Book Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Cross-posted on The Zimmer Zoo.

I just finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Overall, I enjoyed the book. I have to say that it took about 50 – 100 pages to really get into it though. HOLY SLOW. Thank goodness at least 3 different strangers walked by me while I was reading and asked how I liked it…and recommended that I keep reading because it is worth it. They were RIGHT!

I think the biggest problem for me is that the “wrapper story” (more on that in a bit) is not in my area of interest: Finances. And while the characters needed building and there needed to be the “wrapper story” for that…I didn’t care as much about that part of the book as the “real” story.

The other problem that I had is that it’s set in a foreign country (Sweden) with many places that I’d never heard of and had a hard time pronouncing (in my head). And yes, I’ve heard of Sweden! It also means that many of the names were Swedish, so I also had a hard time pronouncing those (in my head). Think: Harry Potter and when you realized that Hermione is pronounced Her-My-Oh-Nee (or even Her-My-Nee if said quickly) …except that I have no such realization here. LOL

What’s a wrapper story, you ask? Well, it’s the first and last part of the book that only has a little bit to do with the meat (and the middle) of the book. Sure, there are characters who play parts in both stories (otherwise, it’d be two books, right?), and the wrapper one is necessary to set up why the middle part happens…

The middle story totally sucked me in. I love a great mystery, and this one was wonderful. I’m usually fairly good at predicting story lines, and this one got me – a few times!

I enjoyed reading about the main characters (and I’m actually looking forward to the sequel!)

Toy Review and Giveaway!

Yesterday, MyBlogSpark.com and Hasbro sent me 2 toys to review. (You can see Burke and Marjorie testing them out in yesterday’s post over at the Zimmer Zoo.)

The Elefun & Friends collection, which includes Elefun, Hungry Hungry Hippos, and Gator Golf, provides a great way for parents and their kids to enjoy silly, active playtime together.

We received SCATTERPILLAR SCRAMBLE and GIRAFFALAFF LIMBO. The kids started out with Scramble and then went to Limbo and then came back to Scramble. Both games are for kids 4 years old and up.

• In SCATTERPILLAR SCRAMBLE kids do their best to balance marbles in the hands of one very wiggly caterpillar. Kids have fun dancing along to the music with Scatterpillar in this fast-paced marble game. The first player to securely place all 8 marbles in Scatterpillar´s hands wins. SCATTERPILLAR SCRAMBLE was named the 2009 Preschool Game of the Year by Creative Child Magazine.

  Burke and Marjorie started out with this one…and quickly got frustrated because the Scatterpillar moves so much. However, they did come back to it when we talked about how it takes practice and that if they kept at it they’d be able to do the game in no time. I think part of their frustration was that the marbles would get away from them. Mike fixed this by putting the Scatterpillar in a box top – no more runaway marbles!As the kids practiced, they actually got pretty good at it. They never really played the game, but they had fun putting marbles in Scatterpillar’s hands.

  I liked this game because it teaches kid persistence and hand-eye coordination. It’s also fun to watch the Scatterpillar dance around.

• GIRAFFALAFF LIMBO is the crazy new game of “how low can you go?” Spin the dial to try one of the 6 limbo styles: classic limbo, crab walk, crawl, giraffe walk, bend forward or backward. The game’s built-in sound will play an encouraging song as preschoolers try not to bump into Giraffalaff. If he’s knocked over, he’ll roll on the floor in laughter. The player who passes under Giraffalaff at the lowest level wins.

  This one makes me laugh. Every time you knock the giraffe off the poles, he laughs…and it’s infectious. And I like that it gets the kids up off their butts and active! I don’t quite understand why the giraffe is up-side-down (apart from, you know, gravity), and it makes the limbo-er have to go very low, but it’s for kids, so I suppose that’s okay. (You won’t catch ME trying to go under that thing though!)Burke and Marjorie had fun running around and ducking under the giraffe, but didn’t quite get the “spin and do the funny walk” part of the game. We’re working on that. They were really digging the music though – and doing well taking turns walking under.

Now for the Giveaway part.

This part is over at The Zimmer Zoo – head over there to enter, please

But Wait! There’s More!

Once you’ve purchased (or won!)  an Elefun & Friends game, Kids can also experience the fantasy world of Elefun & Friends online by visiting www.elefunandfriends.com and entering the special code that can be found inside each Elefun & Friends game box. Once the code is entered, kids can access The Tangled Tale, an Elefun & Friends animated short. This entertaining tale features Elefun on an adventure to untangle a kite string, which ultimately leads him to the true meaning of friendship. The Elefun & Friends online experience also lets kids play games and sing along to songs like “Friends’ til the End” and “Follow that String” that help remind children of the importance of fun and play!

Coupon, Coupon, Coupon: visit http://bricks.coupons.com/bstart.asp?o=59048&c=EL&p=ERf0P5lm to download a printable coupon for $4 off any Elefun & Friends game! This valuable coupon offer is valid until December 31, but it´s only available for download through October 31.

Book Review: The Lost Symbol

Cross-posted on The Zimmer Zoo.

I just finished reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, so I figured I’d put a few thoughts together. And I’m going to try to do with without any spoilers…if I spoil it for you, I’m sorry!! (And let me know so I can reword it…)

I’m a fan of Mr. Brown – I’ve enjoyed all of his books; probably because I can set aside some things and realize that it’s a novel. I don’t take everything he writes as truth – even though I know that around the novel part are things that are absolutely true. I really enjoy the way he makes you think about things.

With The Lost Symbol, he does a lot of the same stuff…uses the Bible and the Masons to create a conspiracy theory-type story. And while I was entertained with this one, and enjoyed following Langdon on his newest adventure – it seemed like a lot of the same type of stuff. Codes to be broken (makes sense – that’s what Langdon does), bad guys to find and figure out, things the world isn’t ready to know yet…yadda, yadda, yadda.

And I was a little disappointed that I was able to figure out a major plot-line…all by myself! I mean, I was proud of myself for doing it…but still.

So… I’m happy I read it, and I love that there are so many facts and real places/technology/sciences that are new to me, but Mr. Brown needs to find a way to spice up an old recipe if he’s going to continue to write about Langdon (and I hope he does!).

Text-A-Thon For a Cause: Ovarian Cancer Research

Electrolux and Kelly Ripa remain committed to raising money and awareness to support ovarian cancer research. Together, they are launching an exciting campaign that uses a form of communication that many of us use every day – texting! During September, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, Electrolux and Kelly are holding a “Text-a-Thon for a Cause” to help raise support for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund whose mission is to fund research to find a method of early detection and ultimately a cure for ovarian cancer.

Throughout September, you can donate $5 to the cause by texting “KELLY” to 85944 from your mobile phones (standard text messaging rates apply) – or by logging on to
www.kelly-confidential.com.  Also, every time you log on to the Web site, you’ll be entered for a chance to win an amazing contribution to your home – a luxury front load washer and dryer from Electrolux in Turquoise Sky, the color inspired by the teal ribbon of ovarian cancer awareness.

Also during September, visitors to Kelly Confidential can help spread awareness for this important cause by sending a virtual T-shirt to a friend.  For every virtual t-shirt sent, Electrolux will donate $1 to the OCRF.  Fashion-forward Moms can also purchase a limited edition T-shirt designed by Kelly; 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the T-shirts will go to OCRF.

Check out Kelly’s PSA:

Book Review – Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms

Cross-posted on The Zimmer Zoo.

I received Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms By Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Wendy Walker about a month and a half ago. And I had great intentions to read it from cover to cover right away…but a few things got in the way (you know, besides kids! heh)

The first thing was that I was actually embarrassed to read it in public. I mean…does this mean that I think *I’M* a power mom? Does it mean I want to strive to become one? (Yes, I know…the book was sent to me, I didn’t purchase it – but the people watching me read it don’t know that! …and yes, I’m always watched when I read. LOL!) No matter, I (mostly) got over myself and brought it out with me anyway.

The second thing is that the by-line is 101 Stories Celebrating the Power of Choice for Stay-at-Home and Work-from Home Moms. I had thought, “Sweet! I work from home…this should be right up my alley.” Ya. Not really.  At least, not at first. I had a really hard time getting into it because all of the first stories are about these SAHMs whose lives are all rainbows and flowers. “It’s the best decision I ever made!” yadda yadda yadda. Seriously? Not ONE of you thinks “OMG, get this kid AWAY from me??” It just didn’t seem real.

I ended up putting the book down for a while (mostly because I started reading The Time Traveler’s Wife. WOW!) …anyway…when I picked it back up, I figured I’d just skip around looking for stories I could relate to. (THIS is what I love about the Chicken Soup series! If you don’t relate to a story, skip it … you’ll soon find one you can get into.)

I found the work from home chapters and dug right in. YES! This is the stuff. There was one mom in particular who hit the nail on the head when she wrote about everyone envisioning that you’re playing with your kids all day when you work from home…and that it couldn’t be further from the truth. She also totally got the having to hide in your office stage when your kids are at the age when they are horrific if you show your face (and then you get dirty looks from your nanny).

As I read more though, I started to get an uneasy feeling again. And it didn’t hit me right away, but when it did, boy was it big. All of the stories that were written by non-corporate moms (writers and such) were telling their stories, but – at least to me – it felt like a big advertisement for their stuff! Don’t get me wrong – in the same position, I’d probably do the same thing. And I still enjoyed some of the stories…and might even check out some of the products/novels. But it still didn’t seem quite right.

Official Press Release

COS COB, Conn. – Get up at 5:00 AM.  Make breakfast.  Get kids ready for school.  Drop off.  Check email.  Bake cupcakes for class party.  Plan PTA meeting.  Pick up kids.  Drive to soccer/ballet/Scouts.  Sound familiar? Every mom is a master juggler and a powerful multitasker – a “power mom” – and for her, life is a constant balancing act. These moms juggle the competing demands of children, husbands or single life, home maintenance, fitness, full or part-time work, pets, and volunteering, while struggling to maintain their own identities and carve out a little “me” time.  Wouldn’t it be nice to get some support from other power-moms-in-the-trenches?

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms (Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC, March 2009, 978-1-935096-31-3, $14.95) offers stories, laughs, and encouragement for moms everywhere.  The book celebrates hard-working moms, with 101 stories written by “power moms” for each other, sharing their common experiences as new moms, experienced moms, or empty nesters who are finally getting a chance to reflect on their marathons. Stories by regular moms and celebrity moms such as Liz Lange, Melora Hardin, Jane Green, and Lynne Spears all sound the same themes – “power moms” juggle all day long, and they do it beautifully.

In her story “A Mother’s Intuition,” Britney Spears’ mother Lynne Spears writes about the sixth sense every mom possesses. “It’s our job as moms to act on that sixth sense we have, the one that tells us something is not as it seems,” she writes, recalling one of Britney’s first pageants – a pageant she reluctantly agreed to let her daughter do.  “The pageant lived up to my fears, and then some. The mothers were appalling backstage, fussing over their daughters and backstabbing the other contestants. I put her in the wrong dress (it didn’t even fit properly) and the wrong kind of socks. Britney ended up placing near the bottom, and the poor little thing was in tears.  When I ignored [my mother’s intuition], the result was tears and a very unpleasant day,” says Spears.

On the flip side, mother and bestselling author Jodi Picoult talks about a different kind of day: The day of a working mom.  In “The Second Shift,” she recalls her struggle transitioning from a nine-to-five writing schedule with a nanny to help with kids, to no nanny, no nine-to-five, writing only when her husband Tim came home after six.  “Some things you just can’t do with three kids who are awake,” writes Picoult.  “You can’t drink a cup of hot coffee – someone’s always tugging on your leg. You can shop for groceries, but it becomes an Olympian event.”

But once she embraced her role as a full-time mom, Picoult noticed an interesting shift.  “I stare at my computer, where I am supposed to be mulling over the plot and characters of a new novel,” she writes.  “But I find myself thinking instead of my own children, characters who have taken the story of my own life and have given it twists stranger and far sweeter than in any fiction.”

In Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms, you’ll also read about:

• How Terri Major-Kincade gave up her medical practice for a more fulfilling career as a stay-at-home mom
• How Liz Lange raised her children while building a maternity clothing empire
• How bestselling author Jane Green left an unhappy marriage and devoted herself to her kids and writing career
• How Patti Woods learned to let go and nurture independence in her son
• How Wendy Walker wrote her first novel from the backseat of her minivan

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms (Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Wendy Walker) released in March 2009. Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC, publishes all the latest titles in the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul book series which are distributed through Simon and Schuster, Inc. Since 1993, books in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series have sold more than 112 million copies, with titles translated into more than 40 languages. Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing also licenses the right to use its famous trademark to high quality licensees through IMG, the world’s premier licensing agent. The company is currently implementing a plan to expand into all media, is working with TV networks on several TV shows and is developing a major Internet presence dedicated to life improvement, emotional support and inspiration.  In 2007, USA Today named Chicken Soup for the Soul one of the five most memorable and impactful books in the last quarter century. For more information visit: www.chickensoup.com.

Stop & Shop Back to School Promotion

Originally posted as a giveaway on September 2, 2009 on The Zimmer Zoo.

Stop & Shop is offering a great Back to School promotion, where you can save on both groceries and gas!

This Back-to-School Saving Event is taking place at Stop & Shop stores
September 4-10.

Here is how it works:
General Mills and Stop & Shop are teaming up to give families a great way to stock up and save as they gear up for back to school.

Here’s why you should shop at Stop & Shop’s big Back to School Event.

1. Great sale pricing on the participating General Mills brands:
   Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Reeses Puffs, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cookie Crisp Sprinkles, Cookie Crisp, Fruit Snacks, Old El Paso Dinner Kits, Pillsbury Strudel, Pillsbury Scrambles, Green Giant Boxed Vegetables, Yoplait Yo-Plus Multi-Pack, Fiber One Yogurt Multi-Pack, Pillsbury Refrigerated Cookies, Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, Pillsbury Sweet Rolls and Yoplait Delights.
2. Additional savings for you or your school, depending on which Stop & Shop location you shop

If your Stop & Shop store sells gas

• Buy four (4) participating General Mills items and you’ll automatically earn 100 points on your Stop & Shop card
• For every 100 points earned, you’ll save 10¢ per gallon of gas (Please note: Total discount cannot exceed price per gallon)
• Just swipe your Stop & Shop Card at the pump to redeem your Gas Rewards

If your Stop & Shop store doesn’t sell gas

• For those Stop & Shop locations without gas stations, don’t worry – you’re not left out of the savings – if you buy five (5) participating General Mills products, you will receive 20 Bonus Box Tops for your school

Fishful Thinking

I’m a Fishful Thinking Ambassador!

The following links are to the wonderful tools and articles brought to you by Pepperidge Farm’s Fishful Thinking program.

• Short Fishful Thinking Video

• Nature Sense Walk
• Savoring Party
• Happiness Scavenger Hunt
• Mastery Moments
• Self-Efficacy Versus Self-Esteem article
• Making Hope Happen article
• Make an “It Felt Meaningful When…” list
• Happiness is Contagious in Social Networks article
• Feeling Collages
• How Not to Talk to Your Kids article
• Giving your children choices
• In Your Shoes activity
• Happiness is Contagious in Social Networks article
• Shake Off The Frustration Dance
  (This one is my favorite one – so far!)
• Resilience: Ingredient List article
• Building with Blocks
• Positive Frustration article
• Favorite Photo
• Setting and Reaching Goals article
• Create a Goal Road Map
• Optimism: A Key Ingredient in Happiness article
• Play the Silver Lining Games
• Dance to Mood Music
• How to Be a Happier Mom
• Make a Grateful Sayings Poster
• Make a Treasures Box
• Spring Cleaning Optimism article
• Play Emotion Charades
• How resilient is your child?

Submit a Fishful Thinking story and enter for a chance to win a $10,000 scholarship for your child. There are 5 areas you can choose from to get your story started: Optimism, Emotional Awareness, Goal Setting/Hope, Resilience, and Empowerment. Sound familiar? They should! I’ve been talking about these Fishful Thinking Ingredients all along! AND, the best part is once you create the story, you can share it with friends and family! Oh, and don’t worry – they help you get started.

You can see examples of stories at this link as well.

Full Disclosure: I’m a Fishful Thinking Ambassador.. .if you click the links, I will receive incentive points. However…I would NEVER sign up for something like this if I didn’t believe in it. And I would participate (and pass the information along) even if I didn’t get the points

Review: Palm Pre

Originally Posted on June 23, 2009 by on The Zimmer Zoo

I’m in love. I’ve had my Palm Pre for a week now, and I can honestly say that I love it! I’m still getting used to it and I haven’t downloaded any new apps or ring tones or anything, but niiiiiiice.

The story of going to the Sprint store with all 3 kids is enough for its own blog post…so I won’t go into the details…but I will say that before the guy behind the counter could program things into the phone, Palm makes you go through a little tutorial – on the phone. Now imagine me trying to do this with 3 VERY hungry kids…who have already been waiting with me for about an hour. Yup. good times.

When I got the phone home, I read through the little tiny manual. (I’m a tech writer – it’s a professional courtesy!) I haven’t even looked at the in-phone help yet, though I plan to at some point in the future, and that may address some of the things I’ve come up against.

Again, I’m loving the phone. Love the slide-out keyboard. Love the big screen. Love the picture quality. Love the wireless charging dock that turns the phone into a bed-side clock (sold separately).

There are definitely things that I still need to get used to … and things that took me a little bit to figure out … and things that could work a bit differently. (Keep in mind that my previous phone was a Rumor, another phone that I really liked, so I’m probably comparing it to that…)

Here’s my list in no particular order:

• The apps load fairly slowly. Once they’re loaded, they go pretty fast, but the loading is a lot slower than I would expect given that it’s this brand new kick-butt phone. (The internet, on the other-hand, is SUPER fast!)
• Still don’t know how to download a new ringer. Spent some time on the internet this morning and found all sorts of ring tones, but no ringers. *I* want to hear the new ringer, I don’t care if the people calling me hear “ring ring, ring ring” or not.
• There doesn’t seem to be a way to set a different tone for different things for the same person. It looks like I can set the same tone for all phone calls, another one for text messages, etc. Or I can set a tone for a specific person. But I can’t set one tone for  a call from a specific person and another tone for a text for the same person. (My old phone had that – very handy for knowing who was ringing me up and if I had to run to the phone to answer it, or let it sit cuz it was a text.)
• I use my phone as my alarm clock. When the alarm goes off in the morning, I have to unlock the phone to turn it off. It would seem to me that automatically unlocking the phone so I just have to push the “snooze” or the “off” button would make more sense. My brain isn’t awake enough to make that swish movement needed to unlock it.
• At first I was annoyed because I set up my email account and then thought that I had to open an email to delete it. (Very annoying when you receive lots of spam). THEN I realized that the sideways swish removes items from a list. Duh Nancy, the Inbox is a list. Swish! It’s gone.
• There are no arrow keys. With a tiny little keyboard, it’s easy to make mistakes (and not realize it until said mistake is half way up the page). You can touch the screen and move the pointer back up – but unless your fingers are elf-sized, you aren’t going to hit the right spot on the first – or second, or third – try. And who wants to use the backspace key to remove all of your hard work on that tiny little keyboard?
• The first time I made a support-type call, I panicked because I needed to enter my phone number, but there was no keypad! Okay, found that button and hit the first digit…and the screen went blank. GAH! It took me two more calls to figure out that if I tilt the phone slightly away from my body, the keypad stays lit. (There must be a sensor of some sort that makes it turn off when it thinks it’s up to your ear.)
• There is no video camera. The still pictures are FABULOUS. But no video. If you’ve come to depend on your cell phone for video, you’re going to be disappointed here. (Strange, right?)
• I wanted to put an icon I knew I’d be using a lot in the Quick Launch bar (the internet icon). Figured that I could just drag and drop it in…no such luck. Duh Nancy, you need to remove one to make room for it first.
• It’s not as easy to use this phone with one hand. It’s not even easy to open the keyboard with one hand. I’m still working on unlocking the phone with a thumb swish, but it’s a lot easier if you hold the phone in one hand and swish with the other.
• I wish there was a way to have my different email accounts as different “cards”. I’m getting used to them all in one, but it’d be more convenient if I could switch between work and home accounts quicker.

I admit – a fairly long list considering that over-all, I really like the phone.

(Did this help you? Lemme know!)

Children’s Book: Dance Me, Daddy

Originally posted on June 9, 2009 as a giveaway on The Zimmer Zoo

I just received this beautiful story – Dance Me, Daddy by Cindy Morgan -  in the mail yesterday. The illustrations are just wonderful and the story is inspired by a song Cindy wrote called King of the World. I seriously had tears in my eyes while reading it (when did I get so sappy??)

I enjoyed the story, but I was surprised that it ended so quickly. I thought it would have a few more pages about the later-on-in-life aspect. This didn’t take anything away from what was already there, just my initial thoughts.

The best part? It comes with a CD! The song, King of the World, is performed by Point of Grace (see below, I found it on YouTube). This, too, brought tears to my eyes (seriously – do kids make you go sappy?? I used to be a hard-a$$, just ask my best friend…I never cried!) Anyway, I can totally see this song as a father/daughter dance at weddings.

And then Cindy herself reads the story with an instrumental version of the song in the background. As I said, I enjoyed the story when I read it (with my New England accent), but when hearing Cindy read it in her slight southern drawl, words rhymed! Words like “girl” and “world” – do those rhyme when you say them? I was quite impressed and it brought on a whole new level to the book.

To round it all out, there’s an interview with Cindy. I loved hearing about her inspiration for the song and how she presented it to her husband. She also talks about her children and the differences between writing and singing.

Press Release

In her new children’s book Dance Me, Daddy (Zonderkidz™, May 2009, 978-0-310-71762-1, $16.99, Hardcover) singer/songwriter and 2009 Dove Award Winner Cindy Morgan celebrates the bond between fathers and daughters everywhere. With lively illustrations by Philomena O’Neill, Dance Me, Daddy recalls the days when Daddy was the “King of the World.” The final copy of the book will include a CD with the song “King of the World” (written by Morgan and inspiration for the book) performed by Point of Grace, as well as a reading of the book by Morgan.

Cindy Morgan is a wife, mother, and singer-songwriter. She has recorded eight records, enjoyed 18 number one hits, and has won ten Dove Awards over her career.  Dance Me, Daddy was inspired by a song she wrote for Christian/country stars Point of Grace – “King of the World” – which dropped to stations nationwide on June 1.  A CD recording of the song, along with an interview and book reading by Cindy Morgan, are included in each copy of the book.

It’s Nice to be Asked

Originally posted on June 6, 2009 on The Zimmer Zoo

MyBlogSpark wants my help! They must know that I’m really good at giving my opinion

I got to choose my favorite cover for the next cover of the upcoming Betty Crocker Cookies & Bars magazine (on sale in stores August 11th).

This is the one I chose:

Mmmm Cookies.  I can’t wait until the magazine comes out. I’ll let you know if they listened to me