A Photo A Day [Day 21]

Day 21

Aah, Sunday. The day of the week I dread the most. Why? Because it's paperwork day. The day I catch up on that mountain of paperwork that seems to pile up every week and needs sorting: bills to pay, financial statements, coupons to clip, grocery store ads, new recipes to try, articles about those exotic places I want to visit, etc. This is what the weekly spread usually looks like. I'll break it all down for you so you can fully understand the depth of my weirdness.

Exhibit 1: All of the recipes I rip out from magazines or print off the internet get filed away by category in these six folders.

Exhibit 2: More folders for filing articles about travel, exercise, Christmas gift ideas, and future crafting/sewing projects.

Exhibit 3: Since I don't have time to properly sort everything during the week, anything I rip out of a magazine or print out gets thrown in this folder until I can file it away on Sunday. I also catalog my coupons and go through the weekly grocery store ads to plan my shopping and meals for the week.

Exhibit 4: I write down the name of every movie I want to see in this tiny notebook and cross them off once I've seen them. I try to update it on a regular basis as new movies are released.

Exhibit 5: Whenever I finish a book I record it in this notebook with the date I finished. I jot down a few thoughts on the book or something in life it's made me ponder. It's fun to go back and see what I was reading a year ago and what I was thinking about in life.

Exhibit 6: During the week I put any bills and important paperwork that comes in the mail into this portfolio so I can stay on top of paying those bills each Sunday.

Am I the only freak who does all of this?

Participating in Positively Positive's A Photo A Day Project
This week's theme: "Routine"

A Photo A Day [Day 17]

Day 17 - Trash Day

I know, I know. Again with an awesomely exciting picture! I hope your heart can take it. Took the trash out tonight, which is a Wednesday night routine. I clearly lead an exciting life.

Experimenting with a new photo editing technique I just discovered. When done properly (unlike what you see here) it makes your photos look like pictures of miniature models. You can check out other more talented pictures at Flickr and experiment with it yourself at http://tiltshiftmaker.com/.

Here are some better versions I came up with using some of my old photos:





Participating in Positively Positive's A Photo A Day Project
This week's theme: "Routine"

A Photo A Day [Day 16]

Day 16 - Working Out

I'm having a hard time coming up with anything remotely interesting for this theme. Not faulting the theme but rather myself here. I think I'm just not thinking outside of the box on this one. I poked around online for inspiration and aside from the numerous photos of toilets and men in showers I now need to erase from my mind I didn't find much that helped. The only bright spot was when I stumbled across this photo of Darth Vader having his morning coffee. You know you're dying to check that one out.

If this week's photos bore you I will understand. That's all I'm trying to say. I can never be as creative and kooky as that photographer.

Today you get to see my elaborate workout setup. In the interest of revealing way too much information I'll tell you my little tale of woe: I used to weigh something like 230 pounds. Now I don't. It's a miracle! Or the result of big changes in diet and a lot of exercise. It'd be nice if I could say I have the sort of metabolism that allows me to maintain that without exercising but the truth is I'd balloon back up if I didn't. I know I'd make the effort and work out even if weight weren't a factor as there's a history of heart disease in my family, but it'd be nice if I could go a few days without working out now and then. But I can't. Six to seven days a week you'll find me doing some sort of exercise. Definitely a big part of my daily routine!

One way I keep myself entertained and distracted from the grueling misery is watching some of my favorite shows while I exercise. My favorite shows happen to be British, and while BBC America is occasionally useful in airing some of those they're typically a few months or even years behind the UK. I have to resort to downloading a lot of what I watch because it's just not available here. I guess they think we're not ready for that level of culture and sophistication. So here you see one of our laptops hooked up to the TV, ready to transmit "The IT Crowd" for my viewing pleasure. The other laptop, while old and slow, is necessary to play my exercise DVD. Yes, I know it seems like a lot of work to hook everything up like this but I figure if my goal is to burn calories I can afford to make a little extra effort. The slave driver/exercise instructor you see on the screen would surely approve of my suffering.

And before you say it, I do know I'm a spoiled dork to have two laptops and access to downloaded British shows.

Participating in Positively Positive's A Photo A Day Project
This week's theme: "Routine"

A Photo A Day [Day 15]

Day 15 - Cupcake Monday

Time for a new theme and this one seems custom tailored to me. Positively Positive has chosen "routine," which is what I'm all about. It's why this project appealed to me so much in the first place. My life is a but a series of routines repeated over and over again. I know what works for me and what makes me happy and keeps my life going, so I tend to repeat those actions. A lot. I guess everyone could say the same thing but I seem to take it to the extreme. Then I met my husband, who's even more stubborn and set in his ways! I'd never known anyone to get more thrown off by changes in routine than I so it's been an interesting experience combining our neuroses. I'm sure there's some sort of psychological disorder going on here but I'll leave that to you to ponder. Now on with the pictures!

My Monday routine usually involves this plain old nondescript paper bag accompanying me to work in the passenger seat. Not something you'd look twice at. Nothing remarkable about it, in fact, until you look inside. What's this I see? Cupcakes?! Now that's one way to brighten up a Monday!


Mondays have informally become Cupcake Mondays at the office. I'm a bit of a weekend warrior so I tend to do most of my baking and sewing on Saturdays and Sundays, which means I usually bring cupcake samples to work with me on Mondays for my co-workers to judge. Er, I mean enjoy. I pack them up the night before into individual containers so they're ready to go bright and early on Monday. The containers nestle perfectly into this little bag, which keeps them upright and intact with minimal jostling for the ride to work. It's such precious cargo that maybe I should buckle them in next time. I wouldn't let a child ride in my car without a seat belt so why do I allow my cupcakes to do so?

Oddly, even though I love the adoration I get here on my blog (keep it coming, please) and from online friends, I'm always embarrassed by praise in real life. That's not why I bring my cupcakes in to share. I'm really trying to get rid of a few so I don't eat the entire batch by myself and I want constructive criticism to see if a recipe's worth trying again. When my co-workers rave about my latest cupcakes I never really know what to say. I guess I can either learn to live with it or start making crappier cupcakes. Eggplant cupcakes with anchovy paste frosting, anyone?

Participating in Positively Positive's A Photo A Day Project
This week's theme: "Routine"