Things I Noticed While Documenting A Week In My Life
And my weekly Story Threads.
I’m currently in the in-between phase of my annual Week In The Life™ project where the documenting portion is complete and what’s left is to bring the words and photos together into an album.
This year I’m inviting myself to do a little reflecting before I dive in to printing my photos. I like this idea because it gives me a chance to look back at the week as a whole within the scope of this particular season. I’ll print this out and add it to my album when I get to that phase of the process.
My goal in collecting these thoughts and reflections is simply acknowledgement, not judgement. Along with being a memory keeping project, this can also be a really valuable tool to take stock of how I’m currently existing and consider making adjustments and/or have a better overall understanding of this season of my life.
Here’s a look at a few things I noticed during my week that I may or may not have captured in my notebook:
Noticing that I’ve basically become a homebody. I think I left my house twice during the documenting week: once to take Betty to get her nails trimmed and once to go to a graduation party. Aaron did our Costco run. Target delivered a pool and bubble machine (because a bubble machine is fun even with no little kids in the house). As you might imagine, there are positives and negatives to this. You might read that and feel a burning desire for that to be your reality or you might read that and know, deep in your heart, that’s not enough people interaction/real world adventures for you. I currently find myself in the middle and would like to add a few more out of the house adventures on a regular basis.
Noticing that it’s really interesting how AI (and conversations about AI) hit critical mass in our house during this particular week. Aaron has been learning and researching and experimenting and implementing and sharing it all with me. It’s both amazing and terrifying and it’s already here.
There’s a lot of chatter happening in my head during this season. I’m wondering if there is a correlation between being in my house so much and the loudness of the chatter.
Noticing what felt like a lot of redundancies around our house: things that need to be cleaned out, given away, etc. The accumulation of stuff such as a microphone that no longer functions that has been sitting on my table for months, boxes that need to be moved into some kind of longer term storage, items that no one has touched/looked at/talked about/used in years. Sounds like some good jobs for teens to help with over the summer.
Noticing that some routines I’ve had for years could use a freshening up - especially related to the ways technology has advanced. In some cases I’m still following the same steps as I have for years and I’m feeling like it’s time to test out some new ways of doing things.
Noticing that brain fog continues to be an issue. I’m a 49 year old post menopausal woman who can’t take hormone replacement because I’ve had blood clots in the past. It’s an interesting season of learning about myself.
Noticing that I need to up my vegetable intake and it’s the perfect time of year to do that.
Noticing that there can never too many flower photos (or too many flowers). It’s a really big part of my life and I’m embracing the joy that comes from spending my time outside. This makes me think about my Mom and how she’s long loved taking photos of the flowers in their yard. It’s a practice of appreciating beauty and can sometimes feel like a prayer.
Noticing how I didn’t document anything about the political climate in the US even though that’s on my mind and heart. I have a lot of feelings, as I’m sure many of you do, and I’d like to include something about that in my album. Last year I included an image of the front page of the New York Times for each day (via this app) and I liked that as a nod to what’s happening outside the walls of our house. This year I think I might write up something and put it in an envelope. None of us exist in a vacuum, even if we stay at home most of the time.
There are moments in my everyday life when I wonder what it all looked like back when the kids were small and things were harder in different ways. Because of this project I have one week documented each year for the last twenty years (that link goes to my blog archives for Week In The Life™). I can literally go back and see what life looked like and I’m forever grateful that this has been a part of the experience of my life.
Yesterday on Instagram I shared a free one page download that features Reflection Questions for Week In The Life™. You can also download that here.
STORY THREADS from this past week:
It has been HOT HOT HOT around here for us which is pretty unusual for early June. I loved capturing the temperatures each day during Week In The Life™.
Working on content for the next round of the Storyteller classroom. My approach to general documenting this year has shifted and I’m honestly loving it so much. I’m doing my annual documenting in a 10x8 album and organizing it by month (I fit four months in the first one). You can see what January + February looked like here. I’ll be sharing a flip through of March + April on YouTube soon.
Anna finished up her sophomore year and started high school summer league volleyball (a super fun and casual play around with six schools that’s twice a week for a couple weeks). She and I and Simon will be traveling to Orlando at the end of next week for the AAU National Volleyball tournament and a little vacation. It will be the first time it’s just the three of us on an adventure and I’m excited for that opportunity.
Simon has a media exhibit today where he’ll be sharing his capstone short film project before he graduates with an AA in Multimedia Arts (emphasis on Film Studies) on Saturday. This is such a big deal for him and we are so proud of how hard he has worked!
Betty’s sister Millie was here for a couple nights. I love having her here and Betty does too.
CURRENTLY
Listening: The Daily (podcast)
Watching: Becoming Led Zeppelin (definitely enjoyed this)
Eating: Watermelon + cantaloupe with tajin
Reading: Heartwood by Amity Gaige
Designing: Stories By The Month™ for 2026
Enjoying: Creative brainstorms with Aaron