Impending Summer

May 31, 2019 by Adam in Family

June is right around the corner and summer plans are slowly coming together.  It looks like Seraph and Robbie will briefly come out in a few weeks to look at the farm and have a quick visit.  Late June we're going with Sam and Skye for a farewell vacation near Sisters.  Duncan heads to Rochester late July.  I've got a work trip at the end of July.  Towards the end of August Joanna and I are taking Ben to Rochester to visit family, have a quick vacation with the two of us, and return with Duncan to Eugene.  Whew.

Joanna's away the next few days on a retreat, so it'll probably be a mellow weekend.  I've got some bark-o-mulch to spread, but I expect to mostly be managing kids and keeping the house from falling down.  I'm hoping we finally found the cause of the basement leak - a stopped up pipe that was causing water to flow from the washing machine drain to the floor.  Unfortunately there's a fair amount of water damage and dealing with it will likely be expensive and/or a hassle.

The weather is lovely.  Our garden is growing.  Work is good.  The kids are all generally okay.  All-in-all, I can't complain much.

Mid Week Update

May 29, 2019 by Adam in Family

The plumber is here, which makes me quite happy.  It's Snyder Plumbing, who have been my favorite people since forever.  We've got warped floors in the basement that we finally tracked down to a plugged pipe and not the sewage ejector pump which is the typical culprit.  Hopefully the ongoing damage will stop and we can decide if and how we want to fix the basement floor.

Work's been going well.  Clients like the kiosk mode thingie I built.  Now we're doing upgrades, which are always a little bumpy.

Last night we headed down to Roosevelt for Duncan's last concert.  He's not doing band in high school, though I think he learned quite a bit over the last few years.  He was moving from drum set to drum set as they did different pieces and he seemed surprisingly competent.  Mom came to watch too, along with Ben, so it was a good final send-off.

It's date night tonight, as Joanna is out of town this Friday through Sunday.  The kids are typically pretty easy these days, so hopefully it all goes smoothly.

Prerelease Mocha Friday

May 24, 2019 by Adam in Family

We're scrambling to fix bugs before our go/no-go decision this afternoon.  I was feeling pretty pessimistic this morning after I ended up rewriting big chunks of code yesterday.  Jacquie and Nick lept in to help and I'm feeling more confident that we can actually pull it off.  I still need to work on the installer, but I can hopefully find some time later todya.

As for my non-work life, things move along.  We're throwing a birthday party this Sunday for Jenny and Emma, which should be fun.  I've got some presents to wrap tomorrow.  Sam's looking for boxes, making his impending move all the more real.  Ben asked me for some gold foil to make steampunk goggles - fortunately I had quite a bit from my steampunk phase many years ago.  I helped Emma study for a Chemistry test and we launched a couple more kerbals into space.  Duncan wants some help setting up a Minecraft server this weekend.  I walked through all of mom's house projects - hopefully they're not too daunting.

Joanna and I had a lovely date night this week, walking down to 1960 Cocina.  It serves great authentic Mexican food and is apparently owned by the family of one of Emma's friends.

I started looking through all of mom's digitized stuff that Sam worked on, making backups and seeing what's there - so far it's mostly weddings and documents and such.  I'm sure I'll find a few gems.

As for the summer, it's looking like the general plan is a trip to Black Butte Ranch in late June.  Everyone wants Emma to work for them.  Duncan is getting picked up by Kevin mid-July.  In late August, Joanna and I will take Ben to Rochester to hang out with their dad while Joanna and I have a little vacation together.

Storms and Sunshine

May 20, 2019 by Adam in Family

It was a quirky weekend, weather-wise.  We had storms which apparently involved lightning setting a tree on fire in town, along with some pretty sunny days.  Joanna and I managed a couple walks and some gardening, in between staying inside.

No terribly exciting news - the usual pizza and Mythbusters and mom over for Sunday dinner.  Joanna took a bunch of kids to see the new Detective Pikachu movie, a burden she bore relatively well.  Emma and I played some Kerbal Space Program.  She managed to launch a bunch of kerbals into space with her various rockets, including one that safely returned to the surface after a harrowing parachute jump from a descending capsule.  All good fun.

Mocha Friday

May 17, 2019 by Adam in Family

Though it's already at the end of the day, I thoroughly enjoyed my mocha and talked way too much through my morning meetings.  The day has been generally pretty good and it felt good to finally wrap up my kiosk feature.  It's been a productive couple weeks, and I'm hoping next week I can work on some "nice to have" things I've kept putting off.

Other than helping Sam install mom's new washing machine, I think it's a quiet weekend ahead of us.  It's date night tonight, which is always fun.  Looking forward to Sam being around a fair amount this weekend.

The Week Is Moving Along

May 16, 2019 by Adam in Family

It's been a relatively uneventful week, which is nice for a change.  Dad came over for dinner on Monday, his back seeming much improved.  Joanna taught a class Tuesday night.  Last night Ben had a friend over and they watched Star Trek before and after dinner.  I saw Sam in passing briefly.  Had tea with mom yesterday.  Emma comes over tonight.  Tomorrow night is date night.

Work continues to be fun, though as our sprint wraps up I'm trying to get my features to a place where I can call them done.  I'm doing an unattended kiosk thing - yesterday I made the navigation slide away and back as you pause/play the kiosk control thingie.  It's a fun little nerd thing, but I'm pretty happy with it.

Mother's Day

May 13, 2019 by Adam in Family

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there.  It was a generally good weekend, pleasant and productive.  I picked up Emma Friday night, who survived her very long AP test.  Saturday I made everyone dutch babies and we headed to Down to Earth and a thrift store to load up on Mother Day's supplies.  Emma and I went shopping to both give Joanna a break and get supplies for Emma making a picinic for her mom.  The evening wrapped up with pizza and Mythbusters Junior, which everyone seemed to enjoy.

As for Mother's Day itself, I made crepes, whip cream, bacon, sausages, and assorted fruit for everyone.  There's a running joke where I made Joanna crepes, strawberries, and whip cream once and she said she'd love me forever.  I periodically renew just in case forever isn't quite as long as I thought it was.

I visited mom and dropped off a couple Ursula LeGuin books, returning with fresh cut roses for Joanna and Jamie. I helped Joanna prune our garden a bit, and swept up so we could eat on the patio.  Jamie returned from the beach, picked up Emma, and after a brief respite I visited Yayoe with a new plant and card for a birthday/mother's day combo.  Joanna and Ben watched the first Star Trek movie.  Mom came over for dinner.  I urgently requested that Duncan and Ben create a card for Joanna, and Duncan and Joanna went for a long walk.

Lots of work today, but it was all very satisfying and I feel strangely cheerful having managed to pull off another Mother's Day.

Too Darn Hot

May 11, 2019 by Adam in Family

It's barely May and I spent this afternoon taking down the air conditioner from my shed's loft and getting it installed.  I suspect we'll have more cool days ahead, but it was so hot this afternoon that it was distracting.

We're all muddling along this week.  Emma took her AP test, which went on far longer than expected.  It's also midterms, and grades arrived this afternoon.  I suspect we'll need to express expectations a little more clearly in some cases.  I love them all.

Sam's been digitizing old reel-to-reel tapes.  Apparently there's one of me at age ten or so, putting on my own radio show.  I'm excited to hear the end result.

I was overly cheerful this morning, likely mocha related.  I spent some time improving our installer - it's hard to believe how big a hassle it used to be versus what it looks like now.  I have a bit more polish I'd like to apply, but things are coming along nicely.

Other than Mother's Day, I think this weekend looks somewhat low-key.  A pizza and Mythbusters Saturday sounds like just what I need.

Another Beautiful Day in Paradise

May 08, 2019 by Adam in Family

It's been beautiful all week, sunny weather with flowers blooming all around.  No real exciting news.  Dad came over late on Monday to eat dinner and chat about Teslas.  Joanna taught a class last night, with me leading Duncan through his nightly vision therapy.

I did manage to book a place at Black Butte Ranch towards the end of June.  It'll be the last vacation before Sam and Skye head out on their adventure.  Hopefully we can make some memories before getting everyone together becomes more challenging.

Cinque de Mayo

May 06, 2019 by Adam in Family

We had family dinner tonight, serving a Yumm bowl like dinner of beans and rice and vegetables, with two types of pie and ice cream for dessert.  Everyone was there - John, Yayoe, mom, dad, Jenny, Jordan, Sam, and Skye.  We spreak out to the patio for those who could brave the allergens in the air.  Dad talked about his Tesla, giving John a ride back home.  Jenny and Jordan hung out afterwards to play Beat Saber.  It was a good time.

It was generally a good weekend.  Friday had Avengers, which was great, followed by a date night with Joanna, which was also great.  Saturday I picked up Emma and she drove me back.  We studied AP US History, as her test is this Friday.  Somewhere in there we managed to go to 16 Tons for coffee and games, along with playing a bunch of the new Humble Monthly games.

Meme Friday

May 03, 2019 by Adam in Family

Emma and Duncan are laughing at the breakfast table, watching April's Meme Review.  Duncan is trying to explain to Emma what the hippest memes are.  Ah, the joys of parenting in the modern age.

It's been a generally good week.  Joanna's had something going on every night, so it'll be a treat to do our date night tonight.  Emma and I cooked dinner last night for everyone, with Sam as a surprise guest.  The three of us played various video games while Ben went to a movie at Roosevelt and Joanna led Duncan through vision therapy.  There's no school today, so there was a Friday night vibe going on last night.

Life is generally going well, despite my various worries.  It's hard to be sad when both the cherry and dogwood trees are blooming, showering the yard in pink snow.

Midweek Update

May 01, 2019 by Adam in Family

The week is moving along at a steady clip, with beautiful weather and blooming flowers.  The bat hasn't returned, though Joanna and I are still fretting over the cost of repairing the chimney and getting more quotes.

Duncan's French grade wasn't quite up to par, so I helped him with his essay last night.  I think it's mostly an issue of enthusiasm rather than ability.  The end result was pretty good after investing an hour or so.  Since Joanna was out last night teaching her grief recovery class, he and I did vision therapy too.  Rolling marbles and popping bubbles seems fun the first few times, though I suspect it gets a little old after the twentieth time.

Work's been a little frantic.  I've been reviewing the work of a coworker who left and it looks like I've got a fair amount of work to get things up to par.  I've been sitting in on installs and it turns out that they all have issues and quirks.  Hopefully I can invest some time to improve that process soon.

Hopefully I can have tea with mom today.  We're thinking about seeing the new Avengers movie on Friday.  Life keeps moving along.