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It's Mocha Friday, though my morning coffee i...
August 31, 2007 by Adam in Family
 It's Mocha Friday, though my morning coffee is still over an hour away.
Soccer season started, and Sam was out running around with his friends last night. He wasn't too thrilled to actually go, but once he was there, I don't think it was too bad. I pointed out that it was good exercise, which he grudgingly agreed with.
Emma and I spent much of the time picking blackberries, along with a small cluster of kids that tagged along. I think we have enough for blackberry coffee cake for the weekend. Emma picked quite a few, though half of them ended up being eaten.
After practice wrapped up, we went off to Ben and Jerry's for Sharon's birthday party. She's a good friend of Jamie's and her kids are good friends of ours, so it works out really well. Everyone ate too much ice cream and we took some very tired kids home to bed.
As for this final weekend before school, I think we'll do the usual swimming, library, and so on. Maybe we can sneak in some outdoor events and a lot of relaxation before the fast-paced school schedule begins.
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Jamie called at work, sounding a little on ed...
August 29, 2007 by Adam in Family
Jamie called at work, sounding a little on edge, and letting me know that I was welcome back at home any time. Fortunately it was pretty quiet at work. I was the only person there, everyone else off somewhere or working at home, so I snuck out a little early.
The kids seemed a bit grumpy, so I decided to get them out of the house and took them to a canoe rental place by Alton Baker Park. There's a bunch of canals that run by Autzen Stadium that I'd never gone on, and it was the first time the kids had ever been canoing.
We stayed a little longer than I should have (2 hours), and the kids got a little grumpy/tired towards the end, but in general everyone had a great time. Emma tried out paddling and she developed a love for the blackberries that were constantly on the banks. Sam's favorite part was going through the "rapids" near a short waterfall. Now I'm exhausted and ready for bed.
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The beach was gorgeous, I was all set to spen...
August 28, 2007 by Jamie in Family
The beach was gorgeous, I was all set to spend several days. However, Sam missed Daddy and wanted to go home, and the kids started their annoying fighting and then Emma missed Daddy and I couldn't take it any longer by myself. We (meaning I) cleaned up and drove home. Phooey.
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I just got a call from Jamie
August 27, 2007 by Adam in Family
I just got a call from Jamie. Initially, all I heard was Emma crying in the background. Then Jamie pops in and says "We're coming home." and that the kids missed me.
I think the beach trip wasn't quite the lovely visit it was envisioned to be. Ah well, the one day to myself was quite nice. It'll be good to have the kids home again.
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It's Monday and I'm back to work
August 27, 2007 by Adam in Family
It's Monday and I'm back to work. Jamie and the kids are over at the coast and the house seems terribly big for little ol' me. I kept myself busy by mowing the lawn, gardening, doing laundry, and generally tidying up. I think they're coming back Wednesday or so, but it's up to Jamie and her whims.
Mostly Jamie and I hung out with Emma on Friday night and Saturday. We went for a long walk to the store, visited the library, and spent the afternoon hanging out. It was quiet without Sam, who had already gone to the coast. Having just one kid around is a very different experience.
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My Friday Mocha is long gone, I've gone throu...
August 24, 2007 by Adam in Family
 My Friday Mocha is long gone, I've gone through the morning's e-mails, and the work week is wrapping up.
Swimming lessons are done for the week. Sam did quite well, though he doesn't think he learned much due to his class being so crowded. Emma had mixed feelings about lessons as well. I think it was colder than she wanted, even though she seemed to like her instructor quite a bit. Emma's on the verge of learning to swim. When we go tonight, I'll have to test her on the skills she's learned.
Last night Jamie went to Angie's and then a meeting at the Little French School. Sam played with the neighbor boys, getting muddy and tired. Emma played in the sprinklers. For dinner I made a huge batch of noodles, and then we retired to play a bit of Sam and Max. Good times.
It's a big weekend for Sam, who's going to the beach with Jim and Judy. I think they're going out crabbing, even. Jamie's talking about talking Emma to the coast to join them on Sunday, returning sometime early next week. It'll be weird to have some quiet days in the house.
So, it'll be just Emma, Jamie and I for tonight and tomorrow. I think we'll do swimming and then the library in the morning. Other than that, it would be nice to have some downtime to just hang out. We'll see how it goes.
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The girls made it home safe and sound on Sunday
August 20, 2007 by Adam in Family
The girls made it home safe and sound on Sunday. Sam and I had a great guys-only weekend, filled with camping, computer playing, and action movies, exactly as planned. The one thing we weren't able to do was to rent a canoe and paddle about, but we'll try again some future weekend.
Towards the evening on Sunday, Sam and Ben spent an hour building up the Imperial Army out of Star Wars Legos. Emma and I played in the basement along side them, jumping around to the Mission Impossible theme song.
Afterwards I took Sam to a birthday party, where they'd rented the entire Amazon pool. It was sort of weird, not having a kid I had to watch. Sam played with John. I swam around and socialized with some of the other parents. The life guards finally kicked out the kids, who swarmed the dessert table. Sam returned with a Pirates of the Caribbean action figure and shrunken head as a party prize thingie.
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Mocha Friday
August 17, 2007 by Adam in Family
 Mocha Friday. That delicious elixir is long gone. It was almost medicinal today, along with three Advil. I woke up in the middle of the night with a bad headache, stumbling downstairs and ending up sleeping on the Foof (the blue beanbag-like thing). I slept in past the time I normally went to work, so I came in pretty late. Fortunately I almost feel okay now, as long as I don't jiggle my noggin around too much.
Jamie and Emma were getting ready to go to Portland this weekend. Sam and I will be camping tonight. He has beef jerky and marshmallows out, which I guess is all an 8 year-old boy needs to eat on a camping trip. I'll probably bring along something a little more sensible.
Since it's a boys-only weekend for me, I think we'll try to see a movie, play more Sam and Max, and generally have a good time. I'm sure by the end we'll frantically clean so as not to get in trouble by the womenfolk.
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It was another swimming night last night
August 16, 2007 by Adam in Family
 It was another swimming night last night. Emma has mixed feelings about the whole thing. She was getting pretty chilly towards the end since she's in the big, unheated pool now. Afterwards we played for a couple minutes in the play pool, then she decided she just wanted to go home. I think that after staying up until 10 o'clock the night before, she was pretty tuckered out.
Jamie was off at King Estates Winery with Angie, so I managed the best I could. Dinner was a quirky affair. Sam got waffles, Emma had rice, and I snuck in a bagel in between courses. Afterwards we watched a short educational video about the earth's habitable zone. Sam's been going around saying "Doctor Spitzer, Doctor Spitzer!" nonstop.
We also got a little present in the mail, the new Sam and Max game. It came with a poster that Sam put up in his room. The game itself is pretty funny. I think Sam's favorite part is that the main character (Sam) can whip out a large gun and start randomly blasting things. Ironically, that was the solution to the first puzzle we ran across (turning normal cheese into a reasonable approximation of swiss cheese). Good times.
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The county fair appears to have started in ea...
August 15, 2007 by Adam in Family
The county fair appears to have started in earnest. Last night I was trying to go to bed while 70's dance music blared from the fairgrounds. Through some quirk of geography, the sound travels right up the hill through our open window. Plus Emma was up past 9 o'clock, crying and fidgeting. I ended up sleeping in the basement, which was vastly uncomfortable on an improvised bed made from couch cushions.
Sam and I are slowly getting ready for the weekend activities. We're camping Friday night while the girls go up to Portland. We have marshmallows and hot dogs, which is all one needs for such an activity. This is a pretty low-key event, just camping out near Fall Creek. Maybe next year we can do some backpacking to a camp site and really rough it.
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What a great weekend!
It seems like a bit ...
August 13, 2007 by Adam in Family
 What a great weekend!
It seems like a bit of a rarity to say that, but this weekend went really well. Friday night we all went out to Barbara and Zoltan's house, Emma's old French teacher and her husband. They have two kids, around Sam's age, and everyone ran around and had a good time.
On Saturday Jamie went out to coffee and hiking while the kids and I did our library and Humble Bagel run. Sam's gotten into an old science fiction show, Sliders, and has been telling me all about it. He's also been playing with Sebastian, who lives across the street. Sebastian has recently become the middle child and Sam's company is probably very welcome.
On Sunday I took the kids to the ponds by Autzen stadium. They got very wet and mudding, having a great time until Emma got too cold. Later Jamie went out with Sam to get new shoes and school supplies. Emma and I seemed to play every game in the house, from Clue to Give Me the Brain. We also did a couple rounds of painting, which is always fun.
After dinner, I took Sam to collect his rock from Zach at Amazon park. They were putting on Romeo and Juliet, which ended up being somewhat boring to Sam. Since Romeo was played by a female actress and Mercutio was particularly bawdy, I found the performance quite amusing.
Now it's back to work. The big go-live this weekend is on track, but several hours behind. We'll see how our help desk calls do today.
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Friday already, my mocha just a shower and sh...
August 10, 2007 by Adam in Family
 Friday already, my mocha just a shower and short drive away. The week has been zipping along. At work, I'm frantically preparing for the big upgrade to our main clinical system. Lots of people in our department will be working this weekend, myself included, though I'm hoping it's only for a few hours here and there.
Last night the kids and I entertained each other while Jamie went to go power walking with her gym cohorts. We took turns being blindfolded and trying to accomplish various tasks, all while being filmed and having the robot vacuum the floor. There's a lovely movie of me bonking my head against a pillar and Sam avoiding the iRoomba in extremely dramatic ways.
We're off to dinner with at Emma's French teacher's house. Barbara is a neat woman, her husband is a scientist at the U of O, and their kids are around Sam's age. Should be fun.
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For those of you who may be worried that Adam...
August 08, 2007 by Jamie in Family
For those of you who may be worried that Adam is writhing in an elaborately carved four poster surrounded by flickering candles while we keep constant vigil for the fever to break....please be assured that he is fine. He experienced a nauseous headache Friday night and Saturday morning, but some rest and a lessening of stress at the office has effected a miraculous cure. No laudanum required ;-)
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I got deathly ill Saturday morning
August 06, 2007 by Adam in Family
 I got deathly ill Saturday morning. I woke up in the middle of the night and rolled around in the basement floor, popping Advil like candy. I was still in amazing pain by morning, scaring away the kids with my horrific grimaces. I kept telling myself that it would pass and after a nap I felt vaguely normal. Here at the end of Sunday, I feel just fine again.
Saturday involved a library trip by myself and watching movies with the kids while Jamie went first to her brother's and then to a birthday party. Fortunately everyone was in a good mood and I was feeling better, so it went pretty smoothly.
On Sunday the big event was a family walk to Metropol where I officially had too much coffee. Dave and Ray came over, and Sam made his grandpa some Swiss steak. Jamie let me have some time to myself in the afternoon before heading over to Angie's. Tonight was quiet, hanging out with the neighbors and taking it easy. Now I'm mentally preparing for work tomorrow.
The raccoon incident came to a close, with the swimming pool getting tossed into the garbage. A strategic withdrawal seemed like the most sensible approach. Otherwise Jamie might have voted me out of the office in the Fall.
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Well, I finished my Mocha
August 03, 2007 by Adam in Family
 Well, I finished my Mocha. Things are going horribly wrong with our main server at work, but fortunately I don't have to deal with it (yet).
We decided to repair and refill the pool yesterday. Both kids lent a hand, getting completely soaked in the process. Emma had a great time spraying down her brother, eventually coming inside when she turned blue from the cold. Unfortunately this morning I found the pool again partially deflated. I haven't decided if I want to surrender or not just yet.
I'm looking forward to heading home tonight and going swimming with the kids. They've all been learning new techniques and I want to see them show off their stuff. Sam's learning all sorts of exotic strokes and Emma can supposedly swim for real now.
Jamie has a couple events with friends happening this weekend (fortunately I got rid of those pesky time-consuming "friends" long ago). I think we'll do a library run and maybe Dave will watch the kids a bit. Some time to just hang out sounds very nice.
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I'm about to declare jihad against the raccoons
August 02, 2007 by Adam in Family
I'm about to declare jihad against the raccoons. Last night Jamie was woken by a raccoon in our backyard. It had pulled the tarp over to the edge so far that it worked as a drain. Half the pool is now empty. I may be a vegetarian, but I'm sorely tempted to hide in the bushes with a baseball bat tonight.
We went out to dinner last night. Everyone got dressed up and we went to Ambrosia. Jason Kronholm was our waiter, so we got great service (and funny too). I realized that I've known him for twenty years. I'm old.
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The last day of July
August 01, 2007 by Adam in Family
 The last day of July. The older I get, the faster time seems to fly.
Work has been completely insane since the move. We had a significant computer upgrade that went badly, and I continue to deal with those issues. I somehow got named the lead person to deal with this million-dollar piece of software we purchased. From there, things get even nuttier.
In any case, I'm back home, entertaining the kids as usual. When I arrived, Sam was wearing a blindfold and had spent the afternoon going around blind. Tonight we turned a laundry basket into a race car for Emma. She kept calling it her "baby" in a tough-girl voice, much to Sam and I's amusement. Life goes on.
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