Week of Jan 15th
Posts Tagged ‘Susan’
Week 3, Photo of the Day project
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012Project 52
Sunday, January 29th, 2012This week’s theme was SELF PORTRAIT. Generally I like to get my photo taken. When I was in elementary school I went through a phase where I didn’t want to show my teeth. My pictures were horrible! I don’t even have any around to show you, that’s how bad it was. But then I had a revelation to show as much teeth as possible, then CHEESE! Good photo. But lately I’ve felt like such a shlumpedinka, my photos are pretty gross.
I was not looking forward to this theme.
Fast forward to Sunday afternoon. Paul went to play guitar w some guys, kids were with their mom, 5 loads of laundry were almost done, and all my other craft projects stalled out. I had already Skyped with Elli, Michael and the Cutest Girls in the Universe (why can’t THAT be a theme!?) so I got out the quilt project. Excuse me…The Quilt Project.
And it occurred to me as I laid out 64 square feet of fabric of my life…
This is my self-portrait.
I have filled in the 2 gaps, but did not retake the pic. Used the T shirt that was our coaching "uniform" when Paul and I coached Tyler's basketball team this season.
2012 Photo-a-Day
Saturday, January 28th, 2012Several blogs I subscribe to have a photo a day challenge or a theme each week for a photo. I am going to be posting my pages as the year progresses. This will not detract from any surprise you may receive for a birthday or Christmas gift, it is more of the mundane things that I forget about, but really make each day into a life. My end goal is to have an 8×8 soft cover album printed at the end of the year with all 52 pages, then I will mount it into our hard cover family album for that year. I keep telling Paul I am desperate to carve out space for myself in our small house and chaotic life. This is my new attempt to do that, even if it is ad hoc and only 2 dimensional.
Of course I got behind quickly (very similar to my athletic races these days), but am not caught up, have a custom template that I love and am ready to share! Some things will overlap, some will be new (like you probably don’t need a play by play of Maggie and I making a car trip to the store to get me a Diet Pepsi on my work-at-home Tuesdays), and some are too big to share in the photo-a-day/page-a-week project (of course I am talking about my grandmother-in-law shanking my tire story).
Would love any suggestions for photo ops, questions you have about our daily do-ings and requests.
January 1-7, 2012
Daily photo project
Sunday, January 22nd, 2012As you know, I have a dream to have people pay me to take pictures. I got a slammin’ camera for Christmas from Paul last year and have been spending time learning the different settings and how to be a better photographer in general. I am half participating/half lurking on Project 365 from a fantastic blog that I subscribe to.
This week’s theme was “I Dreamed a Dream” in honor of the MLK holiday. Welp, on Monday Paul was at work, kids were at Robin’s and I had the whole day to make my dream come true. I went to the Natural Science Center with a plan to work on aperture and shutter speed. It was pretty chilly, but the tigers did not disappoint. I set up “camp” near their enclosure and went to work taking photos and notes as I clicked. After awhile a little girl came up asking me what I was doing. I told her I was taking pictures of the tigers.
Then she asked me, “For a book?”
I smiled to myself and said, “Someday, kiddo. Someday.”
How to be irrelevant in business without even trying
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012Originally written 1.6.12: My Blackberry blew up at lunch today, which is unusual. The culture in our company is very email-heavy so phone calls are rare. I answered in my chirpy, upbeat professional voice, “Hello, this is Susan!”
The person on the other line was my boss’s boss’s boss’s boss’s boss. Seriously, Ed McMahan would have surprised me less. I think I even stood up straighter. Could he SEE me standing in the parking lot of the Subway? Why was I reading Magical Thinking instead of Good to Great or something else heady and business-like?
Why was he calling me? WAIT! I just had my annual review this morning and IT WAS STELLAR! High ratings, excellent feedback from my manager.
HE WAS CALLING ME TO OFFER A NEW JOB!!!
Or at the very least, he had heard of my rock-star performance in the first year w the company and was calling to encourage me. Now THAT is some principle-centered leadership in action. I was blown away and was so busy getting my acceptance speech ready, I didn’t listen too closely to what he was saying until the end.
He was looking for the OTHER Susan Sanders in the company. It was a wrong number.
Let’s rally, people!!!
Monday, October 31st, 2011We can win it!! Let’s focus all of our votes on 1 photo–you can’t vote for more than 1 pic a day. Please vote daily and ask your friends to vote too!
Vote for “Water fun!” click here: http://bit.ly/pXjpuq
Water fun!
Vote for me!!!!
Friday, October 21st, 2011I am already a professional athlete. Random Coinage is my sponsor. I have been known to stop my bike in the middle of an intersection to pick up a dime. Every time I go for a run I find money! So far I am averaging 1/12 of a cent per mile.
Now I need your help because I want to be a professional photographer. Biz sent me a link to a contest that I KNOW I can win if you take a second to vote. I entered the following 4 photos, vote for 1 or all, plus please forward to everyone in your email contacts, please!
Bird at sunrise
To vote for “Bird at sunrise” click here: http://bit.ly/nNgrxp
Having a blast on the boogie board!
To vote for “Having a blast on the boogie board” click here: http://bit.ly/rdN35U
Sunrise on N Myrtle Beach
To vote for “Sunrise on N Myrtle Beach” click here: http://bit.ly/p8CPTy
Water fun!
To vote for “Water fun!” click here: http://bit.ly/pXjpuq
Bookworm! Part 3
Monday, September 26th, 2011Bookworm! Part 3
Of the three books described in the opening of this Bookworm! series, this is the book that probably made you raise your eyebrows. Or as the author would describe it: cock your head to the side and perk up your ears in question. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein is again a book I had in my hands, put down, and it appeared at Ruthan’s house. I borrowed it Wednesday after running 6 miles before work (i.e. REALLY tired that night so not lots of time to read) and finished crying in the Subway sandwich shop over my flatbread egg white sammich. I was reading it Wednesday night before meeting my winter Team in Training teammates to work on our fundraising. Turns out one girl is readying it for her book club this month and my friend Lauren has been reading it too! If you have (or have ever in your life had) a dog, you need to read this book. It is hilarious in points (monkey’s are inferior to dogs and Enzo, the dog, is indignant that the monkeys have opposable thumbs when he doesn’t); it is heart breaking in others (did you read about me crying in Subway?). No matter what you will not be wasting your time with this book. If you are a deep thinker (i.e. I am too good to read a book written from a dog’s perspective), be heartened—there were many parts that as I read them, I knew they held a deeper, more mystical message. I didn’t slow down to pick up those messages, I liked the part where Enzo was talking best. Makes me want to be a better Master to Maggie. (sorry Barton)
Oh, Kelly C—thanks for letting Ruthan borrow your book out to me. I took good care of it, didn’t drop it in the toilet or tub!
Bookworm! Part 2
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011Part 2 of 3 in a series about my nerdiness…
The next choice was UBER exciting b/c it was the first book I read on my NEW IPAD (yes, you have to scream it every time you type “NEW IPAD” for the first year—it’s in the EULA contract). This was a big leap for me—I love the feel of books (hardback and paperback), I love the smell of books (I don’t care if someone told me that smell is actually the pages decaying, I want a perfume that smells like it—better yet a cologne that smells like it that Paul can wear). I also love looking at the cover—why did the author choose that cover? That typesetting? Do they like the cover? What were they thinking when they had that PR headshot taken? I also love carrying a book around—makes me feel pretentious, “What? You don’t read World War II historical memoirs over your Panini at lunch? Loser…”
But I also love technology and my husband, and quite frankly, Paul was sick of lugging around my “do box” of books and magazines every time we took a car trip. This way I can store it all on my NEW IPAD and that fits into my purse! My sister has a Kindle and she loves it so I took the leap with a book that has been on my To Read list for over a year or so: Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand.
This is the story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic distance runner who ended up a Pacific POW. Sounds really uplifting, right—you know how difficult running is for my and the Pacific POW camps make Gitmo sound like a resort. In a Pacific POW camp, they were probably begging to “only” be water boarded. I admit, I have always been fascinated by concentration camp stories. In 8th grade I entered a public speaking contest with a speech about concentration camps. I think the subtitle of Unbroken really sums it up well for me though: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. I LOVE a good survival story. I LOVE the word RESILIENCE. Not in a Bear Gryllis sort of survival, but when your mental and emotional mettle is tested. What would I do in that situation? I like to think I am a pretty strong chick (beyond bench press), but could I withstand the boredom, physical exertion and starvation (not to mention the torture, of course). And if I could, would I be able to withstand the survivorship? Spoiler Alert: Louis does magnificently and is a new inspiration for me (not necessarily in timing a mile, but in overcoming obstacles).
The only word of caution I have about this book is not to read it when you are backpacking with children. Especially those that tend to be more dramatic than others. You will have no sympathy for a kid whining about walking uphill after you hear of someone’s fingernails being ripped out. No tears are shed for children who dropped s’mores chocolate once you read of a POW who was forced to lick feces from the commander’s boot or be kicked in the face repeatedly. A dramatized headache brings eye rolls when they are not brought on by a beating session where 200+ strikes in one’s face by other men’s fists, clubs, boots, and branches. Its hard to remember to live in the now when reading a book so mesmerizing. Paul plans to read it if I ever give him enough time on my NEW IPAD.
Standby for Part 3!
Bookworm! Part 1
Friday, September 16th, 2011September 9, 2011
In the past week or so I have read 3 fantastic books that I have to share w you. They are very different in some obvious ways:
1 fiction, 2 non-fiction
1 author is a dog, 2 are people
1 was on my NEW IPAD, other 2 were paperback
1 was borrowed, 2 were owned
But the one thing all three had in common was that they were all very uplifting, encouraging, happy books. Kind of a variation for me in some ways. I remember going to Barnes and Noble w my family once on vacation and Elli snorted as I came out of the Business section with a book on improving communication, “Why don’t you ever just read fun books?”
A book a read last year or so was We Need to Talk about Kevin, about a boy who is a sociopath and becomes a school shooter (movie debuted at Cannes this year). It was quite chilling and was hard to shake when I finished. Related to that was Room, which I posted about last year about this time.
So that is what I am trying to do now—gather “fun” books that have positive messages. Although I am worried perhaps Paul would have preferred I spend more time in the communication/self-help section and being a step parent has made me NOT read scary-children type books. I’d love to hear what you are reading or what books are on your favorite-of-all-time-will-read-over-and-over list.
Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo
This book was recommended to me by my friend/Wednesday morning running buddy Ruthan (also one of “The Favorites”). I had seen it several times, picked it up in Target more than once, but not taken the leap. I saw it in her house one Wednesday when I went to run and she said it was a sweet, but powerful book that I had to read. I bought it and it sat on the bookshelf for several weeks until she asked me if I
finished it yet. Two days later I had finished it.
Yes—it is that good. Just like the little boy in it imparts wisdom beyond his years after a trip to Heaven during surgery, this small book packs a powerful message in its fast-paced read. It asked and answered questions I have about Heaven and since it was the experience of a 4-year old boy, I understood much more. It did not feel preachy at all. Instead it really made me want to read more about this Heaven stuff.
In general it was a very positive, uplifting feel good book!
Stay tuned for installments # 2 and 3!
