Book Review: Here, Home, Hope by Kaira Rouda

I've lost my blogivation. I think it's part of the pregnancy, in that I've lost my motivation not only to blog but even to move. I get annoyed every time I have to eat or go to the bathroom. So when I started reading  Here, Home, Hope by author Kaira Rouda, the fictional story of one woman's courageous journey through midlife crisis and personal reinvention, it felt like I was reading my life journal, where I am now and where I hope to go. Here, Home, Hope is an account of Kelly Mills Johnson, who becomes restless in her thirty-ninth year. An appetite for more forces her to take stock of her ordinary middle-American existence and her neighbors’ seemingly perfect lives. Her marriage to a successful attorney has settled into a comfortable routine, and being the mother of two adorable sons has been rewarding but exhausting. Meanwhile, Kelly’s own passions lie wasted. She eyes with envy the lives of her two best friends, Kathryn and Charlotte, both beautiful, successful businesswomen who seem to have it all. Kelly takes charge of her life, devising a midlife makeover plan. 

I love stories like this because it feels all too real for me. I want to do something so I don't regret later the way I am living my life now. I took the California bar exam because I wanted to have options, since even doing pro bono work at an immigration clinic or doing tax work for indigents requires a license. Of course, I have no idea what is going to happen in the next six months. People tell me I will LOVE having a girl. Will that really be enough for me not to look outside of being a mom and using all those years of higher education and work experience I built up before being a mom? 

If you're like me and want some encouragement, this book is like a cheerleader spurring you on to make a change. Kaira Rouda is a mother of four who has somehow managed to balance that with being a writer, marketing executive and president of Real Living, a real estate franchiser. She also shares her inspiration and insight on Twitter and Facebook.

I did not receive compensation for this post. I received an advance reader PDF copy of the book from One2One Network to facilitate my review.

Tiger Mom FAIL, CBX PASS, Juno Company Review and GIVEAWAY

Last weekend my boys and I went to an all day Korean School art, writing, and games competition. It was very clear from the moment that we arrived that I was going to learn in so many ways that I failed to reach the Tiger Mom gold standard. First of all, most of the students who were participating in the art competition brought full art sets with them, including paints, watercolors and oils, not the lunchboxes of half broken crayons that H&R had brought. They also brought the short Korean tables so they would have flat surfaces on which to draw and paint. I brought my JJ Cole Essentials Blanket, the staple of any urban mommy's registry list, but apparently not good enough for a Tiger Mom's art competition. My shortcomings also included not signing them up for art lessons, which most of the other kids seemed to have had.

It should come to no surprise that the boys did not win any of the awards for the art competition. H was so upset about this that he tried to steal an award from another kid. Oh a mother's shame. See, Koreans don't do what American society seems to be doing for its children these days, saying "everyone is a winner" and not keeping score at kids' athletic events. There is a winner and there is definitely a loser at a Korean School competition. I should have realized when they took the kids and sequestered them inside a box marked off by "caution tape" (so parents couldn't help their kids), that this was going to end badly for H. I don't care how exhausted I am going to be this summer with a newborn, I'm going to drink enough caffeine to drive these boys to art lessons so next year they won't cry about not getting a $1 ladybug magnifying glass from Michaels!

So while I learned I was a complete failure as a Tiger Mom, I did get some good news Friday night that I had passed the California Bar Exam. The pass rate for February 2010's exam was 37.6% for all takers and 49.7% for first timers so I feel like I can pat myself on the back for passing this exam to compensate for my utter failure described above. I think I did get an edge since I applied for exam relief to bring a cup into the exam (the bar examiners don't allow any food or beverages inside the exam room) so I could spit into it because of excess salivation issues caused by my pregnancy. I know I could have used being pregnant to rationalize a negative result, but I am so relieved that I don't have to do it. Whatever the result, I had vowed not to take the exam again. I would have taken a fail to mean that God wanted me to move back to New York (where I am licensed to practice law, notwithstanding my SAHM status). So the immediate future looks to be California for job prospects once Random Baby #3 is well-settled in the outside world.

My boys suffered a lot (well, I think they suffered they probably had many field days) while I studied for the bar exam. A lot of their time was spent on electronics while I got in a few more multistate multiple choice questions. Their favorite activities included The Juno Company apps on iPad. And now in the last few weeks of my pregnancy, they are getting some more time to spend on apps since I am frequently so exhausted I can't get up. The latest fun app they've been enjoying is The Juno Company eBook App The Day The Music Stopped.

The full length musical eBook features all the great Juno characters, original orchestral music, mini games, unique touch screen interaction and a compelling story! H&R are really into playing games now and I could see that it was a huge bonus that there were games right in the middle of a book I was reading to them. The app has both a "read myself" and "read to me" version. I actually prefer to read it to them since the "read to me" version seems a little slow for H, but I could definitely see the advantages of that version for those times when I can't move and for long car rides (the app can occupy my boys for 30 minutes plus). Through the generosity of The Juno Company, THREE Random Mommy readers will be able to experience The Day The Music Stopped for themselves.

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:  Contest period runs from Monday, May 16, 2011 at 12:01 AM (Pacific) until Sunday, May 22, 2011 at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Enter by leaving a comment on your favorite musical instrument, and leave your e-mail address OR sign in to comments using your Blogger ID, making sure your Blogger profile is public and includes your e-mail address. While you are waiting for the results of the giveaway, you can get a free download of Juno's Musical ABC's Audiobook.

Bonus Entries (leave a separate comment for each entry, it counts if you've done any of these so leave a comment for each one)
1) Follow me on Twitter
2) Tweet this contest and leave the tweet url
3) Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect by clicking on the sidebar
4) Like The Juno Company on Facebook
5) Follow The Juno Company on Twitter

If you don't leave a qualifying comment and your e-mail address or public Blogger profile, your entry will be disqualified. I reserve the right to extend the contest period. At the end of the contest period, I will utilize Random.org to randomly choose the winners. The winners will be contacted by e-mail and will have 72 hours to respond to my e-mail. If the winners do not respond within 72 hours, the prize will go to the next place winner as decided by Random.org. This contest is open for US and Canadian Residents only. Good luck and have a great week!

I did not receive compensation for this post. I did receive product samples to facilitate my review.

National Train Day and Dinosaur Train GIVEAWAY

CONGRATULATIONS TO NUMBER 7 AS CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG. PLEASE RESPOND TO MY EMAIL WITHIN 72 HOURS. THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR PARTICIPATING AND PLEASE ENTER MY NEXT GIVEAWAY!

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R is all about trains these days. It's strange because H was equally interested in trains and cars, but with R it's all about anything that rides the rails. One of the shows that he enjoys is Dinosaur Train on PBS Kids. To celebrate National Train Day on May 7th, Dinosaur Train debuted an all new episode on May 6th on PBS Kids, featuring two animated segments with live-action sequences featuring a paleontologist who brings to life the show's natural science and national history curriculum for preschoolers. In "Junior Conductor Jamboree," Buddy and his family ride the Dinosaur Train from one end of the line to the other and visit all three time periods--from the Cretaceous, through the Jurassic, to the Triassic. In "Troonday Train Day," the Pteranodon family rides to Troodon Town to celebrate Troodon Train Day, where the main event is a concert by King Cryolophosaurus, giving his first performance in years!

In addition to the television series, there is also a “Dinosaur Train” interactive website. H&R love to play the games on the website. I'm amazed whenever I watch R, a kid who just turned three, click through the games with full comprehension of what he is doing. It just goes to show how fast a human brain can grasp technology. H&R love to join Buddy, Tiny and all their friends as they discover natural history and the science of paleontology through fun games and activities. H was so excited he took a brontosaurus to school on Friday as his show and share item! During the month of May, the website is celebrating trains with a special themed homepage and new fun printable activities. Kids can also play the online game “All Aboard!” to become a Jr. Conductor on the Dinosaur Train!

To celebrate America's love of trains, my friends at Dinosaur Train will give one Random Mommy reader their own Dinosaur Train Collectible Train Car-Buddy. This collectible train car pack includes plastic Buddy figure and decorated train car to match! We receive one to review and of course H&R fought over it the minute they saw the package. It arrived around R's birthday so they finally agreed that it belonged to R, and peace reigned for five minutes. They don't have the other cars in the set, but it was still fun for R to pretend that he was taking Buddy on an adventure on the Dinosaur Train. I will also send the winner my review copy of the new episode to go along with the Train Car!

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:  Contest period runs from Monday, May 9, 2011 at 12:01 AM (Pacific) until Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Enter by leaving a comment on your favorite dinosaur, and leave your e-mail address OR sign in to comments using your Blogger ID, making sure your Blogger profile is public and includes your e-mail address.

Bonus Entries (leave a separate comment for each entry, it counts if you've done any of these so leave a comment for each one)
1) Follow me on Twitter
2) Tweet this contest and leave the tweet url
3) Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect by clicking on the sidebar
4) Like The Jim Henson Company on Facebook
5) Follow Henson Parents on Twitter

If you don't leave a qualifying comment and your e-mail address or public Blogger profile, your entry will be disqualified. I reserve the right to extend the contest period. At the end of the contest period, I will utilize Random.org to randomly choose the winner. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have 72 hours to respond to my e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, the prize will go to the next place winner as decided by Random.org. This contest is open for US Residents only. Good luck!

I did not receive compensation for this post. I did receive product samples to facilitate my review.

Non Sequitur Friday

I'm happy that it's finally May. I can now say that my daughter will be born next month! Hurray! I have about 7 weeks to go but once week 37 hits, I will be doing everything possible to get her out. Each pregnancy has been harder than the previous as my body adapts and attempts to reject the alien invasion. So yes, bring on the pineapple juice, the spicy food, the exercise, and all the tried and true remedies to pop the baby out of the oven. H thinks that my belly will pop and then the doctor will tape it back together. He doesn't want to see that so he doesn't want to come to the hospital. Because I am so uncomfortable, tired and irritable that I want this baby out but at the same time I have NO idea how I will cope with three little kids. It will definitely be better once H goes to kindergarten in the fall but till then, I anticipate a lot of pain. How can a sleep deprived woman take care of three kids when her husband is traveling to Asia for work for weeks at a time? We will see. I may throw in the towel and end up going to my parents' house in Chicago for the summer.

Stewart's work is having a company picnic today. Except that you can only go to the picnic if you made a donation to the company's Japan relief fund. Something about that just doesn't sit right with me but I can't pinpoint exactly what. Maybe it's the coerced aspect of the giving or the fact that the company would not allow employees who truly cannot afford to give anything (like maybe Stewart's co-worker with five kids who has lost $200K in equity in his house) to come to the picnic. His new company is very strange indeed, they don't give paternity leave but told him he would have to take disability and get 50% pay if he took any time off when the baby is born. So no, I don't anticipate him hanging out with me at the hospital.

I'm trying to get in as much as I can for the boys before their sister arrives. I know once the baby is here it will be difficult for us to travel. So recently even with my horrendous varicose veins and back pain, we made a trip to the Oakland Zoo. The Oakland Zoo is amazingly good. I say this because the last zoo to which I can compare it is amazingly bad. There was also a severe bee problem at the LA Zoo the last time we went and I ended up getting multiple stings. It was so bad there was a sign once you entered that said, "no refunds will be given because of bees." Seriously, if you know there is a problem, put a notice on your website so people can make an informed decision before driving all the way out there! There is also a joke about the LA Zoo the punchline of which is something like all the animals are out of town. I remember the hippo exhibit at the LA Zoo, there was one sad hippo in a very small enclosure. I felt sorry for that hippo. The Oakland Zoo had many more animals actually in sight, although the lions were hiding since it was midday and they were taking their naps. Some other good things about the Oakland Zoo:

• Parking at both the top and bottom of the zoo; the top of the zoo has rides outside the entrance so if you don't want your kids to see them you can park at the bottom, which conveniently leads right into the children's play area
• Membership is affordable; my friend had gotten a special where she and her kids got membership for @$60 for a year
• No obnoxious merchandising; I don't think I even noticed a souvenir stand and the boys certainly didn't
• Accessible petting zoo; open for most of the hours the zoo is open

So those are my Random Mommy thoughts this Friday. I hope everyone has a great Mother's Day weekend. I will be attending an all day Korean School art and writing competition tomorrow so you can imagine how much fun I will be having. Tiger moms, unite!