A Mama's Rant

I Am Not My Breast Cancer: a Story and a Review

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the second most common cancer among American women with 1 in 8 women developing the disease and over 2.5 million breast cancers survivors currently in the U.S.

In 2007, about 178,480 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed among U.S. women, so when the folks at Mother Talk approach me about doing a review of I Am Not My Breast Cancer: Women Talk Openly About Love and Sex, Hair Loss and Weight Gain, Mothers and Daughters, and Being a Woman with Breast Cancer by Ruth Peltason, I jumped at the chance to read the book. It was important that I'd be informed.

While I've never had breast cancer, thank goodness, I've been active with the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event and met survivors. Just last year I helped a friend of a friend who had a double mastectomy by cooking meals for her and her family. Call it a premonition, but I felt it was only a matter of time until breast cancer struck closer to home.

Soon after I accepted the Mother Talk assignment to review I Am Not My Breast Cancer: Women Talk Openly About Love and Sex, Hair Loss and Weight Gain, Mothers and Daughters, and Being a Woman with Breast Cancer, I got a phone call from my son's speech therapist, Mary, asking if we could reschedule Nathan's appointment. She had to fly back East to spend time with her mom who had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. Mary wasn't sure if she was going to have the mastectomy then or not (she did) but she had to be there for her.

A few weeks later I saw Mary at her office. I brought along my review copy of I Am Not My Breast Cancer to give to her. I had just received it and only had a chance to read a few chapters. Even though the stories were gripping and I wanted to finish it, I knew Mary and her mom needed the book more. So much for doing a thorough book review. Instead, I hope this shows how I Am Not My Breast Cancer is a must have in every woman's library.

Get The Game Plan

If you're looking for a cute, family-friendly Disney film check out The Game Plan. It stars “The Rock" in his first comedic roll. (Does anyone really call him Dwayne Johnson? Nah.) 

The Rock plays Joe Kingman, a very single, professional football quarterback. He soon finds his party and dating models lifestyle is given the kabosh when seven-year-old Peyton Kelly (Madison Pettis) shows up at his door. Peyton is his child from a brief early marriage and needs a place to stay while her mom is traveling for business.

O.K., so you need to suspend all belief. Really, a mega rich dude like Kingman would have been hit on for child support a looooong time ago, don't you think? And I'd drop my daughter with a complete stranger while I go away on business...not!

For the next month, Joe has to deal with ballet class and homework while getting to know his daughter. Meanwhile, he's in the middle of a championship season and trying to maintain a macho facade while dealing with his girly-girl daughter.

This movie reminded me another Disney film, The Parent Trap, both the original and the version with Dennis Quaid. It's got a strong cast, and like I Am Legend, the movie features a great dog actor. (Do they give out awards for these wonderful canines and their trainers? I hope so!) I couldn't figure out who was cuter, Joe Kingman, his bulldog Spike, or his daughter, Peyton. But I'm sure all the moms out there will say The Rock, babeeee! (Eye candy is always a good thing.)

The Game Plan is a sweet story but very much on the light side - perfect for the younger members of the family. My kids enjoyed it and yours will, too.

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Win Free Customized Fruit Rollups

You may be familiar with candies with custom messages printed on them. M&Ms has been doing this for awhile. Now Fruit Roll-up is offering custom snacks, called My Fruit Roll-Ups® on their website - www.myfruitrollups.com. The website is adorable and it's really fun to play around with the colors, designs, fonts, and messages. (Turn your speakers on to hear the sound effects, too.)

I ordered My Fruit Roll-Ups for Monkey Boy's birthday party. They're $29.95 plus shipping and handling for 30 roll-ups. It's a little pricey, but they'll be great favors for his party. For Valentine's Day, Fruit Roll-Ups is offering $10 off your order if you use promo code BEMINE. You must order by February 2, 2008.

Or you can get FREE My Fruit Roll-Ups by entering my contest!

I'm giving away a free order to three lucky winners. Just share the sweetest Valentine's message you've ever sent or received by posting it in the comment section below. The deadline is February 1. You must include your first name and a valid email address. If you have a blog, please post your website address. (Feel free to blog about the contest and/or link back to this post, but it's not required.)

On February 2, I will pick three winners and announce them on this blog. If you have a blog, I will link back to it as well! (Gotta give lots of linky love after all.) I will then email you a special promotional code so you can create your own My Fruit Roll-Ups for FREE.

(For more information, check out the My Fruit Roll-Ups FAQs page.)

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Do You Need a Room Makeover?

It's hard to believe, but we've been in this house for over seven years. (The house itself is eight years old.) It's the longest that Big Bad Dad and I have been in one place since we moved into together back in the 1990s.

And boy does the house look it. The kids haven't helped any since they're regularly thrashing the place. It's amazing how much spaghetti sauce I've had do get out of the carpet and off of the ceilings.

Even so, we're slowly contemplating replacing vinyl flooring with tile, getting a new couch, and getting some cabinetry done. But there's upkeep to be done, too, like getting the wood flooring in the kitchen refinished. And now that the ceiling leak has been fixed, we finally can get the living room painted.

If You Take a Dad to the Movies

If you take a dad to the movies he will complain there's no hot coffee in the lobby, "Only cold stuff." So you will take a walk down the street in search of a coffee shop. Realizing that the Starbucks is on the other side of the mall - and you're friggin' cold - he'll suggest going into Best Buy to get warm.

If you take a dad to Best Buy he will scour the CD racks for obscure hillbilly Christmas music. Then he will wonder why the CDs aren't half off since it's after Christmas. Then he will put all the CDs back, get you out of the book section, and walk you back out into the cold night to the movie theater.

If you take a dad to see Will Smith in I Am Legend he will say, "I didn't know this was a suspense film" even though you had him research the movie listings to make a suggestion for your date. However, you knew it would be intense from the trailers on TV. You'd also seen "Omega Man" at a drive-in back in the 70s, and it completely freaked you out when you were a kid. Plus you knew that both movies were based on the I Am Legend book about a virus turning mankind into zombie vampire creatures of the night.

Cranium Introduces New Bloom Line for Preschoolers

I'm always on the look out for new learning games, especially for the younger members of our family - my daughter and my nephews. Honestly, if I have to play another round of Candyland or Shoots and Ladders, I think I'll lose it. Luckily my kids are old enough to play Uno, Life and Monopoly, which are fun for the whole family and don't bore us adults to death.

Exclusively sold through Target (and online at Cranium.com and Target.com) Cranium Bloom is a new game, book, puzzle and toy line developed by the folks at Cranium just for the preschool crowd. The Bloom products allow parents to blend play and active learning while encouraging your child to use their imagination.

What I really like about the Bloom line is that they are practical and reinforce the things you normally do with your kids for fun. Instead of going through a magic candy land - a dilemma when you're trying to get your kids to cut back on sweets - you are playing a game about going to the park or making a sandwich.

I received two sample games, Let's Go to the Zoo Seek & Find Puzzle and Let's Play Count & Cook Game. Zoo Seek would be fun to play in anticipation of a zoo outing. Or you could play it afterwards and talk about all the wonderful animals you saw during your trip.

At my blog, My Readable Feast (under construction) I discuss how reading and cooking can be combined to bring families closer together. Playing a game like Let's Play Count & Cook Game then cooking together is a great way to do that, too, since the game already comes with recipes. Love that!!

The games are well designed, the graphics are attractive, and the pieces are durable. The games themselves are in smaller sized boxes, making storage easier, too. These would also make terrific gifts since they're so affordable. (They run in the $7.99 to $24.99 range.)

So next time you're at Target (like you need an excuse) check out Cranium's Bloom products.

What Does Mama Say?

Boo Girl has a shirt that says, "If mom says no, ask daddy." But at our house, the asking daddy part is always followed by, "If mommy said no, why are you asking me?"

We're not as dumb as we look kids.

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Getting rid of time sucking devices in 2008

My friend Denise at BlogHer recently wrote I'm fascinated by New Year's Resolutions but I don't make them. Do you?

I had to respond with my rather ambitious Setting Goals When You Don't Know What the Future Holds (and a look back at 2007 with Setting the Stage for 2008).

Denise emailed me, "Wow. This is one heck of a list. It's cool but it scares me." I wrote her back to admit it scares me, too. Not only do I have  lengthy professional goal list, but I have My five weight loss and exercise goals for 2008.

Did I mention I have a part-time job, do volunteer work, have two school age kids with active schedules, and a semi-high maintenance husband?

Ambitious? Nah, insane is more like it.

For some more inspiration, I went to Freelance Switch to read 20 Time & Energy Drains You Eliminate. Lots of great advice, but I needed specifics.