Category Archives: agitm

A Child’s Play [My Story]

A Child’s Play

We spent wasted quite a bit of money trying to find toys that our firstborn would want to play with. Aside from his collection of Hot Wheels cars, toys were pushed aside as he and his imagination took to the field.  Almost as soon as he could walk, he was skating…in the house he did circles downstairs for countless hours. It was only a side-trek because of bad weather and rules against throwing and hitting a baseball INside the house.  I guess rollerblades on the floor was the lesser of two evils.

Fast forward, eh’ slow forward, 10 years and his brother enters the world by storm. THIS boy’s imagination is beyond to the moon and back. If a child’s play is his work, my little big guy has been working endlessly day in and day out for years.  And those toys that #1 son didn’t want? We saved them, and I’m so glad we did. There’s nothing like watching a child’s play imagination taking over the world (and the house!).  The tough thing is when it’s time to purge toys, I pick up one after another and have to admit that it still gets played with.  He LOVES to play, and  I am so ok with that!

You never know where they’ll be next, but it’s certain that they will.

The Tree Test [Dear Photographer] [My Story]

 

The Tree Test, Lying and Planning

The Tree Test: ever heard of it? Take a look here and tell me what you find out. Is it accurate of who you are?

I won’t tell you the tree that grabbed me and sucked me in instantaneously, but I will share a little of what it said about me.

Two phrases stand out:

” You know what you want, and you’re not afraid to go get it.

and

“The only thing you require from people is that they’re straight with you. You are ready for the truth.”

First:

Day in and day out, year old and year new, I would have zero issues with hundreds of students unless and until they lied to me. I found this truth to be unwavering in myself: I can deal with anything that’s straight forward.  Combine that with the fact that I can always (almost always, I have been blindsided-and betrayed-a few times in life by ‘friends’) sense  dishonesty and life can be quite interesting in  light of a lie. I don’t know if that is a blessing or a curse. Sometimes, ignorance is really bliss, isn’t it?

Proverbs  6:16-19  tells us the Lord hates lying, too.

There are six things which the LORD hates,
            Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:

      Haughty eyes,

a lying tongue,

            And hands that shed innocent blood,

      A heart that devises wicked plans,
            Feet that run rapidly to evil,

      A false witness who utters lies,
            And one who spreads strife among brothers.

And one more  thing I will share from the tree test:

Second:

There are 3 of us business owners who meet together each week. We encourage, we test, we cheer on and we empathize with one another. This week one thing that came up, as it has before, is the opportunity of sitting under a strong personality in the business who is a huge success and has been for more than 20 years.  My friends says, “I’d be scared to death knowing what’s coming and I’d cry.”

I say, “I would know what’s coming and am ready for it.”

She says, “Then I’d cry for you!”

I LOVE how different we are. She’s a strong, wonderful woman who just doesn’t approach things the same way as I do. And what’s wrong with that?

I’m a firm believer in learning the right way to do things before I do them the wrong way. Then, when I do them the wrong way, I’m determined to take what I learned through hard knocks and share them with others who, like me, are ready to hear them.

This photography business came upon me backwards. Instead of planning to build a business, I was thrown into it with requests to shoot a few weddings. Because I had not looked into what it means to run a small photography business, and because the urgency of the moment was focused on learning more about new cameras and the technicalities I was falling short it (hello digital photography, goodbye film=YIKES), I was already overloaded in work on a shortage of available time.

Now, I teach others how to use their digital camera and what is the bare necessities when presenting yourself as a professional photographer.

Coming up next week, I’m meeting with another 7-10 photographers who are trying to figure out some of the business side of being a professional photographer. While they’re at different places in their ventures, they’ve all realized that pricing is something they need some help in figuring out. You know what? The ones who are doing that before setting things up are the real winners. Like anything in life, it’s more profitable and less painful to figure things out before you’re posed with an otherwise preventable problem. I have been SO busy figuring out everything  over the past 3 1/2 years that had I made a concentrated effort of what I needed to know and where I was going to head, I would be 2 years ahead of where I am now. I’m not saying there’s no value in life as it happens; the wise will glean from all experiences. I am saying there’s a best way.

“Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence and honest purpose, as well s perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.”

Thomas A. Edison

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We Bought A Zoo (pass) [My Story]

Before I knew it, it was already nearly Thanksgiving last year before I had the money to buy our zoo passes. The Richmond Metro Zoo (which isn’t anywhere close to metro Richmond, by the way), is a favorite family past time.  We learn so much there and enjoy our walks as we get to know the different animals, their names and personalities.  Oh, did I mention how much of an incentive it is to get our work done in the mornings? Yeppers!

This year, I set aside would-be Christmas money for other toys or gifts-and earmarked it for zoo passes. BEFORE any torrential downpour of unexpected bank emptying  happenings had opportunity to rain on my parade this year, we went and got our passes yesterday. Any January 50 degree day deserves an adventure through the zoo. So it was. We bought a zoo pass, actually 4 zoo passes, and we took to the winding paths yesterday afternoon.

I’m sure you’ll get to know some of the animals due to the we bought a zoo pass thing as the year unfolds. But, yesterday’s big adventure for me was a new lens to play with. This Richmond area Photographer has a great day at the zoo anytime my camera is attached (and who could believe my boys almost hide my camera from me? it’s true!).

So, come with us, our first 2014 day at the zoo!

PS, my lens baby is awesome, Baby!

My Boy and His Dog [My Story]

My Boy and His Dog

After 15 years teaching full time, teaching now happens every day in our home. It has been like that for 10 years now.  And guess who gets the little boy who hates to sit for anything, whose mind is crazy active and who, at any given moment, is somewhere. Just somewhere. Let me take you back to the ball field a few years ago. To think our youngest was conceived at a ball field would be understandable, but I assure you that didn’t happen. Anything after that, save his actual birth, is fair game. (No pun intended) As soon as he was mobile everyone knew him.  Why? Because he.was.everywhere. And fast!

The bathrooms were an pretty good distance from the quad of fields. I remember one day asking a friend if she’d keep an eye on him while I ran up to the bathroom. Within our circle of moms watching both the game and our other children playing whatever keeps them occupied for the 18 hours (I kid!) we’re there, another friend chimes in.

“I’ll help her!”

Okaaayyy.

Then she says, “I’ve never seen anyone disappear so quickly. One second he’s right on our feet and the next he’s nowhere to be found.”

It was true. Funny thing (that wasn’t so funny as I made my fast trek to/from the restroom) is that this mom was the mom of 4 children including her twin toddlers.  And who was a handful? MINE!  True, true. He is. Comments  from friends and strangers are a consistent thing even to this day with my little guy. He’s a unique guy. A real gem. Always leaving adults both speechless and amazed but definitely entertained. Should that be counted on the plus side? My heart says absolutely yes.  (At this moment, I’m peeking over my screen as he plays with his  Spiderman, rolls a couple marbles around his hand because it “relaxes” him, crosses his arms in front of him in determination not to do what my eyes say he should be doing,  and…there he goes, back to work-whew!) But sometimes my mind just wonders.

Back to the ball field, he loves being outside. Homeschooling on days which require us sticking around home also requires-in no small way-that he gets outside. So, as he headed out with his backpack (for some unknown reason) to walk his dog, I decided to quietly follow him.

Like Dennis the Menace, his path was anything but straight.  It was, however, a wonderful thing to watch. My boy and his dog.

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