Can Mammograms Be Harmful?

I have been putting off my yearly mammogram. I’ve had one almost every year since I turned 40, as dictated by someone somewhere as the thing I was supposed to do. Recently, there has been some controversy as to whether the “need to start having mammograms” age was 40 or 50. Now, there is another controversy – that routine mammograms can cause breast cancers to be overly treated. Overly treated? If you have breast cancer, can treatment really be overly? Maybe not, but maybe so says Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, who recently coauthored an analysis of mammograms published in The … Continue reading

Affairs and STDs

You often hear people talk about the psychological issues they suffer after finding out a spouse has had an affair (namely lack of trust), and there’s the other kind of fallout that manifests (counseling and divorce), but what about the health issues? How many affairs result in the contraction of an STD? Perhaps it’s a weird thing to wonder about. (Then again, I’m prone to that. “How Do Monkeys Keep Their Nails Clipped?” is proof.) But there you have it, I’m wondering about it. I blame Wayne. Not because he cheated and gave me an STD, but because of his … Continue reading

Things We Wish We’d Done While Waiting

In my Fast Start blog, I set out some steps to take so that you will be ready to proceed with the various stages of adoption as soon as possible. (Follow the advice of your own adoption agency, of course.) Still, some waiting is inevitable. Here are some things to do. Some of these you have heard before. Learn basic baby care, if applicable. Learn about child development and what children typically do at the age your child-to-be is currently, if you have a child identified, and at the age he/she is likely to come home. Learn about any special … Continue reading

My Favorite Pet Blogs from the Past Year

Below is a list of my favorite articles I wrote during the past year, often with an explanation of what made them memorable. Five Non-Cash Ways to Help Animals/Shelters this Holiday Season: This was my first article to have a comment left on it. Is It Ever Okay to Kick a Dog?: This was my first article to ever get stars. The BMK Fund: This practice is very near and dear to my heart and it was neat to have a platform such as blogging for Families.com to share it on. How to Put Your Shopping Dollars to Work Helping … Continue reading

Week in Review: Fresh Starts to Who’s Happy

This week I touched on five topics: Fresh starts for your new year, finding moderation in your Christian walk, the execution of Saddam Husain, having faith in God, acknowledging Christians are not perfect and I also shared information gathered from a study regarding the happiest people in the United States. In Fresh Starts for 2007, I looked at the significance the Bible puts on the number seven. Seven seems to represent completion and makes way for fresh new starts. In Finding Moderation, I wanted to bring a point across that we can’t serve God too much, but we can get … Continue reading

Fast Start: Hurrying Up While Waiting

You’ve probably heard international adoption called a “hurry-up and wait” game. Meaning, that you are often in a mad hurry to fulfill every request for a document or signature, lest you miss the monthly meeting of the Romanian adoption committee by one day, or your social worker doesn’t get a chance to fax her counterpart before her vacation, or whatever, and you miss another precious month of your child’s infancy. Then, you don’t hear back from anyone for weeks. Sometimes slow and steady is okay. You focus on your work, or your other kids, or whatever, sending out questionnaires to … Continue reading

Coping with an Unfaithful Spouse

This is a difficult topic at the best of times. While the soap opera genre makes its bones on selling infidelity and dishonesty. No one likes to think it could happen to them. No one wants to imagine the scenario where it could or it did happen. More than one divorce can cite infidelity as the crisis point that the relationship never recovered from. Yet, a marriage may survive infidelity and a spouse may be able to cope when they have learned that their spouse was unfaithful. The very thought that your spouse has been unfaithful is enough to leave … Continue reading

Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest! Help!

Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest – Help! You know, I gotta wonder about the state of today’s society. I mean, what self-respecting society produces such dim-witted individuals such as the ones I read about today. I was cruising around the internet looking for a little lighter topic and ran across this on DumbThings.com: “Iraqi terrorist, Khay Rahnajet, didn’t pay enough postage on a letter bomb. It came back with “return to sender” stamped on it. Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits.” I didn’t know whether to laugh, slap my hand on my forehead or … Continue reading