A 911 Friend

In our overly-stressed, under-nourished culture, a dear friend is highly prized. A good friend may get you through life with a smile and a friendly couch where you can occasionally perch. And a 911 friend… well, she can save your life!

When I had four children at home, three teenagers were teenagers at the same time. I needed a 911 friend. A 911 friend is someone you can call when you child doesn’t come home by 1:00 AM, gets kicked off of the football team because the coach found marijuana in their school locker. and is flunking their favorite subject in school and may not graduate. (Note: If you haven’t parented the teenage years or your children are solid citizens and honor students, read no further).

My friends Marge and Chris showed up in my life just in time. They always called back if I left an urgent message. They never condemned my children or acted shocked. Both understood the nature of the teenage beast and reassured me my children would not end up in jail or flunk out of school. They spoke the voice of reason when my house was filled with teenage hormones and midnight meltdowns. Both, themselves mothers of four children, steadied my ups and downs as I guided my children through the treacherous path to adulthood… And when things did get dark, they cheered me on. And guess what? Our family survived those years and I now have four wonderful adult children.

Everyone needs a few 911 friends. Do you have one who won’t criticize or judge your parenting? Do you have a girlfriend who reminds you “this too shall pass?” If you do then you are a “blessed” women. If you don’t, then consider becoming one to someone struggling through life.

Windows and Doors

Sometimes on my 3 mile walk I challenge myself to observe things. Last week I decided to pay attention to the doors and windows on the houses in my neighborhood. There are lots of different types.

There’s the flimsy shed-like door that looks like someone could kick it in suddenly. A few yards down the five inch thick walnut grained door framed a castle-like home. The blood red door on the small English cottage might be my favorite. Its warm color beckons me to pick up the brass knocker and let it bang against its holder.

The windows I passed by gave hints as to what might be going on in that particular household. A lopsided mini blind that had only been raised on one side announced a couple of children involved in horseplay. I knew pair of sheer curtains pulled back from the center of the window would find a romantic soul that reading a lot of Jane Austen. The window halfway covered with ivy probably housed someone who wanted to “go green” in every way, even with natural leaves for curtains.

My favorite window had two tall rows of books stacked up on either side of the window frame letting in just a bit of light. I laughed to myself. I t was obvious who lived there: a book lover. . I also knew there resided a spouse wanting to shout out through the small opening of the window, “Help, I’m married to a bibliophile and I can’t see out!

Do you ever look for particular things on a walk? Notice the different kinds of walkways, shrubs and roof lines. It will stretch your observation skills and it’s a great exercise in creativity.- CStratton

Getting lost in the phone system

Imagine this with that lovely robotic voice from all the times you’ve called automated services….

“Hello, and welcome to the lost phone call answering service. Let’s get started by getting some basic information. Are you alive or dead? 

Alive.

I’m sorry I couldn’t hear you, are you alive or dead?

 Alive.

I’m sorry, did you say you were alive? 

Alive!

Great, what do you want to do?  Say something like:  I want to wait forever on the phone, or I don’t have a life that’s why I’m calling, or I’m having a heart attack. 

I want to spend the rest of my life on the phone.

I’m sorry did you say you wanted to spend the rest of your life on the phone?

Yes.

Great, then let’s get started.  If you want to spend the rest of your life on the phone then we need to schedule a appointment.  Do you want to schedule an appointment?

Yes,

I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.  Did you want to schedule an appointment?

Yes,

I’m sorry, I didn’t get that, did you want schedule an appointment?

YYYYYYEEEEEESSSSSS!!

OK, great.  Then let’s transfer you to appointments.  Click, elevator music, click, more elevator music.

Welcome to the elevator music from hell, you’re wait time is……..

16 days, 4 hours and 3 minutes………

Any experiences ladies?  Do you have to sound like Conan The Barbarian with those automated systems?

The Perfect Wedding — NOT!

It’s summer and the time for weddings! It’s the perfect time for a perfect wedding! You plan and plan, you dream and dream then, the day finally arrives. It’s going to be perfect . . . oh, pleeeeease! Sisters, let’s get real. The only thing that makes a wedding perfect is when you plan for something to go wrong.

My daughter and I had planning manuals; we carefully divided notebooks, compiled working lists, to-do lists, calendars and so much more. We are grateful to one of the pastors who shared a very special word of wisdom several months before the wedding. “Things will go wrong; keep your eye on the main thing!”

Right after the wedding, my daughter and I had a good laugh about some of the things that didn’t go according to plan. One of the first bloopers occurred when the moms failed to light the unity candles. We were grateful to one of the pastors who reached over and lit them, while the bride walking down the aisle captivated everyone.

Outdoor weddings present special challenges. During the wedding, the bride and groom both noticed a spider crawling down the pastor’s neck. Another special moment occurred when a bug flew up the bride’s nose as pictures were being taken. The photographer, being very professional began to turn away, and the bride said . . . “Oh, go ahead, get the picture!”

There were other unplanned things, but most people didn’t notice and we all had a wonderful time. Toward the end of the wedding a young teenage girl came up to the bride and said . . . “Your wedding was the wedding I’ve always dreamed about!” I suppose she didn’t notice all the bloopers – they really didn’t matter. The main thing was that two people who loved each other got married, surrounded by friends and family who love them.

Please share your wedding bloopers!
Brides who have already been down the aisle – please share some of your blooper wedding stories for the brides who are planning their perfect day.

Reduce, reuse, but Freecycle

Freecycle.org is a free site who’s goal is to keep as much waste out of the landfill.  Great part of freecycling is that our items we’ve outgrown get a new life with someone else.

Our family grew out of that big Little Tykes plastic pool,  posted it on freecycle and within 1 day I had 15 emails and it was gone out of my yard by nightfall.  I had a tree cut down at a rental house and they wanted to charge to haul away the wood, I posted this on Freecycle and a couple with a kiln came and took everything away!  I had a broken paddle boat, advertised on Freecycle and a boy scout troop came and took it away, working to fix it. 

Things I’ve received:  My son wanted a skiing bedroom, I advertised on Freecycle.org that I was looking for skis and got for free a 1962 set of Head skis with poles!  They look so good on the wall!  When we went apple picking, I advertised for a dehydrator and got one for free, something that I use quite frequently.

Some advice for the site:  Go to ww.freecycle.org and find a group in the Winston Salem area.  You must create an account and log in to post an item for pickup.  Posting is like posting a message, be as specific as possible-the condition – is there anything missing, the general area, if a large pickup or car is needed, when they can come by to pick up the item.  As soon as the post is approved by a moderator, you’ll receive emails from members looking for the item.  You can reply back to the emails with directions and times as needed.  I must admit sometimes it does take a few trys to get the item removed but it’s better than letting it rot in a landfill.

Freecycle.org is a great way to reuse items you don’t need, send them to someone else rather than the landfill.  They’ll thank you and the earth will thank you.  Have you used Freecycle before?  What do YOU think?

Women Who Give College A Second Try…Bringing the Personal Back

I am a Graduate student in English at UNC Greensboro receiving my Masters in English with a specialization in rhetoric and composition.  Throughout my Masters career, I have concentrated on women’s rhetoric and how women communicate with the world.  A huge debate in English Studies, currently (and forever, really) is how theory can be or not be proved by using the personal…personal experience to prove a point or make a valid statement.  With that said, this blog is a note on all of the women who began college and weren’t able to finish and went back, never got the opportunity to make it there and went back, received employment early in life and decided to go back way later and so on.  The truth is, most early college students (most, not all) will think you are annoying, a know-it-all, and teacher’s pet, due to your desire and dedication to being there.  My advice is to….Push On because you will bring an example to the classroom unlike no other…experience in life…and whether you believe that the personal can prove theory, you will embody it.  Don’t give in by not speaking up, because the students will learn from you as they can’t from others in the classroom.  I will begin my internship in English next month at UNC Greensboro teaching an American Literature course, and throughout that time, I will keep you posted on my academic challenges, insights, and hopefully, successes.  Have you ever thought about going back to college, but hesitated because of your age?

Lazzy Butt’s Guide to Summer Desserts

Every just get sick of the kitchen? Especially in summer, we all want to get outside and enjoy the long days. None of us wants to be inside heating up the kitchen. I’ve nabbed some easy desserts that will make summer entertaining much easier.

Dip Dip Dip

Take a couple of cartons of strawberries and wash them. Put them aside in a bowl.
Pull out three smaller bowls. Fill the first with sour cream, the second with powdered sugar and the third with toasted coconut. (Note: you can toast coconut in your oven on a cookie sheet, just watch it carefully.

Set out the large bowl of strawberries. Tell your guest to dip,dip,dip: dip into the sour cream, then the powdered sugar, then the coconut. Lots of fun!

“Faked You Out”-Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients:
Two boxes of ice cream sandwiches (mint ice cream works great).
One 9 x 11 Pyrex pan
Large carton of cool whip
Package of tiny chocolate chips

Unwrap the ice cream sandwiches and lay them lengthwise and flat in the pan. You might have to cut a few to fit the end of the pan. Cover entire layer with cool whip. Do a second layer and cover with cool whip. Sprinkle chips on top. Freeze until solid. Note: when you slice this it looks like you’ve labored over a fancy ice cream cake.

Snap, Crackle and Pop Cake

½ stuck of butter
½ cup chocolate chips
2 Cups Rice Krispies
1 carton of ice cream

Melt butter and chocolate chips. Mix in Rice Krispies. Press into greased dish (pie pan). When cool, top with ice cream and drizzle chocolate syrup over the finished product.

C stratton website: www.changingzipcodes.com

Hello my name is Kelly and I’m addicted to Facebook…

Hello my name is Kelly and I’m addicted to Facebook

The website’s tag line is “Facebook helps your connect and share with the people in your life.”

Facebook is a great way to connect with friends and family.  We’ve angered the college students as all of us old folks  take over this internet application.  The benefit  is that I’ve connected with family in different states, to different countries AND found all of my old classmates from gradeschool through college, even that old boyfriend (I made sure all my pictures looked good).

Facebook allows you to touch people easily.  You can read everyone’s status updates and comment without the hassle of picking up the phone, or writing that long email.  If you’re like me and really don’t like spending a lot of time of the phone, Facebook keeps you in touch with everyone easily.

Some people argue that Facebook is a place for stalkers.  Most internet sites could contain stalkers, it’s how you manage your profile.  My profile is setup so friends and family I approve can view it, I don’t make it known to the world, and I don’t accept friend requests from people I don’t know and we don’t have any friends in common.  My only advice is to watch what you do post because employers now check Facebook pages on potential employees, so if you have college students that only post partying stuff, they may want to think twice about it for the job market.

Facebook is my way to show the creative side of myself, to showcase my writing with friends and family.  When the friend request came in from some guy sitting shirtless in front of a typewriter,  I politely ignored because I had no idea who he was…stalker.

Do you Facebook?  Are you a fan of the Forsyth Woman fan page?  Are you obsessed?  What’s the favorite status update you’ve seen?

Make-up: a love affair!

Make-up is one of those “extras” that can put a little bounce in most women’s step.   It doesn’t take much – just a little powder, lip-gloss, a swipe of eye shadow, and a little mascara, and most women feel ready to “face” the world.   I am not one of those women who cannot go out of the house without make-up – I can and I do.  However, when I pause to put a little make-up on, like most women, I experience a little confidence boost.

During my middle school years, I recall selling make-up kits.  I convinced one long-time bachelor to buy lipstick because he never knew when a lady friend might need some (my Mom made me give him his money back!). While in college, I was even an AVON lady!  Not only did it help me earn a little extra money, I loved receiving the make-up in the mail and learning about new color trends.

Now, thirty-nine years after wearing make-up for the first time, I still love it!  We all have our favorites and I want to hear about yours!   Oprah might have her favorites, but let’s get real – most of us do not have Oprah’s budget! 

One favorite of mine is “The New Mary Kay.”  If you think of Mary Kay as something older women wear, think again.  Their mineral foundations and eye shadows are stylish and chic, not to mention affordable. 

Another current favorite of mine is the new vibrating mascara at the Lancôme counter.   That mascara took my sparse, thin, short eyelashes and made them into full, lush, waterproof lashes perfect for a special occasion.

Unashamedly, I confess  . . . make up is one of my little loves.   So girls, let’s hear it.  What is your favorite make-up find this year?  What are your questions?   Girls will always be girls, not matter what their age.

Goodbye Billy Mays

Billed as probably one of the best and most remembered pitch men ever, Billy Mayes passed away from a heart embolism at the age of 50.  In a humorous tribute to Billy, pitching 3 of his best loved products for new uses:

Hello Kelly Melang here, and I want to tell you about a few products:

Mighty Putty:  This is the perfect product for you women who have those little sags that nag. Have a few places that the bras won’t hold up?   Apply a little Mighty Putty, push that loose skin into place and you shift and lift.  Mighty Putty for all those problems areas, just shift and lift in a jiff!

What Odor:  Ever had a problem trying to get the family to eat that Tuna Casserole?  Here’s a great product called What Odor?  Spray What Odor and the family then can’t smell what they eat, keep it neat.  What Odor helps get that food that should go in the trash gone in a flash..

Simoniz Fix It is not just for cars anymore.  Ever had those lines on your face that you cannot erase?  Use the Simoinz Fix it and remove those lines for good.  It’s easy as 1. Apply the Fix It putty, 2. Use the Power Buffer to buff all the skin off your face, 3. Wipe away the excess to a new you!  Simonize Fix it, erase your face.

God rest Billy Mayes, no one could say it better.  Is there a product that he pitched that you remember fondly?