A Day in the Life...Where has summer gone?

A Day in the Life…

I am not sure where the summer went but it seems that back-to-school is right around the corner. I have not been able to do anything fun this summer so I decided to visit my daughters and grandchildren this week.

On Monday, I got up at 5:45 a.m. This was hard as I am not a morning person. My daughter lives about an hour from me and I was going to keep the kids while she worked. I forgot how early 5 a.m. is! What am I going to do when school starts? Also important to mention, there are 4 children in this family. The oldest is 10, then 8, 6, and 3 years old. They can be a bit of handful, but I love every minute of the time I get to spend with them.

First thing we did after I arrived was make a trip to the donut shop.  Isn’t that what Grandmas do? We spent the day playing, having a dance party, eating lunch and catching up. At 2 p.m. we had to leave to meet their mom. I forgot how much boys can fight! The 2 older boys decided to get in a bit of a rumble on the way and Grandma had to referee. I needed a diversion!  So, we stopped for ice cream. I know what you are thinking!  I was really bad BUT I just could not help myself. I do not get to spoil them every day! Yes, that is probably a very good thing! I made the trip home that evening and arrived about 8:30 p.m. I was exhausted! Thank goodness I had a day to rest up for the next visit.

Or, did I? My plan was to go to my youngest daughters’ home on Wednesday morning. However, I received a call when I got home Monday evening.  “Mom, can you please come on Tuesday evening?” The baby was teething and the other 2 were quite the handful. Her husband was away for job training and her children are 5, 3, and 8 months old. Well, Grandma always says yes. I’m sure this is apparent by now. Seriously, donuts and ice cream in the same day?

Today is Thursday and I am still at my youngest daughters’ house. We have enjoyed so many adventures. We found creeks to play in, books to read and great food to eat.  Tomorrow we are all going to Kings Island. I think we will have a great time. However, I do know one thing for sure, Saturday is reserved for me alone! I need to recuperate. After all, school starts in a couple of weeks!

Here is a snapshot of my crew!

Have a great day!

A Day in the Life... Videos and Grand babies!

A Day in the Life…

Technology is truly amazing! I have to admit I was a bit concerned about how this video project would work. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

When deciding on a topic, it was easy for me to choose a subject I love to talk about. I have some beautiful grandchildren. Yes, I know I am a little bias towards them.  But I decided to create a 60 second video to highlight an adventure with them. As luck would have it, my daughters’ company had invited the family to an employee appreciation event at a theme park. This would be a perfect opportunity to take some pictures and videos for my project.

Stricker’s Grove is a theme park in Hamilton, Ohio.  Corporations in the area rent the park for company picnics and employee appreciation days. It is an amazing place and I was surprised they only open the park on special days. The kids had a great time and this day proved to be the perfect opportunity to create my video.

Originally, I planned to use Windows Movie Maker, but I quickly discovered that this download is no longer available. There are websites offering the download, however many of them contain viruses, malware, or hidden costs. My advice is to be sure to pay attention to what you are downloading onto your computer. I almost had a problem!

I then decided to investigate Filmora by Wondershare. I highly recommend this platform. Uploading the images to Filmora was very simple. The process works very similar to uploading images to any social media platform, especially Facebook. Editing was a bit more difficult but still very user friendly. I loved playing with the special effects. There were so many options and I soon realized that 60 seconds was not very long. I had to reel in my enthusiasm. Finding the right music was important as I wanted the video to flow with the mood. Filmora has several options but you can also upload music from your own playlist. Timing was tricky and ended up taking a little bit of time. I used the free trial but the cost of the program is reasonable if you are going to be creating videos on a regular basis. Check it out at https://filmora.wondershare.com.

This was my first attempt to create a video and I am pleased with the final outcome. Although I am sure I would get better with practice, this video has become a favorite for me and my grandchildren. I have been staying with them this week and one of the first things I heard this morning was, “Grandma, I want to watch that video again!” For me, that speaks success!

As always, go make this a great day!

A Day in the Life...Social Media; Good or Bad?

July 17, 2018
A Day in the Life…

Social media is so ingrained in our lives’ that it is almost impossible to think about how we stayed connected before. I am still trying to decide if I think that is a good or bad thing.

There are so many positives and we cannot discount that. It is so convenient to stay in touch with family and friends. We can share photos and videos instantly instead of taking the film to the drugstore to be developed. If you were really lucky the one-hour service was available and it was awesome! Most of you probably do not remember that but it was really a thing! I can find out about the latest sale online and get my discount codes before purchasing. We know what is happening across the world in record time! I can pay my bills online, saving money on stamps. How can the post office stay in operation? I wonder about that often.

Here is where I struggle. I am not so sure that all of the exposure to everything is such a good thing. Perhaps I am just the kind of person that sticks her head in the sand, but I believe so much information coming in on a daily basis is a bit mind blowing. School shooters, for instance, get so much media coverage that you would have to live in a box to not know every detail of the situation. Do not get me wrong, I think it is a horrific experience and we do need to know about this to protect our children. However, do we need to have it on every television channel and every social media platform all day, every day for weeks? Most times it is the same information over and over. Could the extreme amount of exposure have any negative effects? I think so. 

What about children who see this? I know we say parents can control what their children are exposed to but is becoming more and more difficult due to the limitless modes of technology available. Some children develop anxiety over hearing about these incidents. The drills they have to do in schools can make young minds think about things they should never have to think about. There are children who have anxiety about going to school because they are afraid of the risk and that is very sad to me. School should be a safe and happy place for young people.

What about the mentally ill people that watch this over and over again and decide they want to be noticed in the same way? It is their ticket to become famous! Sometimes I think we give them so many details that they don’t even have to think very hard about how to pull this off.

Somewhere in all of this media sharing we have lost an innocence. I am not debating whether social media should stay or go. I think we all know that media is here to stay and it has some very positive benefits. However, I do think we have a responsibility to use our platforms carefully. Sensationalizing horrific incidents and over-exposure are a real concern for me. I am all in when it comes to turning off your electronic devices for dinners or social time, and getting back to some face- to- face conversation. We are raising a generation that value virtual relationships and are not even comfortable with real-life relationships. Do you think that will have any impact on society?

And that is my two cents’ worth.  Have a great day!

A Day in the Life...Let's talk summer

July 19, 2018

A Day in the Life…

Let’s talk about summer.

In my job at Ohio Northern University I work with schools and students, and just like them I do not attend school in the summer. That is not meant to say I do not work in the summer because I typically do. This summer is very different because of my surgery. It is difficult to be slowed down but I am trying every day to count my blessings and enjoy a slower pace.

In the past, I have worked with at-risk youth supervising them on job sites during the summer. I would say that most, if not all, were somehow involved with the court system and had little to no support system at home. What a frustrating and rewarding job!

I remember one summer in particular. We were working on a horse ranch. Guys were picking stalls and girls were cleaning the living quarters. My role was to teach them employable soft-skills and make sure that the owners of the ranch were happy with their performance. Believe me when I tell you that most did not have a clue how to really work. I know there were days when they wanted to walk away and never look back as I would make them repeat the same job multiple times. For them, getting close was good enough. I had to help them see that good enough was not necessarily what we were going for. And, YES, they got it by the end of the summer!

I would pick them up in the morning to take them to work. I always gave them a time I was leaving as I was trying to teach them that punctuality is important. I only left someone one time and they knew I was serious. Cussing was another issue. These kids were from the streets and I heard all kinds of colorful language that first week. I would gently remind them that swearing was not acceptable in the job place or very respectful to me. Soon, I would hear one slip and just as quickly hear an apology.

They were a special group and we grew into quite a family that summer. They grew to trust that I was on their side and they shared stories that will always stay with me. As hard as that summer was, I will cherish those memories forever. It reminded me that everyone needs someone to care. Sometimes, that is ALL we need. How often do we judge from outside appearances and assume that someone is a lost cause? We write them off without a second thought. Perhaps that person you are judging is fighting a battle we could never imagine. I have learned to not assume and I try to be kind.

At the end of that summer we took a family photo. I love that picture and wish I could share it here. However, many of them did not want their photo made public and I will respect that. I keep it for myself. I am not sure that their lives were changed forever but I do believe they were changed for that summer. I know mine was truly changed forever and I will always think of them as my kids.

Thanks for letting me share that memory…have a great day!

A Day in the Life...Let's Talk About Facebook

A Day in the Life…

Let’s talk about Facebook. I know some of us are so over it but, it is by far the largest social media platform. Facebook is all about friends, family, and fun. Facebook is also often fake as it is a snapshot of our life and we are going to make it look good. Who is going to post all negative material about their own life? We share what we want our life to be and not always about what it actually is. Facebook is also all about photos! We share photos about our friends, our family, and our fun, right? On Facebook Live you can even post videos in real-time.

Even though we almost all have a Facebook profile, companies are becoming more involved by opening Facebook pages to promote themselves as well. For businesses, encouraging interactivity is the number 1 goal of their marketing. If I like a company’s page, we now have a connection and I will see their posts on my daily feed. If I share their post, that is yet another connection for them.  

See the method to the madness?

In order for Facebook posts to create this interactivity they must have one of three things.

 1). They must create an emotional connection. You want people to click that “like” button or make a comment about how this post touches them. 

2). Utility is important. Give us some hints about how to do something new like, “the secret to giving your dog a bath without getting soaked” will catch some attention (if you own a dog anyway.) 

3). It needs to be counterintuitive- tell me how I have been doing something wrong all my life – that will catch my attention!

You want to be careful when posting on Facebook that you are not always trying to sell your stuff. Remember one of the big F’s – FUN.  You should post about 80 percent about “fun” stuff and then sneak in about 20 percent of “buy my stuff” stuff. Well, it’s not really sneaking but your audience is going to quickly tune out if all you are doing is trying to get them to purchase. They want fun, then they might remember you when they need to purchase what you are selling.

Check out Hootsuite at http://jimlinks.com/29k to get help on how to manage your social postings on Facebook as well as other social media platforms.

As always, have a great day!