Thoughts on my name

 I started thinking about my name today because I hired a young friend from my church to paint my kitchen. I pulled off the old wallpaper a while ago and the thought of painting it myself isn't fun anymore.

So, William is from Puerto Rico and the name Carolee isn't familiar to him. I told him to call me Carol. That brought back memories of when I was Carol Luppino because my husband shortened my name. Even my brothers started calling me Carol.

So, for the first 20 years of my life I was Carolee Alt. Then, for the next 25 or so, I was Carol Luppino, except when I was Mrs. Joseph Luppino. In the 60's married women didn't have first names. In the church membership records we were listed as Mr. Joseph Luppino and Mrs. Joseph Luppino. One of our male members was married and divorced 3 times, in the church and his wife's name naver changed.

When I was widowed, I decided to use my maiden name, so I was and am still using the name Carolee Alt Luppino. I hyphenate it when I want to be at the beginning of the alphabet. 

edit. My on-line persona is Cara, it's easier, and my phone identity, when I don't want customers to know it's me, is Charlie. My IM id, my 'inner emoticon', is a smiley face with sunglasses and one of my dear friends calls me 'Hollywood' (because of the sunglasses).

So, my friends call me Carolee, except those that I met in my married years and my brothers and SILs, who call me Carol, . My dauther calls me Mom and my sons call me Ma. I answer to all of them, but most of all, I love being called gramma.

 Another stroke of genius I didn't think of that's too good not to share. This has been one of the hottest summers on record and I find myself keeping a small bottle of water in my car. I never found this necessary before, thinking that I could make it from place to place without food and drink. Most of my stops are less than half an hour apart. However ... here's the genius part ... fill your water bottle half full and keep it in your freezer. Fill it the rest of the way when you are ready to go. You'll have cold water for much longer. No extra charge. You're welcome!

 I came across this tip and think it's really good to know. I want to share it with everyone!

Machine sewing tips you wouldn’t think of. Depending on what you use it for…if you are doing something like solid embroidery, or even a straight stitch….all metallic type threads works better if you put them in the bobbin and work upside down…because, the thread is not sawing through the needle dozens of times, so it stays strong….I realize that not everything can be sewn right side down…but when possible it’s much better….