Man, and I ever terrible at this blog business. I think it's time to get back into the game, so here it goes: I'm a procrastinator so I'll do this tomorrow ;)

You will be Missed

I received this in a email from a friend, and thought it was worth the share.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge)..
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well -intentioned but over bearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason...
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers: I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

The Brick

I received this in an email and found it to be a good story so thought I would share.

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.

As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.

The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, 'What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?'

The young boy was apologetic. 'Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do,' He pleaded. 'I threw the brick because no one else would stop...' With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. 'It's my brother, 'he said 'He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up.'

Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, 'Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me.'

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat... He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay. 'Thank you and may God bless you,' the grateful child told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk
toward their home...

It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message:

'Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!' God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It's our choice to listen or not.

Thought for the Day:
If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.
He sends you flowers every spring.
He sends you a sunrise every morning.

Face it, friend - He is crazy about you!

Summer Fun

Despite the high winds yesterday, we decided to have some water fun.

Business Website

I have created a new website for my photography business. Feel free to go and visit it here. It's still being updated, arranged, added too, taken from....basically just not done! So if you see it changing constantly that is why. I am basically adding my favorite pictures at this point.

I have also created a website where clients can view all of their photos and place orders for prints, but that is still in progress as I need to get a tax ID from the state before I can open that for business.

River

RIVER RIVER RIVER...I can hardy contain myself. It's finally nice here in good ol' Bizzo, and I can't wait to get out to the river more.

This last Saturday Dustin begged and begged for a wakeboard, I said no a few times, until he made me an offer I couldn't resist. He said that is all he wanted for Father's Day....so I caved. Now we are the proud owners of a Hyperlite wakeboard.

We decided we couldn't wait until 'Father's Day' to try it out, so we took the 25 minute journey up to Nelson Lake on Sunday to try it out. BOY AM I SOAR!! Not only did I fail to actually get up on plain, but I managed to acquire around a dozen bruises. I could barely move on Monday and today isn't much better. ARG! Dustin did manage to get up, but only lasted about 10 seconds before he would panic when he got close to the wake and would let go. WUSS! Harley even gave it a try, and almost did better than me, but he

too failed to actually get out of the water. Oh well, we will get it. We plan to go and give it a try again this weekend. I can't wait!

This is what I call HOME...

Harley's Baseball

Well another season has started in baseball, and this year Harley is rocking it more than ever. He is pitching too, and let me say that not too many kids can get a hit off of him. I am more than impressed with his athletic skills. Can't wait to see what his future holds for him in sports, I have a feeling he is going to be big.

Here are a few shots of Harley that I was able to capture:

Dustin is coach of Harley's team this year, and let me say that he is doing awesome. It's so nice to see a coach out there that doesn't favor their own child (it's usually a dad from the team that coaches). Such a good coach he is.