Folinazzo

Dallas - rescued from gang members, originally uploaded by Eldad Hagar (Please support Hope For Paws).

The owner of this photo, Eldad, is one of my contacts from Flickr, and, along with his wife, Audrey, runs the non-profit organization, Hope For Paws. They are based in Los Angeles where Eldad can often be found in some of the most dangerous neighborhoods rescuing injured or stray animals. The pair also rescues animals from shelters who are facing euthanasia. Eldad & Audrey open their home to these animals, pay for any medical attention, even surgery, that the animals may need, and work to find forever homes for the animals. How do they afford all of this? Eldad & Audrey have published a book, Our Lives Have Gone to the Dogs, that contains pictures of and stories about many of the animals they have rescued. The price of the book is $9.95, and 100% of the proceeds goes directly to paying veterinary and surgery bills, and to providing general care for all of the animals. I already have a copy of the book but my donations won’t stop there.

I would like to think that such an organization exists here in Chicago but I don’t know of one. Anyone know of something similar to Hope For Paws in Chicago?

Posted by Francesca

Recently, our friend and his two young daughters visited our home. The oldest girl (we’ll call her “M”) was touring the upstairs of the house when she spotted the shower curtain. “Oh, I love maps!” she exclaimed, for the shower curtain is a map of the world. I said, “Really?” And she replied, “Oh yes, and I love to travel, too!” This caused me to smile and I said to her, “Wait, are you MY kid?”

It warms my heart to hear a child say that she is interested in travel, especially at such a young age. The educational opportunities associated with travel are endless – and it doesn’t have to be exotic, international travel. Exploring within our own country, or even our own state, can be adventurous and cultural. A family with young children may not have many chances to get out and travel, so how else can we foster and promote a child’s desire to see and learn about the world? Toys and games, that’s how. M’s birthday is coming up so I wanted to get some travel-related gifts for her. While searching for such gifts, I found two awesome websites that sell travel-related items for children of all ages, games and toys that are fun and educational. The first is I’m A Good Little Traveler!; the other is Magellan’s Toy Shop. Amazon.com also yielded some wonderful finds, as well.

On another note, I am tired of people telling me, “Your travel days are over now that you have a baby.” Uh, excuse me, what? I beg to differ. Why are so many people of this belief? Why can’t we travel with our child, no matter how old she is? By the way, Lucia is 14 weeks old and already has been on an airplane. I’m sensible so I know that backpacking through Laos and Cambodia might not be the best trip to take with a toddler or young child. But why can’t we spend a week in Costa Rica? Why can’t we rent a villa in Italy? I refuse to believe that my travel days are over, and I know my husband feels the same way. There are plenty of resources available for traveling families, the first being BootsnAll. There is an entire forum on the message boards devoted to Traveling With Children. Through BootsnAll, I came across the article, 6 Ways that Traveling with Kids Can Actually Improve Your Travel Experience by Karen Banes, which made me feel a whole lot better.

My motto has become: Have kid, will travel. Don’t tell me I can’t.

Posted by Francesca

It’s a McDonald’s commercial I saw on the CBC. I tried for the life of me to embed it but it wouldn’t work so click here to see it. Do it; you want to see it.

Posted by Francesca

After listening to broadcasters and commentators from two different networks (Versus and CBC [Hockey Night in Canada]), I’ve realized that the media and the rest of the hockey world believe that the Blackhawks have no chance against Detroit in this conference finals series. So why doesn’t the NHL just GIVE the Stanley Cup to the Red Wings?? It’s pretty obvious that no one can beat the high and mighty Red Wings so why make them play series after series? Why waste their time and the fans’ time? Just give them the Cup already!!

Posted by Francesca

Pet peeve alert, originally uploaded by Francesca….

While I applaud the city of Chicago’s attempt to be multi-cultural, I am disappointed and annoyed as hell that the Chicago Park District didn’t do their homework. In the photo on the right is a close-up of the Welcome sign that is found in, I’m guessing, all of the parks in the city. The word “Welcome” is expressed in several languages, one being Italian, and it’s spelled incorrectly!! On the sign, it’s spelled b-e-n-v-e-n-u-t-t-i. The correct spelling is b-e-n-v-e-n-u-t-i, with one T. Someone should have double-checked the proper spelling before spending God only knows how much money on these signs.  And this city wants to host the Olympics… how embarrassing.

I had no intentions of traveling with Lucia and taking her on an airplane while she was so young but, as I’ve learned through pregnancy and early motherhood, nothing quite goes as planned. We found out in early April that Dad would have to undergo another surgery for the cyst in his brain; the surgery was scheduled for April 29th. I’m still off work on maternity leave so Mark suggested that Lucia and I go out to Arizona to be with my dad. I thought I’d go anyway but when Mark said I should take the baby, I kinda thought he was out of his tree. But then I figured my dad would be so happy to see her and it probably would help lift his spirits and help speed up his recovery. The decision was made: Lucia and I were flying to Phoenix and we’d stay for nine days. Immediately my head began spinning: how am I going to do this on my own? Do I buy Lucia her own seat or hold her in my lap for the entire flight? What do I need to know about getting through security with a baby?

The two airlines I researched were American (my preferred carrier – frequent flier miles, baby) and Southwest. Both airlines offer “infant fares”, discounted prices for infant travelers whose parents choose to buy them their own seats rather than hold them in their laps. Ultimately, I booked with Southwest and the cost for Lucia to have her own seat was over $300. If I’d made the reservations farther in advance, I would have gotten a better price but it was so worth it. Traveling alone, I would be left with one free arm since one would be holding Lucia, and I never would have been able to handle her and the carry-on baggage. I definitely would not have been able to make her a bottle during the flight if she needed one. So the decision to pay the $300+ was an easy one. Moreover, the airlines and pediatricians recommend, for safety reasons, that infants do get their own seats since they are strapped in to their car seats, and then strapped in to the airplane seats. It worked out well for me because Lucia’s car seat is part of the stroller travel system: the car seat snaps into the stroller, and both pieces can be used separately and exclusive of one another if needed. I was able to use the stroller in the airport before boarding and that made everything so much easier. What’s also great is that I got to keep the stroller until the very last second. Airline personnel take the stroller right before boarding, at the end of the jetway, and gate-check it. When I got off the plane in both Phoenix and in Chicago, there was my stroller, right outside the plane’s door, waiting for me. All I had to do was snap Lucia’s car seat in and away we went.

Going through security is a different story, even with the TSA’s newly designated “Family Lane”. The lane wasn’t the problem; it was getting everything broken down and onto the conveyor belt with one hand, while holding Lucia with the other hand. I also had to keep hold of our boarding passes and my photo ID, and remove my shoes! At Midway, I was lucky to be behind a family who was very experienced with traveling with children. The mom helped me break down the stroller and even lifted it onto the conveyor belt for me. The same family then waited for me to get through the detector so they could help me get everything back in order before proceeding to our respective gates. I encountered the same situation in the security line in Phoenix. The family behind me helped me that time. It’s amazing how nice people are when someone, namely a lone female, is traveling with a baby. Even the TSA agents were nice! Speaking of the TSA, there are specific rules regarding what baby-related items are allowed on-board and specific instructions on getting those items through security. Check out this link before traveling with baby.

All in all, it was a pleasant experience. Sure, I was slightly stressed but, as I’ve learned in my early days of motherhood, I just have to take a deep breath and focus on the task at hand. I may not be able to complete some tasks as quickly as I did before, but it’ll get done eventually. That being said, I’m still looking forward to having a travel partner (Mark) the next time I fly with Lucia. It’ll be nice to have an extra set of hands going through security.

Posted by Francesca

This commercial gives me the chills.

If I were one of those kids, I’d have passed out from seeing Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane at my hockey practice.  But it’s refreshing to see the advancement of youth hockey in recent years, and it’s nice to see the Blackhawks players getting involved in the community.  Hockey’s popularity is growing exponentially; makes me even more impatient to get Lucia on skates!

Posted by Francesca

Everyone, meet Lucia Madeline.  She was born on Friday, March 6^th, 2009, at 4:34 PM.  She weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces and measured 20 inches.  Lucia is beautiful and healthy but getting her into this world was not easy for her or for me.

My due date was March 30^th but throughout my pregnancy, I’d heard that I should plan on delivering earlier than that.  So when I went in for a routine ultrasound on March 4^th, I wasn’t surprised when the doctor told me he was sending me to OB Triage to begin the induction process.  The baby needed to be delivered ASAP because it was discovered during the ultrasound that the amniotic fluid was too low.  I called all the family members, Dad hopped on a flight from Arizona, and by 5:30 that night, there was no turning back.  For the next thirty-six hours or so, I was given a concoction of labor-inducing treatments, and on Thursday evening, the epidural was inserted.  Finally at approximately noon on Friday, I had dilated to ten centimeters.  It was time to start pushing.  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Francesca

I think Mark and I finally have decided on a boy’s name (the girl’s name was decided upon ages ago). Not that I’m going to share it here; just know that the issue has been resolved. If it’s killing you, though, and you need to know what the name is, leave a comment or send me an email. I just feel so much better having made this decision ahead of time.

Posted by Francesca