Now this is a reason for reading a book digitally

I love to read.  I love technology.  But I prefer to read a book; a real book.  One you can hold in your hands and actually turn the page.  One that can lay on your chest when you fall asleep reading in the hammock and one if your dog gets a hold of it while you are asleep you are only out a few dollars.

Then I saw this TED Talks video with Mike Matas.
Now, this is a reason to read a book digitally.  Maybe not the Al Gore book, but this could be interesting with some books.

In fact, I predict this could be the future of educational text books.  I can see how this would be a great teaching tool for students to use.

For now though, I think I'll hit my hammock with my book.  My real book.

Sprint misses call with Paige Duke

Paige & Sarah at the Charlotte race.

When I saw online that Sprint had released Paige Duke as a Miss Sprint Cup over some unfavorable images I was sadden.  My daughter met Paige at a recent race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and she left a positive impression on Sarah.  Every NASCAR race on TV after that she would look for Paige in Victory Lane.

As soon as I read the then short note posted on facebook about Paige being let go by Sprint, I went and talked with Sarah about how decisions can some times have negative consequences not only now but in the future. 

Since then I have learned more about what happened.  I have not seen these pictures, nor do I have any desire to see them.  I have thought long and hard on this and need to share my feelings.

The pictures were from when Paige was in college 6 years ago and were intended only for her then boyfriend.  They were never to be seen by anyone else.

Let’s look at the facts:

-          The pictures were taken 6 years ago, well before Paige was employed by Sprint.

-          They were not taken for a magazine or the general public to see.  They were for someone she was in a relationship with.

-          The pictures or taking of the pictures is not illegal.  Although posting them online without Paige’s permission is WRONG and very disrespectful.   

I do have to wonder if there is a double standard in the NASCAR world.  Most recently driver Kyle Busch was stopped for driving over 100 mph and really nothing was done to him.  Last time I checked, driving that much over the speed limit is breaking the law.  Not picking on Kyle, he handled his situation very well too.   But he is just the most recent example.

I understand there was a morality clause in the contract between Paige and Sprint.  And I will be the first to say I do not condone those types of pictures.  As a professional photographer, I will not create them for my clients – personal beliefs.

But we have all made mistakes.  It is how you respond and deal with those mistakes that truly matter.  And I must say; Paige has handled this situation gracefully. 

Sarah and I listened in on a radio interview with Paige and I am so glad Sarah was with me to hear it.  Paige is stepping up and admitting her mistake and is using this as an opportunity to educate young girls like Sarah about how they do not need to do things such as nude pictures for a guy to keep their attention and the consequences that may come from something like that years later.

This is where Sprint missed the call.  Paige is taking a bad situation and turning it into a positive one.  She is using it to hopefully keep some other young girl from doing the same mistake she did or go through what she has gone through.

Paige was doing an awesome job representing Sprint as Miss Sprint Cup.  Sprint could have taken this opportunity to step up and through the bad situation with Paige become a leader in helping educate young girls to think more about the decisions they make. Paige is doing a great job speaking on that now, but Sprint has missed the call.

Guess what?  My cell phone contract is up.  I won’t be looking at Sprint to become my provider.  I might have if they were being active on helping young girls like my daughter.

Shortly, after Paige was let go we received back the picture of her and Sarah we sent to her with a really nice note and autographed.  We are in the process of framing it and it will be hung in Sarah’s room.  Because of how Paige treated Sarah at the race and mostly how she has handled this unfortunate situation, our view of Paige has not been tarnished.

If Paige is ever in the Hickory area, I would love to have her come speak to our youth group at church and Sarah’s friends from school.  She is being a great role model for them to look up too and listen to.

Car seat safety

As a mom, the safety of my daughter is constantly on my mind.  So when one of my favorite podcasts interviewed Dr. Alisa Baer, the Car Seat Lady; I knew I needed to share it with all the parents and grandparents out there.  Dr. Baer gave some great information on child car seat safety.

Please take the time to listen to the podcast.  It is packed full of great information.

Listen to internet radio with Breakthroughbusiness on Blog Talk Radio

Then take the time to go over the information on the Car Seat Lady website.

I just wished I had known about this when Sarah was smaller.

Travel light and look good at the same time

I love TED Talks.  They are short and very insightful.  I watched this one of Jessi Arrington earlier today and just had to share it with you.  Watch it and then I'll share some thoughts with you.


I would like to first say how enjoyable Jessi presentation was.  It was very funny and upbeat, but delivered several important messages.

Jessi's message on how your attitude effects how you really look is spot on.  I really wish more people (especially young girls) would listen to what Jessi says and believe it.

I'll have to admit I love thrift store shopping.  It is always like an adventure and like Jessi, it feels good to be able to help out a good organization while getting something new to wear or use in the house.

But until I watched Jessi's TED Talk I never thought about using it when I travel.  What a great idea.  With all the extra charges the airlines tack on when you fly or simply just dealing with loading and unloading the car to do a trip, going thrift store shopping when you get there is a great idea.  Then donating them back just benefits the organization again.

This is definitely an idea I like.  Thanks Jessi for the idea!  Always love an excuse to hit another thrift store.

To find out more about TED Talks, go to www.ted.com

The Lord knows best

As a family we love to go camping in the North Carolina and Tennessee mountains.  We pack up our tent and head to the woods usually at least twice a year.  Last week we did just that and headed to Cataloochee in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  We love camping there and Sarah really wanted to go see the elk again.

It did not take long to realize that this was not going to be our normal trip.  In fact, the first sign happened the day before we even left.  While out on a photography session, my car started acting up.  That resulted in an afternoon at the garage getting a new alternator.  I had no idea at the time what a metaphor replacing the alternator would be. 

I am just thankful for two wonderful friends that made the wait so much more pleasurable and fun.  I am also grateful it happened before we left for our trip. 

Cataloochee

The day of the trip, we loaded up the car and headed out.   The trip up was wonderful.  We talked, joked and picked on Sarah (always a favorite pastime).  Everything was going as planned, but we would soon learn that our plan was not the plan we would end up following.

When we got to the campground we found out the National Park Service had made a policy change this year.  To camp at the Cataloohee campground you now have to make reservations in advance.  Nice to find that out when we get there - not.

For years we have gone there and have never made a reservation.  I am not a fan of this but, now we know and we will be making reservations in the future.  Cataloochee is the only NPS campground in our area that all sites require reservations.  If you wish to go camping there, be sure to call 1-877-444-6777 or visit www.recreation.gov before you head out to go spend the night with the elk.

Once we found out our plans on where we were going to camp had changed, we decided to head to a campground we had not stayed at before; Cosby, Tenn.  In fact, except for a brief drive through on a camping trip with a friend, I had never even been there and that was more than what Dwayne and Sarah had done.  So we took the old mountain dirt road from Cataloochee to Cosby to see what we could find.

Cosby

The ride over to Cosby was beautiful, long and even longer with a certain redhead in the backseat.  But we made it there and got us a really nice campsite and pitched the tent.

Since we were planning on staying at Cataloochee, I did not bring any of my reference books with me or even went online.  We had no clue what was around there to do.  There was no cell service, so I could not even call some friends that knew the area.

The information that was available there seemed to offer very little to do.  There was some hiking trails and no ranger campfire programs.  Those are some our favorite things. 

The creek offered some water, which is something Sarah loves.  And the campground was fairly empty, so it was really peaceful and quiet.  At least until the last night.

It quickly became obvious this was not going to be one of our normal camping trips.  It was going to be more of a relaxing one.  We did do some light hiking and saw some beautiful scenes.   Sarah and Dwayne even played in the creek.  I got to do some much put off reading while sitting on a rock out in the creek.

The rest of the time, we most just sat around the fire, talked and read.  Basically, it was a trip of relaxation and recharging my batteries.  Like the new alternator in my car keeps the battery charged, the Lord put things in place to slow us down and recharge our batteries and our relationships.

This trip was not what we planned.  It turned out even better and just what we needed.  The Lord knows best and we just have to be willing to go along for the ride.

Thanks to those at GHES

Sarah in kindergarten.

I always thought dropping your baby off at kindergarten on the first day of school was the hardest thing for a mom to do.  I found out this past week that it was just a warm up.  Sarah finished the 5^th grade on Friday and is heading to middle school next year.

It seem like just yesterday I was dropping her off in Mrs. Hurley’s classroom.  Heck, it seems like yesterday I was waddling around pregnant with her.  Can someone please tell me where the pause button is?

Graduating from the 5th grade

I clearly remember walking Sarah into the building that morning.  She was very shy, quiet and reserve.  Now, she is almost as tall as me and shows a bit more of personality.  That might be considered an understatement.

She is growing into a wonderful young lady.  The staff at GHES has a lot to do with who she is growing up to be.  They are a very special group.  They are a family and we became part of their family over these past six years.

During the Honors Chorus performance.

All of the teachers at GHES are wonderful.  They work as a team to make sure each student receives the love (yes, it shows that they love their students), support and structure that they need.  I am not going to try to name them all, because I would end up naming every one of them.  But thank you to each of you.

I know Sarah has made some friends and memories for life while at GHES.  I also think she has found something she loves in Chorus.  I was so proud when she was selected to be part of the county wide Honors Chorus.

During the Jan Chorus program

During her last Chorus program at GHES, I watched her sing and perform so focused, so serious, so well trained.  The young lady performing on the stage was a long way from the little girl that just stood there during her kindergarten performance.  Special thanks to Ms. Yoder for helping to develop the love for singing Sarah has now.

Soon Sarah will start middle school and I am sure that is going to be yet another trying milestone.  But I know she has developed a good foundation thanks to all of those at GHES.

Do you Relay?

I love walking around the track as the sun comes up and the luminaries are still glowing strong.

Do you Relay?  I do.  I have already done one Relay and tomorrow night I do another.  On the studio blog I have posted a short video of just a few images from the Burke County Relay For Life event.  Please go watch it.  It will help you understand why I Relay.