A Mama's Rant

Our new feature: Buddy of the Week

We have a new feature at A Mama's Rant - Buddy of the Week. It's a mother-daughter blogging project between me and the Boo Girl (Lucie). It's also way for me to chronicle this time of her life since being four is a wonderful age, and she's such a special girl.

Sometimes I'll take a picture with Lucie and her stuffed animals and baby doll friends. Sometimes Lucie will take her own pictures. (She's pretty handy with a digital camera.) You can see them all at Lucie's Buddy Gallery.

Buddies

Buddies are what we call Lucie's stuffed animals. She has dozens of them in baskets all over the house. Just about each week she has a new one (or two or three) that's a favorite. Many are presents. Some have been purchased at thrift stores. And several are bribes for being good at Barnes & Noble or Borders. (Sigh.)

Her brother Nathan, is more of a one buddy kind of person - he has Bunny. I was the same way with Baby Bear, my beat up ol' bear who has been accompanying me around the world since my first Christmas. Baby Bear currently resides in Lucie's room. Lately, she's been sitting on Lucie's computer monitor, just to stay out of the way of all the choas. Smart bear.

Since Lucie brings several buddies with her everywhere she goes - school, shopping with mom, karate class, and in the car - we call the collection her buddy entourage. Only four, and she has her own posse. What a girl!

This Week's Buddies

Mousie (from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie) and Scorpie (the cat)

Where did you get your buddies?

One from the Fall Festival at school (Scorpie) and one from the bookstore (Mousie) when I went to mommy's writer's group meeting.

What makes your buddies so special?

Because they like to play on the computer. They like to read books, too. They like to get dressed with me and play dress up. They like to color and watch movies with me.

They usually like to play outside, too. And they like messing around with mommy's stuff. (I think that describes Lucie more than her stuffed friends.)

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Meet the Robinsons...again

Don't tell the kids, but Meet the Robinsons is being released today. Why? Take advantage of the first week's sales discount offered at most retailers, and hide it until Christmas or Hanukkah. (The movie is also available in Blu-ray Disc®format. Cool.)

I enjoyed Meet the Robinsons in theaters the first time around, even if it wasn't as marvelous as animated films like The Incredibles or Madagascar. Also, after this weekend's fiasco of watching the PG-rated The Adventures of Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark at my husband's insistence that it was a great "family film," I'll settle for any decent G-rated flick. At least in this movie there are no melting Nazis and poison snakes to freak out the kids. Yeesh!

Just to refresh your memory, in Meet the Robinsons we join a young inventor named Lewis as he sets off on a time-traveling journey to find the family he never knew. In the fantastical world of 2037, hip-hoppin' frogs and dogs that wear glasses are as common as talking dinosaurs. (Love that dino!) In an amazing twist, Lewis discovers that the fate of the future rests in his hands, but he can’t save it alone - he’ll need every bit of help he can get from the the Robinson family.

Finally, though there are some orphan issues (enough with the missing parents!) Meet the Robinsons features a Disney movie family that doesn't involve a dead parent (Bambi) and evil step-parent (Cinderella) or a rotten uncle (The Lion King). And, while the Robinson family seems like a bunch of kooks, they love each other and are very supportive of Lewis.

The story's a bit simple, but the animation is cool. Plus, the DVD comes with all the extras like deleted scenes, music videos, games, and documentary footage. Good stuff.

It's time to Meet the Robinsons once again! Tell 'em I said hi.

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Book Review: The Reincarnationist

I was looking forward to reading the The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose as part of the MotherTalk book tour. (Click here to read a synopsis of the book and the back story.) It had many of the things I love in books - murder, romance, foreign settings, historical fiction (I was reading A Booke of Days: A Novel of the Crusades when it was delivered) and religion.

I was hoping for something along the lines of The Da Vinci Code, but was disappointed. Why? Because while I can entertain the idea of reincarnation, using it as a major plot vehicle was too convenient.

In The Reincarnationist coincidence and reincarnation - not the hero or the murder mystery - is the focal point. The realization that reincarnation exits spreads among people like a virus. In fact, it seems to be breaking out all over. (Quick doctor, a vaccine!) Little kids matter-of-factly talk about their past personas. Our protagonist, Josh, runs into people and places from his past lives every time he steps out the door. And everyone is dizzy from constantly having flashbacks of past times.

Blog Action Day: Here's what I'm doing

So what are you doing on Blog Action Day to save the environment?

I blogged about a wonderful YA (young adult) fiction book called Turtle Feet, Surfer's Beat by Marina Kuper about a young girl who moves to Costa Rica and helps save the endangered leatherback turtles. You can read about it at Blog Action Day: Save the turtles! at my children's book and cooking blog, A Readable Feast.

I also blogged about the lead content of your dishes and glassware. I have a vintage set of dishes that I use everyday. I'm concerned that we may be at risk for lead poisoning, so I'm going to buy a Premium Lead Test Kit from the LEAD INSPECTOR™. You can read more about it at Blog Action Day: Get the Lead Out! at my food and diet blog, This Mama Cooks! On a Diet.

Happy Blog Action Day everyone!

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Sew a patch on the 2007 Breast Cancer Quilt

We've had our share of cancer in our school's small community. We've lost a kindergartner and a dad to brain cancer. And one of our moms had a double mastectomy this year. I've helped out as much as I could by donating items for the bake sale fundraisers, walking in their memories in our town's Relay for Life event, and donating meals and household supplies.

You've probably been touched by cancer as well, so in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month you may want to visit Prevention.com's 2007 Breast Cancer Quilt, an interactive tool that invites users to dedicate a square of the quilt to someone who has battled breast cancer. Since its launch on October 1, the quilt has provided emotional support through 828 personalized "patches."

The quilt is a part of Prevention.com's Breast Cancer Healthy Living Center – a portal that helps users navigate information related to breast cancer, including treatment options and tips for those living with the disease.

The site also features:

• A discussion board with oncology social worker Carolyn Messner, DSW
• Prevention's in-depth report, "Winning the War on Cancer" - Detailed descriptions of the latest breast cancer therapies
• A slideshow of pink ribbon products that donate proceeds to a breast cancer charity
• A breast cancer IQ quiz that determines how much users know about the disease and whether they are taking the proper steps to protect their health

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Just another day in the life of a writer mama

I was hired to write a blog about my family called Citizen Mom’s Family Journal. My editor, Celeste and her team built the website in New York City as I wrote from my home in Colorado. She needed just one more thing – a picture of me and the kids for the website – and booked us with a photographer in Denver.

Soon afterwards, my daughter and I contracted a savage case of pink eye. I looked like hell and Lucie appeared like she had gone 10 rounds with Ali, one eye swollen shut and the other puffy and red. The blog’s launch would have to wait until we recovered.

Our doctors prescribed eye drops, and Lucie quickly healed. Yet, I was still a mess. The skin around my eyes was peeling and one eye looked 10 years older than the other. I was so light sensitive that I wrote with the blinds shut, my workspace illuminated only by the glow of the computer screen. I had deadlines to meet and soldiered on throughout my illness.

A visit to the ophthalmologist, a new prescription, and one pot of ridiculously expensive eye cream later, I was finally ready for my close up. Celeste rebooked the shoot, and I prayed that we would all stay healthy.

A Winner and the Bear Necessities of Life

Congratulations to Jennifer B. who won a copy of Disney Princess Enchanted Tales - Follow Your Dreams.

Speaking of Disney, did you know that they just re-released my favorite Disney movie of all time, The Jungle Book, as a two disk 40th Anniversary Platinum Edition? We watched it over the weekend (thanks to the nice people at click-comm.com). It looks fantastic and sounds terrific. (Well, much better than that old version we'd check out of the library every so often.)

Did you know that The Jungle Book was the last animated film Walt personally touched? The movie, based on Rudyard Kipling’s Mowgli Stories, features the panther Bagheera (voiced by Sebastian Cabot from the tv show, "Family Affair" - who knew?), that swinging, hip bear Baloo, and the menacing tiger Shere Khan. I always thought Mowgli was kind of cute, too. However, the python Kaa always freaked me out because he sounded just like Pooh. (Both were voiced by Sterling Holloway.)

All-new bonus features include the long lost character created for the original film, Rocky, a silly, near-sighted and short tempered rhino. It also comes with a short documentary on Walt's contributions to the movie and how director Woolie Reitherman was able to finish the production after Walt died. "Disney’s Kipling" examines Walt’s interpretation of the Rudyard Kipling’s "Mowgli Stories," and a film commentary from original animators Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and director Woolie Reitherman. Good stuff for Disney fans who love the stories behind the scenes.

The best thing about the movie? The music! Louis Prima as King Louis the Orangutan singing "I Wanna Be Like You" still rocks today. Dig that jive, King Louis! And the Beatlesque vultures. Fab!

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