As with so many people today, Edwidge Danticat is waiting to hear news about her family members living in Haiti. She knows some of them are alive but has yet to hear from others. My heart goes out to her, and to everyone in her situation.

It felt important to start the New Year off honoring a woman that represents change and rebirth. Who better than Madonna? A cat may have 9 lives but Madonna’s repertoire seems unlimited. Each time you think she is down for the count, she comes back different, shiny new and better than ever.

As 2009 draws to a close, I look back on the year and think of all the hours I have ’spent’ with my Delamina women. Many evenings after long days at work, and many weekends indoors, spent at my computer, seeking out women that I wanted to celebrate.

And glide she does. We’ve all watched Sandra Bullock entertain us with steady consistency over the past couple of decades. She has played all types of roles, she seems to have no limits, yet we always recognize ‘her’. And we like her. No fake boobs, no collagen lips - just her natural, girl next door self. She carries on as if she were not among the top ten highest paid actresses this year. She seems, well, normal.

Steffi Graf has long been a woman that I admire. She is a study in balance - feminine strength, quiet confidence, maintaining her privacy as a public figure, dedicated mother and successful career woman, focused and passionate, controlled and caring.

Although it is much easier to find news items regarding her lips, fashion choices or sex life, Nicole Kidman, our Delamina woman of the week, is very active in her role as Good will Ambassador to UNIFEM which, this month, launched a new initiative.

This past week was full of significant events. Some very dear friends celebrated the at first unexpected, and then very much anticipated, birth of their baby bundle of boy joy. My 5 foot tall, stubborn, spitfire of a grandmother celebrated her 99th birthday. And the 2009 Women’s Conference took place in Long Beach, California

Somaly Mam is one remarkable woman.

Maria Shriver was in the news for two separate reasons this past week. Once for being seen talking on her cell phone while driving and again for releasing The Shriver Report, A Woman’s Nation. Can you guess which story got the most coverage in the press?