The World According to Angie

2010's Monday in Photos + Words

I'm making progress, slowly but surely, in pulling together the photos + words I collected last year into a cohesive album. Here's how Monday came together:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an excellent exercise to undertake ten days before beginning my 2011 round of "Week in the Life" documentation. I've found I'm taking note of those photos that are most meaningful to me, and those that I didn't capture, but wish I had. I've also discovered while I'm good about taking pictures for a week, my weakness lies in the documentation of words.

I'm going to work on that this year ... I've got some ideas.
 

It's nearly that time again!

Now that I'm back to work after five months of medical leave (which is a super long story for another time) I'm trying to be better about exercising good work habits. Why not start back off on the right foot, right? I've always been a little anal-retentive about calendar-keeping, but now I'm actually trying to make it work for me with things like time blocking.

So I was updating my Outlook calendar, looking ahead to the next several weeks, and I came across this:

It's almost that time again!  What time, you ask? Time for me to carry around a camera and a notebook for a week, annoying my husband, stepdaughter, and co-workers by taking photos of everything. Time for me to chronicle a little slice of our wonderfully normal, beautifully boring, simple everyday life as I undertake my annual "Week in the Life" photojournalism project.

 

It's Life Art at its finest. But most people don't have a clue what that means, so I describe it as photojournalism. That works, too.

A Week in the Life is the brainchild of the amazing + talented Ali Edwards. She did her project in late July this year for a summertime chronicle. Personally, I like to anchor mine on the calendar and do it each year the week of October 1st. That marks the transition to fall and my favorite time of year, as the weather begins to cool and Dallas becomes bearable once more. It's the start of football and halftime shows and all sorts of family goodness.

I like the way it ushers in the start of our fall-to-winter holiday season.

Someday, I might swap it and do an April 1 week, but for now, I'm happy with October. It's cool to go back and see what we were doing this time last year and the year before and ... you get the idea.

Speaking of which, I got a little <cough-cough> distracted and never actually completed last year's album. My momentum tends to run out by the end of a week of capturing words + photos. So I'm working to put it all together now, and that's getting me doubly excited for what I'm going to capture this year.

I love the day-of-the-week pages with their big ol' photos:

 

 

 

 





I'm using the 12x12 Week in the Life Layered Template Album available from Designer Digitals along with the coordinating 2011 Sentiment Tabs. So stinkin' cute. As my girlfriend Audrey Reed likes to say, it doesn't have to be difficult. And speaking of Audrey, all photographs are copyright me or her.

Daily pages to come!

Still taking photos...

I'm still taking photos of life here on the road, but I'm exhausted.  I just got into Winnipeg after a full day in Regina ... I checked into my room, situated my luggage, and had dinner delivered from a local italian place.  At this point, all I have the energy to do is eat and fall into bed.

I will share photos tomorrow, hopefully ... just didn't want y'all to think I was losing interest or getting distracted so quickly.

Until tomorrow...

Images of Business Travel: A Late Arrival

So long as I have a good book with me, I don't mind the time in the air.  I picked up several novels by an author I've not read before - his books are billed as a cross between Indiana Jones and The DaVinci Code - and I started the first one when I left Dallas.  By the time we were approaching Saskatoon, I was 230-some pages in.

Clearing customs in Saskatoon was a breeze.  They give you the form on the plane so you can have it all filled out before landing.  The lines were short (this is a Municipal Airport, not a big International one) and the process with the agent was also quick.  "I'm here on business.  For meetings."  And on to baggage claim I go.

One of the earliest memories I have of an airport is of going to Washington National - or is it Ronald Reagan? - to pick up my grandparents when they'd fly in on Eastern Airlines.  (How's that for dated?)  But the picture I have in my head is of standing at baggage claim, watching the carousel go by.  And it looked just like this one.

For anyone who is still operating under the delusion that business travel is glamorous, I offer you this photograph.  Okay, when I'm traveling with someone else, dining out can be fun.  But as a woman traveling alone?  Sometimes it can be downright unsafe.  So last night's meal was a grilled chicken ceasar salad from the nearby bar and grill, packaged up to go, eaten in bed.  Yeah.  Glamorous.

And it was sometime just before midnight - 1am Dallas time - when I finally settled in to sleep.

I'm off to the local office to get set up for today's sessions ... with camera in hand.  Honestly, I think the mini-album that will result from this trip will be almost more interesting to look back on ten years from now than the week-in-the-life one ...

Later!

The trek north continues...

American Airlines has spoiled me.  They actually have what you might call legroom... something that is nothing more than a myth on a United plane.

Seriously.  That's an overhead shot of me, in my seat, mid-flight.  The gentleman in front of me decided to recline his seat, which put his receeding hairline pretty much right even with my nose.  I had to recline to compensate, and then felt guilty for what I'd just done to the person behind me.

That pillow is my travel "wubie" ... it goes with me everywhere.  You don't honestly think the airlines give you a pillow any more, do you?

(For those of you with eagle eyes, the leg next to me is, in fact, clad in Army camo.  I was seated next to a delightful young man who was returning home from a tour in Iraq.  He's just 22.  So young... I made a point of thanking him for his service, and sharing about my Dad's 30 years.  He laughed and said he's been in for 4, and 30 just seems so far away.)

"Open overhead bins with care, as items may have shifted during our flight..."  Well, mine were spread between two bins.  My laptop case had to go about six rows ahead of me because the flight was so full.  My coat, thankfully, fit in the bin right above me.

Remember what I was saying about DFW making it easy to get around?  Well, here at Denver ... not quite as much.  I arrived around gate 20, and had to get to - get this - gate 94.  Now that was a hike.  There were a few moving sidewalks, but it still made for a heck of a haul.

Eventually, I made it.  It's a little bitty regional jet gate, where I get to walk out on the tarmac and up a set of stairs.  Oh, for joy...

Every business traveler's favorite sight - a power outlet.  My laptop will head on the plane with an almost-full charge.  Of course, this sight is a favorite second only to this:

Equipment that's waiting at the gate.  Speaking of which, it's time to board ... next stop - Saskatoon. 

Images of Business Travel

Gotta love modern-day air travel.  If you cut it too close in getting to the airport, you'll inevitably encounter delays at the counter and security that'll have you seriously sweating it.  On the other hand, if you arrive when they tell you - an hour and a half before domestic flights, two hours before international ones - you'll find you zip through in a matter of minutes and suddenly you have tons of time to kill.

So here I sit, at DFW Airport, with tons of time before my flight will board.  And a brilliant idea popped into my head.

In ten years, will I remember what business travel was like?  Will my nieces wonder someday what my life was like on the road?  Is that something a future Flinn might find interesting?

And another "week-in-the-life"-type project is born.

I've decided to snap photos with my little Elph throughout the course of this trip to capture what it's like to be on the road for business in 2008.  Or, at least, those things I'm allowed to take photos of.  Somehow I think the TSA agents wouldn't be so keen on me taking shots in line at security.

This is me at DFW Airport, ready for my trip.  Since I've got a pretty arduous day of travel ahead of me involving two flights, a layover in Denver, and a drive once I arrive in Saskatoon, I opted for blue jeans and running shoes.  Because the temperature in Saskatoon will be in the teens when I arrive tonight, I'm dressed in layers: a stretchy tee, a cable-knit zip-front sweater, and my black leather trenchcoat.  And, of course, I packed my leather Thinsulate gloves.

DFW Airport is full of escalators like this one that look like they go on forever.  This one took me up to the SkyLink, which I rode from Terminal B (where my flight is) to Terminal D (where the good shopping is).  I needed hand lotion, which seems to be the one thing I forgot to pack.  (At least, I'm hoping it's the one thing I forgot to pack...)

SkyLink is awesome.  It makes moving from one section of the airport to another extremely easy.  I rarely have to use it unless I park at the terminal for an out-and-back day trip, and wind up arriving at a different terminal than I departed from.  But seriously, I don't know why people complain about DFW Airport - as far as I'm concerned, it's one of the easiest airports to navigate.

Have tickets, will travel.  It's so very rare for me to have to make a connecting flight ... when I fly on American Airlines, everything domestic is a direct flight ... but the only way for me to get to Saskatoon, Sasketchewan was via either Denver or Chicago.  The cheapest flight combination wound up being on Air Canada, operated by United.

So I'm at one of the whopping three gates at DFW Airport that is operated by United, waiting not-so-patiently for them to announce boarding.

We'll see if I can actually keep up with the photo-taking throughout the course of this trip...!

Week In the Life: Sunday

It's taken me long enough ... here's the seventh and final day of my "Week in the Life".  (This post talks about the project, and you can see the full week's postings here.)

I didn't feel comfortable taking my camera into church and snapping away, although that was kind of dumb ... it wouldn't have been a problem, really.  Instead, I just took a shot of my bible, notebook, and church bulletin (this was the final week of Ed's series on Delicious).  I usually carry my big ol' NIV Life Application Study Bible to church with me, but this week I decided to take my new Maxwell Leadership Bible (a baptism gift from Audrey & Chris Reed).

Me, after church.  Do I look tired?  That's because Jim and I volunteered this week in the FC Kids area, assigned to a classroom of 2 and 3 year olds.  We attended first service, and served during second service.  We've been wanting to get plugged in with serving somewhere, and right now we're trying it out to see where we fit.  The kids were adorable, and there were several of them that took to me right away - especially when I sat down on the rug, picked up a book, and started reading to them - but at that age, it's like herding cats.  We decided to request the 4's and 5's next time to see if that's a better fit for us.

Veronica spent the afternoon playing on the "house computer".  We keep this in the main living area where we all hang out, in a high-traffic area, so we can easily monitor what sites she's visiting.  These days, it's mostly WebKinz, American Girl, BibleGateway (to study for school), and some of the electronic paper doll fashion sites.  This particular afternoon, she was engrossed in some sort of game that made lots of beeps and chirps.

Jim was also "computing", but his surfing was done from the comfort of his recliner.  It was probably email, or the Drudge Report, or some political videos on YouTube.

Lunch was from Chipotle.  I love their chicken burrito bowls.

I spent the majority of the afternoon in my studio, working on assignments for the online class I'm taking from Big Picture Scrapbooking, "Design Your Life".  Not only did I have Week One work to do, but I needed to do all the pre-work set-up I hadn't done yet.

6pm marked the end of our time with Veronica, and we dropped her off at her mother's church, the designated hand-off point.

The rest of the evening was spent in my studio.  Jim asked if he could bring his laptop in there and join me, and since I wasn't working on a messy project where I needed the entire table, I said yes.  (Of course.)

Not wanting to be left out, Eddie came in there with us.  Wherever we are, he must be... so I brought in one of the fuzzy blankets we keep for him, and he curled up for a nap at the foot of my paper racks.

And by bedtime, I had set up my Design Your Life binder and uploaded all the photos I needed to print for the first week's assignment.  This is the spine of the binder...

...and this is its face.  My "Week in the Life" project was at an end, but "Design Your Life" was just beginning - which is so totally me - always with a project in the works.

So, there you have it - a week in the life of me and my little family.  I'm so glad I participated in this project, and I hope you enjoyed this little peek inside our week.

Week In the Life: Saturday

Breakfast - whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and skim milk.

Oh, did I mention?  I broke program Friday night.  I think the headache was probably because of my body adjusting to the dietary change, but when I started with bad muscle cramps that just wouldn't stop - a result of the fact I was flushing fluids out of my body so fast it was taking the sodium and potassium with it - I decided I'd had enough.  We picked up potassium supplements for me to take when I make another attempt to get back on Medifast next week, but until then, I decided to give my body a break.

Veronica was quite excited about our morning plans: a hiking trip at Cedar Ridge Preserve on the other side of Dallas.  She'd never been hiking before, if you can believe it.

Jim broke out his bright orange Halloween shirt, claiming it was actually "hunter safety orange", so we could find him in the woods.  As if the glare off the top of his head wouldn't be enough of a beacon...

Eddie was so worried he'd be left behind ... and the smell of peanut butter drives him crazy.

So when I started packing the car, and left the door open, I turned back around to find this.  He was determined not to be left behind!  And considering that we had planned to take him hiking with us, we didn't drag his furry little butt out of the car.

Beautiful park, maintained by the Audubon society.  Gorgeous day for a walk in the woods.

So sweet... when they wanna be.

It felt GREAT to dust off the Camelbaks and use them for our hike.  They've been sitting unused since Jim's bike wreck last year.  I love the Army Camelbak my Dad sent me when I first started mountain biking.  It makes me feel so tough...

"Eddie, this is what we call nature..."

Jim perfected the art of shooting water from his Camelbak and letting Eddie drink from his hand.

When we got home, this is where I spent the next couple hours ... napping in my recliner, with Eddie curled up on my lap.  I call this my "happy place".

Time to hang my new Elfa shelving.  Yes, that's my drill.  I'm the proud owner of a Grizzly cordless drill.  (Thank you, Daddy!)

...and this is the finished product.  I only needed 3 shelves because these albums are pretty tall, but I sunk the anchors, hung the track, added the standards, and popped the shelves on.  Total time: maybe 15 minutes.  I rock.

So, with more of the mess in my studio organized and put away, I was able to enjoy a couple hours of work-time.  I'm taking Design Goddess Cathy Zielske's "Design Your Life" class from Big Picture Scrapbooking, and I caught up on my pre-work and Week 1 assignments.

See pizza.  See Angie have only one slice of pizza.  And a big green salad.

And we wrapped up our super-fun Saturday all curled up on the couch, watching Iron Man on DVD.

Six days of documentation down ... one more to go.

Week In the Life: Friday

I usually wake on Fridays with a song in my heart - the weekend is nigh! - but this week, I cracked my eyes and immediately cringed.  Nothing is worse than waking up with the onset of a migraine.  But I wanted to make a go of it for as long as I could at the office, so I whimpered my way into the shower and got ready for work.

Today was a blue jeans day at the office to raise funds for Special Olympics.  It's amazing how many of us will jump at the chance to fork over a couple bucks to wear denim to work.  Each time Lennox does one of these, they raise about $1200.

Didn't I look pathetic?  I huddled up in my office and tried to keep a low profile, knocking out what work I could while I tried to ignore the throbbing in my head.

I love working with my husband.  Seriously.  I think we might kill each other if we worked in super-close proximity like we did 2000-2004 (when my office was caddy-corner across the hall from his, and we were half of a four-person team) ... but with him on one end of the campus, and me on the other, working on the same eBusiness projects but in different roles - him as a technical team lead, me as product manager - we get all the best parts of working together while still having the time and space to carve out room for ourselves individually.

And that's way deeper than I was thinking on Friday morning when I took this photo of him before one of our team meetings.  I was just thinking about how his smile makes my heart go flip-flop.  (Spoken like a newlywed, I know...)

Lots of 2009 planning going on.  No matter how many electronic scheduling tools I use - and I live and breathe by Outlook and its integration to my Blackberry - I still HAVE to have a paper calendar.  Call it a quirk.

Now, I have a great photo that goes here in the timeline, and I almost shared it here on my blog ... but after thinking it through, I reconsidered.  It's a shot I took after I woke up from my Imitrex-induced nap ... when I discovered the pile of clothing - undergarments and all - I'd left on the floor as I stumbled into bed.  It perfectly captures my state of mind when I'm suffering from a migraine.

This weekend, Veronica was with us.  She was in a much more photogenic mood than on Thursday.

Jim, showing off his preferred glassware at the dinner table.

After dinner, we ran two quick errands: first stop, The Container Store, where we took advantage of their 25% Shelving Sale and bought another set of Elfa shelves.  This set was for my studio, to replace the unit I moved into the library.

I thought I was happy about the cooler weather?  That's nothing compared to how excited Eddie is that he gets to come with us in the car again.  I won't leave him in the car if it's warmer than 80, but he loves to curl up in the back window and hang out until we come back.

Jim and V were goofing off while I placed my order for the shelving pieces.  All the sudden I heard the sales ladies say, "Awwwwww!" - I turned around to find that they were dancing, and Jim had dipped her.  Yeah, yeah, yeah ... they're sweet.

Our second - and final - stop of the night was to WalMart.  The store near us is undergoing a renovation (which it sorely needed!) ... and I must say I like the new logo and marketing materials.

We went in there for dishwashing detergent ... and checked out with this pile of stuff.  Notice the new jersey sheets for our bed and the copy of Iron Man.  I was a happy girl.

Then, it was early to bed for all of us ... we had big plans for Saturday morning.

Week In the Life: Audrey's playing, too!

Well, sorta.  Click here to read about why Audrey captured her day in photos, and click here to enjoy her photo album from Wednesday.  Girl, they look awesome - what a cool slice of your life right now!