Carol's random babble

It's been awhile since I've been part of a big giveaway for a variety of reasons - mostly that my life has been a bit more chaotic than usual the past few months. But I really like this prize and wanted to be part of getting the word out. I tend to favor giveaways with prizes that I would like to win - and this is no exception. My little point-and-shoot is cute and all, but doesn't do everything I want it to (although, to be honest, if I would read the manual, I know I would get better photos). So here's your chance to win a Canon EOS Rebel T4i digital camera. Just imagine how great your photos would be if you had this. Welcome to the Photo Ready Giveaway Event Organized by: Mom Powered Media Please take a moment to say hello to our sponsor: Giveaway Booster Have a giveaway? Great! Now, how do you get the word out about your giveaway? Of course you want to reach more than just your audience right?! Giveaway Booster was created to help you reach a...

I have a friend who is a Child Passenger Safety Technician. She is passionate about car seats and making sure children are safe in cars. This passion helped her a couple of years ago when her family was involved in a terrible rollover accident - because all three of her children were in the proper car seats and all three were rear-facing (even the six-year-old!), the worst injury was a broken leg. It could have been much worse. My friend is promoting the State Farm Neighborhood Assist program on Facebook. One of the causes that is seeking votes is called Safe and Green . Here is the summary at the Facebook page: What is the mission of your cause? To reduce the number of deaths and injuries of children in car crashes through education & advocacy. How would you use the $25,000 to address an unmet need in your community? We would use this grant to expand a pilot education and recycling program for unusable safety seats in communities from Long Beach across Los Angeles C...

This is most of the text of the talk I gave today at my mom's memorial. I improvised a little while speaking and those thoughts are not included. I paraphrased the elephant story here because for the talk I copied it from an online site. But it is an old legend. Once upon a time there were six blind men in a village. One day there was an elephant and they wanted to find out for themselves what it was like. Each one touched the elephant. One man said, “the elephant is a pillar” Another man said, “no, it is like a tree branch.” The man who touched the tail said it was like a rope. The man who touched the ear said it was like a huge fan. The man who touched the side of the elephant thought it was a wall. The man who touched the tusk said it was like a solid pipe. The men started arguing about which one of them was right. A wise man passed by and asked them what was the matter. They told him what they each thought the elephant was like. The wise man explained...

Photo Ready Giveaway Event Organized by : Mom Powered Media Prize : Canon EOS REBEL T4i 18.0 MP CMOS Digital Camera Prize Package {RV$950+} Event dates : 4/23 - 5/14 SIGN-UP HERE! Please say that Carol Foltz (Carol's Random Babble) sent you.

I'm really bad at this - or really, really good at it. Mom's memorial is in two days. I need to straighten my apartment, write the eulogy, write the program, and get the program to the funeral home so they can print the folders (which also means providing photos). I've had time, but have barely begun to straighten my apartment, let alone the rest of it. I've got tomorrow off, but I really wanted to get the program done before this. My first deadline was Friday. Then today. But this morning Cayla told me that she wants to play something at the memorial, but she wants to look through my old hymnbook to figure out what. I hadn't asked her to participate because I wasn't sure if she would be able to. Now I've got to figure out where to put her. But she's at school now, so I can't ask. Which means I either have to figure that out on my own or put off the deadline for turning the program in to the funeral home until tomorrow. Here's an idea: ...

(In the interest of brevity, I separated this from the previous post.) Although I make reference to a sort of specific situation, this philosophy can apply to many situations. If you work with the public, you know that people get testy. You can be rude to your waiter, but risk having an unwanted "extra" in your food. You can be rude to a cashier, or a salesperson, or a clerk. But what if the person you are rude to today is the person you want to influence or need something from tomorrow? I work at a newspaper. Part of my job is to process obits. I deal with all kinds of people, from funeral directors to friends or family submitting obits. (I'd like to say that the people at the funeral home that handled Mom's arrangements have always been courteous, even when, as an obit clerk, I asked them to correct something on someone's obit. Actually, I can't recall any of the Fort Dodge funeral home directors being rude or condescending.) Some funeral directors...

My mom died on March 29, 2013. Although I had been expecting this since early January, it's still hard. I'm trying to take care of her business (meaning, paying bills, arranging memorial service, etc.). Every decision has to be vetted with my sister, of course. Which means consultations and delays sometimes. We are pretty much in agreement, which is good. We chose a local funeral home. They have been very accommodating and understanding, especially since Donna and I are doing these arrangements piecemeal. I had taken Mom there in 2010 to talk about preplanning, but Donna and I changed some of the arrangements. We had Mom cremated. This summer, we are planning to take her ashes to Wisconsin, where she can be buried with her parents. We are having a memorial service on April 17 at church. I still have to order the urn. I had to talk to the cemetery association people to find out if they require a burial vault for cremated remains (they don/t), so I would know if I can o...