Mocha Friday

March 31, 2023 by Adam in Family

I finished up my mocha and started my work day in earnest.  Jo took Ben and a friend to the coast for a visit to the aquarium and is off to the coast again today for a Science Fiction writer's workshop.

Saturday we bid our farewells to the Chicago-bound people.  Hopefully Emma and I can work on her room some more, including putting up the 3D printed curtain rod replacing the original one we lost.  I forgot we had this magical replicator and Emma suggested we just print up a new one.

We visited the farm on Wednesday and got the tour of the property, along with long lists of things that should be done.  It sounds like the house is in a pretty rough state, from the rotting and sinking foundation to the perpetually leaky roof.  The trees have all been cut back 100 feet, hopefully making the insurance company happy.  It was neat seeing some old oak trees seeing the light again.

Emma picked up some cool wood scraps to be turned into a future plant shelf.  It's fun seeing her room come together with a style loosely described as medieval botanist.

Halfway Through Spring Break

March 29, 2023 by Adam in Family

It's my last day off after several days off. It's been spent just how I wanted - fixing up Emma's room and hanging out with the zany farm people before they leave for Chicago. Emma's room looks great with the walls and trim painted. Furniture has been moved around and an ungrounded outlet replaced with a GFCI one. She slept great last night - apparently not having a hole in the ceiling is an effective sleep aid.

Joanna and Ben are visiting the aquarium in Newport this afternoon, along with a friend of Ben's. Emma and I are going to the farm to look for woodworking wood as she'd like to build a plant shelf for her room.  Plus hang out with the farm people as they pack.

Later today Emma goes to her mom's and tomorrow is back to work. We've got friends D&D this weekend, hopefully wrapping up a big chunk of the campaign.

Really happy with the way the room turned out. Here's a before and after shot of the same area.

Project Weekend

March 27, 2023 by Adam in Family

It was a fairly exciting weekend. Emma, her big brother and his girlfriend went camping. It was cold and wet and beautiful, visiting the southern Oregon coast and the redwoods further south. Since they're off to Chicago in a week it made for a fun final hurrah.

Joanna and their friend worked on the shed, putting up plywood on the interior walls. I sanded and spackled Emma's ceiling in between playing the latest Pathfinder computer game.

Since I'm taking three days off this week, Emma came over and we started painting. In a few short hours the walls were Cottage Hill green. Now we're working on the baseboards. We won't quite finish tonight but it's almost done. Emma decided to keep the heart Sam painted on the wall when he was little.

Moving Along

March 24, 2023 by Adam in Family

The week is moving along, mostly uneventfully.  I see the light at the end of the tunnel for this grand conversion we're doing at work.  Since I'm taking the first half of next week off, I'm hoping I can wrap up this big chunk I'm nearly done with.

Duncan and Ben have their first week of the new term.  Ben's enjoying chemistry.  It's strange to think this is Duncan's last term of high school.  So glad he's made it to the end.  Emma's final week was very light.  She's off camping at the coast with her big brother for a few days, which hopefully isn't too soggy.

Jo's staying the night in the cabin tonight, so I'll be home with the younger kids and kitties.  Tomorrow I'll be rolling up my sleeves to work on Emma's room.  I've got some sanding and texturing, and possibly a little more patching.  It should go smoothly.  The plan is to paint and finish the rest starting Monday.

Hanging drywall

March 21, 2023 by Adam in Family

Emma and I hung drywall yesterday. It went amazing well and we both got it up and plastered the joints. Next up is sanding and texturing, then finally painting.

We also opened up an old air vent and discovered two Reader's Digests and a bunch of peanut shells. So much for lost treasures.

Games and demolition

March 20, 2023 by Adam in Family

Saturday was the family D&D group, with Seraph returning to take up the mantle of the flame-loving cleric.  They moved through a shocking amount of content, to the point where I'm thinking large amounts of this chapter may go by quickly.  I'm enjoying the puzzle-heavy portions of the adventure, which is a nice break from the typical combat.

Sunday morning Emma, Jo, and I headed to Home Depot for the usual epic adventure spending over a thousand dollars and returning with a trailer full of drywall, plywood, and assorted supplies for two different projects.  Emma picked out her paint color, a lovely green that everyone likes.  After a break for lunch I worked on demolishing part of Emma's ceiling.  Joanna suggested I used the multitool for cutting along the edges, which worked beautifully.  It was dirty, dusty work but after an hour or so I had it all down.

Today the plan is to put up the drywall and then break around lunch to play some more Blades in the Dark.  Having a three day weekend is certainly a treat, as is the mocha I'm sipping as I type this.

St. Patrick's Mocha Day

March 17, 2023 by Adam in Family

I accidentally wore green today, apparently making myself pinch-proof.  It's been a fine mocha day so far, fixing some vaguely embarrassing things I broke at work.  The other most exciting thing we did this week was pi day where I made quiche for dinner and Jo made apple pie for dessert.  It's been my delicious snack the last couple days.

I'm excited to hear that Jenny got a job at a dental office she seems to like.  Yayoe's nephew Sayer is getting some more feeling and mobility, heading home soon.  Seraph is back after her trip to Rochester.  Mom and Bob headed to Albania to see Bob's daughter and grandson.  Duncan and Ben's term ended so they've been out of school for a couple days.

My sisters and I are worried about mom's fall on the stairs this week.  She was looking pretty rough with her bruised nose at tea.

Though not unexpected, Danica passed away late last Friday.  I've been thinking of her off and on this week.  She will be missed.

The Sky is Falling

March 13, 2023 by Adam in Family

Well, the whole sky didn't fall, but a chunk of the ceiling in Emma's bedroom fell down while we were standing a few feet away.  It was both dramatic and messy, and the dust kept me coughing occasionally for the rest of the day despite wearing N95 masks for the cleanup.  Emma took it all in stride and we have a plan to patch and paint the ceiling.  As our house approaches 100 years old the original lathe-and-plaster doesn't hold up as well.

Jo's back from their writing conference, luring passers by to their table with swag bags full of stickers and marketing material.  I think they had a good time hanging out with fellow writers despite the long drive to Seattle.  I sure appreciate the help at home again, especially with pilling Leiah.

Emma and I had some quality hangout time on Saturday, planting some arugula and radhishes in the garden, watching a video on mega earthquakes for her geology class, going for a walk and catching up on video games. 

Sunday was equally fun with the farm people coming over to play Blades in the Dark.  It's kinda like D&D but more of a cooperative storytelling.  Our three characters pulled off a casino heist in a dark, steampunk world - there were disguises, rigged slot machines, summoning ghosts, and a frantic escape into the cobblestones below.  It was great.

Rainy Mocha Friday

March 10, 2023 by Adam in Family

Thunder is rolling across the sky as the atmospheric river dumps rain and snow down on our little valley.  Since Jo is still away I'm working from the dining room table as Ben gets ready for school and the kitties nap on their perches around the window.

I've generally been doing well this week.  Work's a little less frantic, even though I've been on call and doing additional kid & kitty care.  Maybe I'm just more used to things.  I impressed myself yesterday by tracking down an email problem with an old decryption library that wasn't reading the entire API key because Microsoft decided to change how things work in the newer version.

Dad came over for dinner last night, which was a treat.  I was scurrying around trying to get bro night together for Duncan, Ben, and his friend Charlie.  They watched YouTube in the basement over onigiri while dad and I ate a Northern African dish at the dining room table.  Needless to say, I now know much more about the latest at Tesla.

The weekend ahead promises to be somewhat quiet.  The farm people are coming over to play Blades in the Dark on Sunday, which looks to be a fun RPG set in a haunted steampunk world involving heists.  Emma and I will likely get some quality video games in there too.  Plus lots of kitty petting, which seems to be a constant in my life these days.

Games and Snowy Weekend

March 06, 2023 by Adam in Family

It was a good weekend.  Saturday had the family D&D group, with Emma getting her older brother to sub in for Seraph.  It was full of hijinx and near-death failures, but they all managed to make it through to the end. 

Jo and I put together a sleep bag full of white noise generator, sleep mask, and a diffuser with some aromatherapy oils for Emma, who reports sleeping somewhat better that night.  The next morning we had a blanket of snow everywhere, and I dutifully let Emma throw a snowball at me.

Sunday involved a trip to the library, reading books, video games, looking at Emma's practice thesis, and generally hanging out.  It was a good time.

Mocha Friday

March 03, 2023 by Adam in Family

I think the week's mild illness is winding down, whatever it was.  We're all a little somber this week with Danica in her last days and Sayer's long road to recovery.  Life always seems a strange mix of horrible and wonderful.

Yesterday I met up with Emma to see the Magic in Medieval Europe exhibit at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History.  It was a fun treat to just hang out together, plus we learned about "the butter cat" and decided Data probably snuck around stealing the neighbor's butter too.

I started my on call rotation this morning, which tends to make work less fun.  I got a bunch done this week so far - maybe this grand conversion will finally get finished one day.

It's a D&D weekend with family, somehow muddling through Seraph's absence as she's back in Rochester.  I look forward to some fun and play sprinkled around my life

Snow and Sniffles

March 01, 2023 by Adam in Family

It's been snowy the last few days and I've had a touch of headaches and sniffles recently too.  I'm feeling mostly better today after a strict regimen of cafe mochas and Advil, as is the way of my people.  I heard news about Danica from dad - it sounds like she doesn't have long to live.  I also heard from Yayoe's nephew Sayer that he has bruising of his spinal cord after his fall.  He's working on regaining upper body mobility and won't know his long-term status for a year or so.  All this somber news makes me appreciate all the good things in my life.

Looking forward to tea with mom today - I'm being tech support for her and have a laptop switcharoo to coordinate.  Plus it's date night tonight - not sure if we're doing murdery mystery or video games.  I'm excited either way.