Unusual Advice Source

You can get advice from all sorts of places. Some people ask friends, family or even write their question down for a newspaper personality to answer.  About a month ago, I was with my mother in law and aunt in law at a John Edwards show and received some really good advice. 

For those that are not familiar with John Edwards, he used to be a television medium on the show Crossing Over.  (He speaks with the dead. Or maybe the dead speak with him. I am not 100% sure how this works. I am hoping it isn’t like 6th Sense sort of stuff.) If you were to look him up you would find a bunch of YouTube videos and a South Park episode dedicated to him.

I should probably clarify that this is not the usual source type I would go to for advice. My belief level is closer to Dana Scully than it is to Fox Murder on this. However, I digress.  As I sat there in the crowd of people, hoping that John Edwards focus would not rotate to my corner pocket of the room, I was to pick out some really good advice he was giving to the room full of grief stricken people.  

Here is the advice I was able to take home with me.

1. The best way to defuse a situation with another person on a difference of opinion is to acknowledge the situation and then walk away.  The best phrase to use is, “Oh, that’s interesting.” It acknowledges the opinion but doesn’t agree or disagree with the opinion, thus making the person feel listened to and taking the wind out of their sails. 
2. Just because you ask a question, does not mean you will get the answer you want. To solve any problem, you have to be open to all possible answers, even the answers you don’t want to hear. 
3. It is okay to give yourself time to grieve. Everyone does it in their own way, but the important part is to do it.  It isn’t just people, it can be a change in situation that can shock the senses, and sometimes a person just needs time to digest. Allow yourself to adjust to new situations and people. 

While I might not recommend a medium as a source to answer all of life’s questions, it is important to recognize that when you receive good advice, it doesn’t really matter the source.  I think the key is to be open to new ideas that challenge the current pattern of thinking.   What do you think?

Odd Change

My purse is a bottomless black hole of weirdness. There is typically an assortment of receipts, lipsticks and fine point pens that live in the bottom of my purse.  Everything in my purse is normal, except for one, two or twenty things that I keep in the change portion of my wallet.

I have over a dozen flattened coins in my wallet. I keep them as a reminder of some of the places that I have been and that there are good times out there.  Not all good times have to cost a lot of money to be memorable.  

I would like to think that everyone keeps something sentimental with them. Check out my friend Faye’s blog (The Hook and the Pen)to find out the odd thing she keeps in her purse. 

Writing Prompt: Describe one odd item that you have in your purse or wallet right now. 

Stephen Murderface Frogmonster

There is murder in that frogs eyes.  You can just tell that it is slowly plotting your doom as soon as it figures out how to get free.  My  brother has come up with a new way to torment me for the rest of my life.  He bought a Pyxie (Pyxicephalus) bull frog that can life up to 45 years.  In his infinite wisdom he has decided that if anything untoward were to happen to him, that I should be the caregiver of the ball of amphibian hatred.  This is not something that I am overjoyed with. 

I have tried to convince him that any of his children would be honored to be the keeper of Stephen Murderface Frogmonster if the end were to come sooner to him than his frog pal, but he just isn’t having any of it.  He feels that I would think of him every time I had to feed it and it would be the gift that keeps on giving. 

This frog can group up to nine inch big and eat small rodents.  Steven Murderface Frogmonster tries to attack and eat anything in his tank. I am pretty sure this is how monster movie start.  Knowing my brother it will probably break records in frog size and longevity. I am going to be fearful for my cats.  

I have started collecting southern recipes on preparing Frog Legs as a precaution. 

Grocery Store Mayhem

I thought she was going to throw a chicken at me. 

I worry. Sometimes I think that I worry for the sake of worrying.  My brain goes in circles and makes something out of nothing.  It has been six years since I last saw my best friend and I worry that we won’t be able to connect in person.

Faye and I met in elementary school. We saw each other everyday and had frequent sleep overs and joined each other on family trips.  Then I moved when I was fourteen and we have spent the next twenty four years keeping in touch through letter writing and sporadic visits.  The last time I saw her in person, was six years ago. A lot can change in six years. My head whirled over whether or not we would actually get a long in real life.  After all, how was I to know if I had some annoying habit that would drive her up the wall?  Maybe I snort when I laugh or twitch weirdly or worse yet, not get her sense of humor.  Or what if she licks her envelopes? What if we just can’t relate to each other?

Like a true worrywart, it was all for nothing.  We were in the grocery store, picking up supplies for cookies and the she threatened to throw a chicken at me.  I’ll admit I was being a brat. I was twisting her words like an angsty teenager in the middle of a story, and  I was working on her last nerve.  She threatened to throw something at me and happened to have a chicken handy. The crazy look in here her eyes and mirth around the mouth was a definite sign that we hadn’t lost a beat.  I told her to bring it. I was not afraid to get kicked out of a mid west grocery store I’ll never see again.  The kid manning the checkout was not amused with either one of us.  We were causing a scene at checkout number five and the line was beginning to build up. We had confirmed our friendship in the weirdest way.