A Day in the Life

A Photoblog by Joel

Stay home and color

November 20, 2019

Alicia recently decided she was wanting to go out and get a job – which she did. So now, Emmett goes to first-grade, and Elle and Emily go to a daycare a few miles away. The transition to daycare for Elle was pretty tough. She was excited and enthusiastic the first day or two, but quickly became very vocal about not wanting to go. She would wake up and the first thing she’d say to me in the morning was “I don’t want to go to daycare today” and would repeat that over and over while getting ready. It just broke my heart. I kept her home a few different times because I just didn’t have it in me to take her.

Week two. Tuesday. Once again Elle is feeling pretty sad about daycare. I’m laying in bed around 7:15am when Emmett comes in excitedly and shows me something. However, he quickly twisted his face and said he had a tummy ache. Alicia rushed him off to the bathroom and he started throwing up. Poor little guy. I hate seeing my kids gets sick. Time to stay home from work again.

To help Elle get off to daycare, I promised to take her to buy something new to play with afterwards. That helped. She was more willing to go. Little rewards can be such great motivation for kids when you’re at your wits end. Since daycare was only about 5 minutes away, I left Emmett at home with a bowl and a TV show to watch and I dropped off the girls. Success.

Emmett was up and down throughout the day. Sometimes he was normal and other times he was sluggish and took a long nap in the afternoon. By the end of the day though he was doing great.

That evening – true to my word – I took Elle to the Dollar Store to buy something new. She picked some marker coloring pages of Peppa Pig and Shimmer and Shine. When we arrived home she got right to work coloring – and did a really great job!

Finally, the day is done and it’s bedtime. It went okay. Bedtime is such a struggle for me.

Emmett sitting on the floor looking towards the TV
Elle laying on the floor coloring

Writing. Storytelling. Journaling.

November 19, 2019

No picture today. I’ve subscribed to a few writers’ newsletters lately and discovered I want to join them. I want to write. One is a business copywriter that shares tips on writing better copy for your business. He’s very good. The other is a man that walks – a lot. Long long distance walking. He takes along his camera and documents his journeys with images and words and he’s so compelling. They’re both excellent writers communicating in two different disciplines yet both are storytellers. Storytelling really is the key. Creative storytelling that’s engaging regardless the topic. My life isn’t nearly as interesting as wandering through the small villages and towns of Japan but I do have a unique story. I have a family. A wife and 3 little kids. All of us growing up and learning how to be people and parents. It’s my story and it’s worth sharing and keeping. I love taking pictures, now it’s time to write stories to fill the time before and after the photos.

Sitting Up

November 7, 2019

Emily is almost 8 months old and getting really good at sitting up. She sits in bouncers and bumbo’s and even just on the floor with very little support. She’s also starting to assert herself a little more – getting excited when she sees a bottle, and gets angry when it’s not immediately put in her mouth. She loves to be around people and gets cranky if we leave her alone in a room. Her smile still lights up everyone around her – she’s a ridiculously cute baby.

Emily looking at the camera.

Deep Ellum

November 2, 2019
This has got to be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen. It’s a bike-bar. You sit, drink, and pedal while someone at the front is yelling at you to go and stop.
Yep. A fur coat. Didn’t know people really wore them.

Hard Eight BBQ

November 2, 2019

Oh boy is this place good. It’s so good. You get there and the air is filled with a glorious smell of Texas Post-Oak smoking up hundreds of pounds of meat. After waiting in line for a bit you come across this pit just filled with beef, chicken, pork, turkey, sausage… oh it’s so good. It’s so, so good. There are 5 or 6 locations around Dallas. Do yourself a huge favor and stop on by next time you’re there.

A walk in Texas

November 2, 2019

This weekend I ventured back down to Texas with my company to meet with Optometrists to chat with them about websites. (We were there last October as well) It was a fun event and we did well down there. The weather was fantastic and it was nice to head outside into the sun several times.

We stayed at the Omni Mandalay in Irving just outside Dallas. There’s a really nice walk around a lake and a canal that we ventured around a few times while there. Of course I had to take my camera along.

Halloween 2019

October 31, 2019
Elle wanted to be Elsa, and Emmett was Batman. He also had to pee.

FHE

October 28, 2019

Hi!

October 19, 2019

A rather long phone call

October 17, 2019

Today when I left work I was added in to a conference call. It takes me about 20 minutes to get home. When I arrived I was still on the call, but mostly as the quiet third-wheel. I decided to grab my camera and take a very, very short photowalk around my yard and continue to experiment with high-ISO B&W photography.

All photos shot ISO 12,800 on Acros Simulation, 85mm 1.8 @ 1.8-2.5.