Ricky Martin Comes Out

Today, Ricky Martin announced what many had suspected for years – he is homosexual. Martin came into the spotlight as a teen when he joined Menudo, a boys band that replaced members when they turned 16, their voice changed, they grew facial hair, or grew too tall – whatever came first. Martin made a comeback in the early ‘90s with the hit “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” but even then, many question his sexuality, despite a 14 year on-again/off-again relationship with TV host Rebecca de Alba. He avoided the topic, choosing instead to talk about his music rather than his personal … Continue reading

What’s This about the Obamas Getting a Puppy?

Barack Obama’s win was, naturally, the talk of all the news yesterday. But of course the thing that caught my ear was the focus on how the Obamas were considering getting a puppy. The Puppy Speech I’d tried to stay awake for Obama’s victory speech Tuesday night, but instead I ended up falling asleep. I guess if I would have watched it I would have heard for myself the part where he said he was going to reward his daughters’ support and patience during the campaign with a puppy. I was surprised to hear they were considering a puppy. I … Continue reading

Is One Really Enough?

I got into weightlifting when I was a freshman in college. I was dating a guy who was obsessed with bodybuilding. He was competing for Mr. Wisconsin… or was it Mr. Universe? In any event, A. couldn’t go a day without working out (or eating egg whites), so needless to say, much of the time we spent together was at the gym. And while our relationship may have failed (he loved his body way more than he loved me) I left with a great parting gift—-a toned body and tight grip on how to design a fitness routine that worked … Continue reading

Reasons Why Teachers May Suggest that Twins be Separated Continued

For the past few days, I have been discussing education and multiples, mainly twins. The main topic with twins is whether to keep them in the same homeroom or separate them into different classes. Most every school, teacher, and parent can give you an opinion on the topic. However, each set of multiples, just like single birth children, should be looked at separately. My previous discussion talked about how there can be some reasons why teachers prefer or suggest that twins or multiples be separated. The first reason listed was academic differences. Sometimes one child will do far better academically … Continue reading

Family Home Evening: Strengthing Your Testimony

In continuing with the idea of using General Conference talks for family home evening lessons, I’ve pulled some ideas from “Do It Now” and “Three Goals to Guide You.” This lesson will focus on the things that each individual and family needs to be doing to grow spiritually. Then it will focus on the importance of doing those things now, and removing the things that may be standing in your way. This lesson can also be used in conjunction with the Building Your Testimony lesson. You can open your lesson by reviewing the scripture Alma 32:28. This scripture focuses on … Continue reading

Facing the Lower Income=Lower Self-Esteem Issue

One of the topics that come up again and again when I talk with other single parents is the way we all seem to wrestle with the one income/lower income issue and how it affects our own self-esteem, AND how we worry that it will affect our children’s. We tend to be concerned that if we aren’t able to give our children everything that “other kids” or “other families” have; or that if we aren’t able to live in the right neighborhood, go on vacations, etc.—our children will be at a disadvantage. This can be some heavy stuff and make … Continue reading

X is for eXtreme Fitness

Everyone has to stretch for a good X word when you do a list of alphabet tips and in our case, we’re doing exercise tips. I could have gone X is for eXercise, but eXtreme fitness is a topic we don’t talk about here as often as we might. The idea of extreme fitness is that you push yourself to your limit during every single workout that you do. The idea is based on no pain, no gain. Extreme fitness buffs want to feel the pain from their workout, believing that without that pain they won’t achieve their fitness goals. … Continue reading