peskypippi.comBecause I have a lot to say…

When my oldest son came home from school last week announcing, “MOM! I need to bring peanut butter to school to give to the Mexicans who live in dumps!” My jaw kinda dropped. My immediate reaction was wow, those are not kind words. How not politically correct. I need to teach this young man about world culture. Pronto.

Lost in translation? Sadly, no. Turns out, he was right. At school, my son is learning about these young children in Mexico, who have nothing. No family, no food, no hope. His teacher says many of these kids live in real garbage dumps in Mexico where they salvage food and clothing, whatever they can find.

The teacher began his pilgrimage to Mexico several years ago and returns annually. He rallies his students to collect peanut butter every year. Why peanut butter or manteca de cacahuete? Protein. Peanut butter is the cheapest source of protein and doesn’t have to be refrigerated. Every January, the teacher drives to this poverty-stricken area to Hogar para Ninos to take the load of peanut butter down to these kids. Here is the website of the organizing group:

http://www.ffhm.org/

As we are looking ahead to the holiday season. We are entering the season of sharing and abundance. It’s time to share and spread the abundance around. Chunky or creamy?

And I know there are poopy naysayers who are like, “Why do I need to help them thar Mexicans? We’ve got our own problems. Let’s take care of our kids first. Forget about them. They don’t speak even English. They speak Mexican, don’t they?” [sic]

Well, you see, in my eyes, it IS our job to help nourish every child. Whether here or there. It IS our job to teach our children to be kind, to do the right thing, and to think of others.

And that, my friend, means stocking up on some peanut butter. Pronto.

Because if there’s a truck driving down to Mexico, I want to make sure it’s filled to the brim with manteca de cacahuete and love.

Gracias.

I have got to clean out my closet. Today. I am not a hoarder (and oh, by the way, the A&E show Hoarders scares the freaking crap out of me).

Yikes refers to my taste in clothes. When I take a peek in my closet, I see I have made some poor purchasing decisions.

I have heard that you should keep the clothes you really love and the others: give away to charity. Looking through my closet, there’s not really much to love. I am feeling very generous today.

• What was I thinking when I purchased my tacky-ass-print-stretchy top with the capped sleeves? Did I think that the print would help camouflage some of the heft in the mid-section? Yes. Did I think capped sleeves are truly flattering? Yes. Wrong on both.
• What about Capri pants, cropped mid-calf? Fashion guides tell us that Capri pants are not flattering because they visually crop your leg, making your legs look stumpy. We need to elongate our legs; so next Spring, boycott those Capri pants that are on sale everywhere!
• How about the baby doll tops that I have purchased? So ugly, definitely not fit for a baby.
• Shoes? I’m good at buying shoes. They are not my problem. I own about 14 pairs. And most of them are sneakers. Oh and two pairs of boots.

It’s the outfits. I struggle with matching tops to bottoms.

Running late for work, what to wear? Quick, grab low-waisted, hip slacks and a button-down shirt. A working woman’s go-to uniform. Craptastic: the buttons are gaping open. Lately, I’ve started buying all grey clothing for work. Grey goes with black goes with white goes with navy. It’s like Garanimals.

And, then there the: how long should I save my clothes—you know, the ones that I-need-to-lose-10-lbs.-in-order-to-fit-in-these-clothes clothes? I save those. But if I need to lose more than 10 lbs., which I do, well, those clothes could be sitting around awhile. So off to Goodwill they will go. If I lose 20 lbs., I’m goin’ shopping!

Recycling. Just hoping there’s a woman out there who has worse taste than me. Because if there is, today is her lucky day.