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Céline Dion and her husband, Rene Angelil, are expecting twins! The 42-year-old is 14 weeks along in her pregnancy. Congrats Céline! If you’re reading up on the (arguably) most famous Canadian in the world, don’t miss our 2008 profile.

Here’s the dilemma that came up in conversation this weekend. All names changed!

Barb has a good friend Judy, and the two of them often go to see movies together. Recently Judy and Barb have both hooked up with some new friends from a group to which they both belong and the four of them have had a good time together. This weekend, Barb saw on Facebook that Judy and the two new friends went to see Sex and the City 2 [gratuitous plug: don’t forget our giveaway!] without her.

She says she knows she should just get over it but the exclusion bothers her. She feels like it’s high school and she’s been left out.

Feel free to weigh in on the etiquette of this dilemma, but here’s what I think - Facebook itself may be part of the problem.

Generally speaking, we kind of know our friends do things without us. But generally our friends also have the tact not to bring those things up in front of us. (I myself have gone to see a movie twice a few times rather than fess up to having gone with a third party.) Facebook, however, makes many things we do more visible - and it’s not even entirely within our control if a friend posts a comment on our status like “sorry you have a cold but great movie last night eh?”

I just don’t think we’ve all established enough social norms to cover how to report on our socializing without occasionally making someone feel excluded.

What do you think? And lest you think you’re too old for the question, just remember: 61 per cent of Facebook users are over 35, and so chances are some of your friends are making plans there you’re not seeing. (But that’s a different dilemma…)

Sadly, Lynn Redgrave has passed away.

On lighter notes, here’s what we’ve been reading lately:

Sam Taylor-Wood on dating younger men. (Harper’s Bazaar)

Hollywood’s double standard on May-December relationships. (Politics Daily)

People suffering depressive symptoms crave chocolate. (Globe and Mail)

The talents of a middle-aged brain. (New York Times)

Okay, this is the most hillarious thing I’ve seen all day. Send this to your kids.

And when you’ve finished with that one, try a round of the Menopause Song performed by Canada’s own Wendy Farha.

Anthony Wolf at the Globe and Mail hit a nerve this week when he published a column about the talk you have to have with your teenage son, as evidenced by the 250 comments on the piece.

I agree that really, we do need to talk to our kids about abuse. All our kids, and all the aspects of it - how to recognize it and prevent it from both sides of the power equation. But I’ll admit that Wolf’s rule “never hit a girl” bothered me, because I think it should be “never hit people.”

I was talking to another dad (a very gentle, kind dad, for the record) about the piece and he said he thought the “never hit a girl” rule was better. He said that he believes sometimes young men will fight each other and that he would want his son to feel that he could step up to that challenge. But he would still never, ever want his son to hit a girl. Enough that it is worth bringing up separately. I still can’t agree but I kind of get what he was saying - hitting someone in the context of dating may be just that different enough.

And our culture is sending confusing messages. The Twilight vampire series is on my current hit list for that one: A lot of what passes for dating in the books seems to me to qualify more under the banner of co-dependency, or at least stalking. So I completely agree that there is a need to talk about boundaries and respectful relationships in the context of dating.

What do you think?

Here’s what’s caught our eye on the ‘net today:

Here’s one for the reinvention inspiration files: The Toronto Star reports: “it’s the 40-something female multi-taskers juggling jobs, families and mortgages who edge out their classmates of either sex at any age, new research shows.” That does not surprise me at all.

While you’re there check out their profile of the Soup Sisters.

Over at the Globe and Mail there’s a nice profile of Elizabeth Gilbert. I freely admit I have not yet read Eat Pray Love. Am I missing a great read? Laura over at 11d’s review hasn’t convinced me yet. But with Julia Roberts starring in the film slated to be released this summer I might just have to.

Lost Boys fans will be sad to note that Corey Haim has died.

And if you’re about to have a coffee break, drink your coffee at lunch to help prevent diabetes. (Calgary Herald)

There was life beyond the hockey game and the closing ceremonies for that little winter event - wasn’t there?

Maybe not: What do you think of CBC Sports’ list of 10 things we learned from Vancouver?

Don’t post your vacation plans to the web. Which raises the question - why would we? (Globe and Mail)

Would you perform CPR on your pet? (Also the Globe and Mail.)

Grey hair is in style. Score!

Quick set of links for what we’ve been reading over the weekend and today:

From the Globe and Mail: Caring for aging parents inflames sibling rivalry. Who does Mom love best, anyway? And while’s you’re there, brave Anthony E. Wolf’s column about raising a teenager in love. (I am having enough trouble with a 4 year old missing an appendix, thanks.)

The publicity around Lori Gottlieb’s Marry Him sent me running to find her 2008 Atlantic article on the topic. I’m not sure I buy the premise (”any soul-baring 40-year-old single heterosexual woman what she most longs for in life, and she probably won’t tell you it’s a better career or a smaller waistline or a bigger apartment. Most likely, she’ll say that what she really wants is a husband (and, by extension, a child).”) but it’s still worth the read.

Veronica Tennant retire? Naw. (Toronto Star)

What’s caught your eye on the web today?

Do you still make resolutions? I have read that this is the worst time of year to make resolutions, and I often haven’t kept my own but I still appreciate the cultural ritual of pausing to look back for a moment and determine the way forward, so to speak.

So here are the stories we ran last year that are inspiring me to strive this year. If you have a favourite - on any site - do share yours in the comments!

Georgina Branch-Brown’s story of her second act as an art model
How to start an eco-friendly business
Judith Timson’s look at late bloomers
Vanessa Craft’s profile of women who went from homeless to business owners
Women who’ve taken up competitive sports at midlife
Karen von Haun’s piece on ditching your fashion phobias
And Sarah Moore’s inaugural rant!

If your kids are now home for the holidays and you have yet to see them release the game controller, here’s a story for you: Boston mom calls 911 over 14-year-old’s video game habit.

If you’re interested in what the big deal is about World of Warcraft and its ilk, Laura at Geeky Mom has been running a fascinating series on the game on her blog called WoW Wednesdays - check it out.