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.
 

Happy 2010! (and my new favorite photo of all time)

I don't think I've ever been this relieved to welcome a new year ... a fresh start ... a chance to begin with a clean slate. 2009 put me through the wringer, and I'm ready to start anew.

But for all that, my 2009 holiday season was pretty darn good. Take, for example, this photo below:

It is now my all time favorite photo ever in the history of ever. My Jim shot it a couple days ago as we celebrated a belated Christmas in San Antonio with my family. My brother's youngest daughter, Lyla, was twelve kinds of tickled to be with her Aunt Angie, and I got plenty of hugs and kisses and giggles and grins. Being with her makes me deliriously happy.

And that's what I'm focusing on in the coming year: those things that feed my spirit, renew my soul, and bring me levels of delirious delight.

I'll get around to recording my other resolutions tomorrow. Tonight, I'll be dreaming of strawberry blonde curls, sticky kisses, and the sweet sound of her singing... "You are my Angie, my only Angie..."

It's a small thing, but it makes me happy

Autumn is coming to Dallas in a very "Texas" way ... with cool weather one moment and 90-degree temps the next. Since the weather won't exactly put me in a fall frame of mind, I have to work a little harder to enjoy my favorite season.

Today has been a decidedly "pumpkin" day. I had a Venti Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte for breakfast. (I swear, it's autumn-in-a-cup.)  Later, when I headed into Kroger to pick up groceries for the weekend, I spotted their display of pumpkins... and couldn't resist.

My dear, darling husband isn't much for seasonal decorating. He's been known to refer to holiday decorations by the oh-so-sensitive moniker of "Christmas crap". But he's lovingly supportive of my minimalist efforts to inject some small seasonal flavor into our home (in no small part, I think, because I keep it small).

Our dining table is now my go-to spot to do a smidge of decorating. My teeny-weenie pumpkin, a couple of apple-scented candles, and a bundle of flowers in varying shades of orange and red ... every time I walk through the house, I pass the table and see my little centerpiece and ... well, it makes me happy.

Ours isn't a fancy house, but it's a "homey-home" and a continual work in progress. And it's full of love. What more could I possibly want?

Santa Claus on Vacation

 

I was lounging on deck the last day of our cruise, and as I glanced over at my father, I realized I had to pick up my camera. IMMEDIATELY.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what Santa Claus looks like on vacation.

Dad's beard is just as thick and bushy as it is in November and December. (Okay, so maybe it's a little more grey than white, but he only bleaches it once a year.) It was utterly hysterical to be on the cruise with him and see how many people responded to his look with a double-take, a gasp, and the declaration, "It's Santa!"

There were the little kids in the Windjammer Cafe, staring at him all through breakfast.  There were the waiters and other staff members who greeted him with a chorus of, "Hey, Santa!" But funniest of all had to be the street vendors in Cozumel, Mexico who shouted "San Nicolas! Feliz Navidad!"

All right, I give in. I'll stop saying my Dad looks like a scary homeless man with that big, bushy beard. After all, how many people can bring so much joy to so many just by walking into a room?

I love ya, Santa-Daddy.

My Dad's "Mad Carpentry Skilz"

I've said it before, and I know I'll say it again: my father has mad carpentry skilz. Check out the custom TV stand he made for us for Christmas:

 

He was super-busy with other projects at the holidays, so we got an "IOU" for this. He didn't take long to deliver ... he and Mom came up for a short weekend trip a couple weeks ago just as soon as he got it finished.

  

The top of the cabinet is finished with this beautiful ceramic tile in dark earth tones. It compliments the grey plexiglass door fronts and the super-fun wrought-iron-type door pulls they found.

 

Best of all, the shelving is all adjustable, and has these sweet cut-outs for the cords, so everything's all nice, neat, and organized.  (I even have room to put my Wii Fit balance board on a shelf inside!)

My father never ceases to amaze me with his creativity and skill. And now, every time we sit down to watch TV, I'll smile and think of him.

Thanks, Daddy - you're the best!

The Happiest Place on Earth

If one has to do five weeks on the road, speaking for work, I can't think of a better way to begin than with two days at Disney World!

It's time for the Lennox Dealer Meetings, and I'm part of the presentation team again this year.  Our first meeting is in Orlando - well, okay, our first two meetings - so I'm here for a week.  Monday is dress rehearsal, Tuesday/Wednesday is meeting one, and Thursday/Friday is meeting two.

I love coming to Orlando.  It gives me a chance to visit with my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Keith, and their punks, Kyle and Krista.  (Love you guys!)

At our wedding last summer, Nancy told Veronica that she needed to have us bring her to Orlando, so we could hang out and go to Disney World.  My Uncle Keith and my cousin Kyle both work for Disney, and - get this - they can get us into the park.  FOR FREE.

Coming to visit them is a treat in and of itself.  Getting to see Disney, gratis?  TOTAL icing on the cake.

So Jim and V are joining me in Orlando this weekend.  They'll fly back home on Sunday morning, I'll get some time with Nancy and Keith by myself, and then I'll head to the Caribe Royale that evening to get started for work.

We're leaving in just a couple minutes to head to "The Happiest Place on Earth".  Today, we're doing Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom.  We're saving Epcot for tomorrow.

And yes ... my camera is coming with me.  <evil grin>

Christmas Flashback

Okay, Michael ... okay!  Your persistence has finally paid off.  I'll give you the goods on how my Dad fared in the annual Windcrest "Light-Up" contest.

In my defense, I was waiting to do a full write-up on this, including lots of photos, but I'm sort of working backwards through processing photos right now - most recent first - and those were shot in early December ... so it might be a while.  I did, however, manage to stitch together a rough panoramic of Dad's yard display:

 

(click it to see it a bit larger in another window)

That runs across the front of the house, around the corner, and down the side yard.  It's a LOT, LOT, LOT of stuff.

So, this year's theme was "Gingerbread Christmas".  Dad did a bunch of new pieces in that theme, including the most hysterical thing I've ever seen - a Gingerbread Nativity:

Mom and I agree that Joseph looks like a walrus.  (Sorry, Dad!)

Long story short, my Dad took 2nd place in the Handcrafted category.  We went and checked out the first place winner's yard, and all I can say is ... huh?  I mean, it was cute, but everyone says Dad got "robbed".  I figure either there's so much stuff in Dad's display that it's overwhelming to the judges' eye (I keep suggesting he only put out part of it each year, but Dad insists that MORE is BETTER!), or it was the fact that only part of the yard was in the gingerbread theme, or they were offended by the fudge factory.  Which I think is cute.  Nyeah.

None of us spent very long focusing on the fact that Dad took 2nd place this year.  The more time we spent outside at night, the more we saw the carloads of people driving by at 5mph to ooh and aah at the display, the more the kids would hang out the window and shout, "SANTA!" when they saw my dad ... the more it reminded us all why Dad does this each year.

It's not for the contest.  It's for the kids - both little and big.

One of my coolest memories from this holiday is the night that Mom hired a horse-drawn carriage to drive the five of us around Windcrest to look at the lights.

 

This was Apollo.  Don't you love the antlers?

  

Yeah, that's a big ol' cheesy grin on my face.  We were having so much fun!  Veronica had never been in a horse-drawn carriage before, so it was cool to share that with her for the first time.

  

And my Dad wore his full Santa get-up for the ride around the neighborhood.  You should have seen the looks on peoples' faces!  They were shouting and waving and grinning ... just about as much as we were.

What joy there is to be had in a couple yards of red velvet and white fur, and a pair of glasses perched on the tip of his nose.

Living Life

I'm soooooo behind on blogging ... but I comfort myself by saying I've been busy living life these past few weeks.  I hope to catch up and record a few of my Christmas memories in the days before I return to work ... but I'm awful glad I took the time to enjoy this:

 

And this:

 

Among other things.  Now, if you'll excuse me, a certain fairy princess wants me to come play dress-up with her.

My Contribution to Dad's Yard

I'm spending an incredible weekend with my parents in San Antonio while Jim knocks out Christmas prep back home in Dallas.  This is the weekend of Windcrest Light-Up, where all the residents of the city decorate their yards for the holidays and keep them lit every night until the New Year.

My Dad has been preparing for weeks.  This year's theme is "Gingerbread Christmas", so he made a bunch of new lawn ornaments.  Mom and I spent nearly all day yesterday painting.  And this, ladies and gentlemen, is my contribution to this year's display:

 

Just in case you can't tell what it is: it's a gingerbread outhouse, with a gingerbread man, holding a roll of toilet paper ... and the building is labeled Fudge House. 

It is what I'd term delightfully tacky ... quite like my family.

More photos will follow tonight, once the finishing touches are applied to the yard and the judging begins at 6pm.  Until then, I've got more painting to do - there's a gingerbread doghouse and replicas of my parents' three dogs.

Yeah.  Dad is insane.  But at least he lives in the right neighborhood for this kind of insane...

Santa Honors The Reason For The Season

I almost feel bad for my previous cranky post, so I figure I ought to leave my blog sitting on a happier note.  And this is the perfect way to do that.

My father loves Christmas.  I know I've blogged about this in the past ... his fetish for yard decorations that has become an all-out month-long obsession, but it's okay because they live in Windcrest, where they encourage that sort of thing ... but in recent years, Dad has taken it to a new extreme.  He has become Santa Claus.

I'm sure my shrink would have a field day with this:  Dad has grown his hair long and white, and his beard gets longer by the day.  He actually asked me in this sad little voice if I wanted him to cut it short for my June wedding.  When I said no, of course not, he sounded so relieved.  "After all," he told me, "Christmas is coming!"  (Yeah, Dad ... in five months!)

Dad wears the color red almost exclusively in the month of December.  His red t-shirt collection is ginormous.  Jim and I gave him a new one this weekend that says, "Who's Your Santa?"  I am such an enabler.

Speaking of enabling, my Mom just finished his new Santa suit.  (I'm not kidding.)  And Dad was very specific about what he wanted.  It looks absolutely gorgeous.  And with the accompanying fat suit (because my Dad's lost weight, and looks great!) HE SERIOUSLY IS SANTA.

I bet they have medication for this kind of thing.

Before we left San Antonio on Sunday morning, I took this photo:

 

Mom & Dad had this specific vision for what they wanted the photo to look like.  Dad built the cradle out of rough cedar planks, and we found a spot on the side yard where the light was good and I had a pretty decent background.  I set up my Speedlight and shot it through a diffuser on a stand (good night, I love that thing!) for some additional soft lighting from the left.

The only thing I'm not happy with is the fact that the baby's face is so much in focus.  It was supposed to be a more symbolic shot, and it would have been better if I'd framed it so you didn't see the face so much.  I may do a bit more work in Photoshop ... in post-processing, I've added a soft filter and an edge burn to give the photo the look you see above ... but I guess I'm mostly happy with the results.

As much as I may poke fun at him, I love my Dad to pieces.  His love for all things Christmas is just part of the little boy inside him.  And truthfully, it's tough not to get in the Christmas spirit when you're around my Dad for a while.  I'm so excited to go back to visit my folks in less than two weeks; I'll get to join them on Saturday morning when Dad plays Santa at the local elementary school, and on Sunday night for the annual Windcrest Light-Up.

And since Veronica asked when she'd get to see her Oma and Opa for Christmas, we're taking another trip the weekend after my visit, the weekend before Christmas, so she can get a full dose of their spirit.

My family is insane.  I love it.