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Still Alive
December 31, 2014 by Adam in Family
I'm feeling slightly more human - the cough remains, but I managed to make it to work yesterday. Joanna seems to have more energy lately too, or at least she's working more. The kids seem to be thoroughly enjoying Christmas break. Berry continues to try to stay in her pajamas all day long. Duncan is loving his new computer and the Minecraft modding course we got him. I'm occasionally called upon to debug java, which makes me feel useful.
The rest of the crew is doing fine. Sam and Emma are at their mom's. Honoka walked down to the bowling alley to bowl with a friend and two boys from school.
Joanna and I went out on a date last night, which made us both feel more normal again. We had decent Thai food and a delicious pie at Sweet Life.
All is well.
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Post-Christmas Cleanup
December 26, 2014 by Adam in Family
Well, Christmas itself was a bit of a blur. I was deathly ill, so all I remember is that we put all our guests to work setting the table and cleaning up afterward. I think the dinner conversation was generally okay, despite the usual Christmas craziness. Crackers were popped and paper crowns put on heads.
Before everyone left, I popped two cough suppressants and went to bed. Around one I got up, took some more, and slept on the couch. The kids woke up at six, so I went to Emma's bed and conked out again. Eventually I woke up, spacy but much better. The rest of the day has been pretty low-key, playing with kids and taking it easy. I continue to feel better, though my annoying cough still pops up on occasion.
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Merry Christmas
December 25, 2014 by Adam in Family
 We somehow survived the first part of Christmas - I didn't get nearly enough sleep as my cough continues. I was sleeping on the couch when the horde awoke and tore through their stockings in mere moments. The rest of the activities were slightly more leisurely. Everyone else woke up around seven. Presents were handed out and opened. There was huge amounts of loot, including a few things I want to play with. Duncan was amazed with his new computer. Honoka giggled when she saw her Japanese boy band poster.
Joanna made tasty cinnamon rolls for everyone. We've slightly beat back the piles of wrapping paper. I think everyone is wiped out and wanting to do their own thing for a little, and then it's off to brunch.
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Twas the Night Before Christmas
December 25, 2014 by Adam in Family
And I'm revamping the whole freakin' network, it seems. The outside world likely can't get to this site at the moment, as I've lost my last IP address from Comcast and it takes awhile for everything to update.
On the plus side, the new router arrived and is blazingly fast. I also drilled holes in walls and got Berry's computer hardwired to the network. Things were just way too slow. I also spent a little time trying to salvage Duncan's computer and pull off all the spyware. He gets a new one tomorrow (shh), but I'll probably use his old one for something useful.
Joanna and I continue to recover, however slowly. My cough has gone from annoying to occasional. Hopefully by Christmas it'll be fine.
 We've been slowly getting ready for the big day. I need some help from Honoka to wrap some presents, but she and Berry have been making a crazy elaborate cake all day.
Sam and Emma are at their mom's - I'll go get them at seven and tuck them in to bed, hopefully with visions of sugarplums.
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The Weekend Before Christmas
December 22, 2014 by Adam in Family
I'm the only one going to work or school today, though admittedly Joanna has work of her own to do. We generally had a pleasant weekend - I took Emma and the little kids to the library Saturday morning. We puttered around the house and mostly took it easy. The day wrapped up with pizza and Mythbusters.
 Sunday I started to get a weird cough along with being really tired - I ended up going to bed really early and sleeping for nine hours, which helped. Otherwise it was pretty low-key. Emma worked on her Rube Goldberg homework assignment. Berry made a robot. We went to the Nutcracker, which was pretty good. I think the girls liked to dress up. Sam and I played Crusader Kings 2, where I played a northern tribesman trying to unite Sweden. Unfortunately he died early and the kingdom crumbled. My son is slowly working to unite it again.
Only a few more days until Christmas. I've got a few more presents to wrap, but am otherwise feeling generally good to go.
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Wrestling Injury Mocha Friday
December 19, 2014 by Adam in Family
Sam hurt his knee last night, pretty badly. He was at wrestling practice doing some warm up exercises and ended up having someone fall on him. The staff at South was worried there might be an ACL tear or something more serious. I have an appointment at 11:20 a.m. today to see a doctor. Sam made it to school and is going around on crutches. I think he'll end up reading during rock climbing first period. Poor guy.
The rest of the family is doing relatively better. Emma is her usual cheerful self. Joanna still gets tired, but is on the mend.
Really looking forward to time off next week.
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Christmas is Coming
December 14, 2014 by Adam in Family
We got the tree up yesterday. Sam was at a wrestling meet where he lost quite a bit, but hopefully had an interesting experience. Duncan had a sleepover, but returned late morning. We headed to a nearby Christmas tree place and picked out a suitable tree. I turned on Christmas music on Pandora and we cheerfully coated the thing with ornaments. We all had a good time.
The rest of the day was fairly low-key. We went to the pottery painting place, where they had a widespread power outage. Fortunately the lights came on soon after we arrived. Emma's turned out pretty amazing, and everyone had a good time. Even I got in on the action, hopefully making something that will be cherished appropriately.
At the start of the day, Berry's computer's hard drive died. I slowly brought it back to life, though I'm not sure I can recover the data from the old one. I can't even format the thing.
We watched a quirky movie called The One I Love, which is best enjoyed without knowing anything about it. Sam arrived around eleven, completely exhausted.
This morning I whipped up my usual feast of sausages, eggs, omelet, bacon, waffles, and mocha. Joanna and the little kids went to church. Jamie came to pick up everyone else to decorate Christmas cookies. I've been at home, enjoying the quiet. Laundry is washing, dishes are being cleaned, and I occasionally leave my video game to do something useful.
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Mocha Friday
December 12, 2014 by Adam in Family
 It was a typical fun morning. Sam woke up at the crack of dawn for his wrestling meet in Coos Bay. He's missing a full day of school and sleeping on mats in the gym tonight. Should be an interesting experience. Joanna continues to improve, perking up and starting to get all the Christmas stuff ready. Emma helped get Duncan out of bed this morning. Berry was drawing pictures of Raven from Teen Titans Go!, as she often does. Honoka was quiet and self-sufficient, as usual.
I'm slowly approaching the "shopped out" phase before Christmas. I don't think I can get any more stocking stuffers or quirky gifts. I have lots of things to wrap and prepare, but I think we'll manage. Tomorrow we get a Christmas tree and finalize the decorations.
I bought myself an early Christmas present - a new monitor with an HDMI port. The good news is that it fixed my weird red pixel issue with my new computer. I think that's the last of the weird problems and it's now functional and awesome. Sam and I have been playing Far Cry 4 together, which has been pretty entertaining. I'm sure the girls will want me to play Terraria this weekend.
Life is good.
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Road To Recovery
December 09, 2014 by Adam in Family
A friend of Joanna's got her dinner last night. It was incredibly convenient, as Joanna still isn't quite up for rushing about yet. I asked if there was anyone else she could play the pneumonia card with to get free stuff.
Christmas is barreling down at us. I feel a little prepared, though there are still all sorts of things that aren't figured out yet. I have more presents to wrap, a tree to buy, Christmas lights to get, and so on. I'm even behind on eating the chocolate covered espresso beans from my advent calendar.
My new computer is super awesome, except when it isn't. Sometimes I get red sparkles on my monitor in the dark areas for no particular reason. I ended up buying a new monitor (since it's time and Duncan has a tiny one). If that doesn't work, I'll return my fancy video card and hope for the best.
At work they announced a cultural shift - every new job won't automatically be in Vancouver. We'll see if that means I can hire back people we lost, or maybe I'll get the Functional Lead title after being functional lead for a few years now.
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Getting Ready for Christmas
December 07, 2014 by Adam in Family
 It's been an exciting last few days. I decided to take Joanna to a doctor on Friday, so I spent the day interacting with our fine healthcare system. First was Urgent Care, where we waited for a long while. Eventually we got in where we did the usual tests, an inhaler, and eventually a chest x-ray. Sure enough, she had pneumonia, so we were sent home with a prescription for antibiotics. I dropped off Joanna at home where my mom and the little kids soon arrived. I spent the next hour waiting for the prescription to be filled - shopping, visiting the bank, and filling up with gas in the meantime. Once we got Joanna medicated, she started feeling better, though she's been coughing and tired ever since. No fever, which is a good sign.
I'm in the process of moving things to my new computer. Somewhere in the middle of it all, the hard drive started to fail. I wasn't able to recover, so I'm currently typing on a fresh install of Windows. It's still doing stuff, so the resolution is crazy lousy. Hopefully that will get resolved soon.
We put up some Christmas decorations this morning, and I managed to get a couple kids upstairs to wrap presents. Hopefully we can get a tree next weekend and finish the job.
Duncan is at a play date. Honoka is doing homework. Berry and Emma are playing. Sam is watching a show. Joanna is resting. I'm flitting about, helping kids with homework, cleaning up, and getting my computer more functional. Busy, busy.
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Mocha Friday
December 05, 2014 by Adam in Family
I'm getting a little frayed around the edges, drinking my mocha a little later than usual. Poor Joanna has been completely wiped out since she got back, running a fever for two days and generally staying in bed. My mom has been great - helping pick up kids and buying pizza for dinner. Honoka helped with dinner the night before.
Yesterday was pretty nutty as it was Sam's first wrestling match. I managed to get four kids fed and out the door. They watched the wrestling matches, Emma providing color commentary, and Berry holding up handmade signs. Sam did pretty well, considering he's only been wrestling for a week. There were a couple really intense matches, so I can see why people get into the sport.
This morning Emma complained about feeling unwell, but I managed to cajole her into going to school. She and Sam are at their mom's tonight. I think I'm going food shopping as we're running out. Tomorrow I have a metric ton of laundry to do. Busy, busy.
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Madness Returns
December 04, 2014 by Adam in Family
We're back to the usual levels of crazy. Joanna's been deathly ill, living in bed since she returned from the trip. It looks like she'll spend another day in bed today. Yesterday when she heard my mom was coming over to help, she burst into tears. I suspect we may ask my mom to help out again and pick the kids up from school. We'll see how it goes.
Sam and Honoka have started their new classes. Honoka is needing a fair amount of help with math, mostly translating math-specific phrases. She seems to understand the underlying ideas pretty well. Sam was looking up "Ye Olde" phrases for his English class - something about burning witches.
Duncan and Berry are back in the routine. Berry's working on drawing her favorite characters, watching YouTube videos on how to do it. This morning at the breakfast table she made a robot.
I talked to Emma briefly. She got good news about her teeth - they appear to be coming out by themselves, so no surgery required. I think she likes her one new class, and is cheerful as usual.
Sam has his first wrestling match at Springfield High School at six o'clock. My plan is to come home early for an early dinner, and then head over with whoever wants to see it, then take him home. He's much less sore today, and in good spirits despite thinking he'll lose horribly.
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On Their Way
December 02, 2014 by Adam in Family
 Joanna, Duncan, and Berry are slowly making their way home today. Poor Joanna is sick, but hopefully she can survive the journey. It'll be nice to have them home again.
Sam and Honoka start a new term today. I think Honoka is a little nervous about her math. Sam seems to think the term will be a little lighter. He doesn't have a math class, which seems to constantly generate homework, and he has a free third period. With wrestling practice every night, I'm hoping the lighter schedule maintains his sanity.
Emma is slowly working through her dental issues. She has a couple sunken teeth that likely need to come out. She had a Panorex yesterday and hopefully will get word of what to do soon.
I'm starting to get excited for the holidays. There's a steady stream of packages arriving, and I've started slowly wrapping them. The advent calendars are up, and I'm greeted by chocolate covered espresso beans each morning. It's the little things that make me happy.
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Wrapping Up the Weekend
December 01, 2014 by Adam in Family
The sun is setting and the last day of my five days off is waning.
Saturday morning I played with Sam and Emma until noon. I finished my epic battle with Sam and took him to his mom's house. From that point on, it was non-stop errands. I took Honoka to get her flu shot, picked up her friend, took them bowling, and then drove around town. I picked up hardware, went to the library, and got my passport photos taken. Finally I returned to pick up the girls, dropped off the friend, went food shopping, and collapsed at home. Honoka made a delicious Japanese meal for me, something she intends to continue doing for the next few days. I very much appreciate it.
Today we stayed at home the whole day. Honoka basically crashed on the couch with her smart phone. I installed a shelf above the treadmill for a laptop. Laundry by the basket was finished. Leaves were raked, the driveway was swept, and the refrigerator cleaned. I built a new computer and moved things over. Somewhere in there I managed a few video games.
Time to finish up the laundry and thankfully not have to make dinner.
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