Mid-Week Updatin'

April 30, 2014 by Adam in Family

Duncan and Berry got glasses this week, which has been fairly exciting.  Berry seems most enthusiastic about her new glasses, constantly wearing hers.  Duncan seems to wear his less.  Both have the same correction.

Joanna and I went out last night.  We ended up at 5th street market where we strolled around in the warm spring weather.  Our exciting financial decision was to pay off Joanna's student loans.  Our bank balance drops, but at least it reflects the reality of our worth a little more closely.

Emma's getting ready to go to middle school.  The plan is that she goes with all her classmates to Spencer's Butte, which is next door to Edgewood.  In three years after that, she'll be at South just as Sam starts college.

Sam and I continue to play Dark Souls 2, occasionally providing color commentary as we repeatedly die. 

All is well.

Baby Shower

April 29, 2014 by Danica in Danica Miller

I was so glad I was able to be in Holden for Sadie and Greg's baby shower.  Great fun! Good to see them and catch up a bit. Nice to have a chance to catch up with the Casewell clan too along with some of Greg and Sadie's friends that I 'sort of' remembered from their wedding.

Here are the pix.

Monday Again

April 28, 2014 by Adam in Family

Another weekend, come and gone.  It was just what I needed, a lovely respite from the insanity of work.  Emma was here Friday night, Joanna made Thai food, and we generally hung out.  Saturday morning I made dutch babies and my usual mocha, then we headed on assorted errands.  First was the bank, where Emma got some money for a birthday present, then Oregon Art supply to buy gifts, and finally the library to load up on books.  We returned home for lunch, Joanna and the little kids went to a birthday party.  Emma and I hung out until she was off to Kate's birthday party.  That night Sam arrived, Joanna went to a concert, and the rest of the crew watched Cosmos and ate pizza.  Sam and I continued to play a lot of Dark Souls 2.

Sunday morning I picked up Emma and the girls and I did assorted science experiments to pass the time.  Eventually Joanna and Duncan arrived, lunch was eaten, and we went off to Hendrick's park for hiking, hide-and-go-seek, and getting somewhat soggy.  We stopped by Humble Bagel and headed home.

I'm going through some ancient videos and found one of my 22 year-old self.  Emma and Joanna thought I was the cutest thing ever.  There's footage of Seraph with her ferrets.  I'm working hard to get some of it digitized and put on the Internet for your entertainment.

Mocha Friday

April 25, 2014 by Adam in Family

I'm working away on my secret project.  It was cool for a day and now it's just a little emotionally exhausting.  I wasn't sleeping particularly well last night.  Too many chocolate covered espresso beans.

Emma was over last night and was fun to hang out with.  She's on to the last Gregor the Overlander book, the most excited I've seen her in a series for a long while.  She's gearing up for outdoor school, a three night coast trip with her class.

Duncan and Berry get their glasses today.  They're terribly excited, in part because they look forward to seeing again.

Sam and I have been playing Dark Souls 2, which was released early yesterday.  I should put together a video of me dying repeatedly, which is the core of the gameplay.

The kids have been having squirt gun fights with Flynn across the street.  I was checking my email this morning, reviewing the security footage that gets passed along.  Clearly I missed an epic battle.

Hot Dates and Secret Projects

April 24, 2014 by Adam in Family

Joanna and I had a nice date last night, wandering downtown for Mediterranean food and conversation.  Life does seem to whirl by sometimes, so just taking a moment to chat is luxurious.

The week has been generally uneventful.  We had a promising interview earlier this week.  Hopefully this person will work out and we'll staff the team up again.  I also got assigned a secret project, which is fun, but kinda odd.  I'm not really sure how to track my time.  On the plus side, whenever someone asks about it, I can just say "It's a secret!"  The conversation pretty much stops at that point.

A Little Scribblenauts

April 22, 2014 by Adam in Adam's Games

I played a little Scribblenauts Unlimited.  I always try to do accomplish the task laid out for me using the most weird objects possible.

If you're curious about my conversation with Sam, it's because he's playing a pirate game and prostitutes can be hired to distract guards.

Emma at School

April 21, 2014 by Adam in Emma

Emma's teacher occasionally puts together pictures and videos.  Here's one of Emma at school, showing off her music and PE skills.  She's harder to spot in the gym - just remember she has a white t-shirt on.

Monday Already

April 21, 2014 by Adam in Family

Joanna and I had a fun time out Friday night.  We had dinner at Agate Alley Laboratory, drinking frothy beverages from beakers.  Later we walked over to Tsunami books to listen to poetry reading.  Such interesting adventures.

It was a fairly exciting weekend, with Berry's birthday party Saturday and Easter Sunday.  I've provided video footage of the former in Berry's section of the site.  The horde of children were relatively well behaved and Joanna pulled out all the birthday stops, as usual.  We still have a large skeleton cake in our refrigerator.

I took Berry to the library before the party, where we had a great time getting books and then wandered over to meet Jamie to pick up Emma.  The girls were very cute together, chatting away about Gregor the Overlander.  Eventually we got home, survived the Minecraft rave, treasure hunt, and pinata bash, then I picked up Sam from Jamie's.  Pizza and Cosmos wrapped up the day.

Sunday morning had Easter baskets and massive breakfasts.  Joanna and Duncan went off to church.  The girls and I built weird things in the garage.  Emma cut some wood and painted it, along with sanding a dowel for mysterious purposes.  I helped Berry get hinges off an old wine refrigerator, and then put them into a chest she was building.  Later that day I caught her painting it without supervision.  Perhaps we can finish next weekend.

Sam and I played Cortex Command and Space Engineers.  In the latter, our two space guys are having a hard time salvaging ships and keeping our new ships intact against the meteor storms.  Life in space is hard.

Later in the afternoon Joanna took the kids to a mysterious errand, returning to hide chocolate covered espresso bean filled eggs around the house.  It was surprisingly fun, though resisting an entire pound of espresso beans is difficult.  I'll have to limit the number I take to work.

Birthday #2

April 20, 2014 by Adam in Yvonne

Birthday #1

April 20, 2014 by Adam in Yvonne

Here's the video from Berry's first birthday.  She exchanged the Minecraft Papercraft for spy glasses.

New Threads

April 20, 2014 by Adam in Sam

A couple months ago, Sam updated his wardrobe.  Getting a picture of Sam is nearly impossible, but somehow he was okay if a pig mask was worn.  There are occasionally long sleeve button-down shirts too, though the weather is getting warm.  He's especially fond of the boots.

Getting Ink Done

April 20, 2014 by Adam in Joanna

When I first met Joanna, she got a small tattoo to cover up a mole she had removed.  While she was okay with it, she always wanted to spruce it up a bit.  I'm not sure if it was my piratey influence or more likely a deeper meaning, but she went with a compass rose.  I think it turned out quite well.

Mocha Friday

April 18, 2014 by Adam in Family

It was a full day yesterday.  Jonathan was down to visit us at work, and a bunch of the old web services people got together for lunch.  Darin leaves today, so we're officially down to two developers.

I also had my physical, the first in many years.  All was well, though I think my three consecutive breakfast meals contributed to a few extra pounds.  Time to run a little harder and reduce the number of blueberry pancakes.

Joanna and I are off on a hot date tonight.  Berry has her birthday party tomorrow.  Sunday I'm picking up an old desk of John's, which I'm excited to put into the shed.

Emma's reading Gregor the Overlander obsessively.  Berry is reading Dragon Slayer's Academy.  Sam's playing a pirate in Black Flag.  Duncan is Minecraft, all the time.

Life's good.

Old School

April 18, 2014 by Adam in Adam's Games

Sam's making me play Shadow of the Colossus.  It's supposedly one of the best games from the PS2 era.  So far so good.  It took me a while to figure out what I was supposed to do, though getting dropped in a world without much of a clue should prepare me well for Dark Souls 2.  The latter comes out next week, and will likely be as exhilarating and frustrating as the original.

Lunar Eclipse

April 15, 2014 by Adam in Sam

Sam stayed up until midnight last night to watch the lunar eclipse.  Joanna and I had staggered off to bed long ago, but he played his new pirate game and kept running outside to take a look.  In the morning I asked him how it was, and he seemed noncommittal.  Apparently it was like something passed over the moon and that's about it.

Sam continues to do well at school, though his classes are somewhat less exciting than last term.  He still enjoys Japanese and English.  Health, science, and global studies continue to be just okay.  I think he's looking forward to summer. 

Birthday Girl

April 14, 2014 by Adam in Yvonne

Berry turned seven today.  She's been excited and worried the last few days.  Usually she's bouncing off the walls, but she was strangely worried about not being little any more.  I didn't have the heart to tell her she's already pretty big.

Last night Joanna and I hung the Minecraft-themed Happy Birthday sign.  This morning she awoke to presents, which she cheerfully opened.  We'll have a bigger birthday party this Saturday, but it was nice to do something simple with just the family.  Immediately afterward, Berry and Emma ran downstairs to try out her new Nerf bow.

Good times.

Swimming Saturday

April 13, 2014 by Adam in Family

It was a beautiful day yesterday.  Emma and I were up at the crack of dawn, making a list and crossing things off.  We oiled the creaky doors in the house, soldiered the new Roomba battery, and started laundry.  I threw together a breakfast of dutch babies, pancakes, bacon, sausage, and espresso for the crew (plus eggs for Sam).  After lunch we went swimming and had a great time.

I put together an impromptu monitor stand for Joanna's office, made from a microwave and a flat board.  Scooping out microwave guts was kinda fun, mostly to lighten it up.  I also started cleaning up the garage, which has been a chaotic mess for nearly a year.  Sam, Emma, and I played some D&D.

The evening wrapped up with pizza and Cosmos.  Joanna was feeling a little under the weather, probably because of the chlorine.

As for today, Duncan has a play date.  Joanna's going to church.  We need to do a library run in there sometime.  Otherwise it's another warm, beautiful spring day.  Life is good.

Mocha Friday

April 11, 2014 by Adam in Family

I'm surprisingly happy today.  Perhaps it's that all the kids will be come tonight.  Maybe it's the beautiful spring weather.  Then there's the mocha that awaits me at work in just a few minutes.

Joanna has been teaching the girls to knit.  Berry has been doing it for a while, and this is a second knitting attempt for Emma.  Joanna's doing a good job, in part because she's teaching a horde of children after school at Charlemagne.

Sam and I broke out Unity again and have been working on procedurally generated terrain.  It's pretty cool - maybe we can do something about it.

It's sushi dinner tonight.  That's always fun for all.

Springtime Indeed

April 09, 2014 by Adam in Family

Life continues to whirlwind away.  We had a lovely night out last Friday night, heading to the now-vibrant Eugene downtown for dinner and the First Friday art walk.  We ended up spending a bunch of time watching ballet dancers put together a dance number based on audience feedback.  My suggested dance move was "take a selfie" which was well received.

Saturday morning I picked up Emma and we hung out until it was time for her birthday party with her friend Jade at Skateworld.  She survived mostly unharmed.  I picked up Sam after a quick library trip and we saw Yayoe and John's new digs.  It was quite cute, though I had to leave early to get Emma.  Apparently Duncan and Yayoe loved it so much they had to be dragged home to an evening of pizza and Cosmos.

Sunday was fairly low key.  Sam led Emma and I through further D&D adventures.  The lawn was mowed.  Emma drew.  Lots of puttering occurred.

As for this week, it's been pretty typical.  Work is crazy, as usual.  I wish there was more time writing code and less managing a shrinking team and trying to hire staff.  I'm relearning SharePoint after several years of barely touching it.  I'll be the only one who supports it now.

After coming home, I put up the new hammock and reveled in the outdoors for a few minutes.  It was wonderful, though I paid for it in allergy sniffles afterward.

Springtime

April 07, 2014 by Sue in Wielesek

We all had a delightful Sunday afternoon soiree at Yayoe and John's new house! As always, Yayoe's good taste (and John's, too) is obvious, with light wood, simple lines, and lovely lighting throughout. They think the house is small, but good planning has provided three bedrooms, a wonderful loft office, and still leaves a spacious feeling.

It's Baby Year - Callie and Will's baby is due in the next couple of weeks, and of course Sadie and Greg's baby has an ETA of less than two months.  I don't know if anyone remembers Dick's and my goddaughter Naomi, but she and her husband are expecting as well.

All is well here.

Battle of the Books

April 05, 2014 by Seraph in Cortez

We headed down to Silver City yesterday. We're staying in a remodeled 1930's Art Deco hotel in the old downtown. Last night Isa picked out a great little restaurant. It ends up that it's owned by a couple from OR, the wife of whom graduated with Sadie. Crazy!
This morning we were up early to register for BoB. Isa's team won 3 out of fur rounds,and had a great time. We walked around around this afternoon before heading back to the room to relax before dinner.

Endings

April 05, 2014 by Adam in Adam's Games

I've been playing the Bioshock and System Shock games for a couple decades now.  I'd describe them as a thinking person's shooter.  Yes, there are monsters and aliens and lots of guns, but there's also Objectivism and the nature of games.  The characters are compelling and the endings are somewhat emotional. 

The studio that made them has closed down and they wrapped up the last of their stories.  It's possible the series may come back in some form, but it sure felt like the end of a story.  It was a strange tale, full of tragedy, but with elements of hope.

There are some other games I've tinkered with - Metro: Last Light, the Far Cry 3 coop multiplayer with Sam, and a little more Space Engineers.  Nothing is too compelling.  Dark Souls 2 comes out in a few weeks, and I suspect that will consume me for a good long while.  I expect tears and cries of exultation. 

Mocha Friday

April 04, 2014 by Adam in Family

Life continues.  I had a minor freak out for the couple days after my friend and coworker gave notice.  I think I've calmed down and have a more optimistic view of the future.  Or maybe it's the espresso, which is good enough for me.

It's been a bit of a crazy week.  I tried but failed to get Sam into a more advanced science class.  Joanna's been scurrying about getting marketing stuff set up for my dad and his new dental clinic.  The kids all got used to school again after their week away.  Berry and Emma are adjusting to life with a few less baby teeth.

Tonight Joanna and I are going out on the town.  There's a ton of good free music downtown, so we'll likely eat and dance our way until we return to put kids to bed.  Tomorrow Emma has a birthday party.  Yayoe is trying to get us over for dessert at her new house.  Life is busy but good.

Another Weekend

April 01, 2014 by Adam in Family

It was another fine weekend.  I worked from home Friday and the kids arrived early that day.  Eventually I was able to stop working, later than desired, and had a pleasant hang out day with everyone.  Duncan and Berry returned late from visiting with their dad, and spent Saturday and Sunday during the day with him.

As for the other days, we worked on projects, like modifying an old magic 8 ball and Emma produced yet more awesome art work.  Sam made up a D&D game for Emma and I, which turned out rather good.  It was pirate themed, with treasure maps and high seas adventure.  After almost being eaten by cannibals and sharks, we barely returned to our ship triumphant.  I think I fell out of my chair in surprise.

Joanna wrote away on her memoir.  We had pizza and Cosmos Saturday night.  Sunday afternoon I took her, Sam, and Emma for a walk.  Emma memorized more of O Captain, My Captain.  Laundry was done.  Things were cleaned.  Sam and I played a little Space Engineers.  All-in-all, it was a fine ending to spring break.  I can't wait to ask Sam about his new classes.

At work, we had another developer resign.  We're down to 2 from a high of 8, myself included.  Crazy.