Did you know I give classes to help moms and dads take better pictures of their kiddos?

Here are some snapshots from a recent class:

This is the first shot I took.  She doesn’t look very enthused, does she?

But, she warmed up quickly!

Here is her mom practicing:

Seriously, I think we do.  It was AMAZING to see how everyone pulled together to help everyone else. 

We helped several of our neighbors take down their fences, with my chainsaw-weilding hubby.  He and some of the other guys also helped out a couple of the neighbors with huge trees on their houses and in their driveway.  We all shared what ice we had, and we took ice to our elderly neighbor, Miss Elsie.  We hosted campfires in our little outdoor fireplace each night, and all we were missing were the marshmallows for the kids!  Maria and Sean offered up their home for James, so his mom, Lauren, could visit his sister in the hospital.   The kids played outside all day while we worked in the yards  (imagine that!)  My doodlebug and our neighbor, Brooke, both 5, had pinecone picking up races!  We all pooled our frozen foods together to get the most use of everything before it went to waste in the trash.  For any of us individually, we would have been eating some pretty blah meals, but thanks to Jude and her resourcefulness, we ate like kings.  (I think she missed her calling as a chef!)  She doesn’t have a gas stove, so she took turns on mine and our neighbor Maria’s.  Over the last few days, she made us crab and corn chowder, beef and pepper noodles, salmon and scallop alfredo.  I mean, who eats like that after a hurricane? 

Cleaning up the mess was definitely a lot of hard work, but it is amazing what fun we had at the same time.  We are just so blessed that no one was hurt, there wasn’t really any major damage around us, and I think that it really made all of us take a moment to reflect on what really matters - the people we care about!  

There are so many others that I’m not mentioning, but my hat is off to ALL of you!

Here are just a few images I took with my little point and shoot.  (It was still too rainy out for me to take out the big cam!)

As a hurricane like Ike gets closer and closer, it prompts us to do some things that have been on our to do list, but that haven’t been too pressing.  One that everyone I know seems to agree on is archiving their digital photographs.  They are precious memories that could all too easily be destroyed with the loss of a computer. 

The digital revolution has made it so convenient to overshoot that most people have thousands upon thousands of digital photos stored on their computers, because it can be overwhelming to go through them, print and archive the ones they love.  The problem is that hard drives fail and computers can be damaged.  So, please do not rely soley on this one place to store your precious memories.

What can you do?  How can you make it less overwhelming to get started if you’re behind?  Well, there are lots of options, varying in cost from free (we all like free!) to hundreds of dollars.  If you’re like me, you’ll choose multiple options, just to be sure!

1) Upload your images to an online service - for FREE!  I use google for my email, calendar, etc, so it only made sense for me to use their Picasa Web Album service, since I can easily click to it from any other application, and I don’t even have to bookmark the site or remember yet another login.  But, there are tons of others that are very similar.  Even the sites where you can print will store your images online for months at no charge.  Picasa gives you over 1000 MB of free storage, so start backing up today!

2) Backup to CD’s or DVD’s.  Each has pros and cons.  If a disk gets corrupted, losing the amount of data on a CD would be much less painful than the amount of data on a DVD.  But, with DVD’s, you have more stored on each one, and less physical disks to store.  Both CD’s and DVD’s can get corrupted, and the scary part is that it could be in 10 years… or it could be in 10 days.  So, don’t count on these as long term storage!  But, if you’re going to use this option, consider the archival gold products, which are rated to 100 years.  I still wouldn’t put all my eggs in one basket, so to speak, but definitely a better alternative.  Also, consider making duplicate copies of your disks as you make each one.  Store one at home, and one in another location:  grandma’s house, safe deposit box, off-site storage, etc. 

3) Use an external hard drive.  An external hard drive is similar to the hard drive in your computer, so it can hold lots of information, but it’s not in your computer, it’s external.  So you can plug it in and backup as needed.  Or, should you need to leave your home quickly (due to a fire, or uh-hem, a hurricane) you can just grab it and go.  Again, keep in mind that hard drives do fail, so consider a second backup source as well.

4) Use a RAID system.  It’s basically two hard drives in your computer, one that you use to access and modify files, and the other that is an exact copy of the first.  So, it cuts your actual storage in half, but you always have your files backed up in case one of the hard drives fails.

4) Use an online backup service.  What’s that?  Well, it’s not just a host for photographs like Picasa.  It backs up your entire computer, or just the files you choose.  Check out carbonite.  It’s just $50 per year, regardless of the amount you backup.  Use it to backup your photographs, and other important files too.  The initial backup may take days or even weeks (check the details of the one you choose), so it’s not the best option if you’re in a hurry (for instance, if you’re evacuating from a hurricane!)  But, do it to be prepared for whatever comes at you next!

5) Don’t forget to actually print your photographs.  Okay, I know you don’t want to print all of them.  But, it’s important to at least print your favorites.  If you have lots of prints, they can be hard and heavy to transport when you’re trying to get out of your house in a hurry.  But, it’s important as a long-term archiving process, in case the digital media fails.

Now, which one do I use?  I use them all!  Seriously.  Now, I’m just like everyone else.  I’m behind at printing my snapshots and at burning my backup DVD’s.  But, for peace of mind, I have my RAID backup and my carbonite online backup, and the other options I use as needed.  If I could recommend just one, it would be carbonite.  I just can’t get over how cheap it is, and the fact that it backs up ALL the files on my computer, for such a small fee per year!  But, for now, just start burning disks and uploading to Picassa before we lose electricity!

STAY SAFE!

Due to Hurricane Ike,

this has been re-scheduled for

Saturday, 9/20.

See you then!

Here are some shots from my afternoon in downtown Atlanta.

I thought the juxtaposition of the old with the new was really interesting. 

I stopped to chat with a policeman near this church and told me that if I like it from the outside, that I just had to go in.

He was right…

This is the outdoor fountain at the Marriott where we had our classes the first couple of days. 

We didn’t get a chance to go to this place, but I thought it was cute, and that red sure made it stick out in the midst of all the downtown concrete.

This is taken from the bottom floor of the building that holds the PPA offices.  I thought it was really neat that you could look up and see this view.

This is the exterior view of our hotel.