My husband came home from work today very frustrated and restless. He went to a meeting comprised of approximately 60 business people. There was a microphone for attendees to speak into when they asked or answered a question. Dozens of the 60 attendees did NOT speak loud enough to be heard. Speakers were asked repeatedly to repeat what they had said, louder and more directly into the microphone. How irritating is that?

I realize that some people are not comfortable speaking in public, but this was not a one person presentation. (Obviously I am not shy or I would not be a children’s book author who travels around to schools and uses ridiculous cartoon voices in my presentations in front of hundreds of kids and adults.) But as adults, shouldn’t we be able to literally speak loud enough to be heard? I don’t get it.

I have always been outgoing and used to pray when I was a kid that I could be shy. It never worked. I admire shy people for keeping quiet when I cannot. I always used to think shy people thought I was an idiot for talking too much. But I have had several people explain to me that introverts like to be around extroverts so they don’t have to do the talking themselves. Should I be offended by that?

I am getting off subject here a bit. The bottom line is that if you have something to say, say it loud enough so everyone who is listening can hear it. If you cannot speak up, perhaps it is better to not speak. That seems like a shame to me, since everyone knows something about something and can make the world a better place by sharing that with someone. Are you getting some of this some of the time?

There are organizations that help people get over their fear of speaking like Toastmasters. I have heard a lot of good things about that organization bringing people out of their shells. Check it out if you are one who sweats bullets or get stomach cramps at the thought of speaking into a microphone in front of strangers. If not for yourself than do it for your children. You don’t want them to not be able to be heard, and you’ll be setting a good example.

I hope you heard what I said loud and clear.

1. Parent slapping/hitting his or her child
2. Parent embarrassing child in public by scolding loudly
3. Parent not responding when kid is calling, “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy ” 1,000 times
4. Child dangerously climbing all over shopping cart in store and parent not paying attention
5. Parent leaving very young child in cart and walking far away in store
6. Parent speaking to child in a very condescending tone and enjoying strangers listening in
7. Child having temper tantrum and parent ignoring it
8. Child licking filthy dirty shopping cart and parent not doing anything to stop it
9. 2 children beating each other up and parent not stopping it
10. Parent giving babies very unhealthy inappropriate foods

I had to get a new A/C Unit installed at my Mom’s townhouse yesterday so we can sell the house. The Unit is on the roof, making it very tricky to maneuver – thus the crane. Naturally I brought my camera. It was a perfectly sunny day…

In my book, Lilly P Badilly is afraid of thunder, darkness, elevators and millipede-chomping spiders. In real life, I am finding that the kids I speak to, when I visit schools, are most afraid of thunder, darkness, monsters, spiders and snakes – in that order. I tell them that it is perfectly normal to be afraid of different things. But if they use their brain power to learn about whatever it is they are afraid of, they may not be as afraid of it any more. What I mean is, read about what thunder really is, and when you understand that, you will feel better. I also suggest they speak to an adult about their fears, because it will make them feel better.

Kids need to know that adults have fears too. But I would not give them too many details or you may create a new fear for them. I myself got stuck in an elevator during an office building fire in 1989 at night. Naturally the elevator stopped between 2 floors when the alarm went off. It was just my luck that I got stuck in there, knowing there were few people left in the entire building to help me. I had to pry open the doors and climb up and out in a dress and then run down 5 fights of stairs. Luckily for me that fire was contained and did not spread. However, I did not know that when I was stuck by myself, listening to a blasting fire alarm while smelling smoke.

When my Grandma Nellie was alive, I used to push her wheelchair to the elevator in her building put her in the elevator, press the button for her and then run out of the elevator, down the stairs and meet her outside of the elevator. I just could not go in there without hyperventilating. What a terrible granddaughter I was! (I’ve made up for that now by writing about her in my book.) Yet, Granny understood and did not mind. She’d say, “Well, if I get stuck at least you’ll be out there helping me get outa here.” I am so glad Granny understood.

I have tried to take my own advice and research elevator fears to feel better. But years ago my husband could not wait to tell me (See how husbands punish their wives after many years of marriage?) that a man’s head got cut off by elevator doors, and a woman was standing inside the elevator when it happened.  She had to ride with his head for 5 stories and wait in there until someone could get her out. Unfortunately this is a true story. And there are others.

To this day, I walk or run up and down stairs whenever possible to avoid elevators. I will NOT get in to any elevators that are in parking garages. They are hot, poorly ventilated, small and slow, and I panic.

My apologies if I made you afraid of elevators. But the good news is that walking up and down stairs is fabulous exercise.

As you can see, we have made some changes to the wwww.smartpoodlepublishing.com website, thanks to my brilliant web designer and friend, Michael Knauf. We’v added some pages to make it easier for you to find what you’re looking for, including Contests and School Visits. Plus we made changes to the Press Page. I hope you find it easier to find your way around! Happy navigating.

I’ve been doing a lot of deep thinking lately. I suppose this makes sense, given that my Mom just passed away in July. I’ve gotten somewhat past the “stuff” issue, and I vow to never buy a bunch of anything any more that I do not need. I also decided I am not going to buy gifts for people, because those will likely end up in the pile of discards. And they just clutter up their lives like stuff has cluttered up mine and most everyone else I know. I’d love to do something special or donate to a deserving charitable cause in the name of a friend or family member though.

What I’ve been thinking about mostly today are the every day hassles that we let bog us down. I’m talking about the little aggravations and frustrations that can really put a person in a foul mood. (i.e. traffic, rude store clerks, gossip, toxic, negative people, a stubbed toe, etc) They are really petty in comparison to what is truly important. But while you’re experiencing these things, they seem so unpleasant and unbearable. Usually the next day, you forget all about it and start with new aggravating challenges.

So the question I posed to myself today was, how do I spend less time on pettiness and more time on meaningful, more pleasant experiences? I suppose it all boils down to how I react to these mishaps. I can flip out (as I often do) or I can laugh some of that off. (Probably not that hard to do, actually).

I think I will experiment with this for the rest of the week and see if I can reduce the pettiness in my life. I’ll let you know how it goes.

You can always tell what my life is like by looking in my refrigerator. With my Mom being gravely ill and then passing away, things have been hectic here to say the least. Today, Rachel helped me clean out the fridge of all of its extreme science experiments.

A few months ago, when my Mom was in the hospital for 2 weeks, and I was running back and forth, we had a similar experience with the fridge. The volume of unidentifiable foods was overwhelming. What I remember most was what we determined was a black lemon with white fuzz all over it in a ziplock bag and a rotted, dehydrated, moldy tomato that clung desperately onto the side of a Tupperware container. After that incident, I vowed to never let that happen to my fridge again.

I broke my promise, and it was really out of my control. I haven’t been home long enough for weeks to deal with the fridge and its contents. Poor Rachel bravely faced the horrible task of tossing out rancid, festering science experiments once again.

Tomorrow I will head to the organic market on the beach and the grocery store. I will choose wisely and take special care to make sure all the food gets consumed and does not even have a chance to rot in the vast darkness that we call the refrigerator. When I open the door tomorrow and look at the beautiful, fresh food in there, I will know I am on my way to restoring order in my life.

What is in your fridge?

Though I am a disciplined exerciser, I m not an athlete. But I am addicted to the Summer Olympics every 4 years. It really is all about my admiration for discipline and indestructible determination.

We viewers of the Olympics probably don’t really understand what it takes for each athlete to even make it to these games. I know that years of training, winning competitions and sacrificing what we’d call a “normal life” for long periods of time are involved.

Can you imagine what it must be like to participate in those opening ceremonies, marching proudly with your country’s flag? It must be surreal. I often think of the same thing when a baseball player walks onto the field to play in his first pro game. What must he be thinking about the experience and privilege to play?

Being a champion at anything – sports or otherwise – requires talent and a whole lot of work, motivation, focus, repetition, support and sacrifice. Is it all worth it? Just ask someone who just won an Olympic Gold or who achieved some other spectacular goal in his or her life. I think that’ll be a firm YES.

Hmmm, I think I’m getting inspired to do something great… like take the gold medal in getting my fridge cleaned out (actually my daugher will get that gold medal)

Since I have been left with taking care of my Mom’s bills, mail and other personal accounts, I have been buried in a paper mound that rivals the largest of the Great Pyramids of Giza. This has left me thinking about getting more organized and teaching my kid to do the same. Kids may be too young for bills and important papers now (other than homework), but they will learn by watching us. Here are some tips:

• If you write down a phone number or address on a piece of paper, don’t assume you’ll remember who that number or address belongs to. Write down the name. And also, put that note in a file immediately which you may want to label “Tiny Pieces of Scrap with Important #’s I Don’t Want to Lose”.
• This theory applies to check writing as well. Don’t assume you’ll remember to whom you wrote a check and the amount of the check. RECORD IT the minute you write it.
• Have a file for everything, including one labeled Misc., for those items which do not fit into any other category. Of course, have a cabinet for the files as well.
• Print out important emails that confirm anything you may need proof of later. Put those into an appropriate file.
• Keep a spiral bound notebook with you on the go to write some important things of all sorts. That way you’ll have all the info readily available later when you need it in one place.
• Every couple of weeks go through your papers laying around and toss what you do not need.
• Handle mail one time only. Stand over the trash can or recycling bin and toss out junk as soon as you pick the mail up in your hands. Then walk over to your file cabinet and put the remaining items into your “Bills to Be Paid” file. I promise you will never lose anything again if you do this, and your house will not be filled with scraps all over the place.
• If you have a business and keep business papers at home, KEEP THEM SEPARATE from your personal files. Never mix the 2 unless you enjoy freaking out and the heartburn that goes along with it. (This rule applies to me as well as keeping my Mom’s files in a separate place.)
• Get a small shredder and shred what you need to as you go. There are also companies that will come to your house to shred stacks of papers in a specially equipped truck.
• Keep a safe at home or use a bank’s safe deposit box to keep all your original important papers.
• As you prepare for taxes, look through your files to toss papers you will not need to keep. Trust me, there are many that can be tossed.
• Forget trying to get off junk mailing lists. The mail will slow down for a short while and then pick back up to full speed a few months later. It is just not worth all that work only to have it reversed.

Happy paper trails everybody! Send me your paper tips please.

One of my husband, John’s friends, George Castellon, has a dad who hand makes guitars. Mr. Castellon. got word that John wrote some music and performed on the Lilly Badilly CD. Without ever meeting John, Mr. Castellon handmade my husband a gorgeous guitar. What is most remarkable is that Mr. C. has poor vision. “My Dad just loves to make guitars,” George told me. “Since he cannot possibly make enough money on them to equal his time and effort, he refuses to charge anyone for them. He’d rather just give them away.” He just loves what he does and does it very well. It took him 4 months to make this guitar!

Naturally, tonight we have been enjoying John’s music. This is especially nice, considering the last several tough weeks have had here. I hope he doesn’t play “Granny Wears a Wig.” I’ll be up all night singing it in my head!

So thank you, thank you, thank you Mr. C. We will soon have you over for a night of music and fine dining! You are a true artist and a most generous person.

Here’s John playing his new guitar. Even Gigi got totally into the music.