In the Beginning...

One of the concerns I had about educating my kids, was teaching subjects which were important, but that I didn't necessarily enjoy myself. I didn't want my lack of enthusiasm for a topic to influence them. So I made a decision to jump in with both feet, when it came to science in general, and astronomy specifically.

How could I make this interesting? How could I make this fun? So the first thing we did was take a trip to the Adler Planetarium. Shockingly, living here all my life, I had never been there.

I didn't want to try to do too much in that trip. Living so close, I knew there would be many more opportunities to visit. My goal was to be inspired, and to inspire the kids. To be awed and to want to know more. Mission accomplished. After seeing the big picture, literally, I got excited about "outer space." Hmm, maybe there was a correlation between my level of interest and my level of knowledge.

After teaching the kids some basic "stuff" like what's astronomy, what's a star, what's a satellite, and what's a planet (don't even get me started on Pluto. Can everyone please update your websites and books? It has been three years, ya know.), we embarked on building a model of the solar system (sans that "dwarf planet").

There were two main points I wanted to teach with our solar system model beyond knowing the names and order of the planets: the size of the planets in relation to each other, and the relative distance of the eight planets to the sun. My experience in school was that all the planets were pretty much the same size and pretty much equidistant from each other.

Why did I think this? Same reason I had no concept of the size of Alaska or Hawaii, nor where they existed on the globe. Gotta fit everything on one page!

Also, I didn't want the sun in the model. If we are going to have the sun, it's gotta be accurate, relatively, in size. And that's just not possible, unless I want Mercury to be microscopic, or move in to a bigger home.


To determine the scale we were going to use, we needed something that could be tiny enough to be Mercury, and large enough to be Jupiter. So we chose to use balloons--water balloons, birthday balloons, and punching balloons.

Here is our model, in this 41-second video:

Coca-Cola: 60 Seconds of Reality

First let me say that I do not drink Coca-Cola. Mainly because it's not a healthy drink.

So while I am not a fan of the product itself, I am a fan of their marketing.

Participating in InternetLand with texts, emails, IMs, social networking, blogs, forums, etc., I appreciate the commentary Coca-Cola made with their Super Bowl 2009 Avatar commercial.

Have a look:



Technology has the power to bring us together. I use digital photos and videos to keep friends and family up to date on our kids. I use social networking to reconnect and stay in touch with friends from twenty years ago. I use texts to send lil love notes to my husband.

But if used improperly, technology has the power to create a disconnect, a lack of human contact, creating an inability to communicate effectively, and therefore leading to a breakdown of intimate and meaningful relationships.

A few things I noticed in a mere sixty seconds with this commercial:

* A person in Cyberspace is not always who they truly are. They hide behind their keypad. (example: avatars and humans rarely match each other in form or persona)

*A person can have multiple "personalities" in Cyberspace. (example: the changing avatars of one person sitting at a table)

* A person in Cyberspace, trying to be great and powerful online, can miss opportunities to be great in real life. (example: the "superhero" and the mom with the baby carriage)

* A person choosing to be more involved online can become ineffective, and misses out on the gifts in real life. (example: the mom pushing her child on the swing)

* It takes a conscious effort of reaching out and being authentic, in order to break through those techno barriers--our own and others.

* People crave real contact.

Coke doesn't sell a beverage. Coke sells human contact. Relationships. Connectedness.

This is not a new concept for Coke, as evident by their 1971 commercial:



The concept for the "I Like to Buy the World A Coke" commercial came from the creative director for the ad agency witnessing, during a bad travel experience how Coke brought people together.

"The next morning, as the passengers gathered in the airport coffee shop awaiting clearance to fly, Backer noticed that several who had been among the most irate were now laughing and sharing stories over bottles of Coke."

I'm too young to remember that commercial. But I sure do remember when they brought back that song and built on the theme in 1984:



These commercials inspire me. I find inspiration everywhere--even in an ad for a product I don't even like! I guess that's because I want to be inspired. How about you?

Love Lavishly

There’s a little “25 Things About Me” exercise going around on one of the social networks of which I’m a part. The idea is that you write 25 things about you, and “tag” 19 others, as well as the person who originally tagged you.

The lists have been neat, and I’ve learned many things about my social network friends who have done lists. Yesterday though, was breathtaking.

"10. When my mom died I held her and touched her till she went cold. I could not stop sniffing her. I never want to forget her smell and her smooth skin."

I quickly read through the rest of the list, and then went back to #10. I re-read #10. And re-read it again.

I was speechless, stunned, a puddle of tears, and grateful for being allowed to be included in such a deep, intimate, personal detail.

Twenty four hours later I am still pondering the depths of #10. Instant tears I have flowing freely down my cheeks every time I read #10.

I have yet to lose someone close to me. And no one, as far as I know, is nearing death. So my response seems puzzling. I’m not grieving a death, nor am I anticipating a death.

Why am I so moved? Why the depths of emotion?

Lavish love. I read #10 and it is what a life lived being lavishly loved, looks like. A daughter, showing one last act of deep love to her mom.

When I was pregnant, a big concern for me was that I would not love my child as deeply (or at all) as a mom should. Many days I’d rock in my glider, with my hands on my belly, praying to God that He give me a heart that loved this child (I prayed in the singular for a long time since we didn’t know I was carrying twins until the eighth month).

I prayed to Him that I’d love the way Jesus loves—no strings attached. I knew I needed Him for that kind of love, since, being human, I’m selfish, self-centered, and demand my own way.

God is so good. He does answer prayers. I am astounded, really, by how He continually transforms my heart. Not only do I love my children, but I love people, even those that are really hard to love, if ya know what I mean.

The definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13 is beautiful, magnificent,and awe-inspiring.

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends."

I want to love like that.

As my relationship with God grows, as I am humbled by His grace and His love for me, and as I remain focused on Him, it’s easier to love God’s way—agape love.

Lavish love.

#10 is lavish love, and a sobering reminder of just how fleeting all of our lives on Earth really are.

While I'm here, whether it is for a day, a decade, or several decades, I choose to love lavishly.

Merry Christmas

Sitting on our steps, as we came home tonight was THE box. Just in the nick of time!

In an earlier post, I talked about family traditions. And how some are planned and how some happen naturally.

Homemade Christmas cookies all the way from the kids' Grandma and Grandpa, living 2,000 miles away, are one of those organic traditions.

This is now the third year, since moving to California, that my mom and her husband have blessed us with their delicious creations, filled with love.

On Christmas Eve, after getting home from church where we sing songs of praise, having dinner, lighting the Advent candles, and before reading The Advent Book, we sit down for hot cocoa, and homemade cookies.

As the kids get older and more aware, this evening, this season of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, becomes increasingly special and meaningful for me.

As I sit here staring at my tree (I've been doing that pretty much every night since we got it on the first of the month), my heart bursts with thankfulness. Thankful that He came not just for a select few, but for all of us. Otherwise, I'm pretty confident that I wouldn't have made the cut.

"And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is the Christ, the Lord.'"

Merry Christmas everyone.

Spoiled Silly

Today, a friend sent an email to his entire address book, which includes me. (I'm a fan of the Blind Carbon Copy field, by the way). He was forwarding an anonymous email from a disgruntled customer of a well-known retailer.

Side note: If you are going to take the time to rant and complain and trash a company, at least have the character to sign your name.

Apparently this customer was unaware of the store's 14-day return policy, capped by a 15% restocking fee on opened items.

Even though the policy was written on the back of the receipt, you know how we humans are: we don't like to take responsibility, and prefer to blame another person for not paying attention to or inquiring about the rules. Or we don't agree with the rules and start to challenge their validity.

As I pondered whether to respond to the email, I had an epiphany as to why I was lacking empathy. It’s because the scenario rarely, if ever, comes up for me. Much of my everyday shopping is with a company that has a 180-day 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee return policy--Amway Global.

As a customer of Amway Global, I have been spoiled silly—I can try any product with zero financial risk. I can use a product for up to 180 days. If I don't like it, I can return it--and they even pay for the shipping back, supplying a self-addressed postage-paid label with every order.

As a customer of Amway Global, I give them my loyalty because they have earned it by placing a high value on me and millions of other customers.

And as a business owner of ZaggieMac.com, which contracts exclusively with Amway Global and its affiliate stores, I am proud to offer that same return policy to my clients. How great it is to work with a company that stands solidly behind its products.

In an increasingly impersonal business climate marked by a short-sighted, dismissive mindset, Amway Global stands miles apart.

Even more impressive is the quality of their products, which enables them to offer such a generous return policy. In over a decade as a customer, I’ve seldom had to take them up on their offer.

Start Paying Attention, America

I usually stay away from politics because I live in a suburb of Chicago that is so passionate about politics that mini-wars seem to break out if one offers a different viewpoint.

But today's events involving the pay-to-play arrest of our governor has pushed me over the edge. The 78-page complaint, here, is shocking (to those not familiar with The Chicago Way), to say the least.

I hope this wakes up the people of Illinois, and I hope this wakes up the people of the United States of America.

Rod Blagojevich was elected in 2002 under the banner of change. Sound familiar? Who helped Blagojevich get elected? According to Rahm Emanuel (Barack Obama's Chief-of-Staff-to-be), Emanuel, Obama, Blagojevich's campaign co-chair David Wilhelm, and another Blagojevich worker "were the top strategists of Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial victory," meeting weekly to outline campaign strategies.

We Illinoisans were sold a bag of lies. During Blagojevich's first term, there was no change from the previous governor, George Ryan, who is currently serving a paltry six-and-half year sentence for corruption which, among other things, led to the death of six children of the Willis family.

But even though there was tons of smoke all around Blagojevich in the form of criminal convictions and newspaper exposes, led by the Chicago Tribune, what happens in 2006? Obama endorses Blagojevich.

Also that year, Obama, to the dismay and disgust of anyone paying attention, including the local news media, endorses Todd Stroger, for Cook County President.

Do we learn? No, again the majority of Illinoisans voted for Blagojevich, as well as Cook County (which includes Chicago) voted for Todd Stroger, a completely inept candidate, a political hack, replacing his corrupt father.

Cook County's budget is bigger than most states. And rather than get rid of the patronage to balance the budget, Stroger increases sales tax, pushing Chicago's to a whopping 11%.

Two years later, again, rather than get rid of the patronage, Stroger is pushing for a $700 million loan to balance the county budget.

When I bring up the Chicago Machine to neighbors, when I talk about Richard Daley and his corruption, what do I hear? "Well, he has beautified the city." What? Are you kidding me? And if I start to talk about the lunacy of such a remark, I get an onslaught of "how much he's done for Chicago" and blah blah blah.

The only thing Chicago's mayor has going for him is that he's craftier than his governors.

Why do we have such a high threshold for corruption?

And now that Chicago and Illinois politicians are moving to Washington D.C., will things be different? If you voted for "Change You Can Believe In", pay attention.

Now all Americans are on Red Alert to see to what degree Chicago and Illinois politics are played out on a national scale.

What are you going to do, America? Are you gonna excuse it like Chicagoans and Illinoisans have? Are you gonna shrug your shoulders as you say, "Well, that's just how things are done." Are you gonna bury your head in the sand, stick your fingers in your ears singing "la la la la"? Are you going to be afraid and not come forward when you know there is wrong occurring?

If you want to embark on the path to awareness, and not just hype, then follow Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass who has been following Chicago and Illinois politics for 25 years.

A New Christmas Tradition

Today we received a most wonderful and thoughtful gift from our friend, Yves.

What Yves doesn’t know, is that for four years I’ve been looking for an Advent calendar, never really satisfied with anything I’ve seen.

When Matt and I became parents, certain things started to become important to us, like life insurance and family traditions.

Getting the life insurance was the easy part. But the family traditions part hasn’t been as easy. When our children were just a little over one year old, Matt got an assignment from Chicago Parent to write a story on family traditions for their November/Thanksgiving issue. Having a background as an investigative journalist, Matt immediately went into research mode, and came across a book by Meg Cox, “The Book of New Family Traditions.”

When I first read Meg’s book, I felt like I was cheating. Was it okay to take other people’s traditions and make them your own? Or are traditions supposed to happen organically; otherwise they’re forced and not significant or meaningful?

It’s actually a great book and has good ideas or can spark even great ideas for family traditions all throughout the year.

One area that I wanted to explore was traditions for the Christmas season which focused on the birth of Christ. In our homes growing up, the birth of Jesus was not a focal part of Christmas, so neither one of us had anything from which to draw.

One kind of obvious thought I had was, “Why not have a birthday cake?” So now, on Christmas Eve, right before bed (oh so healthy) we light candles on a chocolate cake, sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, and enjoy our late-night sweets with a glass of milk.

I liked the idea of celebrating Christmas, not just on the 24th and 25th, which is what we typically did, but for all of December leading up to Christmas Day. (Jewish people have it right with Chanukah being a celebration of more than just a couple days.) So one tradition I found in Meg’s book was a “Literary Advent Calendar”. Our kids enjoy books. And we enjoy reading to them. So what we do is read one of 24 different Christmas-related books each night.

So Yves’ gift is perfect because it combines Advent and a book. It is "The Advent Book".

“The Advent Book is designed to be a family heirloom and the centerpiece of an annual Christmas worship tradition. The large full-color book with beautiful illustrations features 25 unique doors, each opening to reveal a picture and a segment of the Christmas story. The story is told in simple concise language so that even young children can be included in this Advent tradition. A new door is opened each day from Dec. 1st through Christmas in the manner of an Advent calendar. Because the doors are reopened and added to every day, family members enjoy the anticipation of remembering or revealing what is behind each door and learn the Biblical story by heart.”

Yves, we are so excited to start our new tradition tomorrow. Thank you. Thank you so much.