March 15, 2010
by marfmom
9 Comments

Marf of the (Mon)Day

I’ve decided to do an occasional Marfan trivia day. I’ll provide a few clues as to the identity of a person who is reasonably believed to have/have had Marfan syndrome. I define reasonably believed as 1) multiple sources have stated the diagnosis, 2) the National Marfan Foundation has never said otherwise, and 3) the person in question has never disputed the diagnosis. (Read: Michael Phelps will never be featured here. He does NOT have Marfan and if you’re bored & want to hear my rant on that just ask, but I won’t take up space here today.)

So, see if you can guess who the Marf of the Monday is. Leave your guess in the comments, and I’ll post the answer on Wednesday!

Clues:
1) This Marf hailed from California.
2) She wore a size 12 sneaker.
3) By 17, she was 6’5’’.
4) She once said “You can go to school when you’re 60. You’re only young once, and you can only do this once.”
5) She was the University of Houston’s first female scholarship athlete.
6) This Marf appeared in a 1985 movie.
7) Her specialty move was the “Flying Clutchman.”
8 ) She was an Olympian.
9) She died from an aortic dissection, and her autopsy revealed she had survived a smaller tear a few weeks before.
10) She did NOT know that she had Marfan; the diagnosis was made during the autopsy.

March 12, 2010
by marfmom
5 Comments

Friday Favorites

So many great posts this week, it was hard to narrow it down! Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order:

If you’re a working mother, you MUST read the article To My Friends Who Work Outside the Home, by Jaelithe. I thought it was beautifully written and it’s been getting rave reviews from working moms all over the Internet.

You will love Anne at Adventures in Beanland. I promise. Unless you hate beautiful photographs and cute toddlers and tasty recipes and healthy eating. Then you won’t. Anne is actually my friend in Real Life! She is mom to an adorable little girl (with another baby on the way!), married to a soon-to-be-resident, works for SmugMug, and knows more than anyone I know about healthy eating, besides just being an all around cool gal. This week Anne wrote an article titled Tips for Flying With a Baby or Toddler. If you’re ever planning on flying with a small child, read this. Anne knows her stuff: her 2 year old has been on 48 flights, including multiple international flights.

I have a bit of a beef with Facebook right now. They have an interesting definition of “sexually offensive material.” It appears that any images which might be demeaning to women and portray them in a highly sexual manner are totally UNoffensive and appropriate, especially if they’re part of an advertisement. Pictures of women breastfeeding, on the other hand, are totally offensive and inappropriate. April over at Eclectic Effervescence wrote the post Offense about this very issue. And yes, the post contains pictures of breasts.

Annie at PhD in Parenting is one of the smartest bloggers I know. She puts a ton of research into all her posts. All I Think About is Princesses… is about the Disney princess phenomenon through the eyes of a feminist. But more than that, I think it’s about gender stereotyping and how companies are creating and playing up these stereotypes. Also, if you have some time, you MUST MUST MUST read Annie’s series on Nestle. It’s amazing and an eye-opener for sure.

March 11, 2010
by marfmom
13 Comments

To Menininho, From Papa Gary

Writing for Mama Kat’s Writers’ Workshop prompt #1 (except instead of the letter being to me, it’s to my son).

Dear Menininho,

Grampa Gary here, your mom’s dad. First of all, let me say, I love your name. It’s the name I’d picked for your mom (your Nona and I thought she was a boy); it’s partly my name. It is, in a word, groovy. However, I still would have preferred your parents to name you Robert or Dylan, after the great Bob Dylan. But what do I know about names, anyway? I gave myself the nickname Juan Garcia and my family came over on the Mayflower.

Now, you don’t remember this, but we met before you were born. My dad, your Great-Grandpa Brown, died a few days before your birthdate and the two of us sat you down and spent those days teaching you how to be a member of the family, what it means to be a Brown. We told you about the family you’d meet once you were born and how much they’d love you, and all that jazz.

But really? We just wanted you to carry on the tradition of driving everyone nuts.

Remember last week, when your mom sat you down with a nutritious lunch of broccoli and whole wheat bread, your favorite? And then she sat down with a bowl of bean with bacon soup and a good book? But something in you cried out for that unnaturally-orange-colored-goodness, and you weren’t happy until you had some. [Specifically, every other bite.]

That was all me. I laughed so hard I thought I’d die…except I’m already dead. Your Nona HATES that soup. HATES IT. And now I get the last laugh because I’ve passed my love of it on to you. I’m a genius.

And while we’re on the topic of smarts, let’s talk about the whole cat-biting incident. Funny? Yes. Totally avoidable? Also yes. Did you forget everything I taught you about animals? 1) Convince your parents to let you have a dog. 2) Never walk behind a strange horse. 3) Don’t bite your cat’s tail.

In all seriousness, I wish I were there to watch you grow up. I wish I were well. But know that I’m having fun with my dad, and we’re keeping close watch on you. Give your Nona a hug for me, stay out of trouble (well, stay out of tooooo much trouble), and know that I love you.

Love,
Grampa Gary aka Grampa Garcia

My dad and Grampa Brown