Facebook junkies, is your marriage at risk?

A dear friend ran into big trouble at her 20-year high school reunion. She ran into an old flame, and the chance encounter reignited old sparks.

The problem? They were both married. There was no happily ever after — just lots of gut-wrenching drama and one painful divorce.

Nowadays, no one has to buy a flattering dress and travel to a forgotten hometown to reconnect with a former love. Virtual reunions take place daily all over the Internet. With a few clicks on Classmates.com or with a bit of searching on Facebook, you’ll stumble across the one who broke your heart or vice versa.

But think long and hard before sending that message or friend request. Nancy Kalish, a developmental psychology...

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Kid-safe surfing on the iPhone

A new filtering Internet browser for the Apple iPhone and Touch called Safe Eyes Mobile (http://www.internetsafety.com/safe-eyes-mobile-iphone.php) is now available, offering parents a tool to stop their children from accessing forbidden Web sites. The new browser, which costs $20, automatically blocks inappropriate content by checking requested sites against a large blacklist of potentially objectionable addresses that is updated daily. The goal is to give parents an option other than completely disabling Web browsing on the iPhone or Touch and still restrict red-flag topics, which are divided into categories such as pornography, nudity, sex and “tasteless/gross” categories.

Carl Hiaasen’s latest book goes back to nature

Woo-hoo! It’s time for another trip to Florida — screwy, gorgeous Florida, with its swamps and scammers and strange creatures (two- and four-legged). Grab a copy of “Scat” and come along.

Our guide, of course, is Carl Hiaasen, the Miami Herald columnist and author of a whole shelf of hilarious novels for adults. He first conquered the world of children’s books with “Hoot,” which earned a Newbery Honor for a boy’s offbeat adventure involving a tiny ground owl whose habitat is endangered by development. Later came “Flush,” in which a brother and sister try to stop casino boats from dumping sewage into state waterways.

Yes, Hiaasen loves Florida’s natural world, and so do many of his characters, which...

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The magic of the theater

I can’t imagine the looks on the faces of Peter, John and James as they watched Jesus Christ’s ascension into Heaven, but the one exhibited by my daughter Stephanie when she witnessed the event was absolutely priceless.

I took Stephanie to the stage performance of “Jesus Christ Superstar” for the third time Wednesday night. The first time was by a regional group at the Lorain Palace Theater, and the second time she was asleep midway through the second act.

So though her eyes were about as wide as I thought was humanly possible and her mouth could have held about five or six dozen flies it was so wide open as she watched Ted Neely, reprising the role he made famous in the 1973 film, gasp for breath as he...

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Soldier gets high-tech preview of baby on the way

FOLSOM, Calif. — Army Spc. Nicholas Weaver has a baby on the way at home while he’s serving in Iraq — but father and son came face to face this month through new ultrasound technology and the Internet.

The 20-year-old soldier got a sneak peek of his son in the womb in a sonogram streamed live from a Folsom imaging center Feb. 16. The sharp, 3-D image clearly revealed little Aiden Weaver’s wide eyes, pug nose and tiny fingers. A slight smile crossed his face beneath a full head of hair.

“He looks squished — but adorable,” Weaver said in a computer instant message to his wife, Megan. “He looks a little bit like both of us.”

The expectant mother arrived before dawn at InVision...

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Super-mom hits a snag, thanks to solid food

It was weeks before I would talk about it. I kept hanging on to this superstitious feeling that as soon as I told someone, he would quit doing it. And he did.

It took my 7-month-old son 189 days (6 ½ months) to sleep through the night. As a working mom, I was pleading with him to get a good night’s sleep, so I could too.

Browsing mommy forums gave me some comfort, since many moms were begging the online community for help lulling their 9-month-olds into a deep sleep. Mine was only 6 months old, so I figured we were doing OK.

And then magic happened.

He slept through the night once, and my husband, Duane, and I woke up grinning.

He slept through the...

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Is this baby my last baby?

I gave birth to my third child right after Christmas — a baby boy. He joins his 2½-year-old brother and 4½-year-old sister. So I now have three children under the age of 5. And when people say to me (as they often do), “You must have your hands full,” I enthusiastically agree with them.

Even though my baby is only 2 months old and I am certainly not planning to become pregnant in the near future, my husband and I have already found ourselves wondering, “Is this baby our baby?”

We had always planned to have at least three children (although my husband claims to want closer to six!). Throughout my last pregnancy, I reminded myself often that I should experience everything as though it were my last go-around with...

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Michelle Obama: First dog arriving in April

WASHINGTON (AP) — This isn’t just another wag-the-tail story: The Obamas are getting a dog in April and are looking for a rescue Portuguese Water Dog.

First lady Michelle Obama tells People magazine that the target date for the arrival of the family pet is after her daughters’ spring break trip in April, though 7-year-old Sasha is convinced the dog is coming April 1.

“So Sasha says ‘April 1st.’ I said, ‘April.’ She says, ‘April 1st.’ It’s like, April!” said Mrs. Obama.

The Obama girls — Sasha and 10-year-old Malia — attend the private Sidwell Friends school, which has spring break March 20-29 and a day off for students on April 13.

The family wants...

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Some are silver and the others gold

We sang this song as Girl Scouts about a million years ago:

“Make new friends, but keep the old,

One is silver and the other gold.”

Well, grab a pen. I’m rewriting it with a country western twist. Mine’s a song about friends stealing dreams and leaving me behind to drown in my frozen tears. La la la you were here and now you’ve left me and your life is cooler than mine. You get the wild adventures and the living-locally-off-the-land, and I’m left here all alone, in a sea of unfamiliar faces.

My old friends have left me. After years of playdates and book club and chick flicks and commiseration drinks, they are off. One took her family back to the farm, to don...

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Keep your own heart healthy; help others do the same

A new survey shows that while nearly two-thirds of adults report one or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease, many do not take steps that may help them fight the disease.

The survey of more than 2,000 adults, conducted by Harris Interactive for Cheerios, found 37 percent of adults have not had their cholesterol checked within the past year and more than half of adults (52 percent) do not exercise regularly.

Through Jan. 31, 2010, for every code entered at www.cheerioshelpinghearts.com, Cheerios will donate $1 (up to $200,000) to raise awareness about heart disease and provide free cholesterol screenings for women in need, through its partnership with WomenHeart. Codes can be found inside...

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