susiej/reviews

There are a scant 20-30 pages left of this historical novel, Stealing Athena,by Karen Essex; How will see tie the loose ends in the few pages left in this epic that spans centuries with parallel epics that cover art, romance and sex? Lady Elgin is in a perilous predicament with her husband — something even her own money and royal line can’t protect her from; while Lord Elgin uses her money to recover the Greek treasures. (What will become of her children?) Aspasia, courtesan lover of the great Pericles, has betrayed him with a secret, shaking the freedom of the artist who create the great sculptures.  Essex has roped me in with her historical facts of Napoleon’s ravages during the war, the customs of the Turks, where Lady Elgin served as an ambassador with her husand, the erection of the Greek Statues, mingled with the human, day-to-day drama of human weakness and passion.

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Magazine writing has always walked a fine line between in-depth introspection, and brevity.  A brilliantly-written magazine article opens a window into the lives of the quirky, the heroic, and the inspirational.  The tips I’ve found on the glossy pages of magazines have transformed my life. So, because of all those glossies have to offer, I tend to hoard my magazines.  Finally, practicality takes over, and I pitch them — still longing for that deep, thought-provoking prose that is now in the recycling bin.

O’s Big Book of Happiness: The Best of O, The Oprah Magazine: Wisdom, Wit, Advice, Interviews, and Inspiration is a beautifully hardback book, binding together 75 warm, wise, and helpful tips — all of the best articles from 75 wise contributors to O Magazine.

Inside, all the glossy articles with pictures are there (minus the ads), allowing you to flip from one article to the next, without those annoying, “go to page…” messages. I was drawn to this article: When your worst-case scenario finally happens, how do you carry on?, written by war correspondent Geraldine Brooks. Plus, these serious ones are tempered by more articles on style and fitness.

Excuse me, I’m off to read… Yep, this is a great gift for magazine fan on your wish list.  Retails for $17.97.

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The Flight Before Christmas is a new heartwarming Christmas DVD starring a young reindeer named Niko, who is determined to improve his flying skills in the hopes to be just as great as his father. But after wandering from Home Valley to practice, he catches the attention of the infamous Black Wolf who follows him back. In order to protect Santa and the other reindeer from the claws of Black Wolf, Niko must team up with the other forest animals to prevent any trouble that comes their way.

Emma Roberts (Nancy Drew, Aquamarine) and funny-man Norm MacDonald (“The Norm Show,” “Saturday Night Live”) round out the all-star cast in this touching tale. A perfect addition for the holiday season, A FLIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS will keep the whole family smiling.

The DVD is available for $14.99

Special Thanks to Marisa Vaccari for the DVD.

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The CD arrived just a couple of days before Halloween.  As soon as the boys saw those familiar rodents on the CD’s cover; they pulled down the CD player from their bedroom, and gave it a new home in the kitchen.  Now, I’m forced to jam to Alvin & the Chipmunk’s latest CD, Undeniable, while I cook listening to  “Shake Your Grove Thing”,  Journey’s Steve Perry for “Don’t Stop Believin” and “Livin’ on a Prayer.”  My 5 and 6-year olds are in rock-n-roll heaven, spinning this CD around to their favorite tunes, while their big brothers jockey for their turn at the controls.

I love this CD; it has just the right amount of kick to keep the kids busy and happy, at just the time the weather’s turning colder, the nights are getting longer, and Christmas is still a ways off.

But don’t take my word for it, check out this video.

Oh yeah, and Chipmunk auditions?  Right here.

The CD, Undeniable, is available November 5, 2008; election day. The witching hour will never be the same. Special thanks to Walter Schmidli from Special Ops media for the afternoon’s entertainment.

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The mounted fish on the wall sets the tone – this is a lake house. A haven to five males and one female; yet there is no spot to lounge, or eat, at the same time. The floor plan was clearly designed by a man with two things on his mind: Fishing and cleaning fish.

The current furniture is decade-old leftovers. The watermarks on the ceiling are fixed; and we’ve squirmed over the perfect paint color. Yet, there’s still no place to put your feet up and enjoy the impeccable view. This is a house in desperate need of transformation.

I’m hoping, very much, to win the contest, that the Parent Bloggers Network is promoting, sponsored by Bill Me Later, and their “Win a Man Cave” contest. Our lake house, lovingly adored, is still in dire need of a makeover. You can post your own video and photo submissions at www.IWantMyManCave.com.

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The longer I listened and learned from the Total Transformation Program, the more I began to believe that ineffective parenting causes problem behavior in children. While driving in my car, listening to behavioral therapist James Lehman on the audio CDs explain how to handle Oppositional Defiant Disorder in children, I realized how I had been setting my own kids up to misbehave. The good news is, the program shows you step by step how to stop what you’re doing, so you can reverse the spiral of bad behavior. A big thanks to the Parent Bloggers Network for introducing me to this educational series.

For example; one of my sons has learned that if he throws a REALLY big fit about taking out the garbage, I will still make him take out the garbage; but I probably won’t ask him to do it again. This kid is totally manipulating me; and he knows it. I shudder to think of the example I’m setting for his brothers.

We have heard the advice before: Set clear limits for our children, and let them experience the consequences of their actions. But as parents, we need to be reminded. Sometimes, our children have health, emotional or behavior issues that “they just can’t help,” and we become lax at enforcing the limits and rules we’ve set for everyone else in the family. Soon, this becomes a habit, and kids begin to think, “It’s OK if I don’t have to do my chores when I get home from school, because I’m worn out from the kid who bullied me all day.” Lehman explains that the real world will not compensate our kids for their excuses. It’s up to parents to teach our kids to take responsibility for their own behavior, and to learn to function and lead a productive life with whatever handicaps they may have.

As parents we can feed the monster of giving our kids “special treatment” without realizing that we’re setting our kids up to be defiant.

Can you imagine trying to negotiate yourself out of a speeding ticket when the officer walks up to your car? It doesn’t work; I’ve tried it. But, as Lehman explains, when we let our kids negotiate their way out of what’s expected of them, we’re not being fair to our children. We’re giving our kids a false sense of the way the world works. Life will be especially difficult for our children if we force them to learn the reality of self-responsibility as adults.

The Total Transformation Program starts with an Introduction DVD. This was my least favorite part of the program; some of the acting, I felt was difficult to watch. From there, you start the 7-audio lessons, one per week, that really take you into the meat of the program. Each lesson is presented by Lehman himself. I listened to these in the car; over and over again whenever I needed a pep talk. The CDs include examples, and direct strategies you can implement immediately; and lead you to self examination about the type of language you’re using with your children, and the “type” of parental behavior you need to change.

There is also a 118-page workbook that helps you identify which type of behavior problems you are having. Recognizing and understanding the problem is the first step to recovery, and I am currently doing the workbook four times, one time for each child. Each child is different.

The program demands time, work, and introspection. The price tag for the complete program, is hefty: $327. Still, how much would a year in therapy cost? However, the program is guaranteed to work for you or your money back. You pay only $19.00 for shipping and handling ($25 to Canadian destinations). If, and only if, you decide to keep the Total Transformation Program after the completion of the 30-Day Free Program Trial, the cost is three monthly payments of $109.00.

You can also sign up for the Parental Support Line, which is $1 for the first 30 days, and $29 per month after that. If you want to check out James Lehman and what he has to offer, sign up for his Empowering Parents enewsletter. (Sign up is on the bottom of the page.)

Check out the free trial at The Total Transformation Website. It could easily change your life — as well as the life of your kids.

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I know he’s only trying to help, but sometimes when my husband is at the store to pick up the Milk and Eggs, he buys more milk than we need. There’s always a valid reason, “It was on sale!.” But rarely, is milk ever that good of a deal. Unfazed, he takes the carton of milk to our deep freezer that we keep in the basement so that the milk will get good and solid. And preserved. This is really not a good idea. Here’s what usually happens…

• A frozen container of milk takes FOREVER to thaw.
• The cream always get separated, and you have a mixture of of slush on the top and goop on the bottom.
• Sometimes, realizing that the gallon of milk is not thawing as quickly as we need, he’ll set the milk on the counter at room temperature to speed things up. This usually results in sour milk.
• Just when you think the milk is completely thawed, you pour it on the kiddies cereal only to find Ice chunks falling out of the carton and into the morning cereal.
• The expiration date is completely out of whack, as we usually pull it out of the freezer way past the date printed on the carton. This causes great confusion among the children in the household.

The grocery store is less than five minutes away; we could have easily had some nice fresh milk, flowing freely out of the container. Still, I love it when my husband goes to the grocery store.

The Parent Bloggers Network teamed up with Ore Ida to promote their new Steam n’ Mash potatoes. If you haven’t tried them yet, they are a pre-washed and scrubbed, peeled bag of cubed potatoes that you steam in the bag in your microwave. You simply add butter and milk and mash. Instant mashed potatoes — but they’re real! This is one shortcut that’s hard to mess up.

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While his big brothers are away at school, the boy, who believes brown eggs are chocolate, and I spend our mornings together cooking ourselves a feast. Because Eggs Are So Incredible and Edible, we began by mastering the poached egg. It’s our specialty: The Circle Egg Sandwich. (Recipe follows.)

Yes, this was his first try at poaching, and he ate all three eggs.

In honor of World Egg Day, Friday, October 10, and the inspiration of the Parent Bloggers Network, find a friend and share a circle egg sandwich. Because,

if you give a boy an egg, you’ve fed him for a day; teach him how to crack an egg, and he’s fed for life.

How To Make A Circle Egg Sandwich

You will need:.

• Egg Poacher
• Water
• Eggs
• Salt
• Bread
• Glass for cutting the bread
• Butter

1. Fill the bottom part of the sauce pan with 3 inches of water. Add some salt and vinegar and bring the water to boil.
2. Carefully crack the eggs, and drop them into the egg poaching inserts. You can add a pinch of salt to the eggs.
3. Once the water starts to boil, turn down the heat so that the water is simmering.
   Carefully put the poaching insert on top of the sauce pan of boiling water. Put the lid on so the eggs will cook.
4. We like a firm yolk, so the egg will cook for about four minutes.
5. Meanwhile, use a glass to cut your bread into the shape of a circle.
6. After toasting your circles, you can butter your bread. (Always nice to let the butter pop across the table as you do this.)
7. Lift the cover of the egg poacher, and check to see if the yolk is the way you like it.
8. Use a spoon to gently lift the egg out of the poacher, and slide onto your circle egg toast.
9. Top with the other piece of circle toast and enjoy.

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There is something indistinctly delightful to a child when he hears his name spoken by someone they least expect to know their name. Billy Blue Hair: Why Do Giraffes Have Long Necks?, a combination animation/real-live nature DVD that addresses my son personally, by name, didn’t fail to delight my son.

Right on the DVD cover, my son’s name was emblazoned, right alongside of Billy Blue Hair himself — an animated little guy with tall blue hair, who is the host of this award-winning (2006 iParenting Media Award) animal video, sent to me by the Parent Bloggers Network. Billy took us on an adventure, while looking for his dog Doogie, to visit Monkeys, Giraffes (his favorite) and lions. Sprinkling facts along the way, about each animal, Billy Blue Hair happily entertained my son for 30 minutes.

Every time Billy said his name, my son giggled and said, “How does he know that?!” This, combined with the beautiful shots of animals swinging in the trees, looking silly for the camera, made this a DVD that satisfied him beyond the novelty of hearing his name. I hope Billy Blue Hair has help to lay the foundation for a continued love of nature. as my son’s curiosity continues to evolve. Billy Blue Hair: Why do Giraffes Have Long Necks? is available for $12.99.

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Frank Lloyd Wright. Did you know the illustrious architect had an affair? If you did, then you probably know whatever it was “that happened.” I didn’t know he had the affair, so I’m unaware of what happened… and so the ending of Loving Frank: A Novel, a work of historical fiction by Nancy Horan, is still a surprise to me.

Without thinking, I find myself in conversations with others about the book that I have not yet completed. As soon as my words I uttered, I then I find myself caught up in this precarious little dance, where I must let the other person know, (who usually does know about the affair and what Frank did), in no uncertain terms, that I do not know Frank had the affair, and I prefer to have what he did kept a surprise, revealed only by Horan herself; under her own timing.

I have it on good authority that whatever happens is pretty dramatic, because the friend who lent me the book screamed when she got to the part.  Fueled by my insatiable desire to find out what he did, I found myself devouring pages whenever I could; over breakfast, waiting on firefox to load before I wrote my daily post. Now, I’m at the 2/3 mark… almost to the end. This is the point where I stop reading the book. I’m satiated enough to put the book down, but no longer eager to see the book end, and say goodbye to Horan, Frank and Mamah. I do this all the time with books that I love.

So, if I want the ending to remain a secret, I must be careful to no longer talk about Frank, and let the long, leisurely ending unfold itself over the next week, when I will finish the book at my typically, long leisurely pace.

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