Here’s a peek at some of the photos I took today:
Still have dinner and evening routine to go here on the west coast.
I also wanted to share the things I jotted down on my Word document today. Because I didn’t leave the house I decided to do my story in a list format that literally followed my actions over the course of the day. Tomorrow my journaling will probably be different – and that will be just fine. Remember, there is no right or wrong way to approach this project!
9/29/08
MORNING ROUTINE
1. Alarm off at 6am. One snooze.
2. Simon comes into our room + snuggles for just a minute.
3. I get up, let Lily outside, give her two scoops of food, turn on NPR and some lights in the living + dining rooms, and put Simon’s bagel in the toaster.
4. Take medicine.
5. Start coffee. Pour OJ. Bagels pop-up. Spread the cream cheese. Vitamins on plate.
6. Simon comes running out of our bedroom (I cheer inside for a happy wake-up).
7. He tells me about something he saw on Elmo yesterday.
8. Bagel with cream cheese and OJ are on the table.
9. Simon sits down at the table and asks to be wrapped in a blanket.
10. Chris pours cereal, gets paper, and sits down at the table.
11. Simon giggles about Mr. Noodle licking his hand and wiping his hair like a dog.
12. I grab clothes out of his closet and put them on the couch. Pants, short sleeve t-shirt, long sleeve t-shirt, underwear, socks.
13. Simon finishes breakfast and puts on his clothes in the living room.
14. Brushes teeth. Puts on shoes and stripped sweatshirt.
15. We all go outside to wait for the bus. Simon is still giggling about Mr. Noodle’s dog act.
16. It’s still dark when we get outside but over the five minutes we wait for the bus it gets light.
17. Lily the dog is insane with her ball. I think she is the most excited member of the family in the morning. She gets the routine.
18. Bus arrives. Simon climbs on and does the dog routine for Shelia the bus driver.
19. Chris and I wave as they drive off and wave as they come back around after going through the cul-de-sac. We go back inside to start our days.
MY ROUTINE AFTER SIMON IS OFF TO SCHOOL
- Check email.
- Take shower. Make bed.
- More email + start work. Establish to-do list.
- Breakfast: yogurt with oatmeal cereal
- Talk to Cathy on the phone.
- Chris leaves for meetings in Salem.
- Work on blog posts for the week.
- Feeling the little girl move around in my tummy as I work away on the computer.
- Turn off local NPR affiliate and change to OPB (more talk, less music).
- Start working on TT sample.
- Start load of cloth diapers. This is their first washing and they need to be prepped before the baby comes. Wash, wash, dry, repeat.
- Work a bit. Check the internet. Work a bit. Check the internet. Wait for paint to dry on TT project.
- Snack time: apple + string cheese.
- More work. Finish second TT sample.
- Lunch: chicken + tomato + cucumber sandwich. I usually read the paper or surf the internet during lunch. Today the paper felt “old” as the news of the day (failure to sign a bailout bill) had been happening so fast. Turned on CNN in the background.
- Moved the laundry around. Piled some to fold onto our bed.
- Back to work.
- Feel like I have to go to the bathroom all the time. Thank you baby.
- Mid-afternoon. This is the time of day I just want to take a nap.
- Uploaded some of my photos so far to Flickr.
- Thinking about how I am going to put this album together. Doing a write-up for my blog about the project for tomorrow.
- Waiting for Simon to get home from school.
- Feeling the baby move some more.
- Hear the bus coming down the street and go outside to welcome Simon home.
- Fix peanut butter cracker snack. Watch a bit of Elmo with Simon.
- Take a little nap on the couch.
- Simon finishes Elmo and is ready to go outside to play with the neighbors: light sabers + bike riding.
- Chris comes home.
- The evening routine begins.
That’s all for today. So many awesome ideas in the comments section. Look for a post tomorrow morning that begins talking about possible ways to bring this together.
A complete list of posts related to the week in the life project can be found here.
I haven’t got all mine uploaded to flickr yet, but I find it fascinating that we both took pictures of the failed bill on our mac computer screens- the similarity is eerie, yet obviously different. Just that we both felt like it was important documentation today.
Loving the one of Simon and the light sabers. Ben is jealous.
Hi Ali,
I started this this a.m…then failed to take pictures the rest of the day…oops…keep trying to tell myself I didn’t fail and there’s always tomorrow. Also, forgot to write anything today. Yes, where was my mind? There is tomorrow right? And I can catch up then? I love the idea of this project though and am excited to be doing it, thank you for your blog posts and the inspiration. Your photography is inspiring and it was helpful to see what kind of things you wrote down.
Thanks.
Stacy
i really enjoyed taking pics today and it made me think of how the little things make me really really happy. thank-you
I like the concept of a spotlight on you day, what an amazing memory this will be even in 1 year let alone another 15-20 which will pass in the blink of an eye.
Thank you for sharing some more of yourself.
Okay, I’m in. I was lazy about the whole thing. I couldn’t figure out what I’d take pictures of during the week. I work in a secure office (they seriously frown on cameras) all day. But your comment about the comment from your friend Carrie got me thinking. So we’ll see what I come up with. Thanks for sharing this idea.
Leah
Did good today….finishing up my journaling. Thanks for the frequent updates!
Can’t wait to see your thoughts on putting this together that’s what I’m afraid of the most!
Ali
Thank you so much for sharing what you put in your word document. I have been struggling with how best to document my days activities and seeing your list really helped me. It is simple and complete. By listing it like that I think you get a lot more information down vs. me writing in journal form what I did for the day. Plus I tend to get tired of typing in journal form and skip stuff or never finish. I look forward to following along this week and seeing all your great ideas and photos!
hey ali
every fall i itch to do this again.. ever since cku-a in ct.. back in 04 
this week is not a good week on soo many levels.. but thank you for inspiring me to put it more near the top of the to do list 
Those look great, Ali. I particularly like your journaling. A great run down of your day.
I’m a little (okay, a lot) bummed right now. Somehow, I don’t know how, I lost all of the pictures that I took this morning. I only have shots from the afternoon, and I was so bummed that didn’t take any shots of the evening routine. I had some good ones that I was very excited about. Well, I guess I’ve learned my lesson. I’m going to start downloading my pics a couple of times throughout the day. Better luck tomorrow. :~)
Jennifer
YOur pics are great — I definately need to work on my photos for tomorrow! I took a photo of the computer with the bailout bill going down too — should have taken a photo of the stock market close — oh well –
I really did not have any artifacts from today other than my photos — is that ok?? I guess I did shop a little and could include a sales receipt. I am a little rusty on what to include here — any advice?
Heather – I really didn’t have much either (still need to check the mail – there is usually something in there that can be added). Not a huge deal at all.
god, i love the shot of the clean laundry!
This has been a real eye-opener for me. I’m enjoying following everyone’s progress and thoughts – glad today was just the start, as I see so much opportunity. On a side note, I made a simple 4th of July mini album about my 8 year old’s day this summer. So the other night, I shared it with a girlfriend, and I got…choked up. So simple, my daughter thinks it’s like a Picasso or something, lol, but I was explaining to my friend how much I would treasure something like that, breakfast to fireworks from MY 4th of July, 1969. How priceless would that be?!?!?
Thanks for sharing Ali. Great photos. I put my kids clothes out on the couch in the morning too
Can’t wait to see how you pull this all together.
Love Simon in the “breakfast blanket” thats what we call it in our house.
great photos.
Thanks for sharing your photos and journaling. Love the photos and the list style journaling.
My family (well my husband, my 13 year old is still unsure) has gotten on board with the week of documentation. My husband, who rarely picks up the camera except for ebay stuff, asked for the camera to take pics of me…Very cool.
Lovin’ this!
I love this so much. My Monday is up! I can’t wait for tomorrow.
I was just over at the Flickr group – playing the photos on slideshow as I do other work and it is reminding me of those photo essay books by Life magazine – A Day in the Life… Very cool. I hope to add my photos too. I wasn’t going to participate, but found myself drawn in. I have a lot going on this week and felt it would be overwhelming, but at the very least I will take photos and collect stuff. Margie
girl…you eat good!
your food looks like it belongs on the food channel! 
Look at your growing tummy!! You look precious!
Jennifer
I have a question – what about repeat things in your routine? Would you take a new picture every day? Or just the different things each day? I’m realizing that I took a lot of pics of things that I see everyday, but what about tomorrow?
Ali, Do you always orient your camera so that your pictures are horizontal, or do you crop as needed in photoshop to make all horizontal pictures? I tend to mix it up with horizontal and vertical shots, but then when I want to make a gathering, they look disjointed and there is not a good flow. Do you have any recommendations on how I can make horizontal and vertical shots work together in a layout, or do you avoid that type of layout?
Thanks!
Jennifer
For those of you who missed taking computer shots of the bailout bill/stock market – there is always tomorrow’s newspaper as an artifact.
I took a picture of them in the car to escape the embarassment of the store. *must remember to set aside the grocery receipt as an artifact.
I don’t know how you find time to write down such a good rundown of the day – this is the first chance I have had to sit down all day. I also don’t know how you get up the guts to take a picture of the groceries on the belt at the grocery store. I couldn’t bring myself to do it
Other artifacts I’ve saved so far – tags from new clothes (with kids sizes – we are just starting to wear fall clothes here), kids artwork, mail (logos off envelopes/stamps), empty food boxes (cereal, crackers), to do lists, gas receipt, activity list from the YMCA, preschool handout about the kids weekly activities.
Thanks for the ideas, Ali. I am going to CKC-Hartford this weekend and taking “Peek into my Week” so this should be perfect preparation!
Thanks for the inspiration Ali! I’m having fun doing this. Although, I feel the need to explain to others why I’m taking pictures of ordinary things, ha! Here’s my Monday
http://allaboutthelittlethings.blogspot.com/2008/09/monday.html
I am so enjoying this, but I realized that I spend alot of my time in the car. Taking pictures from the car ranks up there with cell phones and texting. I think I may have been a traffic hazard!
Tara – repetition is part of this project. It is part of the flow of our lives and an important thing to capture I think. Even though it may be the “same” it will most likely be different light or some other aspect will be different. Also, be on the lookout for different things than you usually see – things we miss because we are too busy moving through life.
Kristin – today it was easy because I was here all day, never too far from the computer. Tomorrow will be a different story
.
Jennifer – I almost always shoot horizontally (almost never vertical). Not sure why…just what I do
.
You can make them work together by cropping into squares when you bring them together into a collage or try to keep either the width or the height the same.
So personal, real, ordinary and extraordinary. Love how simple you’ve made the journaling. Thanks for the second post today. I was hoping. Mac
Here’s that almost identical shot I was talking about: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11249284@N04/2900125859/in/pool-documentaweekinthelife
It’s neat to see how things are so similar, yet so different…
I’m not a good Monday person, so today sort of blew past me. It was helpful to see how you’ve organized your thoughts. How do you get the shots of you during the course of your day? I find that I’m rarely in my photos since I’m usually the one with the camera, and my husband works out of town, so I’m often home alone. I would love to have pictures of me doing things, especially for projects like this.
As usual, thank you SO much for the inspiration!
This was so much fun today! I had my 13 year old son take photos of me at work today (I work on the computer from home on my website) then I took photos of him. I found myself jotting down stuff throughout the day. Took photos of my kitchen, my cat and the kids wrestling around after school. This is fun!!!
Les
Hi Ali,
Thanks so much for the creative boost. I was so inspired.
I got a giggle out of the fact that you were reading Huff Post today too. I was glued to my computer today!
Anyway, thanks for the info. I’m really enjoying this process. I forgot my camera after taking some morning shots, but that’s OK. It’s all good right.
Elisa
PS-You look beautiful pregnant.
Hi again Ali,
I forgot to say Kudos on the cloth diapers. I have used them with my latest baby and I love them. Well, as much as you can love something that holds…well you know LOL
Elisa
Hey Angela – if your camera has a self-timer, use that
. It works great!
Ali, thank you for the inspiration and motivation – I can’t wait to see what we’ll do with these words + photos!
My Monday is here: http://blog.angieflinn.com/2008/09/week-in-the-lif.html
your photos are great. loving this project so far. i feel like i totally captured that slow, beginning of the week, monday feeling today. i added a few favorites to the flickr group and my blog. thanks again for the inspiration.
Awesome post! I just had to tell you…that sandwich with the cucumbers on it looks SOOOO good!
Ali, you are doing a much better job than me! I only got a few pics today and didn’t journal anything! I will do better tomorrow. I joined the Flickr group, but my account is full
so I am just sharing my photos on my blog. I am very excited about doing this project, I will do better tomorrow, I promise! Any suggestions to help an unorganized, fellow Oregonian? lol
Ali, thanks for the suggestions about sizing my pics to be uniform. I made them square and it really helped. :~)
http://gardenymph.com/?p=166
Hi Ali !
it’s funny to see we have the same way of starting, I simply listed activities of the day, as I moved on, with one or two thoughts, mostly, short, short, long comments for the rythm. But i’m a bit upset that i didn’t get the camera out as I often as I wanted, even if I did pick up stuff in my memorabilla-envelop.
so let’s go on for a new day !
hi friend.
love your shares. your photos. loved your cku week in the life album workshop a few summers ago. was just looking at the album last week. totally need to do another one. with you would be ideal.
wishing you much joy and peace.
blessings,
erin
I would love to do this. I am now going through my emails and trying to catch up. We are traveling and on our way home. I will start taking photos when we return. I wrote down all the wonderful photo ideas….
I’ve had such fun the last three days documenting my “boring” life in pics… I actually now start to plan things to do just to take photos. Love the one of your coffee cup… will definately try that angle.
I’m using my blog as my notepad… then I can keep everything in the same place.
I was struggling whether I should take part in that project or not, because I have tons of other photographs to scrap. Well, I made up my mind, so I Ihave been taking pictures since this morning, although I am one day “late”
.
It’s fun! I’m just not putting down as much information on a notepad as Ali does. I’m fine with that though.
Thanks for the inspiration, girls!
I love this! I started yesterday – check out my blog http://www.mariannepollock.typepad.com. My photo’s seem a little more boring than Ali’s but I guess we all think our everyday is rather boring! I am in Australia, we are in Spring – beautiful weather, it makes me feel great.
Ali, I took that same picture of HuffPo! I think this is going to turn out to have been a very interesting week to record.
You know what’s hard, Ali? As I look through my pics or as I take them, I start to ‘evaluate.’ Does this ever happen to you?
love your pics, especially your made bed. Love making the bed here, just sets the tone for my day! Where did you get your lovely pillows?