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Mucousy Mocha Friday
January 31, 2014 by Adam in Family
Emma and I are staying home today. She showed up with a fever yesterday and mostly slept until this morning. She's much improved, but still clearly sick. As for me, this is my third day working at home. I've been strangely productive, perhaps because there's no one to chat with. I'm stuck with computers to keep me company.
Sam's stoically going to school again. I gave him two tissue packets so he can dual-wield them against his sniffly nose. Duncan improved yesterday afternoon and was only up once last night. Joanna just took them both to school.
As for me, my cough seems better, but my nose is really runny. I took a cough suppressant last night, which made me really spacey first thing in the morning. I think I'm okay operating heavy machinery now. I'll be whipping up my own delicious mocha after I get Sam to school and dial into work.
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We're All Kinda Sick
January 30, 2014 by Adam in Family
Duncan, Emma, and I are staying home today. Duncan and I stayed home yesterday. Sam is sniffly, but toughing it out. Berry seems pretty over it, having stayed home last week. Joanna is mostly recovered, but still tired. Such is the joy of the winter illness months.
It's been a fairly typical week otherwise. The only great excitement was a clogged sewage injection pump. Fixing it was exactly as gross as it sounds.
Looking forward to the weekend and hopefully coughing-free nights.
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Monday Already?
January 27, 2014 by Adam in Family
 Mocha Friday came and went. I felt pretty lousy in the morning, a continuation of the cold that everyone seemed to get. Post-mocha, though, I was perky and excited. I got a ton of work done, something that should make life much easier for one of my coworkers.
Friday night Joanna and I went out to Off the Waffle and listened to music. I was a little sad when it ended as we were having a great time and I was well caffeinated.
Saturday morning I fetched Emma and we hung about until a late library run. Sam was collected and we indulged in the usual pizza and Mythbusters. It was a pleasant day.
Sunday morning Sam, Emma, and I started a game of D&D that went on throughout the day. Sam was the DM, and occasionally sent one of us out of the room while the other had adventures. Only after dinner did we finally reconnect. Emma informed me that prison changed her. It was comical.
Mom came by to deliver clothes, which the girls loved. They've both dressed up in their new outfits for the day.
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Half Birthdays
January 21, 2014 by Adam in Family
The last few days are a whirlwind. Emma stayed over Friday night and we awoke to crepes and playing until it was time for a grand library trip. Joanna came with us, and we loaded up on massive quantities of books, stopping for bagels and mocha before returning home. I ran to the hardware store and returned to fix the kitchen sink. Saturday night I picked up Sam and pizza, and had another official pizza and Mythbusters evening.
 Sunday morning was more crepes. Sam gifted me the game Scrolls, so I played a bit of that, as well as showing Emma how it works. Joanna went off to church, and I pried everyone off screens to go to the backyard to play with fireworks. Things were burned and melted. Berry's friend came over for a sleepover and Duncan and I celebrated a combined half-birthday with half a cake.
Monday was a bit of a madhouse. I fed five children pancakes with chocolate chip faces. It was more crowd control than playing. I worked throughout the day too, troubleshooting broken interfaces and attending meetings. Kids slowly wandered off, Duncan's play date was canceled due to illness. Sam, Emma, and I played a little D&D before she got picked up by Jamie. Homework was finished. The microwave, which had a small explosion, was replaced with achy muscles and minor swearing on my part.
Berry is sick today with a slight temperature. I'm going into work after dropping Duncan off. Life goes on.
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Everything is Breaking
January 16, 2014 by Adam in Family
It does seem like there were more mechanical failures than usual the last couple days. My car has a slow coolant leak, which typically manifests as the heater no longer working before the engine overheats. I picked up some antifreeze at Target and hopefully fixed that problem. Then there was the cracked joint on the kitchen sink. With Berry's help, we patched it with some dryer vent tape until we can replace it.
Sam and I worked on his Greek mythology detective story for Honors English. Emma's been sending her fan fic at work, some of which is quite good. Duncan got his portal gun with his Christmas money from Grandpa Lohring. Joanna played music at church last night, which went over well.
I've been playing Broken Age, which started the Kickstarter revolution for game development and was on NPR yesterday. It's a throwback to the old point-and-click adventures of my youth and is fun if occasionally brain-bogglingly difficult. It oozes charm and style, and has some big name actors doing the voices.
Work's been busy if quirky. As always, it's a mix of odd things. I deployed an Internet application, loaded a 5 GB government file, and led a couple developer meetings. Never a dull moment.
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Back to Normal
January 13, 2014 by Adam in Family
Well, it's back to normal, or as normal as it gets around here. We're about ready to run off to school and work, with Joanna planning on going for a jog after she drops off the kids.
The weekend was pleasant, and I got a fair amount of work done in a mocha-fueled haze. Saturday morning I was awoken by children still adjusting to the new time zone. After feeding them crepes, I picked up Emma and there was a cheerful reunion of children. Eventually we all went to the library to stock up on books and graphic novels. Sam was dropped off for dinner and we had our first official pizza and Mythbusters of the year.
Sunday involved puttering around the house in the morning while Joanna and Duncan went to church. I took down the Christmas lights, including poor Drunk Santa who has adorned our porch for weeks now. The minivan was vacuumed and washed. I stumbled inside to make tofu pockets for everyone, despite Emma and Berry leaving notes demanding food in exchange for my daughters' safety. Sam and I played a bit. There was a nap on my part.
Emma and I played in the front yard late afternoon while Joanna took Berry on a tandem bike ride. Emma and I made weird things in the shop and she rode the Razor around for a while. The evening wrapped up with delicious corn muffins.
Good times . . .
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Reuniting Mocha Friday
January 10, 2014 by Adam in Family
 Joanna's in the air, on the way to Chicago. There was a slight delay, but hopefully they can make all their connecting flights. If luck holds, she'll be in Eugene tonight with Berry and Duncan. I'll pick them up on my way home from work.
Yesterday was a little busy. Jamie picked up Emma from school and took her to work, then Sam picked Emma up and walked her to my house. I arrived to two video game playing children. I pressed Emma into service making stir fry, which was a hit with everyone.
Emma did her math and went downstairs to treadmill. I helped Sam with assorted projects and he showed off his family tree made in his Japanese class. Eventually I got Emma to bed and we watched some anime together. We stayed up a little late chatting and I stumbled off to bed.
I'll take Emma to school shortly and then it's mocha time. I'm hoping the day goes quickly, as I can't wait to see Joanna in a few hours.
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Mid-Week Update
January 08, 2014 by Adam in Family
 The week has been uneventful so far. Joanna returns Friday evening. Sam and Emma returned to school. I'm working away, as usual.
Sam and I are trying to figure out what to do with ourselves. Last night we played Blood Bowl, which is a computer version of a board game about football with a fantasy twist. After that we watched anime and went to bed. It was quite the boyish evening.
A mysterious package arrived. It was a mirror on a stand, which apparently neither Joanna nor I ordered. I assembled it and put it in our room. The current theory is that it was Joanna's brother's Christmas present.
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Stuck in New York
January 06, 2014 by Adam in Family
 Joanna texted last night, letting me know that once again flights had been cancelled. After sleeping on it, she got through to United and she called me to discuss options. It sounds like there are some fairly adventurous trip choices involving train rides to New York City. After talking it through, it sounds like waiting until Friday is probably the most reasonable choice when hauling three bags and two children.
At this point Joanna is washing the handful of clothes she brought, picking up vitamin supplies, and thanking Danica profusely for her hospitality. I'll fend of my loneliness with kid time and espresso.
 Sam, Emma, and I had assorted adventures yesterday. Emma and I went to the library, returning with assorted goodies. We returned to a still-sleeping Sam, who woke up in time for a lunch/shopping combination earned by Emma's accumulation of 100 "Awesome points" over the last few months. The kids were funny at lunch and Sam spent his gift card at Barnes and Noble. Surprisingly he chose three classics: The Arabian Nights: A Thousand and One Nights, Dante's Inferno, and Sun Tzu's The Art of War. I got a couple 2014 calendars from the on sale dregs, including Hot Guys with Baby Animals - the kids demanded it.
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. I had kids work on homework, and made mini pizzas for everyone (Sam wanted a Pulled Pork Pizza - it was apparently good). Somewhere in there we got Yayoe's old couch in Sam's room and the dresser set up for Joanna. I got Emma to bed and Sam and I played video games, engrossed in our new purchases.
Today the plan is for haircuts, taking down more Christmas decorations, finishing homework, and getting in some good hang out time.
I also finished up editing the Christmas video. It's pretty long, as I couldn't cut out everyone's witty banter.
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Busy Weekend
January 05, 2014 by Adam in Family
 My carefree bachelor days of Thursday and Friday are over now. I went to work, did laundry, cleaned the house, and put away some Christmas decorations. I picked up the kids this morning and it's been non-stop activity. I only have a few minutes until we get pizza for our traditional Saturday meal.
We set off fireworks, had enchiladas for lunch, moved furniture, played video games, and rearranged the kids' rooms. Getting the furniture from Yayoe's house was most exciting. I took out all unnecessary seats, took two trips, and we managed to move a dresser, couch, and treadmill. Emma was partially squished both times. Sam's strength was fairly helpful, and John assisted as well. The couch is now in his room, which looks like a bachelor pad more each day.
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Happy New Year
January 02, 2014 by Adam in Family
It somehow became 2014 when I wasn't looking. I worked from home
on the 31st as I was still feeling a little sick. I picked up the kids
early afternoon, along with Kate for a play date with Emma. Sam flitted from game to game in the midst of the Steam winter sale. I think he spent most of his time building space ships of different types. Joanna made a tasty dinner and cheesecake ice cream with her new ice cream maker. We watched the ball drop on the Internet, random people kissing and proposing in New York city.
 Joanna got ready for her trip to Rochester to fetch Duncan and Berry yesterday. She was off to Yoga class after breakfast waffles. Emma and I made papercraft Adventure Time figures and I set up the painting stand Yayoe gave us. Emma painted something abstract that we decided was either the back of two girls with long hair, or octopi hanging out. Joanna returned to pack and get dinner ready. Sam and I played board games, never quite getting the rules right. Emma shot her bow a little.
Joanna made sticky rice for tofu pockets and went off to a church event. I threw together a Japanese meal with edamame and miso soup. It was generally well received.
This morning Joanna woke up before 4 a.m. to take her cab to the airport. Unfortunately the flight from Eugene was cancelled, throwing everything into disarray. She couldn't get through to the airline, so she drove to the airport, sorted out flights, and came home to go back to bed. I'll drop her off later this morning.
The next couple nights are theoretically quiet ones, with no one else in the house. I've got some shopping to do, and that's about it. I'll get Sam and Emma Saturday morning and the fun begins again.
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