Middle of the Week

November 30, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm beat.  The little kids are in bed.  Joanna is off at an event.  I got a really bad headache and slept on the couch while Duncan and Benny watched YouTube videos and laughed.  I finally awoke and sent them to bed.  Sam returned and chatted while he ate.

I've been pair programming with Donovan the last few days.  It's slow, but generally useful.  I think we're approaching the point where our pretty chart looks okay and we just need to make people the option to configure it.  Next week I'm hanging out more with my old team, so hopefully he'll be good on his own for awhile.

I think all is well with the family.  I constantly fret about everyone, but for this brief moment I think we're all okay.  Looking forward to hanging out with Emma tomorrow.  We've started watching the Runaways, which I made her watch with me last weekend and we really enjoyed.

Birthday Boy

November 27, 2017 by Adam in Sam

Sam turned 19 yesterday.  He kinda knew what he was getting from me - I bought him some black pants, black t-shirts, and Doc Marten boots, along with a few odds and ends.  He's of the age where clothes are cool and exciting, so he appreciated them.

I got to have some hang out time together, which was nice.  His old shoes were falling apart, so I gave him the boots early and we went for a hike through the rain up the Ridgeline trail.  It was beautiful and foggy - we chatted about politics and school and camping in the cold.  I'd been itching to get outside for weeks, so it was a nice treat for me.

Sam helped make his birthday dinner and dessert.  Joanna found some vegan peanut butter "cheesecake" cupcakes.  They turned out pretty tasty, with Sam having seconds.  He even patiently sat through a traditional birthday song, to everyone's amusement.

Last Day of Vacation

November 26, 2017 by Adam in Family

Hopefully I remember how to do the work thing after so many days off work.  I'm making tea by the fireplace as the rain falls outside.  Everyone is still asleep.  I'm going to do my usual computer puttering until it's time to make breakfast, likely work on redesigning this blog or maybe poke at my game collection.

It's been a pretty quiet week.  Duncan has been his usual social self, going to the VR place with a friend yesterday, live streaming an unboxing of Pirate 101 cards, and other things a future kid might do.  Joanna continues to be sick, though she coughed less last night.  Benny started antibiotics for her cough.  Emma's still in Bend.  Sam's been doing homework, though continuing to train as well.  He apparently went to a zine folding party with some friends on Friday night.

Joanna and I had a fine kissaversary Friday night, going to Cafe Soriah to exchange presents.  I'm getting more foot rubs at Footwise in town, which we recently enjoyed.  Joanna got a heated mattress cover in preparation for winter.

The week has generally been successful.  I wrapped all of Sam and Emma's various birthday and half birthday presents.  Sam's birthday is tonight, likely just an informal dinner and cheesecake.  Emma's half birthday is tomorrow, but I have her prezzie wrapped and she requested a lemon poppyseed muffin.  Somewhere over the last few days I managed some Christmas shopping and booked a cabin in the woods for Joanna and I to get away for a few days.

Emma returns this afternoon.  Hopefully we can get some good hang out time together.

Tech Support

November 24, 2017 by Adam in Adam's Games

I had an email about my old Neverwinter Nights games, someone having problems getting through a locked door.  I hadn't opened up the game in over eight years, so it took some effort to get it installed, my modules setup, and a workaround tested.  It was pretty nostalgic being killed off and hearing my own voice as Death as we chatted about the afterlife.

The game itself is somewhat aged at this point, but had lots of innovations.  I should play through it one of these days.

Happy Thanksgiving

November 24, 2017 by Adam in Family

The week has blazed by.  Vacation days 2 and 3 were mostly filled with me playing video games, though I did a bit of kid watching, garage cleaning, and miscellaneous chores.  Benny had Wednesday off and spent much of it working on her Salt Lake City diorama.  They were especially proud of the state bird which was carved out of clay, painted, and then mounted on a sign.

Yesterday was the big day, though.  I made a hearty breakfast of crepes, strawberries, and whip cream while Sam made vegan pancakes and a scramble.  Everyone seemed pretty happy with the outcome.  Joanna cooked like a crazy woman throughout the day.  I fetched Emma from her mom's house, with some brief excitement where we had to vasoline the battery connectors in the rain to get the car to start.  Sam's friends are mostly in California, but he worked on his essay and hung out with Markos.  Duncan went hiking with Rio, returning to livestream the unboxing of something or another.

Eventually we all made it to Jenny's house.  Emma went over early, so she wore herself out cooking.  Sam took notes and interviews for his cultural anthropology class. Guillaume, Duncan, and Benny watched Home Alone, which was playing in the background - apparently it's big in France too.  The usual suspects arrived and we chatted through the afternoon.  Seraph, Sadie and their families texted their happy thanksgivings.  

As for today, Emma is heading to Bend early this morning.  Joanna and I have our kissaversary dinner tonight.  I'm going to try to get to my backlog of tasks I was hoping to accomplish over my work vacation.  We'll see how it pans out.

Vacation, Day One

November 20, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was a decent weekend, generally pretty quiet.  Joanna and I went out to eat sushi Friday night.  Saturday I attempted to take kids for a short hike, finally succeeding after lunch.  Joanna and I ended up hiding from them as I leaned close and whispered "help me."  It was a beautiful day, and I think everyone enjoyed nature a little while.

In the afternoon Sam, Emma, and I went to Euzine.  Upon arriving, I felt the cool quotient in the air raise by several magnitudes.  Extremely cool people were selling zines and drawings.  I picked up one called "No Gods.  No Dungeon Masters." about an anarchist D&D fan.  Sam wants to read it, though I might make him wait for his birthday.  Later we had chai tea across the street and I left Sam with his friend Markos.

Joanna had a uke gig in Creswell that night, so I made pizza for everyone and we watched Adam Ruins Everything.  Making four pizzas was a lot of work, but I do enjoy our quirky family traditions.

Sunday was pretty quiet, with Emma going to her mom's house.  I played a little of my latest adventure game and continued the endless laundry and dishes.

Now I'm on day one of my Thanksgiving vacation.  I wrapped presents, ordered new contacts, and started writing a new version of this blog using the latest technology.  I've a lot of work to do, so I'm not sure it'll be finished in time.  My dance card is already getting pretty full - tomorrow morning I'm having breakfast with mom, followed by lunch and a foot massage with my lovely wife.

Mocha Friday

November 17, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's Mocha Friday once again.  The days have turned cool and soggy, with leaves almost gone from the trees. 

Sam's keeping busy with school and outside things.  He's got a couple essays to finish by Thanksgiving.  I occasionally see him for a few minutes at the beginning or end of the day.

Emma took a survey to see what job she'd be suited for.  Apparently it's technology, biology, or some organization job.  She was also learning about the cost of college and I told her not to worry about it.  The poor girl was planning on living off scraps and wearing burlap sacks to cut down on costs.

Duncan is slowly turning around a dip in grades.  Joanna has been regularly making sure homework is done and turned in.  He's generally pretty cheerful and bright, so hopefully the organizational skills will come in time.

Benny got really into a math website that their school got for them.  They have apparently been blazing through, collecting imaginary money and buying new music and wallpaper for their educational game.  Whatever works.

Work has been going generally pretty well.  I'm pair programming with a new guy, though he's a long time programmer like myself.  It's a little slow, but educational, trading off turns typing while we talk about the problem at hand.

It's also the last day of work before a week off for Thanksgiving.  My to do list is already growing pretty long, so hopefully I won't be bored.

Bad Blog Poster

November 17, 2017 by Adam in Family

I've been doing a particularly lousy job of posting this last week.  It's not that there was any crisis or issue, just the endless routine of laundry, work, kids, and so on.  I spend so much time at home that the high point is when a bird landed on my laptop bag as I headed to the shed to work.  I said hello and it flew off.

Mocha Friday

November 11, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was a pretty quiet day, all in all.  Sam was the only person who went to school, and I didn't have work.  Emma spent the night, watching the rest of the latest pirates movie with me, then off to her mom's in the morning.  I scribbled down a list of errands and managed to complete them all by the end of the day.  The storm door is up, my hair is cut, a way overdue library book was returned, and I made a short shopping trip.  Benny kept me company for some of it, which was nice.  They've been gorging on Dork Diary books, finishing an entire one this afternoon.  I played some video games and tidied up.

As for tonight, Joanna and I are going to Whirled Pies to listen to music and chat.  The weekend seems fairly low key.

Generic Heading

November 10, 2017 by Sue in Wielesek

Four Kids, Four Schools

November 08, 2017 by Adam in Family

I realized the other day that I have a kid in elementary school, middle school, high school, and college.  It's the last year it'll be true, but it's quite the spread.  Last night I had to get a scared Benny back to bed after a dream about an evil genie.  That same night I took Sam to a "kick back" at a friend's house after he explained how a "kick back" is different than a party.

We're slowly getting ready for the holiday season, trying to figure out Christmas break plans.  I managed to order birthday presents for Sam, who is turning nineteen in just a couple weeks.  

The week is generally moving along.  Joanna went to parent teacher conferences and it looks like Duncan's grades are improving.  Benny has three days of no school.  Everyone but Sam has Friday off.

Rainy Weekend

November 07, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was generally quiet this last weekend.  Lots of hanging out.  I managed to clean up the last of the Halloween decorations, do laundry, and endless dishes, but otherwise didn't do that much.  Emma and I chatted and played some new video games.  We met one of Sam's friends who taught him embrodery.  Benny picked Salt Lake City as the state capital she's doing a report on.  Joanna got more house plants.  Probably the most exciting part was Sunday dinner and hanging out with everyone.  Joanna made some great vegan pumpkin pie, which Sam was grateful for.

Mocha Friday

November 03, 2017 by Adam in Family

The week is winding down.  Benny was sick yesterday, complaining of stomach pains.  I was feeling a little under the weather myself, though not quite as bad.  Both Sam and Emma related stories about getting the highest score on their midterm tests, Emma in Honors English and Sam in his cultural anthropology class.  It is nice to see them doing well academically.  Sam continues to do his school, gym, and hanging out with friends routine.  He told me 80% of what he's learning these days is outside of school.

I think the rest of the crew is doing relatively well.  Joanna and I had a nice date night on Wednesday, walking through the woods at Hendrick's park after visiting Sundial Cafe.  I helped set up Duncan with a new video editor so he can continue his weekly videos.  Benny is on the mend after losing three teeth on Halloween and getting a stomach ache.

Work's been going well.  I think I've reached a lull where I need to meet with others to sort out some big structural things.  There's still plenty of interesting things to do.

Happy Halloween!

November 01, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's Halloween.  Benny has returned, losing two teeth while eating candy bars.  Duncan returns soon, wandering off with a friend.  Sam is off hanging out with friends and thought he'd be back late.  I took Emma her pumpkin to her mom's house.  It says DISCO and has some flashing lights inside.

 The weekend was generally pretty good.  Emma was at the coast, crabbing with her mom until late Sunday.  Sam and I had a good time seeing the new Blade Runner and then going to Cornbread Cafe for vegan dinner and movie conversation.  He went out later to a Halloween party, returning the next day for breakfast.

Sunday was pretty low-key.  Benny and I put up Halloween decorations in the morning.  Emma and I chatted and made pumpkins once she arrived in the afternoon.  Sam alternated between studying and playing Screen Cheat with me.  Emma got into Biology, which was cool.

My big presentation was today, though I didn't really present anything and the leadership folks mostly chatted amongst themselves the whole time.  I think my little application still has the go-ahead, but things are a little vague still.