Lens

December Daily 2015

This year I decided to make a 4 x 4 album. I also decided not to try to make it day by day during December -- the very thought stressed me out (although I've done it that way other years.) But I gathered supplies and took pictures, obviously. On Monday this week I edited pictures like a fiend, ordered the prints locally, and picked them up in the evening. Tuesday I spent a good chunk of the day putting it all together, writing the journaling, embellishing, etc. 

Here are a few pictures that show what it looks like: 

WOYWW 343: The Last One of 2015

Dear WOYWW friends and any other visitors who venture here,

I hope 2015 has been a happy fruitful year for you and that 2016 brings peace and joy and good health.

[WOYWW = What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, a fun once-weekly blog hop]

Here's my desk yesterday afternoon before I began putting together my December Daily album (which I only do through 12/25):

And here is the completed album, approximately nine hours later:

It's one of those little 4x4 albums and I did my journaling on tags (hence all the twine). It might be a tad overstuffed? :-)

And finally, today, the messy aftermath:

December Daily

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, I'm going to do December Daily this year! But I've decided that I will wait to work on it when I am off of work at the end of the month. Between shopping, wrapping, Christmas cards and just the daily life things that must be done, I decided not to add DD to that mix. But I have my little 4 x 4 album and page protectors, plus some papers cut down to size and embellishments and will be trying to write down ideas for the stories. I may or may not have ordered some more embellishments from Scrapbook.com. 

If anyone visits, are you doing DD? What are your plans?

~ Laura 

Week in the Life: Day Seven

[Link to Ali Edwards' Day Seven post]
[Link to my Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five, Day Six posts]

Miraculously (and probably because she was playing for special music) G. got up and ready for church with no nagging required. She brushed her hair out and asked me to braid it for her.   

This was a funny moment. She had been doing some funny poses and our pastor came up behind her and she didn't realize it until afterwards. 

I went over to my parents' house to help Mom with her computer and took a picture of her garden.


She sent me home with a lovely bag of homegrown goodies. I immediately put some of these yummy things into a salad for my late lunch. 


On the way home from my parents' house I picked up a soda for me and a soda for K., as well as the Sunday New York Times. Although I do read a ton of news online, I really do prefer reading the paper when I have a chance to do so. My grandmother always read the Times every Sunday and attempted the crossword puzzle in ink. I thought the cover story of the magazine was very interesting -- it is all about how artistic people are finding ways to make money in the digital world. 

We got our firewood delivery recently and my husband is working to make room for it. He is moving the older (more dry) wood from outside the garage into the garage and then this newer (wetter) wood will go in that spot.


A selfie by the hedge as I wait for my family to get ready to go for an evening walk. 

A picture of my cutie pie. She is so beautiful, but doesn't always see it. I tell her every day. 


When we got back from our walk it was almost completely dark and the moon was out. The sounds of summer were in the night air. A nice way to end Week in the Life!

 

Week in the Life: Day Six

[Link to Ali Edwards' Day Six post] 
[Link to my Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five posts]

Saturday morning we all slept in -- a lovely luxury when we are able to do it. I had a late morning hair appointment, so we all piled in the car. After that my husband wanted to stop at Home Depot for something and then we had lunch at Wendy's. We don't do a lot of fast food, but I do like the Diet Vanilla Cherry Coke that our Wendy's has available. On this day, the Vanilla Cherry was out (boo) but was able to choose Diet Cherry. Diet soda is my addiction that I'm going to cut back on again when we get home from our vacation. 

My beautiful 11-year-old, who still likes to take some of her favorite "friends" with us on our adventures. Sometimes it drives me a little nuts (because I don't want them to get lost or get food on them) but I also know I'll look back on this fondly. 

Grocery shopping


My husband about to change the oil in my car


Daughter relaxing with Minecraft


I completed a bingo in the fun summer reading bingo challenge set up by the Books on the Nightstand podcast hosts. 

In the evening we three went up to church so kiddo and her Daddy could practice some music for tomorrow morning. I happily tagged along and took some pictures. 

I'm petering out with regard to the daily blogging of this project, but I'm glad to be doing it still. One more  day!

Week in the Life: Day Five

[Link to Ali Edwards' Day Five post] 
[Link to my Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four posts]

The last work day for this project and I'm glad. My schedule is more open and full of family and enjoyable activities on the weekend, so I'm looking forward to some different subjects and locations. 

I feel like I keep having to learn the same life lessons over and over again. I can't drink caffeine regularly and keep on an optimum schedule. I haven't been staying up all that late, but I haven't been able to get out of bed this week. I have to get to a point where I'm willing to trade an hour of late night quiet time for an hour of time in the early evening where I can do more cooking and have more time with G. Also, I'd be getting to work an hour earlier, which would be good. 


An odd picture to be sharing, but the reason I chose to take it is because I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo earlier this year and while I rolled my eyes at some of what she wrote and found other advice less relevant to me, I did decide to arrange this drawer differently and have found it useful. 

This is my first week with these new glasses. I was very overdue to get some and now have progressive lenses in my regular glasses, which I'm having to get used to. I'm thrilled to have prescription sunglasses again. 

My summer wardrobe includes lots of maxi skirts -- so very comfortable. 


When I decide to try to wean myself back off the diet soda again, flavored seltzers like this are my "tool" to help. 

 

Week in the Life: Day Four

[Link to Ali Edwards' Day Four post]
[Link to my Day One, Day Two, Day Three posts]

Depending upon where you park, you can sometimes see the river running by.


Reading in bed before getting up for the day. 

I brought my lunch for the first time this week -- leftover goulash -- and began reading a book of short stories on my iPad. 

My husband had some of the leftovers for dinner, as did I. I very rarely eat the same thing twice in one day, but it was quick and I was hungry. My daughter doesn't like mushrooms, so had cereal for her dinner, but then opted to try some of the goulash anyway and liked it ok. She's a bit of a fussy eater when it comes to trying anything that's not what she's used to, so I was glad. 

Kiddo is going to play a clarinet piece in church Sunday that her Daddy is, in this photo, in the process of composing for her. She's an enthusiastic beginner at clarinet, having switched mid-year from flute. 

Since we are in the process of getting ready for school to start, I decided to sort through G's fall and winter clothes from last year to see if there is anything we should set aside to donate to the church rummage sale. I went through her dresser drawers and through the bin in the cellar. I was doing laundry anyway, so the two tasks seemed to be complementary. Since her summer clothes still fill the dresser, this basket will just get tucked into her closet for now. 

Today was the first day all week, I think, that we had rain. 

Week in the Life 2015: Day Three

[Link to Ali Edwards' Day Three post] | [Link to my Day One post, Link to my Day Two post]

A huge pot of well-tended petunias in front of the building I work in


Lunch at Subway with my sweethearts, including a crunchy treat I don't indulge in very often, but has been a favorite snack food since I was a teenager

My daughter texting from her Dad's iPad in the car on the way down to pick me up for lunch. Features the word "Moo" which is a favorite all-purpose word right now -- and reminds me of a story to tell -- plus it amuses me the way she uses so many emoticons.

To be continued . . . 

 A few more pictures from Day Three (Wednesday):

I'm trying to remember to capture some of the pretty things I see every day (and never take the time to photograph.) 


I love ivy-covered buildings. 


I love this relaxed moment in time on a hot summer evening. 

Week in the Life 2015: Day Two

[A link to Ali Edwards' Day Two post] | [Link to my Day One post]

Each year I both want to do this project and don't want to do it (because taking pictures all day can get a little tedious.) 

But I need to remember moments like Monday night on our walk, when I realized that the way G. would scooter ahead of us, asserting a little independence, then wait for us to catch up, was a metaphor for this phase of our life as a family. Or the moment when we were crossing the street at dusk and I was concerned for her crossing safely and she was equally concerned for my safety. 

Here's a dramatically lit picture of Tuesday's breakfast:

 

Podcasts in regular rotation for my commute

Out for a walk & bike ride in the early evening

I get "brave" with a natural light selfie featuring no makeup and end-of-the-day hair. Also, this is my first week with these new glasses, so that's noteworthy. 

My favorite memory of last night (Tuesday) was brushing out my daughter's hair and braiding it for her, then having some snuggling time on the couch. Now that she's 11, we don't always have a lot of time for that anymore. *sniff* 

 

Week in the Life 2015: Day One

One of the reasons I blog is to participate in the creative community online. For the same reason, I often choose to participate in challenges or blog hops. This week Ali Edwards is doing her Week in the Life photography/memory-keeping/scrapbooking project and I'm joining in. 

For me, this will mean trying to take more pictures than in a normal week without making it into a chore. I would actually prefer to be doing this during a vacation week, but most of our summer is like this, where I am at work and my husband and daughter are at home or out and about with various activities. I'm not going to worry about having pictures of what they are doing until the evenings or weekend days. 

Here are some pictures I've taken so far today.