some of the funniest terms that have ever been used. "Chesticals" "Milk Missiles" "Milk Duds" - everyone was laughing.
Game Two: Sling shot Boobies. We painted balls to look like boobs and in teams of two they were given a bra and 2 'boobies". They had to come up with the best way to Sling shot their boobs across the yard. The farthest boob would win. It was hilarious to see the teams huddle together and try to find away to make the bra work. The balls rolled in the cups and would fall out and women were running around trying to catch their "boob"s. there were allot of inventive strategies.
Game Three: Feel me up... The same teams would work together. At one end of the yard there was a person in the over sized bra, unable to use their hands. At the other side of the yard were their partners along with a large box of packing peanuts. In 30 seconds they had to grab as many peanuts, run across the yard and stuff them into their partners bras. The team with the most packing peanuts inside the bra would win. The timer went off and everyone ran. The packing peanuts are so light that as they ran, peanuts floated out of their grasp onto the air and across the yard. The air was filled with laughter and cheers. Each team was trying to find the best way to keep the peanuts piling high. The winner ended up being my sister in law who ended up doing some type of limbo move to hold peanuts in her bra and on her chest as possible.
Wine flowed, people laughed and my mum opened each of her presents with tears in her eyes. It turned out to be a great day. I still have one more trick up my sleeve for my mums recovery. With each of the invites I sent out I also included an index card. I asked everyone to write something nice about my mum, a reason that made her special. I collected them all as they entered and I am placing them in a small flip book for her. After her surgery I plan to give it to her. This way she will know just how special of a woman she is and it will give her the strength she needs to recover. Her surgery date has been moved to Nov 11th... 3 weeks to go.