Mocha Friday

October 27, 2017 by Adam in Family

Half the household continues to recover from various illnesses, though I think they're on the mend. 

It's an exciting pre-Halloween weekend.  Duncan is taking his date Brittany to activity night at South, chaperoned by Joanna.  Sam is going to a "Whores of Capitalism" Halloween party tonight, having rooted through the house for hippie attire.  Emma is off crabbing with Jamie at the coast.  I figure tonight it'll just be Benny and I hanging out, followed by watching Stranger Things on the couch by myself.  Saturday night Benny and Joanna are going to a Halloween party, shifting pizza and Adam Ruins Everything to Sunday. 

Sam's got loads of midterm homework - I reviewed his essay last night and helped with a few typos.  Emma's working on her online geometry class, which I think she both enjoys and is helping her get into biology as a Freshman.  She's also working on a video game project and hopefully I can assist with that.

Our babysitter was sick, so we had date night at home, banishing the children downstairs to watch movies while we had a quiet dinner of Tasty Thai take-out.  It worked relatively well until the children found us, demanding help with uploading videos and such.

Work is going well.  My big presentation is next Tuesday, though I think I just get to sit back and let people demo my stuff, answering technical questions if anything comes up.

Good Times

October 24, 2017 by Sue in Wielesek

There are probably no cuter human beings than three and a half year olds! I had an amazingly good flight - no lost luggage or keys, and good connnections with Sadie. The weather here has been gorgeous Indian Summer until today, Tuesday, when someone pulled the plug in the heavens. 

It's nice that Simon has a day care about three blocks from their house. It's an old building, run by an non-profit organization, pretty much on a shoestring.  I know that Sadie ruminates about whether they should put Simon in a fancier place, but she can walk with him every morning. and he seems very happy. Besides, he knows his letters, can count to 20, and seems to do just fine.

Sick Weekend

October 23, 2017 by Adam in Family

Joanna was sick all weekend with her incessant cough, with Emma having a touch of the cold as well.  On the plus side, Joanna can talk with her normal voice so presumably she's on the mend.

Sam went to the first of two Halloween parties, nicely texting me that he was crashing over at a friend's house.  I'm glad he's having those college experiences like eating persian food at two in the morning.  The rest of the weekend was hanging out with Emma and I, playing Screencheat and Broforce, and helping with dishes, Duncan and Benny laundry, and Emma's homework.

Emma felt poorly Saturday, but managed to do a bunch of homework on Sunday.  She continued making progress on her online geometry class - she's hoping to get the bulk of it done by the end of the term in hopes of getting into biology.

Duncan was his usual social self, going mushroom hunting with his friend Rio.  We didn't all die horribly the next day at lunch, so presumably he did a good job.  He did manage to get malware on his pc, which I'm still peeling off.  Benny was generally cheerful, though they somehow lost their glasses.

20th Anniversary

October 22, 2017 by Seraph in Cortez

Last weekend Robbie and I had a small gathering of friends for our anniversary out at Vivac Winery.  It ended up being a beautiful NM afternoon, and we were lucky enough to have an old minister of ours come out and do a short "recommittment" ceremony. 

I'll post pictureses if I can figure out how!

Robot Wife Friday

October 20, 2017 by Adam in Family

Joanna has been using her phone to type in messages and then click a button to speak the words.  She found a passable English accent as well.  I miss my speaking wife though, and hope this brief stint as a mime passes quickly.

Sam's been helping with the Lane County Worker's strike, so he's been away lately.  I got Emma after school yesterday and she had her new glasses fitted.  Gaullaume came over for dinner and we chatted about the Apollo missions - Benny impressed me with her general knowledge of the various moon missions.  Joanna met with Duncan's French teacher about his low grades - hopefully that went well.  It's hard when Joanna can't actually speak about it.

I've got a bunch of repair things still in motion - the dryer is about to die, so I need to pick up a new one.  Sam's bike is getting fixed after the gear shift stopped working.  Life is never boring.

Bike Repair Wednesday

October 18, 2017 by Adam in Family

Joanna is talking in a whisper these days, finally succumbing to the cold that has been going around.  This morning I assisted by being a human megaphone, yelling her words at the kids to get ready for school.  It was fun.

Sam's been busy helping supporting the Lane County worker's strike as part of his school stuff.  His life continues to be far more exciting than the rest of ours.  He's been sore from going to the gym with his friend Markos.  Last night his bike's gear shift broke, so I hauled it in to get fixed by the nice guys at Arriving by Bike.

Emma's getting herself repaired this week.  Her glasses have arrived and she gets fitted tomorrow.  I need to get her into the dentist for her mouth guard.  Hopefully her throat issues have cleared up.

Benny had a challenging moment at school where their PE teacher had all the boys and girls do something and she just stood there as the lone non-binary kid.  After the teacher raised her voice at them, Benny's classmates rallied around them to offer support.

Ducan is his usual goofy self.  I had he and Benny sit down to watch the first giant robot fight - USA versus Japan.  It was highly scripted, but the robots themselves were pretty cool.  Hopefully I'm contributing to the kids' education in important ways.

Benny Half Birthday

October 16, 2017 by Adam in Ben

Joanna is always pretty good about throwing together a half birthday bash.  There were goodies for everyone and a series of art supplies for the half birthday kid.

Sunny Monday

October 16, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's a beautiful fall day.  I'm only as happy as my most miserable kid, but I think they're all generally doing okay.  Emma's throat has mostly improved from it's gross state.  The bacterial culture came back negative, much to everyone's surprise.  The mouthwash Sam used for his sore throat has apparently helped and most of the stuff has cleared up.

The weekend was generally good, if a little quiet.  I ran Emma over to the doctor's office on Friday to get a strep test.  Later she and Sam went to Jamie's.  I played more of my latest computer RPG and chatted with the remaining family members.  Saturday morning I cleared out blackberries from around the shed, Sam went to an event, and Emma and I hung out.  It was a "get Duncan caught up at school" weekend, mostly getting missing assignments done.  Poor Joanna looked a little worn out at the end.  Benny celebrated a half birthday with their friend Zoe.  

Sunday was the usual running around.  Sam spent some time with his friend Markos, Emma and I went school and art supply shopping.  Joanna was feeling under the weather, so Sam and I made a vegan stew, complete with chocolate mousse made from frothed chickpea brine.  That's still chilling, but we'll try it tonight.

The day wound down with dinner with my mom and some rousing games of Tee K-O.  I always enjoy getting the kids together and laughing.

Emma Repair Friday

October 13, 2017 by Adam in Family

I took the day off, as the non-college kids are out of school.  I thought I'd just hang with Emma, but it's been a week of repair for that girl.  Tuesday she got fitted for a mouth guard.  This morning she had her eyes checked and picked out new frames for her glasses.  In the afternoon I took her to her doctor, sure she had strep throat due to the gross things hanging from her uvula.  The quick test came back negative, so I'm pumping her full of tea, ibuprophen, and rest for now.  It's possible the culture comes back positive, in which case she wins a prize of antibiotics.

The week has generally been moving along okay.  Sam continues to be surprisingly busy - he returned home all worn out yesterday.  Duncan has had friends over a bunch.  We're also trying to get him caught up with homework, as a number of missing assignments came to light around midterms.  Benny has the cold, and has been going to school but sniffling away.

Gallaume came over for dinner last night and we had a fun chat about politics and the 1920's (his favorite era and topic of his studies).  Joanna's been a little tired, but juggling the usual mix of work, kids, and house projects.  I spent yesterday doing big boy programmer stuff.  Life is busy, as always.

Happy anniversary to us! I think next year we...

October 12, 2017 by Seraph in Cortez

Happy anniversary to us! I think next year we're allowed to drink.

Mid-Week Update

October 12, 2017 by Adam in Family

The week is moving along.  Joanna is helping Duncan with his homework.  Benny is trying on some of Emma's old clothes pulled from storage.

Sam had a rare night at home yesterday.  We played chess and computer games in between chatting.  Emma called and wanted some help with her computer class.  She's been focusing on academics lately.

Work is fine - I like my coworkers and keep working on interesting problems.  This Friday I'm taking the day off to take Emma to the eye doctor and generally hang out.

Another Weekend

October 09, 2017 by Adam in Family

Another weekend has come and gone. Joanna and I went out Friday night to the art walk downtown, running into Sam along the way.  Saturday I came down with a touch of a cold, but it was pretty mild.  Duncan was a social butterfly all weekend, hanging out with various friends.  Benny got their hair colored and Joanna ran them around town for art supplies and shoes.  I hung out with Sam and Emma until it was pizza time in the evening.

Sunday morning Emma was whisked away by her mom for a shopping trip.  Sam and I took a long hike up to the top of Pisgah, then returned home to play some of my new Humble Monthly games.  The most amusing was one that involved having to periodically choose a human sacrifice.  Joanna said it led to odd overheard conversations from the kitchen.

Sunday night was family dinner, which was pleasant as always.  I do like all you people.

Bike Accident

October 03, 2017 by Adam in Sam

Sam was riding around campus today and got hit by a car.  He texted me from the ER, letting me know he was okay.  I immediately dropped everything and went to fetch him.  He was mostly fine - just a few non-obvious scrapes and bruises. I'm not entirely sure what happened - I get the impression he was turning at an unfamiliar location and missed seeing a car.  Fortunately it was all at slow speeds.

His bike got a little whacked and required some adjusting of brakes, wheels, and handle bars.  Fortunately that seems mostly okay too.  He was planning on metaphorically getting back on the horse and going to one of his student organization things tonight.

Parenting is an adventure.