Happy Halloween

October 31, 2019 by Adam in Family

The days keep getting darker and coler.  Last night Joanna and I walked down to our neighborhood mexican restaraunt, bundled up in scarves and wool hats.  I should make a final pass on our garden to harvest whatever is left before the frosts come every night.

We're pretty disorganized this Halloween.  I don't really have a costume for the day.  I scooped out the guts from a couple pumpkins last night, roasting the seeds.  We'll see if anyone ends up carving them.  Ben applied to be a gravedigger a couple weeks ago at the house with "gravedigger wanted" sign.  Much to our amusement, they got the job, helped put up graves, and have another gig handing out candy tonight.

It's also Sam's first day of training at his new job at a supermarket.  Hopefully that goes well.  It's his first birthday far away, so I'm trying to put together a birthday package I can mail him.

Work's doing relatively well.  I got a small bonus for essentially doing my job, which is nice.  I helped get a security certification by answering questions about our application.  My big feature is 95% done, importing and exporting stuff between systems.  It's not necessarily glamorous, but it's fairly important to have.

Fall Weekend

October 28, 2019 by Adam in Family

It was a pleasant, low-key weekend.  We didn't do all that much beyond the usual cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping necessities.  Emma and I had some good hangout time, watching Disenchanted and playing my current cowboy game.  We watched some science YouTube channels while eating pizza.  I took Emma and Duncan to the library on Sunday, with Emma reading over half a Young Adult book later that day.  Joanna continues to heal, increasingly capable and cheerful as time passes.

Sam and Skye called and I gathered up kids to play the new Jackbox games.  We picked a few good ones and spent quite a bit of time laughing until they had to go.  One was a personality test, another guess-the-alien, and another was defining a new word.  My personality test was a little spot-on.  

It sounds like Sam's doing well and he thinks he'll be getting a grocery store job shortly, which I think would be a relief for all.

To Portland and Back

October 26, 2019 by Adam in Family

Joanna asked me to drive her and Ben up to Portland today as she was still feeling under the weather.  I worked an hour, drove for two hours, took Ben to their appointment, took the tram down the hill to a pizza place, took the tram up, went to another appointment, and drove home, followed by another hour of work.  It was a quirky day and I'm pretty worn out.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful.  Work's been a little busy - things always get a bit scattered around a release.  It was fun having Emma over last night.  We watched a couple episodes of Disenchanted and she played a bit of my cowboy game this morning.  She had fun riding around on my horse, but had to stop her hunting expedition as it was time for school.

Kitchen Sinks and Doing Dishes

October 23, 2019 by Adam in Family

The fairly stressful last few days, full of clogged pipes and the inability to wash clothing or dishes, has greatly improved.  My favorite plumber came by and cleaned out the downstairs drain, though warning it may happen again and suggesting another company with pressurized water devices to clean out pipes.  In the meantime, I've been cleaning dishes and washing clothes around the clock.

Joanna improves every day, though still not perfect.  She continues taking ibuprophen and gets tired easier than normal.  I may drive her and Ben up to Portland this Friday for an appointment, as Joanna's not sure she's up for all that driving.

The rest of life is going relatively well.  We cut a release for work.  The kids are generally doing okay.  Ben made an awesome robot head.  Duncan wrote a cool story about his trip with his dad to the redwoods last summer.  Emma's been calling about physics.

I'm just happy to have functioning plumbing again.

Farewell Lovecraft, Hello Cowboy

October 22, 2019 by Adam in Adam's Games

I finished up Bloodborne last weekend, a gothic Lovecraftian souls game, fighting my way through corrupted townsfolk and horrible monsters.  With Sam's recommendations, I took the steps to get the "good" ending.  Whether or not it was good is somewhat questionable - what I became was certainly not a typical hero's journey.  Sam predicted it would take me a long time to finish and indeed it did.  I beat the last boss weeks after I started the game.

The next morning I picked up Red Dead Redemption 2, which has a great cowboy feel.  I'm riding with a group of outlaws, getting into trouble and trying to keep my gang afloat.  I keep breaking into cowboy twang around my family, which is an added benefit.

A Week of Small Catastrophes

October 21, 2019 by Adam in Family

I'm pretty worn out, though there were some bright spots over the weekend.  Emma's been pretty good at entertaining me and we managed to finish off our Room 3 playthrough.  She's also been helping me cope with the assorted tasks that need to be done throughout the weekend, usually with some jokes and a smile.

Duncan had a sleepover at a friend's house Friday night.  When I picked him up Saturday, the water alarm I setup at a potential overflow point went off and I returned to Emma and Ben mopping up water in the basement.  It turns out one of the main drains got plugged, making it impossible to do laundry, dishes, or use the kitchen sink.  I attempted to unclog it several different ways, but gave up and called the plumber.  Hopefully I hear back today.  In the meantime, Emma and I have been doing dishes in the bathtub, though I've let them pile up in hopes it gets fixed today.  The dishwasher and washing machine will be running nonstop for a couple days.

Ben had a couple friends over.  I finished Bloodborne and started Red Dead Redemption 2, going around talking like a cowboy and telling Ben "Git!" when it was time to wake them up.  Emma and I worked on physics homework and studied for her test.  Joanna continued to improve, though she still has a nest of tea, books, and assorted things on the living room couch.

Hopefully life settles down a bit this week.

Saturday Breakfast

October 19, 2019 by Adam in Family

I'm going to give a quick update as I take a break from making Saturday morning breakfast.  The dutch babies are cooking away and I have a few minutes before starting the poached eggs and mocha.

The week has moved along and Joanna has been feeling better a little more every day.  It's been busy for me, of course, as I'm trying to do all the kid things that need to be done while making sure she's okay and gets a daily walk around the neighborhood.  I've been fighting a cold too, and ended up wiped out last night and fortunately got lots of sleep.  It's release time at work, so we're all frantically finding and fixing bugs.  

The kids are generally doing well.  Emma thought her PSAT went okay and she's getting used to her braces.  We played The Room 3 this morning a little, as it's too creepy to play in the evening.  Duncan had a sleepover last night, so he'll probably be wonky all day.  Ben continues to do various art projects.  Life continues

Recovery

October 16, 2019 by Adam in Family

Joanna continues to improve, dutifully taking pain meds around the clock and taking it easy.  I managed to walk her around the block yesterday afternoon, however slowly.  The kids have been stuck with my assistance with vision therapy and other aspects of the daily routine.  Ben decided to make some clay and polymer sweets for Joanna as a little present, which ended up looking really good.

The other big news is that Emma got her braces yesterday.  Jamie took her in and apparently things went relatively well.  We'll have to stock up on special toothbrushes, dental wax, and all the other things she'll need.

Waiting Room Time

October 14, 2019 by Adam in Family

Joanna's in surgery, getting her procedure done.  Her status is showing up on a little web application I built long ago.  I was talking to my old coworker Summer last week and my name still shows up in examples on various web applications.  It's funny how my work still lingers.  They had another round of layoffs at PeaceHealth last week, so I think Summer is the last of the web team still at PeaceHealth.

The weekend was relatively low-key.  Emma was at the beach until Sunday afternoon.  Friday night was just Ben and Joanna and I, so we played Lovers In a Dangerous Space Time.  We had a great time fighting aliens and rescuing our bunny friends, restoring love to the universe.  Ben was excessively positive, telling us we were doing great whenever we died horribly and had to restart.  Saturday night we watched Adam Ruins Everything and ate pizza.

I chatted with Sam - he and Skye bought a car together.  He gave me some Bloodborne advice, which I've been playing quite a bit.  It was nice to touch base for a little while.  The weather in Austin has apparently grown chilly and he's had to start wearing pants.

Joanna's in relatively good spirits, getting a nice email from her dad.  We went on a long hike along Ridgeline trail, looking at the changing colors of the trees and chatting about life.  

I'm trying to keep busy while she's in surgery.  I brought my laptop and there's plenty of work to keep me occupied.

Mocha Friday

October 11, 2019 by Adam in Family

It's been a relatively quiet week.  The kids only had school through Wednesday, so they mostly hung out yesterday.  I took Emma to get her spacers in preparation for braces, running into Ana while we were there.  It was amusing watching the staff try to figure out the relation.  Emma's not really happy about getting braces, but she's being a trooper about it.

Duncan managed to avoid putting on pants yesterday, though today he's hanging out with friends and going on a sleepover.  Ben hung out with Morgan when Joanna and I went on a date this Tuesday.  Kids are generally getting homework done and being well behaved.

Joanna's getting ready for her procedure this Monday, seeing clients while she can and making lists of things for me to do when she's recovering.  Next week will likely be pretty quiet, just hanging out at home.

Fall Weekend

October 07, 2019 by Adam in Family

The weekend has come and gone, a low-key affair with not much going on.  We continued preparations for the rainy season - putting up the storm door and taking down the hammock.  Joanna started a new puzzle.  Emma and I finished watching Avatar: The Last Airbender.  Duncan recorded videos playing video games while talking loudly.  Ben continued their people-with-fish-head art project.  Leia meowed loudly.

Emma and I did a short walk around to look at the fall leaves.  Mom and dad came over for dinner and chatted.  The kids have a short week at school with the last two days off.  Joanna and I have a date night tomorrow night, going to Footwise for foot rubs, chocolate, and tea.  I can tell I'm getting old when such things seem lovely.

Mocha Friday

October 04, 2019 by Adam in Family

I'm working away, trying to clean things up before our upcoming release.  Lots to do and lots of little issues to fix.

Emma's been around the last few days, so I've been spending my nights cooking dinner, helping with homework, and playing quirky video games.  Last night Emma and I played a game called Manual Samuel where we each controlled an aspect of a person - Emma controlled one leg and breathing out, I controlled the other leg and inhaling.  Needless to say, trying to accomplish anything useful was incredibly annoying and sometimes deeply amusing.

The other big Emma news is that it sounds like she's getting braces, which she wasn't super happy about.  It's one of those things where they'll need it to get her impacted adult tooth in place and want to get things lined up a little better while they're doing that.  She's slowly reaching acceptance, I hope.

Sam mentioned he might have a job soon.  The chimney work is done.  Ben and Duncan continue to do okay at school.  Joanna's seeing clients and getting work done.  We're hoping to do a family dinner this Sunday, which would be nice too.  Excited to have some down time over the weekend.

Heading Into Fall

October 02, 2019 by Adam in Family

The chimney repair crew arrived yesterday at the crack of dawn and they've been working away replacing bricks, fixing the mortar, and generally sealing things up.  The bats will have to find new housing next year, though I think Joanna wants to put up a bat box so they're not entirely homeless.

The weekend came and went pretty quickly, though it was pretty nice all around.  I managed to get some preparations for fall ready, such as putting away the patio umbrella and putting my office air conditioner in the little loft.  The dreary days are ahead of us, though we've had a bit of blue sky between the rain.

My favorite part was getting all the kids together to play Jackbox games, even Sam from far away Austin.  He fixed his Internet so it doesn't drop every fifteen minutes or so, and we got a glimpse at his little house.  It sounds like he might have a job soon, though I haven't heard the details.

Emma's around a little more than usual this week as Jamie's on a trip.  I'm taking her to the orthodontist shortly in hopes of fixing her reluctant last adult tooth.

As for me, I've been working away this week.  I had a good chat with a coworker and sorted out some differences.  We're mostly fixing bugs and getting ready for an upcoming release.