7 Quick Takes about Things That Look a Lot Better, Awkward Photo Shoots, and Playtime in an Amputee-Friendly Household

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! That means 7 quick takes for the last 7 days.

—1—

Did you visit this week and wonder if you were in the right place, because this site design was so cohesive, colorful, and aesthetically pleasing?

It's true. Unremarkable Files used to be pretty ugly. (But thanks for not saying anything.)

If you're a new visitor, or you're scratching your head going, "It wasn't so bad, was it?" please see below.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

—2—

On a related note, the worst person to design a new website layout is an indecisive perfectionist with a ton of kids and an extremely superficial understanding of HTML. Who is also too cheap to hire a real web design person who knows what they're doing.

It took me a few months just to zero in on a design I liked; it took months longer to figure out how to actually implement those changes in computer-language.

—3—

Under the old site design I'd been using a picture of me that was about 7 years old, because I hate getting my picture taken. Mainly because if you tell me to act natural and point a camera at me, I guarantee you that I'll turn into the most awkward robot you've ever seen.

My inner dialogue while Phillip patiently took pictures and showed them to me on screen went something like this:

Smile! 

No, that's too big — I look insane. 

Now it's not enough, I look crabby. 

Let me see the camera. Wait, has my hairline always been a little higher on one side than the other? How did I not notice that before? 

Okay, focus. Just smile like a regular person. 

I said like a REGULAR person!

Don't stare directly into the camera, it's creepy. 

No, that's even creepier. Let's try something different. 

How about something whimsical and candid-looking? I know, I'll pretend I'm looking at something funny and laugh — HAHAHAHAHA! Nailed it, now let's see the picture!

Well, that didn't work. Now I just look like I'm smelling something really bad.

If I were to list the most awkward moments in my 33 years on earth, taking this picture would most likely be in the top 10.

(P.S: Enjoy this profile picture for the next 5-10 years, by the way. I don't foresee another in the near future.)

—4—

I hope that you all had a fun-filled Labor Day weekend, because ours was the most boring ever. Phillip had some reports due at work so he just disappeared into the basement and worked on them for 14-16 hours a day on Friday, Saturday, and Monday.

He did take Sunday off, which was something.

He also took a break for a few hours on Saturday, mostly because we made a family outing of it when he took a trip to his office grab some papers he needed (which my son promptly spilled water all over in the car.)

We went to the park, ordered pizza, and went for a hike on a conservation trail.

The kids smelled the pizza coming from a mile away.

—5—

Actually, "we" didn't really go for a hike. Phillip took the kids for a walk while I took a nap in the car.

After getting up so early to get everyone on the school bus all week, an unscheduled 45 minutes of sleep felt so glorious I didn't even feel guilty about missing out.

(Update: I later figured out that I was so exhausted because I was pregnant. Go figure.)

—6—

We recently brought my preschooler's baby dolls down from the attic so she could start playing with them again, and we noticed that one of the babies' hands was... not looking so good.

My 3-year-old was a little upset, but instead of tossing a perfectly good doll in the trash or just letting her look like she was infected with gangrene, we decided to wrap it up with a piece of fabric and call it a cast.

We're playing doctor, okay??

—7—

Lastly, I had a slightly mortifying moment when someone dropped in by surprise and was treated to a viewing of my dirty house, rat's nest hair, and ratty PJs.

Unfortunately in this case, "dropping in by surprise" means that we had a 9 AM appointment and I totally forgot about it. Oops.

Click to Share: