Mocha Friday

June 28, 2024 by Adam in Family

Oh how I appreciate today's cafe mocha.

I woke up with a little sinus pain - hopefully I'm not coming down with something.  Yesterday I was assigned to another project at work, so it's another weird transition for me.  I'll likely just spend the day trying to figure out what I'm working on next.  The week has mostly been uneventful, trying to plan ahead for the chaotic July that awaits.  Ben heads to Rochester next week and the comings and goings progress from there.

Tomorrow is family D&D.  I've been frantically organizing and getting minis ready to go.  My urge to overprepare continues, though painting some of the miniatures has been fun.

I got Jo an inflatable hot tub for our anniversary last week and started clearing the space on the patio where we plan on putting it.  Hopefully we can finish it up soonish.

Kayaking and Dryer Repair

June 25, 2024 by Adam in Family

I spent last weekend trying to decompress after a somewhat busy week.  Jamie and Emma are in Albuquerque for some wayward son hangout time.  Emma unfortunately got sick and ended up in bed for much of yesterday, but otherwise has been enjoying hanging out with her brother.  They're headed back to Eugene today.

As for me, Jo and I went kayaking on Saturday.  It was a little warm but pleasant as always to get out on the water.  Sunday they had a work thing, so I took Ben to church and spent way to long disassembling the dryer and replacing the wheels that support the drum.  Several minor injuries later it was back together and no longer made the horrible thumping sound.

As for the rest of it, I managed to play some video games, paint some minis, and clean the house a bit.  I'm back to listening to fun podcasts instead of cramming information into my brain, which is nice for a change.

It's wild that we're on the brink of July, which is looking to be a very busy month.  Lots of trips, visitors, the start of school, and who knows what else.  At least the weather is amazing.

Welcome Mocha Friday

June 21, 2024 by Adam in Family

Yesterday was a lot, but I survived the day, wandered over to Jamie's to say farewell to Emma before the two of them headed to Albuquerque, then Jo and I went out to dinner for our anniversary.  I was gifted a band saw, which hopefully I can play with this weekend.  My favorite moment was ice cream from Prince Pückler's then walking around as the Olympic track and field tryouts were wrapping up.  I got my favorite Almond Mocha Fudge, which reminded me of my childhood goal in life which was to eat a pint of the previously mentioned ice cream while watching Simon and Simon, that great 80's show about brother detectives.

I need to finish my mocha and survive the workday, then the weekend calls.  I've got a long list of home projects, along with Jo and I kayaking tomorrow, but hopefully I sneak in some downtime to play games, paint minis, or otherwise do something frivilous for a change.

Father's Day

June 17, 2024 by Adam in Family

It's the first day of summer vacation, though with more and more adult children it's hard to tell the difference.  Emma came over on Friday and we wandered over to the library before the end of the day.  Saturday was the friend D&D day - hopefully I transitioned everyone from the old campaign to the new campaign relatively successfully.  The new DM screen seemed to work relatively well, though I can tell already I've got some improvements I need to make.  The day wrapped up with pizza and anime, as is the way of our people.

Sunday was Father's Day, though we had to wait a bit for the younger teenager to wake up.  I got a call from my oldest son first thing in the morning and managed to call my dad later in the day.  Emma drove me down to 5th street to check out a new comic book store.  Though we didn't get anything there, it sounds like they run an occasional one-shot RPG in the evenings and hopefully I can lure someone down to play with me.  Emma and I dropped by Euphoria for some chocolate covered espresso beans, so the trip felt successful.

Once everyone was awake I got to open all my presents - a nice soldering iron, a dice-making set with epoxy and molds, some DM notebooks, Emma's hand-carved utensils, and a fun card with sweet things written inside.  After dinner we got together for Jackbox games, which was a fun throwback to years gone by.

This week promises to be a busy one for me, professionally speaking.  Emma and Jamie head to Albuquerque this Friday.  Jo and I have our anniversary on Thursday.  At least life is never boring.

Last Day of School

June 14, 2024 by Adam in Family

It's the last day of school and change is in the air.  Ben's the only kid actually needing to go in at this point.  Emma finished her finals and met with her thesis advisor, while Duncan plopped all his photography class photos at the dinner table for us to show off.  It's already starting to feel like the summer is packed with activities.

Jo's starting up their schoolwork, reading through all the stories submitted by their cohort and scribbling down feedback.  Emma spent the week carving wooden spoons and listening to classical music on the old AM/FM radio she bought at the flea market last week.  I helped Jo garden last night, putting in pretty flowers into some of the newly made garden beds.

Tomorrow the friend D&D group starts up and I've been painting miniatures and sprucing up battlemaps.  It'll be great to see everyone again.  Friday is Father's Day and I'm hoping I can convince the kids to play a little Jackbox or something similar.

Kayaks and Flea Markets

June 10, 2024 by Adam in Family

It's perfect weather time - sunny and warm without being too hot.  Friday night Ben had a sleepover, though I managed to completely forget when I set the table for breakfast.  Saturday Emma and I went kayaking down at the mill race, having fun visiting with the little ducklings.  Jo spent a good deal of time working on the irrigation system and has mostly automated the watering of the backyard garden beds.  Sunday I took Emma to the flea market, which was a first for me.  Half the fun was watching the people who go to flea markets in all their awesomeness.  Emma picked up a cool picnic basket and small radio while I got a couple boxes perfect for minis.

It's finals week for the kids and summer is already feeling well-scheduled with trips and jobs and such.  I've been putting the farm on hold, though I suspect we'll have to figure things out before the end of summer.  I've got a D&D session to plan for this weekend - hopefully I remember how to play.

Summer is Coming

June 07, 2024 by Adam in Family

We're getting a wave of warm temperatures this week and I finally got around to installing the air conditioner in my shed.  Our garden beds are full of lettuce, which makes our neighbors across the street happy as Jo keeps bringing over endless bags.  Fire season is just around the corner and I've completely failed at organizing taking care of some burn piles at the farm.  Hopefully this summer we can at least run a brush hog around or maybe a tractor.

I made Ben watch the replay of the Starship landing last night, which was really impressive considering it partially melted on the way down but still managed to land softly.  With finals next week, the kids' schedules are getting a little funky.  Last night I had to rescue Duncan from LCC after he stayed past the last bus printing photographs.

No D&D this weekend - it's still quite a ways out for various reasons.  I'll need to reschedule the family D&D session as Emma is going to visit Sam later this month.  I've been filling the time painting and printing miniatures and finding cool maps along the way.  I bought a D&D themed tarot deck as a prop.  The preparation is half the fun.

Hopefully I can get some downtime in this weekend.  My brain is getting a little melty from stuffing information into it.  I should take some time off this summer one of these days too.

Farm Visits and Flatpack Furniture

June 03, 2024 by Adam in Family

Saturday Jo, Emma and I headed out to the farm, along with mom.  The loggers finally finished up their remediation work along the stream and surprisingly did a decent job cleaning things up.  The blackberries are already starting to pop up and I can see how they'll take over unless we do things soon.  Still, we saw a deer wandering around and many of the trees we planted seemed to be doing okay.  Only the cedar seemed to be having a hard time of it, with the hemlock surprisingly happy.

We've got a bunch of slash management to deal with and blackberries too.  The neighbor sold their tractor, which is a bummer, and fire season starts soon.  Not sure we'll get organized in time - it likely will require running a brush hog around to be able to get to the piles that need to be burned.  Anyway, I'm trying hard not to get too stressed out about it all.

Sunday we celebrated nonbinary parent day for Jo, with the requisite presents at breakfast.  After asking what they wanted to do most of all, the answer was assembly flatpack furniture, so Emma and I got to work.  Even though it took way too long and required some disassembly to fix a few things, the end result looked good and hopefully keeps things a little more organized.  Jo also got another scholarship from Eugene PRIDE - they've been working hard at applying for scholarships for their master's program, so it's nice to see the work pay off.