Visitors from Texas

September 30, 2022 by Adam in Family

Our Texas visitors are arriving this Saturday, which is very exciting.  I'll probably take time off here and there for hikes and other galavanting about.  Emma's wrapping up her first week of school, already feeling the weight of reading, lab reports, and field trips.  She did seem to like her professors, though.  Duncan and Ben continue onward through high school as well.  Joanna's wrapping up their book editing assignment, which I think has been generally enjoyable, though fundraising seems to be taking up much of their free time.

It's a big D&D weekend, with family on Saturday and friends on Sunday.  Both are in the middle of things, so hopefully I remember where I left off.  I've got way too many long work meetings today, so I'll probably paint minatures which weirdly helps me pay better attention to what is being said.

Seraph and Robbie bought a house this week down in Creswell, 18 minutes away according to Google.  It looks like a nice place with enough space for everyone and a good sized yard.  Presumably the chickens will be returning, though Joanna's already pushing for a new batch of our own.

Otherwise life is relatively uneventful.  My days are full of work, punctuated by a run on the treadmill, then whatever events happen after dinner - date night, visiting with my dad, or a little bit of video games.  After that we watch tv with Data inevitably crawling into my lap for pets.

Sick Weekend

September 26, 2022 by Adam in Family

I had a cold all weekend, sniffling and tired but otherwise hanging in there.  No COVID, at least according to one of the rapid tests I've grown tired of taking.  It was a low-key weekend of puttering about - Emma and I went to the library, Joanna and I (and later just Joanna) worked on preserving apples, I painted miniatures, and played video games with Emma.  Ben had a friend over.  Duncan played Minecraft with friends.  There were a couple walks.  I chatted with all my parents and siblings about Danica.  Dishes were washed, laundry was folded.  Cats were petted.  Mochas were drunk.

Sad Mocha Friday

September 23, 2022 by Adam in Family

We got news this morning that Danica's cancer had returned and she didn't have long to live.  I've been thinking of my time with her across the decades, hanging out in her living room and listening to Billy Joel records as a kid, Jenny and I doing a photoshoot in Danica's sunprint dresses, and then later as an adult staying with her while Ben and Duncan visit their dad in Rochester.  Danica was especially kind and generous to Joanna when they'd go back to pickup kids from Rochester over the last twelve years, offering a room, food, and company when such things were deeply needed.  Joanna's so distant from their family that such generosity was especially sweet.

As for the rest of life, we've moved into autumn and the days are getting cooler.  There were a few days where wildfires left the air full of smoke and my lungs have felt a little goopy all week.  Emma's getting ready for school next week.  Ben's settling in to his classes.  Duncan's bouncing around classes and his IOP, hopefully attending enough to make it to graduation.  Joanna's been working hard between doing editing for a local publishing house and doing fundraising for Wordcrafters, which apparently does a lot of work with kids than I thought.

Hopefully the weekend is calm and quiet, with visits to the library and preserving the last of the bounty from the fruit trees.  Some time to reflect would be most welcome.

Kayaking and Dungeons and Dragons

September 17, 2022 by Adam in Family

It was a long and somewhat stressful week, so taking Friday off to go with Emma on a kayaking adventure at the coast was absolutely wonderful.  We packed lunch and all our gear, then hit the road, chatting and listening to the first Discworld novel, the Color of Magic.  We made excellent time and soon put in at the head of the Siltcoos River.  I think it was my fifth trip, so I know it well.  The weather was warm and pleasant.  The wildlife was abundant and other than a slight mishap on the dam portage resulting in a soggy bottom, it was generally uneventful.  After three or four hours going nearly to the ocean, we returned home tired but cheerful.

Today was the great D&D with family adventure.  Chatting with everyone is a bonus to rolling dice and breaking out miniatures I'd painted.  Things went amazingly well, though we had a sharp cutoff time and had to stop right in the thick of battle.  Poor Seraph's character had been attacked by a great Tyrannasaurous Rex and nearly died, but so far our brave adventurers are holding their own.

Tomorrow is likely more low-key, with a trip to the library and possibly more preserving in our future.

Counting Chickens

September 14, 2022 by Adam in Family

I think I'm finally starting to feel more normal again after countless Advil and mochas, though my throat is still a little bit sore.  Hopefully I'm ship shape by Friday when Emma and I have our outing to go kayaking at the coast.

We had a brief chicken adventure yesterday.  Joanna sometimes lets them out, but they apparently wandered far away.  After my run at lunchtime one of the neighbors I've never met from the other side of the fence came knocking on various doors to report chickens in her garden.  I took a shower, ate some lunch, then grabbed the bag of mealworms and headed out.  I found most of them where I'd expect them, then slowly brought them back the long way around through the alley.  After putting them away I thought it was all resolved, their wandering priviledges revoked.

This morning I walked out to my shed only to find a chicken wandering around outside their pen.  I went back to the picture I sent Joanna after I rounded them up and sure enough I'd missed one of the hawk sisters.  Fortunately the wayward chicken came home to roost, as the saying goes.

Under the Weather

September 12, 2022 by Adam in Family

I'm a little sniffly today, likely just a back-to-school cold as the morning's COVID test was negative.  It's not too bad, but I'm doing advil and a mocha this morning just to be safe.

Emma came over Friday afternoon along with the smoke that filled the air.  We hunkered down inside like the last time we had nearby wildfires.  For the most part it made for a pretty quiet Saturday.  Joanna was off and about.  Emma and I vaccuumed and mopped.   I got ready for the Sunday D&D group.  Miniatures were painted.  Joanna and I harvested plums and apples, turning them into various preserves.  I was amazed at the apple peeler/slicer/coring device that seemed the pinnacle of human achievement.  The evening wrapped up with pizza and anime.  

I helped Duncan with some computer issues as he's getting back into video production again.  He's decided to take a class on Java for his Computer Fundamentals class as that's what Minecraft mods use.  I fondly remember my dad reading from the BASIC book and typing in games into the Commodore 64, one line at a time.  My first steps into programming were also because I just wanted to play video games.

Sunday morning started a little rough, with the chicken wandering free around the neighborhood after being let out.  It was a somewhat frustrating experience rounding them up, but between carrying them and waiting for them to return, they all got back.  I returned to finish my breakfast and start cleaning up.

Late in the morning was D&D with friends, which generally went well.  There were some interesting combats along the way, the highlight being an attack at sea by the evil sahuagin warship, pulled by a giant shark.  The party performed admirably, as did their crew.  D&D makes for some great set pieces at times and that one turned out well.  I finally got to pull out some miniatures I'd painted months ago, which was very satisfying.

Now it's back to work.  I'm strangely excited to finish up this thing I'm working on and get our release out the door.  Little frustrating obstacles keep popping up but I think today's the day for a beta release.

Smokey Mocha Friday

September 09, 2022 by Adam in Family

It was a somber week.  One of Duncan's classmates died in a car accident - a Frenchie he'd been with for years.  Then the queen died yesterday, which Jacquie pointed out was my queen too as a Canadian.  

We're almost done with our next release at work - I've got a few more things to test before we finalize things.  Then we slowly roll out the changes we've been working on for months.

Ben seems to be enjoying his science classes and was chatting about chemistry at the dinner table last night.  Even Emma's starting to miss the intellectual aspects of school - we were discussing J.R.R. Tolkein's influence on the modern fantasy genre and I think she realized she looks forward to more of that.  Just a couple more weeks of summer for her.

My evenings have been generally pleasant.  Funny date night with Joanna.  Tea with mom.  Cooking onigiri for Duncan and Ben.  Life goes on.

First Day of School

September 07, 2022 by Adam in Family

It's the first day of school at South.  Last I checked, Ben had gone off already and Duncan was getting ready to head out a little later for his first class of the day.  Joanna and I are pros at this point, but I'm still working on all the little details of coffee and breakfasts and such.  Hopefully it'll all be a habit in a week or two.

The big work meeting went mostly as expected - a bit of turmoil and such, but our product showed up a couple times on a slide, so I think our team will be fine.  We're already a small and scrappy development team, so hopefully the transition will be okay.

Had an entertaining date night last night, playing weird carnival-style games from one of the old date subscription boxes we hadn't gotten to yet.  We cheated extensively, which was half the fun.

Labor Day

September 06, 2022 by Adam in Family

Labor Day came and went, a relatively low-key three day weekend.  It was fairly routine - trips to the library, housecleaning and our usual hangout activities.  Emma finished Ooblets, which she'd been slowly playing throughout the pandemic.  I finished Psychonauts 2, which was charming and fun.  Miniatures were printed and painted.  I read 70 pages of the next Expanse book I'm slowly working my way through.  I took Emma and we stocked up on school supplies.  Sunday night was a family hangout and BBQ at Jenny's house.

We have a big announcement at work today.  Fortunately I have counseling right afterwards.  Reading the tea leaves I think my job will be relatively unchanged, though it's always hard to tell.

Mocha Friday

September 02, 2022 by Adam in Family

I'm feeling somewhat chipper this fine mocha Friday.  All the various stresses of life are still there, but it feels that Jo and I have been doing a good job tackling them.  Joanna's got some editing work to help ease some of the financial challenges.  We're doing some of the housecleaning ourselves.  I think I've figured out how to make sushi and onigiri for Duncan and Ben for date nights.  We're working with some great people at South to try and make Duncan's Senior year a good one.  I think we've got some upcoming changes at work that will be announced next week, but hopefully my little part of the world will be relatively unscathed.

I'm also looking forward to a three day weekend.  It's looking to be relatively low key - a dinner at Jenny's on Sunday, learning R for her data visualization class with Emma, and maybe doing some work on the little free library with Joanna.  There are always miniatures to paint and D&D to plan, but I've got a couple weeks until the next session.  Plenty of time.