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Mocha Friday
February 28, 2014 by Adam in Family
  I do love my delicious Friday treat. It's Mardi Gras at Charlemagne, so Berry wore her masks and crazy hair thing. We'll be going there after school today for the annual madness of screaming children and party games. Hopefully we'll survive.
The week has been largely uneventful - the usual non-stop family life. I've slowly been catching up with my sleep. Sam was mocking me mercilessly from my incoherent ramblings after 9 p.m. yesterday. Apparently I was ready for bed well before my usual time.
Emma wore the sweater Joanna made for her today. I can't remember if it was the first time she's done it. She sure looks cute, though.
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Going Northward
February 26, 2014 by Adam in Family
I'm headed to Vancouver tomorrow, a last minute request by my manager. I'll be hanging out with a VP and director all day, so it's probably good for my career. Unfortunately it involves staring at a spreadsheet all day, so I'll probably go mad. Or the 5 hours on the road will do me in. We'll see.
I came home a little early and took a small nap. Joanna is making burgers and being charming. Duncan is scripting anti-gravity machines in Minecraft. Sam is reading reddit. Life's good.
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Tiny Weekend
February 24, 2014 by Adam in Family
The weekend felt a little short after the luxurious three day weekend of the previous one, but it was still fun and pleasant. Friday night Joanna and I went out to the Pizza Research Institute and enjoyed our hipster artisan pizza. We had a little time and shopped at the Red Barn for a few necessities, which is a little nostalgic. Returning home, we found Emma drawing and Jessica and baby Avery entertaining Berry and Duncan.
Saturday morning we went to the bank to collect money the kids owed us, and then the library to load up on books. The weather was great, so I went outside with the kids to put up a tarp over the yard and make a little fort. While they worked away, I weeded in the garden beds and got things ready for spring. After the snows, spring sounds lovely.
Eventually Sam pinged me on my phone and I picked him up. We played Space Engineers, hung out, and watched Mythbusters and ate pizza. Emma's been trying to stay up a little late, so we got her in bed at a stunning 8:30 p.m.
 Sunday morning Joanna went to church with Duncan. Sam and Berry played Space Engineers together, which was pretty funny. I kept hearing Berry ask things like, "Which number is the gyros?" Emma and I whittled a wand for her, wrapping the handle in leather. I managed to do endless laundry and dishes and get the house slightly more in order.
Eventually I forced them outside after much complaining and took them to campus to run around. They enjoyed the graveyard and Emu, though eventually tired and we returned to Humble Bagel for lunch. The day wrapped up with Joanna taking the little kids swimming and my crew made sushi. Sam had never tried it before, and really enjoyed it.
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Lockdown Mocha Friday
February 21, 2014 by Adam in Family
 It's mocha Friday. Work strangely allows me to get to this site now. Maybe the number of F-words Sadie uses dropped below some threshold.
Work has been full on bonkers busy lately. It's the last day of our departing developer and I've discovered a fair number of pending things that need to be taken care of. I think I can manage, but I likely won't be able to work on my projects for a while until I clean things up.
We had a bit of a scare with Emma yesterday. Apparently there was a mentally ill person behaving strangely outside of her school. Emma was at recess, so they had a lockdown and she had to sit on the floor in the cafeteria. She thought it was a drill, and so wasn't nervous, but it's the sort of thing that makes parents thankful that all is well. I don't remember doing that sort of thing as a kid, but I guess my parents had nuclear war drills, so this is relatively benign in comparison.
The kids are all well. Berry has become a reading fanatic, forgoing computer time this morning to read full chapter books. Duncan calls up his friend Ash and plays Minecraft as much as he's able. Sam's been teaching Emma Japanese, which she makes me practice with her at bath time. Sam and I have been playing Space Engineers, having a wonderful time constructing ships and blasting them to smithereens.
Joanna and I are going out to dinner tonight, as Emma's going to Dave's birthday party and returning late. We're trying to figure out Spring Break plans, juggling children, ex-spouses, and friends. Hopefully we can have a bit of an adventure.
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Lazy Three Day Weekend
February 18, 2014 by Adam in Family
 It was a very pleasant three day weekend. We took everyone but Sam to the Asian Celebration, which was generally a hit. The kids picked up all sorts of goodies in the booths and Emma enjoyed her noodles. I just like looking at everyone and everything, from people dressed as anime characters to the more traditional costumes.
We had a normal pizza this week after the snowstorm. There was lots of playing - D&D, Apples to Apples, and the assorted video games. Emma and Berry disassembled old hard drives to get to the super powerful magnets. I crafted fake arrows for Duncan and Berry's fake bows. Sam worked on his Romeo and Juliet homework.
Monday evening my old boss Glen and Seattle-based coworker Summer came over for dinner. Emma really wanted to see Summer for the past couple years. They hit it off once again after a brief shy moment from Emma. There was nail painting, tours of the house, and general chatting.
Now I'm off to work and the kids are off to school. Hopefully I survive the pile of work I know awaits me.
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Valentine's Day Mocha
February 14, 2014 by Adam in Family
 Happy Valentine's Day, oh family and friends. As is the way of her people, Joanna arranged a wide spread of goodies for everyone this morning. To add to the fun, Berry lost another tooth last night, so I expect more fairies to come bearing goodies (the tooth fairy was overly tired at 3 a.m.). Everyone was quite happy, and Duncan wrote the most outrageously funny cards that even Sam kept his. I have dutifully attached my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle tattoo that Berry got me. The girls are reading their new books. Sam ate all the chocolate covered almonds. I'm working on my bag of chocolate covered espresso beans. It's a special day.
Work has been crazy, as I'm taking help desk calls and trying to handle the departure of one of the developers. I can't believe we're down to three. I'm just glad I'm relatively mellow about the madness. I can thank my three younger sisters for that.
We have twin friends of Duncan sleeping over tonight. Tomorrow is the Asian celebration. Sam really wants a normal pizza and Mythbusters after the power outages of last week. Should be a fun weekend.
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Mid-Week Update
February 13, 2014 by Adam in Family
Nothing too exciting to report. Emma was sick yesterday so I worked from home to keep an eye on her. Valentine's Day cards cover the table as Berry and Duncan make dozens for their classmates. Joanna and I went out last night for a lovely pre-Valentine's Day dinner. The snow has melted and everyone's colds and coughs have subsided. It's nice to have things return to relative normalcy.
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Power!
February 09, 2014 by Adam in Family
  We have power again, after a somewhat exciting evening yesterday. Everything is covered with ice, and trees kept crashing down. At one
point one of the neighbor's big trees had a branch fall down and the
neighbor boy Ben and I helped drag it to the side. My dad came over in the morning and played Castle Panic with Emma and I. Somehow he got hooked on Europa Universalis IV and Sam, Emma, and I went for a walk outside. Cheese park was a weird winter wonderland, and we enjoyed breaking ice of the surface of various objects. Eventually we returned home and my dad returned home.
Soon after he left, the power went out. We broke out candles and lamps in our last hour of light. Duncan was going to have a sleepover, which we delayed, though he walked over to their house to have dinner and hang out. The rest of us made the best of the situation. Joanna cooked pizza on the grill, which Sam declared as good as normal pizza (high praise for him). Emma and Berry assembled a light source from the Snap Circuits kit. Sam told stories from Greek mythology. Joanna played music. It was actually kinda fun.
Eventually Joanna went to fetch Duncan and the kids got put to bed. Without any show, the rest of us went to bed early. Sometime around three the power returned, thanks to EWEB and its hard working employees. The kids were all ecstatic to have computers and light again. I made a massive breakfast of sausages, bacon ends, pancakes, dutch babies, and cafe mocha. They wouldn't stop eating.
Joanna and Duncan went to church. The girls went outside this morning, reporting that it's wet and cold. Berry set up a science experiment involving ice and show and the taste difference. I think she plans on experimenting on us after it melts. The dishes have piled up, but the lamps and flashlights have been put away. I think we're mostly ready for family dinner tonight, assuming people can actually get here.
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Snow!
February 08, 2014 by Adam in Family
 We had a good time playing in the snow today. I worked from home, but managed to sneak away after lunch to take the kids to the park. Joanna managed a great shot of Duncan sledding on a previous park run.
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Snowy Mocha Friday
February 07, 2014 by Adam in Family
  I'm done with winter.
Joanna and I continue to be pretty sniffly, and spent the first night in the same bed last night. Usually we're hacking away in another room, trying to get some sleep. The kids are mostly healthy and Emma went to school yesterday after a week away. This cold seems to be lingering, but I'm hoping to be mostly improved by next week.
I had a lovely breakfast with mom on Wednesday morning. I drank too much coffee and we caught up on the latest news. I had to zip back home and juggle Emma for the day, as she was out again.
The snow hit yesterday. The kids went to school and I drove to work. I ended up coming home early - the roads were pretty empty and fortunately not too bad. Joanna put chains on the van, informing me that she managed to get hit in the head with a hoe in the process. There were too many possible jokes to respond with, so I smirked and remained silent.
School is canceled, though only Sam had a half day. I'm working from home. At some point I'm supposed to get kids to Jamie's house, and then pick them up tomorrow. Fortunately the kids are genuinely excited about the snow, playing for a long while yesterday afternoon. I was working, but caught some of it on the security camera.
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Mostly Better Monday
February 04, 2014 by Adam in Family
Emma was out of school today, but otherwise everyone returned to normal. I was coughing quite a bit, and opted to go sleep in the shed. The bed was comfortable, despite the lack of heat. What was amazing is the utter silence. I'm so used to a house filled with noises. Somehow I woke up roughly on time and braved the chilly morning air to come inside and begin the day.
Work was somewhat busy, with the big news that one of our developers quit. From a peak of 8, we're down to 3. I've got the routine down at this point, but all the change and turnover continues to be challenging. Job security, I suppose.
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