Advertising with the Mermaids... is a great way to get your business noticed. The Mermaids of the Lake website is an online magazine, reaching thousands of readers.
If you had to describe 2009 using one word, what would it be? Mine would be "humility." For the first time in many, many years, I felt humbled by many situations in my life - my work, my finances, the overall economy, and through altruistic situations.
Being humbled is a positive quality, although it doesn't always feel that way at the time! Being on-top-of-the-world might feel a little better.
But it is at those times of challenge and of feeling small that perhaps we learn the most about ourselves and the people around us. Doesn't being humbled make us realize who we can really count on? For me, it has helped me to grow in my spiritual life. It hasn't always been easy, but it has been necessary.
For the coming year, I hope to use the word "success" to describe 2010. Success in some personal pursuits as well as in business is my goal. I'll let you know how it comes out.
How would you describe this past year of your life in one word? What word would you like 2010 to epitomize?
If we receive a fair response, we'll run a story on this topic in Mermaids of the Lake.
Every Mermaid needs a good Merman! At Mermaids of the Lake, we are blessed with a very special, articulate, inspired Merman who dispenses advice to readers in each issue in the "Advice from the Deep" section.
This month, in honor of the holidays, the Merman has provided multi-generational advice for gift buying. If you are buying for a Gen Xer, then he has advice for this demographic. If you are buying for a Traditionalist or Baby Boomer, then great ideas are provided.
Traditionalists might include grandparents and older relatives still living at home or at assisted living facilities. They might value your time over a gift, but the Merman has gift ideas for this group too.
For example, think about the Baby Boomers - lots of stuff accumulated over the years, many folks are in clean out mode and are downsizing. The Merman says, give them consumables - special treats that they won't buy for themselves but that won't clutter things up - think chocolate baskets or Hickory Farms gift packs.
This idea and many more can be found in this issue of Mermaids of the Lake in the "Ask the Merman" section. It's advice worth printing for note-taking about gifts for each generation.
Every city has something special to offer in the way of holiday shopping. In Spokane, Washington, we are blessed with many boutiques, bakeries, and gift stores. In this article, we feature a handful of shopping and goody buying stores in our area.
Happy November! If you aren't a regular reader of our Mermaids of the Lake e-zine, here's what you are missing. If you would like to receive our free newsletter and get updates, go here and sign up for the e-newsletter.
Yesterday as I was driving to a meeting, I realized that I forgotten my cell phone at home. For a moment I panicked - What if the kids need to reach me? What if there was an accident? What if my house burned down?
Should I turn back and get it? If I did, I would surely be late for my meeting. Driving along on the freeway, I actually felt inadequate not having my cell phone lifeline by my side.
What if it's ringing at home? My personality was split like the scene in the movie, "Contact" where Jody Foster is about to go to into space in the alien pod. Her thoughts were running rampant, and yet concurrent to her thoughts, she had a voice of reason trying to mediate her feelings.
It was at that moment that I realized how truly ridiculous this inane conversation with myself was. Who was I kidding? There wasn't going to be that much need for me to have a cell phone with me. My kids were accounted for after school; and there was very little chance of a fire occurring in my home.
Looking back 15 years ago or farther, we never had cell phones. People actually talked on real phones in a home when they needed to reach someone. And gosh, the world survived! Kids grew up, parents went to work, groceries were bought, and everyone was basically okay.
Now, I see women who are stay-at-home Mom's pulling out of their driveways at lightning speed with cell phones attached to their ears. Really now...what is that about? They are home all day! What it is about, I believe, is a feeling being competent - even important.
Cell phones give identity to teenagers, and they are now defining women and men all over the world. Teens stand there like zombies getting a stiff neck texting all day. You go to Starbucks and adults have their cell phone sitting on the table in front of them. It rings and they set the phone not to answer. It's the ultimate popularity contest. People call and the ready recipient of the call has the power to make a decision as to the importance of that caller.
You my friend are shut down! Your friends are all available, but your call will not be answered! Wait though, maybe if you send a text...oh yes, so less confrontational. Yes, I am sitting alone in Starbucks and I don't want to answer my phone, but perhaps I can reply in text. That way, they will know how busy I am and that I can't be bothered by the mundane of talking!
If I want to be bothered by the mundane, I'll head on over to Facebook.
My Mom is totally hip to what's happening. She likes her lattes at Starbucks, and she keeps current on politics and social issues. Recently, she decided to jump on the Facebook train because many of her friends were doing so.
Let's give credit to all of the Mom's and Grandma's embracing Facebook. Please note, this is not my actual Mom - just a representative photo.
It's been great for her because, like many of us, she has reconnected with old friends. Through Facebook she can stay abreast of what her nieces and nephews are doing, along with cousins and more. It's been very informative.
The funny thing about starting on Facebook in your sixties though, is that you are used to communicating in a different manner. Email, although you may use it, is still not always the preferred method of communication. Talking on the phone, or meeting your friends for coffee is the stand-by. Letter writing is not an outlandish thought either!
So my Mom, is plugging along on Facebook and has an idea to write on someone's wall: "Dear John, I hope this letter finds you well. How are the kids? I am writing to let you know that we are leaving on an extended vacation in our trailer. You won't be able to write to us for two months. We have been praying for your disorder, are you still coughing up blood? Sincerely, L."
This information is of course posted right on someone's wall where all can see it. The other thing about using Facebook at my Mom's age is that you have to rely on your 13 year old granddaughter, for example, to add your photos. My daughter in her kindest gesture added a photo of my Mom in her short shorts from a vacation to Hawaii. It is something that I will need to help her get off the page so that we can go with the standard "head shot" common on Facebook.
My Mom has had random people contacting her to be added as her "friend." She hates to turn anyone down because, what if she knew this person 40 years ago, but just can't recall them now? She had one woman contact her and she did add her as a friend but it's driving her crazy that she is looking at this woman's photos of her RV and family, but noted to me, "Who in the Sam Hill is this woman??" She even printed off the photo of the woman and spent time looking at it to determine if she knew her in real life or only in the cyber-world.
All of these things that have become conventions of Facebook use - the head shot image, the shorthand method of communicating, having private conversations, etc... are something that may be taken for granted; unless you are a grandma. Consider that if for half a century, you have been used to calling, writing letters, and visiting and now all of a sudden the norm is text messaging and tweeting. It's something my Mom is willing to explore, but it's not without hilarity.
I think it's fantastic that Facebook is a tool for all ages. What a great way to bring the world together one wall message at a time.
In this issue: Farmers Markets, Dressing for charity, Keeping neighborhoods safe, Donating blood/donating your time to help others, How to have a "stay-cation" and keep the family happy, Fun in the sun and traveling around the world, and much more...
Here's a quick and easy summer recipe on the Web site:
Carrie's Summer Cheesecake
1 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 graham cracker crust
Topping:
Any kind of fruit topping would be great from cherries, raspberries, or
blueberries. Whipped cream or chocolate chips would be a great topping
as well.
Cream the cream cheese and Eagle Brand milk together until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Add lemon juice last and blend.
Pour into crust and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Okay, it's official - It's really all over for me now! Any feelings of pride have now jumped off of me like little Mexican jumping beans, and have landed in the closet Walmart. The story of how I ended up wolfing down not one, but two melting Skinny Cow ice cream wheels in the Walmart parking lot with a car load of toilet paper and tomato sauce, didn't happen overnight.
It was a slow slide into a sopping mess of melting ice cream that can only be called, "The American Experience of Shopping." But, I think that I learned a lesson in my embarrassment that might be of interest to you.
Generally I would characterize myself as an "ambient" shopper. In other words, I really prefer those high quality stores with the faux wood floors, soft lighting, and clever chalkboard style signage in the produce department. The kind of store that inspires you to buy a bushel of corn for a Country Bar-b-que while wearing a red gingham apron.
Walmart is not that place. I went to Walmart to shop, because I really want to save money to take another great vacation. While I love a more high-end grocery experience, I really want to keep some money in our pockets for more fun family time.
So I went to Walmart, at a good time of day I might add, with a solid list in hand. Going to Walmart requires organization because it is one of the most distracting places on earth! There are people cruising along in motorized carts, retired couples shopping (and arguing) together, and People magazine with the latest Jon and Kate issue screaming at you from the check stands. It is very difficult to concentrate.
But armed with my list, I went from aisle to aisle and got it done. However, it appears that I dilly-dallied a bit long, because as I loaded up my car with $200.00 in Walmart groceries, I noticed that my ice cream bars were melting.
"Oh shoot!" I thought as I quickly cranked up the air conditioning in my mini van. "Now what??" Well, as it turns out, if you are shopping alone and you have melting ice cream, you really will need to eat it right then and there. So as I sat in my van trying to maintain some sense of class, I snarfed down the two ice cream bars. I will tell you, there is no judging others wandering around the Walmart parking lot when you are doing this!
And candidly, that is what I do when I shop at Walmart. I don't condone it, but honestly, where do some of these folks come from? I have never seen as many tube tops and stirrup pants on heavy set women in my life!
But alas, as I mentioned, there is really no judging others when you have loaded your car with lots of junk food - including ice cream bars - and have proceeded to eat them right there in the parking lot. Not to mention that I now have chocolate ice cream drips all over my light tan upholstery in the van!
So, yes - the experience was humbling, and maybe even a little humorous. But it definitely gave me a needed reality check into my life and the life of others. We all have our own issues and mis-steps and it's always better to pig out on melting ice cream in your own van than to be looking into the windows of someone else's van with judgment.
You might have guessed by our name that we love mermaids! We all three live in a lake community and absolutely love living near the water. We chose to name our online magazine/website, Mermaids of the Lake, for those reasons.
We return from our individual vacations with mermaids for each other. We buy each other mermaids for Christmas, and we look for mermaids to post on our Gallery on our Mermaids of the Lake magazine. We appreciate artists who have created mermaids. If any of you talented people would like us to display your "works of mermaid art" on our Gallery, please contact us via email. mermaids@mermaidsofthelake.com
Here a few examples, please visit our Gallery for more!
This beautiful mermaid was created by glass artist, Rebecca York. We will be sharing Rebecca's story in our May issue of Mermaids of the Lake.
Happy Pink Saturday. Please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound and see all of the wonderful pink participants.
This last week has been Washington's Spring break. I (Debbie) went to Rockaway Beach on the Oregon Coast for 5 days. Shelley and Jennifer are both out of town now.
I spent a lot of time snapping photos of PINK!
I snapped this photo of my lake and the beautiful pink clouds the night before we left.
We shop at a fun, junky store called Flamingo Jims. Here are a couple of flamingo shots.
Here is one of our favorite stops. Ruth's is a tiny little gift shop co-op run by 10 older women. Ruth lives upstairs. They also have a mini golf set up in the back yard. We played for a $1 each. I did not win! But I got a great shot of the kids in the ice cream cone.
We took a drive to some of the other small towns along the coast. Pink shopping everywhere!
Pink flowers in Nahalem and a pink dogwood tree too.
A pink shop in Cannon Beach
My very favorite pink thing! I bought this one in an antique mall in Wheeler. It is a pink ducky cotton ball dispenser. Oh, my gosh it is cute. Look where the cotton balls dispense from!
Happy Pink Saturday and thank you for visiting and commenting!
Don't forget to scroll down a couple of posts and enter our Chocolate Giveaway!
