Beth’s Blog

Moore County Chamber Announces Finalists: Small Business and Entrepreneur Business of the Year

For Immediate Release
January 24, 2008

Contact: Linda M. Parsons, Vice President
Phone: 910.692.2936
Email: lparsons@moorecountychamber.com

Moore County Chamber Announces Finalists: Small Business and Entrepreneur Business of the Year

SOUTHERN PINES, NC – The Moore County Chamber of Commerce announced at a press conference on January 24, 2008 the six finalists for the Chamber’s Small Business and Entrepreneur Business of the Year Awards. The winner of each of these awards will be presented at the Chamber’s Annual Banquet on January 31, 2008 and is made possible in partnership with Progress Energy.

“The Chamber is proud to showcase the six finalists and their contributions to the enrichment of Moore County’s business Community,” stated Sherwood Blackwood, 2008 Chairman of the Board. According to Sherwood, “The Chamber was looking for a business that despite facing tremendous adversity would do it all over again, and whose fervor for running a business is rivaled only by their willingness to serve the community.”

The criteria for both awards included innovation, response to adversity and community involvement. For innovation the businesses needed to cite examples as to marketing ideas, overcoming significant challenges, employee relations, customer development, technology, distribution and competitive advantages. The category of adversity, the business needed to show how they addressed significant challenges, overcoming one or more of the following: Employee relations, growth, training, retention, management and technology. In the last category the business needed to indicate their involvement in the community, not including industry related organizations or affiliations. The steering committee that reviewed the applications received were Chamber executives and economic development executives from outside of Moore County.

The three finalists for the Entrepreneur Business of the Year Award have been in business less than five years and with less than 50 full time employees. These finalists include HomeChoice Network Inc., Bliss, A Salon Experience and Weichert Realtors, Larose & Company. The finalists for the Small Business of the Year Award have been in business more than five years and also have less than 50 full time employees. These finalists include Pinestar Farms Inc., ConnectNC Inc., and Moore Uniforms. The final award winner of each category will be presented at the Annual Banquet on January 31, 2008 at the Carolina Hotel.

For more information or to purchase tickets to the Moore county Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet visit www.moorecountychamber.com or call (910) 692-3926.

The mission of the Moore County Chamber of Commerce is to provide quality, value-added services and programs to members to unite Moore County area businesses in a committed effort to strengthen the economic environment and thus, improve the quality of life for all of Moore County. With nearly 800 members the Chamber is instrumental in Advancing Commerce and Community and exists to help strengthen the local economy and promote comprehensive community development.

Linda Parsons
Vice President
Moore County Chamber of Commerce
10677 Hwy 15-501
Southern Pines, NC 28387
910.692-3926 Fax 910.692-0619

Advancing Commerce and Community

Some lab values

I got the results of the tests done Monday at Duke. The full report was faxed to my office, and I haven’t seen it yet, but here’s what I have so far.

M-Spikes (I have two m-spikes)

Last month: 0.19 and 0.12 g/dL (Total is 0.31 g/dL)
This month: 0.16 and 0.22 g/dL (Total is 0.38 g/dL)

Immunoglobulin Profile

Last month: IgA 374 mg/dL Reference: 46-287
This month: IgA 465 mg/dL Reference: 46-287 (up 91)
Last month: IgG 709 mg/dL Reference: 588-1573
This month: IgG 603 mg/dL Reference: 588-1573 (down 106)

I have July and August here. Needless to say, I was fervently hoping for a drop in the IgA and an increase in the IgG.  The one good thing is that the IgG is still in the normal range, where it has never been since I learned I had MM.  It was usually below 300 mg/dL.

Can someone give me a good explanation about why I have two m-spikes? I’ve asked doctors about a zillion times, and I have either forgotten what they told me or didn’t understand it well enough to even remember.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Americans Enjoying Thanksgiving Tradition Of Sitting Around At Airport

The IMF and cast of Everybody Loves Raymond honor Peter Boyle

This is from Access Hollywood. Way to go, IMF!

Hollywood Radar: November 12, 2007
All Access
The cast of “Everybody Loves Raymond” honored the late Peter Boyle at the International Myeloma Foundation Event to benefit the Peter Boyle Memorial Fund. And, Jerry Seinfeld’s “Bee Movie,” which open in second place last week, moved up to number on with $26 million.

To see a short video, click here.

To make a contribution to the International Myeloma Foundation, click here.

If you’re looking for real estate in Pinehurst, North Carolina, see Mary Bourgeois

Great weather

It was about 70 degrees here today, which was fabulous. We walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch and didn’t need our coats.

I tried out a new chair at work. I need something on which I can put up my feet. When they’re not up, I have an increase in that neuropathic pain. I’m going to pile some pillows up on the foot rest tomorrow to see if that helps. Otto suggested some T.E.D. socks, so I’m going to look for them next time I’m out someplace.

Visit The Sandhillsteam for all your Pinehurst Real Estate needs.

Dog Training Supplies

I just found out my new friend, Meg Dye,  is a world renowned animal training expert.  She also sells dog training supplies like dog training clickers and books like Ken Ramirez’s Animal Training: Successful Animal Management Through Positive Reinforcement .

I’ve been postponing trying to train my dog to be calm around other dogs and now I have an expert to consult with.

Almost a week

Tomorrow it will be a week since I got home. I’ll have an appointment with my local oncologist for a blood test. I’ll have a weekly blood draw until I go back to Duke in about 3-4 weeks. I don’t even remember when my appointment is, so I’m counting on them sending a reminder!

I think it will be a good long while before I leave home again. I keep finding things that remind me not to trust people. For example, in my back yard someone took an old broom and burned the end of it off. There’s an ashtray on my deck with cigarette butts in it. Things are missing (including prescriptions like percocet and xanax).

I have some lingering side effects from the SCT. There’s fatigue, which must be from anemia (I’m guessing). My eyes water constantly. I have a lot of trouble getting to sleep at night. The first several days I had achy legs, but that’s better now. I have what looks like mild rosacea. I feel like I lost muscle mass while I was gone, because my legs are weak. I’m walking every day, but probably not as much as I should. Last, but not least, my GI tract is still not normal. I was told it could take up to a month for that to get better. I plan on writing more about what the mucositis was like. I’m just not sure when. My concentration is weak, so writing is a chore. Oh! If you’re waiting for a reply from me via email, I promise to get that done soon.

Home at last!

I made it home yesterday.  I’m SO glad to be here. I went straight to bed when I got home, and slept for what felt like forever.  I got up at 5:30 this morning, walked the dog and then went back to bed until 10:30.  It felt great to sleep in. It’s nice not to be on anyone else’s schedule.  I found myself feeling bored this afternoon, but that passed.

Thanks to everyone who made this easier for me.  You all know who you are. Thanks especially to Rachel and Monica.

More tomorrow!

Crazy hot

It’s been inexcusably hot here lately. This picture is from yesterday afternoon. Today is supposed to be better, although the forecast still indicated a high of 101 F. I don’t know if it will get that hot though, because it’s only 88 F at 1:00 PM. Temperatures are supposed to be in the 90s after this, for the next several days. We need rain!

This post has a picture I took of the outside temperature indicator in my car on Tuesday.

2007 US Womens Open

The 2007 US Womens Open is being played in Southern Pines this week. I don’t know anything about golf, and am not a sports fan. I believe that if you like a sport or activity, you should do it, rather than watching other people do it. I’m baffled by the attraction to sporting events, and think it’s one of the biggest wastes of time and money on the planet. Imagine what would happen if we, as a society, spent all that money on education or medical research?

What was I going to write about? I can’t remember now.

Server moved

We moved this server to the new building today, so it was shut off for a few hours. Sorry for the inconvenience!

How to get to London

Do you need driving directions to London? Someone at Google has a good sense of humor! Step 31 tells me to swim across the Atlantic Ocean.

Mayo Clinic

I have a May 9th appointment to see Dr. Hayman at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. I’m looking forward to getting a fresh perspective on my case. In addition, I may get some testing that hasn’t been done before. I’m not sure what all will be done, but I was told to expect to stay 2-4 days. That’s not very helpful while making flight reservations, but I had to have a Saturday night stay anyway for a better fare.

My uncle Jon died this morning. He had stomach cancer, which had spread to his liver. His stomach had been removed months ago. When he found out he was sick, he was given 6 months to live. He survived 14 months. This was my dad’s brother. I admit I’m not sure how old he was, but I think he was in his late 60s. We aren’t a close family. I would guess that it’s been over 15 years since I even spoke to my uncle. Heck, I have a brother I haven’t seen or spoken to in something like 2 years (and we don’t even know where he is). We just don’t have the kind of bond that a lot of families have, extended or nuclear. It just occurred to me at this moment that I should probably call my dad tomorrow to see how he is. This was his brother. I don’t think they were close, but a brother is a brother. Hmm. Well, he’s only even come to see me once in the 4 years since I was diagnosed with myeloma.

Since I’m on a roll about families, I’m going to talk about the tragedy at VT. I can’t imagine the grief that the families and friends of the victims must be feeling. I hope they have the support they need. I think it’s somewhat shameful that this is all we’re going to hear about on TV news programs for a while. In my mind, it kind of takes away the dignity of the victims.

Can we stop things like this from happening? I don’t know. Parents, pay attention to your kids. If they have no friends, and are sullen and angry, something’s wrong. Get help.

Not that this is going to stop any future murders, but let’s at least require US citizenship for the purchase of firearms. Then let’s talk about why a citizen needs to have automatic weapons.

Blogs

You know by now that I love blogs. I think they’re great. We just created a company blog for ConnectNC at http://weblog.connectnc.com. The picture in the header is one I took about a month ago at a park nearby. It’s even more beautiful now that the trees and other plants are in bloom. I’ll go out again this week to take more pictures.