Monique and the Mango Rains

Our book club recently read a book that I really loved. We even had the opportunity to speak with the author via speaker phone, which made me love the book even more since we could delve deeper into some of the characters and get to know them even better.

Below is a quote from another reader in NY who is a childbirth educator and midwife who recommended the book to all her friends:

...the main character is a West African midwife named Monique Dembele. I haven't been moved this much by a character in a long time. Reminds me of A Simple Heart by Flaubert. Monique is pure and passionate about her life, work and children. She gives everything to her world. A Jesus figure. I am a doula, childbirth educator, midwifery student and mother so this book touched me on many levels. A nice way to experience Mali if you can't get there. The author may come to NYC for a reading next year. In the meantime, I encourage you to buy the book, read it in your book club (Kris loves coming in to book clubs for discussions, in person or via speaker phone), and pass it on to friends.

Monique and the Mango Rains
Two Years with a Midwife in Mali By Kris Holloway

Against the background of day-to-day village life in Mali, Kris
Holloway draws a moving portrait of Monique Dembele, a legendary local midwife, and the extraordinary cross-cultural friendship that blossomed between them during Kris's stint as a Peace Corps volunteer.

“Delicious like mangos in season, you will not be able to put this incredible book down.” —Brigitte Jordan, author of Birth in Four Cultures

"There have been many accounts of studying people from other cultures, but few accounts of actually being friends with them. Anyone who is curious about what such a friendship feels like from the inside should read this respectful but intimate account..." —Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

A portion of the proceeds from book sales go to fund “Clinique Monique”, a maternal and child health clinic in Mali. For more information on the book or the clinic, please visit http://www.moniquemangorains.com/

If you haven't read this book yet, consider buying it or taking it out from the library. Monique was a truly unique individual in a culture where women rarely possess such positions of power in their villages. She was very inspiring to me, both for her wonderful outlook on life and marriage, and for her spirit. Happy reading!

Binkie Beast

Meet my nemesis:

I made my 2-year old give up his binkie on Saturday. What really made me decide that it was "time" was seeing a girl who was about 6 years old with not one, but TWO binkies in a restaurant the other day. She had one in her mouth and another in her hand. Are you kidding me? Thankfully, my son was not that attached to his binkie...he used it for naps and at bedtime. Nevertheless, I didn't want him to still be dependent on it when he was that age and so I figured there was no time like the present. Unfortunately, my husband didn't share my horror and wasn't so keen on the struggles that were to come, but thankfully was willing to support my decision that it was time for the binkie to disappear.

The first night wasn't awful. We told our son that he was a big boy now, and named all of his friends who were his age who also didn't use a binkie. Then I rubbed his back and got him to stop screaming, and he fell asleep pretty quickly. The next day at his nap time, he was so tired that he didn't even realize that he didn't have it. At bedtime he cried for a little while, but again I rubbed his back and named his friends and he fell asleep without it. Then on Monday he went to school...this is where it got a little messy. He managed to convince his teachers that he would die if he didn't have his binkie for his nap, and is so smart that he started naming his friends who still DID have their binkie. Ei Yi Yi. And, unbeknown to me, they had one of his binkies squirreled away at school for just one of those occasions, and he got them to relent and give it to him for nap. This created a monster. That night he screamed and yelled for his binkie and tried to get me to stay in his room with him all night. He'd fall asleep and then jerk awake to make sure that I was still there (and then scream if I wasn't). This was NOT GOOD. But, Tuesday was better. I made sure that school had no more binkies hidden away and he managed to nap without it. Dad put him to bed for the night, and although he cried for a bit, he managed. Today at nap time he fell asleep in his teacher's arms. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing, but at least there was no screaming for a binkie. I think it might be working. PHEW.

Am I winning the battle? Well, we've made progress, and ultimately I think this is the best thing for my son. Nevertheless, I still lose the Mom of the Year award by a landslide in my son's eyes. Hopefully he'll forgive me by the time he goes to college!

Year Anniversary

Well, I passed my "1 year unemployed" anniversary last week. I'm pretty depressed about it, although I do have a beautiful baby and a consulting gig to show for my time. Nevertheless, I really wanted to find gainful employment before I was unemployed for a whole year, it was kind of a deadline that I set in my brain. Of course, I did end up turning down the job offer that I got for a position in the Poconos, so I supposed I *could* have been employed if I could have accepted the position and therefore I shouldn't feel so bad about this. But, in a perfect world, I'd be settled into my Assistant Director position in a mid-sized biotechnology company helping to create a vaccine to treat and prevent cancer by now. SIGH.

Holiday Shopping

I LOVE any occasion to give gifts, so the holidays are very happy times for me. I actually prefer to give presents than receive them, and it's amazing what is available out there right now. The irony is that I REALLY hate shopping. No joke, I HATE it. As a result I do most of my shopping online, and this Christmas (and my dad's birthday and parent's anniversary are also in December) is not different. I've found some great stuff (and some great deals). As most people, I guess my only wish is that I could spend more money, there are so many great things that I would buy for people if I could afford to. Alas, having money to spend requires a job, and therefore, the answer has to be "not this year". Nevertheless, I'm proud of my gifts this year (hopefully they'll arrive on time - I've shipped them to different places), and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's responses to what they're receiving! Yea holidays!

This is Hysterical...I Can't Agree More!

Kurt had this post on his blog last month (I've reproduced it below):

This email arrived today. I thought it interesting food for thought:

If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theatre of operations during the last 22 months, and a total of 2,112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers.

The firearm death rate in Washington D.C. is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period.

That means that you are about 25% more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S. Capitol, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation , than you are in Iraq.

My conclusion: The U.S. should pull out of Washington.

I can't agree more. Great post Kurt!

Feast or Famine

I swear, it's feast or famine around here. I can't get a full time job to save my life for 11 months, and now suddenly it looks like I'm going to have two offers next week. Not only that, but there are two other opportunities that have arisen and seem to suit my experience quite well - they will be hiring in January and asked me if I can "wait". The next couple of weeks are going to be quite interesting...I will have to negotiate job offers, decide if I want to gamble on the other two opportunities that are going to be there by the end of the month, and decide if I want to go with a start-up or a HUGE established company. Yikes. Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased to finally have some options, but at the same time, now it's pretty much "be careful what you wish for". Too many options are as bad as not any. How can I know if I'm making the right decision? I guess time will be the judge...

Entertaining Conversation With a 2-year Old

This is an actual conversation I had with my two-year old son on the way to "school" (a.k.a. day care) the other day. It brought me great amusement. My son was drinking from a Finding Nemo sippy cup, and talking about the characters on his cup. The conversation was as follows:

My son: "Dory, Nemo, and Nemo's Daddy"
Me: "Yes, that's Dory, Nemo, and Marlin"
"No Marlo"
"Not Marlo, Marlin. Nemo's daddy is named Marlin"
"No Marlin...that's Nemo's daddy"
"You're right, that's Nemo's daddy, but Nemo's daddy has a name. His name is Marlin. Just like your daddy's name is Donald"

...long pause...

"No chicken nuggets!"

You can't make this stuff up.