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Jamie's grandmother passed away today
March 29, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Jamie's grandmother passed away today. She was 95 and this has been expected for some time. Jamie talked to her mom, asking how she felt. "Tired," she replied.
Today is a whirlwind day for the kids. Sam had a dentist appointment this morning, school at noon after over a week off, and then to his first soccer practice tonight. It's just Emma, Sam, and I going as Jamie's getting her hair cut.
In other news, my old college friend Colin evidently married his long time girlfriend from Germany. Also, Kai (a good friend of Seraph's from ages ago) just had her baby.
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Much of the day was spent puttering around th...
March 28, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Much of the day was spent puttering around the house. Jamie was feeling poorly, so it was mostly the kids and I, running around. Jamie bought a huge beanbag-style chair last week. Sam and I had a great time throwing each other onto it, coming up with a variety of wrestling/gymnastic moves. Both kids and I also did some watercolor painting and I ended up doing a pirate ship that turned out nicely. Well, Jamie decided it was good enough to tape the the refrigerator anyway.
We also headed over to Dave's house while all of Jamie's family was assembled. It was a tasty Easter dinner, with a great blueberry cake (and Sam reported the ham was good). Everyone ended up leaving towards the end of the day, except for Ray who's sticking around this week. Jamie plans on going over during part of the day to keep an eye on him.
Now it's back to work for me in a few minutes. I still have this hope that I'll be able to finish up some of my bigger projects this week. We'll see how it goes.
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It was an exciting day yesterday
March 27, 2005 by Adam in Family
 It was an exciting day yesterday. We all wandered over to Dave's house. The first order of business was to pick up a recliner that would be used by Ray while he's there, then later go to Brant as a birthday present. Jamie went off borrowing a truck, getting the chair, and then returning the truck. Fortunately it ended up being a very nice chair.
We also decorated eggs, with Emma doing most of the work under Wendy's tutilage. Sam had a great time playing with Josh, smashing cars into each other.
Ray was surprisingly mobile and chatty, though he did get a bit winded on a walk around the block. He'll probably be staying with Dave for this upcoming week, with Jamie going over to keep an eye on him during the daytime.
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Jamie's dad made it to town safe and sound
March 26, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Jamie's dad made it to town safe and sound. Just about everyone descended on Dave's house last night, with the exception of the kids and I. We hung out at home, running around in the basement and fiddling with playdough. I ended up making cookie-cutter pizza for the kids, which they enjoyed immensely. I made Emma a pizza bunny for the holiday.
Jamie's uncle Darrel spent the night in our guest bed as Dave's house was packed. This afternoon we'll probably be going over to spend time with Ray and cook everyone dinner. We've also got some Easter decorating to do. My favorite part is coloring the eggs.
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Mocha Friday already? Well, it's been a shor...
March 25, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Mocha Friday already? Well, it's been a short week and a busy one too. I returned home to find my mom and Isabell playing with the kids in the basement. Emma borrowed Isabell's ladybug back-pack and when I picked her up she'd flap her arms and say "Look at me! Flying!" It was very cute.
Isabell also had a tea party and played dolls with Emma. I suspect the girl activities are a nice contrast to what she usually plays with Sam. Earlier Emma had been showing off how she could make realistic blaster noises when Sam and my mom played Star Wars.
In theory Ray is coming down to Eugene today to hang out with family and recover from his surgery. We'll likely do egg-dieing and Easter activities there.
Ah, and the sound of footsteps on the stairs suggestest that Emma and Jamie just woke up . . .
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Emma slept better last night
March 24, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Emma slept better last night. She and I were the last to have the nose sniffles. It seems that this winter we've been either sick, getting sick, or just finished being sick. Ah, the joys of small children.
It sounds like Ray's getting discharged tomorrow. Jamie's heading up sometime tomorrow or Saturday, though I don't know the specifics. Since some people were thinking he might not get out until next week, it's probably a good sign.
Work has been crazy busy, with endless e-mails and issues popping up from my few days away. I'm trying to maintain a Zen attitude about it. So far, so good.
Update: Well, it sounds like Jamie and Emma aren't going to Portland. Ray's being discharged in the morning and Darrel is bringing him down to Eugene.
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It was a long day
March 24, 2005 by Adam in Family
It was a long day. I stayed inside, watching kids, starting with Emma at 5:30. Somewhere in the blur I managed to almost finish my taxes and do a bunch of laundry. Now I've got two days of work before the weekend.
Jamie and Emma are going north to visit Ray again. He took a couple walks today. Jamie talked to him on the phone and he sounded pretty normal. Jamie and Dave are trying to arrange for him to come to Eugene and stay with them for awhile while he recovers.
Sam and I will probably just hang out and do guy stuff while they're gone. Sam was making a list of things he wanted us to do. I think he was pretty excited, as "alone with dad time" is quite precious to the boy.
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It was a fairly exciting day yesterday
March 22, 2005 by Adam in Family
 It was a fairly exciting day yesterday. I took the kids to OMSI and had a really good time. Sam and Emma were both on their best behavior and we ran around for two and a half hours before driving back to Judy's house while Emma slept.
Jamie was waiting there for us. Ray was still on a lot of medication and not looking very good, which I think was hard on her. Dave was pretty amazing through all of this, helping move him around and talk with the nurses. Being in the medical profession, I think he knows what to expect at least to some degree.
Towards the end of the day they removed his breathing tubes and some color had returned to his cheeks. Whenever his blood pressure dropped, they told him to think about his hospital bill and it went back up to normal again. If all goes well, he should be able to go home in a week or so, then return to work in six to eight weeks.
I had the kids again this morning when Jamie returned to the hospital. Ray's color has returned, his chest tubes are out, though he's still feeling pretty happy from the medication. So far, so good.
 It looks like we'll be packing up and heading to Eugene in a bit, with Jamie tentatively planning to return to Portland this upcoming weekend.
Poor Emma's been having a hard time lately. Her nose continues to run and she had a hard time sleeping last night. Since Jamie wasn't around, I haven't been able to console her particular well. She was so exhausted at lunch today that she fell asleep right next to her spaghetti.
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Ray got out of surgery yesterday, which evide...
March 21, 2005 by Adam in Family
Ray got out of surgery yesterday, which evidently went well. Dave and Brant stumbled into Judy's living room last night to sleep on couches and mattresses. Jamie and her siblings are planning a hospital expedition to check up on their dad. I'm tentatively going to take the kids to OMSI. As a plus, the sun has come out and I can see trees blooming outside the window.
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It's been a long couple days
March 21, 2005 by Adam in Family
 It's been a long couple days.
Saturday we packed up and headed to the coast. It was our first trip with the "carputer", a monstrosity that involved hooking up Seraph's old laptop to Jamie's monitor, wired through a power inverter so that I could run both. It worked, after a fashion, so that both kids could enjoy a show. It wasn't perfect, though, as the power supply kept getting wiggled and the monitor would tip over where it was balanced between the two seats. By the end of the trip, I was referring to it as the "carpuker" more often than not.
It was really wet at the beach. Sam and I took a trip down to the water, building some sand castles. In about five minutes, he'd managed to trip over one of our outer walls, falling into the onrushing wave. The rest of the time we stayed indoors, playing, eating, and watching movies. Sam and I got some quality computer play time in. Sunday morning Jamie, Emma, and I braved the wind and rain to go down to the beach. We didn't stay long, but were rewarded with seeing a sea lion playing in the waves.
We also got troubling news that Jamie's dad had chest pains and went to the emergency room. They admitted him and were going to do an angioplasty to see the extent of the issue, scheduled for Monday. We packed up and decided to head to Portland in hopes to spend some time with him.
Things started moving pretty fast after that. We had news that his chest pains returned and they started the angioplasty immediately. By the time we made it to Jamie's mom's house they'd scheduled him for open heart surgery that starts any time. David and Darrel are waiting at the hospital, Brant is driving in from Bend, and Jamie and the rest of us are waiting here for news.
So, we're all hoping for the best. I plan on keeping an eye on the kids and supporting Jamie as best I can. I think she's tentatively waiting until tomorrow when Ray should be up and awake.
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Happy Mocha Friday
March 18, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Happy Mocha Friday . . . I'll write more in a bit.
Ah, ha....I've beaten Adam to his own posting. This morning The kids and I are feeling better. Other than Emma's cough that is. I plan to pack and go grocery shopping today to get ready for the beach. I am also making a big pot of the most heavenly tomato sauce I've ever had over at my friend Sharon's house after school...we all have a playdate at the Musgroves! (Jamie)
Curses! I let Jamie sneak ahead of me as the e-mails piled up this morning.
We had a pleasant though short time at my dad's house last night for dinner. My grandmother Dorothy was there. She was looking quite chipper and telling of her ocean adventures. Poor Emma was still pretty sick and we ended up going home pretty early.
I'm very excited about heading off to the beach for a few days, though the weather sounds like it'll be wet and stormy. I've got a variety of child entertainment devices that I'd like to haul along should we be trapped indoors for days.
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Well, it seems we're all sick
March 17, 2005 by Adam in Family
Well, it seems we're all sick. Emma's been having a really hard time sleeping the last few days. I'm getting antibiotics for Sam, who's been coughing and mucousy for the last week or two. I've been popping Advil like it was candy all day. To top it off, I just looked at the forecast at the beach and it looks like it'll be cold and wet. Swell.
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Sam finally went to school yesterday, though ...
March 16, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Sam finally went to school yesterday, though he was still sniffling and coughing a bit. He's also had a bloody nose, which often happens after he gets a cold.
Jamie seems much improved and Emma seems her normal cheerful self. I'm doing okay, looking forward to the long weekend ahead.
Sam managed to knock two different things over the fence into the neighbors yard yesterday. One was a bat he was throwing around and the other was a shoe. He's actually getting pretty good at sports-related activities. He's pretty good at soccer and can catch a football if he's not too far. Hopefully he'll turn out to be a well-balanced boy.
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Sam's still sick
March 15, 2005 by Adam in Family
Sam's still sick. We hauled him off to the doctor yesterday, who recommended an inhaler and didn't recommend antibiotics. Jamie was feeling under the weather as well, and Emma's got a bit of a cough.
After picking up the perscription, I stopped by Flicks and Picks. I rented Vanity Fair for Jamie and The Cat Returns and Porco Rosso for the kids. The latter two were done by the same folks who did Spirited Away. They're wonderous tales, very different from the ordinary American animated films.
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I think Sam is finally on the mend
March 14, 2005 by Adam in Family
I think Sam is finally on the mend. He was still coughing on and off yesterday, but was pretty determined to head to school when I left today.
Most of Sunday was spent puttering around. Jamie made delicious scones for breakfast. Isabell and my mom came over to play late in the morning. Sam and I got plenty of alone-with-dad time.
Towards the end of the day Jamie was teaching football to Sam. I was trying to get Emma over her sudden fear of bees. It was a good day.
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Saturday has come and gone
March 13, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Saturday has come and gone. It was a pretty good day overall, though Sam is still sick. Jamie made dutch pancakes, which were quite tasty. Then Emma and I took a long walk to Sam's old preschool for their annual play. Emma was entranced, very quiet around all those kids and people. There's a good chance she'll go there next year, so we glanced into the classrooms a bit.
The afternoon was spent playing with kids for the most part. Jamie power washed the patio and I hauled in all the heavy furniture. Josh, Dave, Kirsten, and her parents stopped by for a few minutes. Sam perked up and ran around with them, then quickly became exhausted when they left. He went to bed quite early, hardly being able to keep his eyes open.
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It's Mocha Friday and I'm trapped in a confer...
March 11, 2005 by Adam in Family
It's Mocha Friday and I'm trapped in a conference room at work all day. Fortunately I stole a laptop and managed to connect out to the real world while everyone fiddles with stuff.
Sam's feeling mostly better today. Hopefully he'll make it to school, the first time this week. This morning he told me a long story about looking for mom, scary lighting bolts outside the house, developing Spiderman-like superpowers, and defending against a bee attack with only one glove and one sock. Funny kid.
Jamie was out with Victoria and Angie last night, arriving somewhat late. I made pizza for the kids and I, which Emma ate up like crazy. Sam's appetite wasn't quite normal, though he managed a piece. The pizza was his idea, as not much else sounded good to him.
I'm not sure what all we're doing this weekend. Jamie mentioned the Home and Garden show, so perhaps we'll have a little expedition.
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It was so warm and pleasant last night
March 09, 2005 by Adam in Family
It was so warm and pleasant last night. We were all outside around seven o'clock, looking up in the stars. I was in my shorts and a tank top and it wasn't too chilly. Emma loved looking at the stars, noticing that they were "blinking". I explained to her and Sam that that's where the "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" song came from.
We've been playing outside a lot, taking advantage of the weather. My bike rides into work are now down to a single thin windbreaker in the morning, and nothing in the afternoon.
Poor Sadie called over the weekend while she was walking through a foot of snow. Poor girl. When will she figure out that Eugene is the paradise she needs to return to.
Also, it sounds like Mount Saint Helens threw off some smoke last night. Exciting stuff.
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Yesterday was great
March 07, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Yesterday was great. It started with an elaborate breakfast of french toast using halla bread, along with coffee and sausage. My mom played with the kids while Jamie and I did some scrapbooking together, going through pictures of our honeymoon nearly ten years ago. It's amazing how young and skinny I looked.
Later on we went to Hendrick's park to run around on the trails. Emma made a friend of another little boy that was hanging out on some big rocks. She kept handing him flowers and called him "sweetie" once (which what his mom kept calling him). I suppose we should start getting used to it.
The kids and I had a crazy bubble-bath last night. If you turn on the jets with soap in the water, it foams up to epic proportions. Sam lingered in the bath for over a half-hour, getting bubbles all over everything. Good times.
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It was a good day yesterday
March 06, 2005 by Adam in Family
 It was a good day yesterday. The weather was great. The woes of work were a distant memory. Sam and I got a ton of time to hang out together. Jamie and I got some time while the kids slept or watched shows. Towards the end of the day we wandered over for my dad's birthday.
It was nice seeing everyone, though every time our family gets together I find myself missing Sadie. Emma liked playing with everyone. Sam and Dez played on the PS2 for nearly the whole time. Everyone had a good time.
Today, our hearty breakfast starts in a few minutes. My mom's coming over to partake in Jamie's delectable treat, as well as hanging out with the kids. Should be another good day.
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I haven't quite yet hit the mocha part of Moc...
March 04, 2005 by Adam in Family
 I haven't quite yet hit the mocha part of Mocha Friday. I'm still slowly waking up and preparing to face the day. I had a two hour phone conference before I left work yesterday, so I know there's a bunch of e-mails waiting for me.
The kids were in good spirits yesterday. Sam ended up watching an extraordinarily dumb television show, obviously designed to appeal to his age group. It was so bad it was funny for about five minutes, especially when Emma would yell out "Time Warrior!"
The weekend starts tomorrow, with my dad's birthday right around the corner. He's probably the hardest person I know to shop for. It's too bad I can't just make a cube out of marshmellows and toothpicks like when I was five.
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I'm not sure what it is, perhaps the sunshine...
March 03, 2005 by Adam in Family
 I'm not sure what it is, perhaps the sunshine and blooming trees. Maybe it's the mellow music I'm listening to or everyone at home feeling better today. Maybe it's that I'm slowly catching up with projects at work. Whatever the cause, my mood seems much more cheerful today.
Sam and I watched Hero last night, which had beautiful cinematography and martial arts scenes. It's got me excited to see House of Flying Daggers. It seems that the kung fu movies I watched on Saturday afternoons as a kid have been rediscovered, along with sizeable budgets. With that and the superhero movies, it's hard to keep up with all the great stuff that's coming out these days.
I'm very much looking forward to this weekend. We might see the play this weekend. Next year Emma might go to Sam's old preschool, though she somehow still seems to be a baby in our eyes. It would be hard letting her loose among other toddlers at this point, though in some ways she's far more social than Sam was.
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Poor Emma was really sick yesterday, running ...
March 02, 2005 by Adam in Family
Poor Emma was really sick yesterday, running a fever and throwing up. I've been a little under the weather as well, but nothing that Advil and caffiene couldn't fix. Jamie's been a real trooper, taking care of Emma, Sam, and myself without batting an eye. In a small attempt to make life easier for everyone I picked up some Thai food and the SpongeBob Square Pants movie, which Sam very much enjoyed. Even I laughed out loud at some parts, though it probably says more about me than the movie.
I'll be heading into work shortly, trying to catch up on the zillion requests that came in yesterday. Busy, busy.
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