Happy Father's Day

June 18, 2018 by Adam in Family

It's a stormy summer night after a hot couple days.  I was a little out of breath the day after giving blood on Friday, but still managed to spread a bunch of mulch and do some gardening. Joanna and I are slowly whipping the yard into shape.

Saturday morning we headed out to the library, dropping Guillaume and Joanna off at Saturday market.  Duncan, Benny, and I picked up books at the library, then met up and I gave Guillaume a tour of our library.  I made pizza and picked up Sam, followed by some old Mythbusters.

Father's Day was pretty lazy after a typical breakfast.  Emma and I played some of our old NWN modules and a card game.  Benny, who'd been waiting for a friend to come over to have a water balloon war, made due with Duncan and Joanna.  They all came in for dinner very wet.  Sam came over, along with Guillaume.  There was a tasty dinner, presents, and playing new Jackbox games.  There was a dating app for monsters game that ended up with some really inappropriate and funny text messages.

The first week of summer starts tomorrow.  Duncan and Emma don't really have plans, but Benny's off to camp for most of the day.  I have bugs to fix for our application, which is strangely fun.  Hopefully we adjust to the change.

Neverwinter Nights

June 16, 2018 by Adam in Adam's Games

Emma asked if I wanted to play Neverwinter Nights last night, so I broke out the old campaign I wrote for it a couple decades ago.  The graphics were very much rooted in the late 90's - full of sharp edges and flat colors - but the writing is good.  I did notice the one bug where the waitress follows the player out of the bar and wanders around with you, which wasn't my intent.  Emma seemed pretty enthusiastic, though we stopped before things got too exciting.  Hopefully we can pick it up again and play the campaign over the summer.

Last Day of School Mocha Friday

June 15, 2018 by Adam in Family

It's the last day of school.  Benny is playing outdoor games, with Joanna lending a hand.  Emma and I went out to Hideaway Bakery to help her study for her Biology class.  Sam's watching Jamie's house still.  Duncan informs me that he's not accomplishing much of anything these final days of school, other than a presentation in health he's giving today.

The transition to summer is always a little bumpy.  There's been a fair amount of scrambling to take care of things, plus we've got assorted odds and ends like getting Benny a functioning phone and getting new water faucets added to the balcony and patio.  Next week Benny starts camp.  Emma's coming up with a plan - I want to get her a one pass which gives her a bus pass and access to pools and such.  Duncan's plan is to play video games until his eyes pop out.

We're hearing good news from Bob - he's at home with Meg and Dick after being discharged from the VA.  Apparently he didn't need any physical therapy.  The plan is one more small procedure on the 29th and then he can come home.

I'm mostly not working today.  I've got a "day of caring" thing going on, giving blood in a half hour and listening to an all team meeting at Glen's house.  Joanna's got an event tonight, so I'll be entertaining whoever is around.  I got a new VR game - Budget Cuts - but the allure of Skyrim VR is strong.  Hopefully this weekend I can get some more yard work sorted out.  I'm also hoping to get kids settled into the summer routine a little more.

Mid Week Already

June 13, 2018 by Adam in Family

It's the end of the school year, with the usual scramble to the end.  Sam's house sitting at Jamie's, so there's been a fair amount of back-and-forth.  Emma's been picking and choosing where to stay - I think they had a good time making dinner together and watching Steven Universe last night.  Tonight she's studying biology with me.

Joanna's feeling a little overwhelmed with getting everything ready before the kids leave for Kevin's.  It looks like Benny's getting braces, so that process is starting.  I got a new phone over the weekend, and the plan was to give my old phone to Benny, but something went horribly wrong with my old phone.  I'm going to see if I can flash a new operating system on the phone, otherwise we'll give up and buy a refurb.

Guillaume is looking increasingly cheerful as the school year winds down.  He won't miss the teaching, but I think he really enjoyed the kids.  He's looking forward to seeing his family again - his brother has a pencil and paper roleplaying game waiting for his arrival.

We keep hearing good news about Bob, who was discharged from the hospital to go to the VA for physical therapy.  The VA decided he didn't need any, so he's discharged again.  The plan is to go in for a final minor procedure at the end of the month and then hopefully he's good to go.

It's date night tonight.  The plan is to get a quick bite and then check out some kayaks for mutual anniversary presents.  I'm pretty sure six years is the watercraft anniversary.

I've been slowly getting used to my new phone.  My new favorite feature is turning a selfie into an emoji.  What a bizarre future we live in.

Graduation Ceremony

June 13, 2018 by Adam in Benny

Last night we pulled Benny away from their room, despite protestations that they weren't ready, and headed to Charlemagne for 5th grade graduation ceremonies.  They sang, told poems of each other, and shook the principal's hand.  Later they ate pizza and roamed the playground.  Benny and some friends jumped the fence to run around in the big field nearby, yelling at cars and getting up to minor mischief.  Benny's the last of the kids in elementary school, making it 14 years of elementary kids in the house.  At least everyone gets my slightly inappropriate jokes now.

Benny's also going to get braces, the clear ones that don't clash with the MRIs in the study they're a part of.  I was a little skeptical after Emma's brush with an aggressive and unnecessary ortho treatment plan, but dad gives his thumbs up.

As part of their graduation ceremony, Benny was putting together a collage of old photos and I started to get a little teary eyed.  All my kiddos are getting so big.

Batty Mocha Friday

June 08, 2018 by Adam in Family

We made it through another week, bat attacks and all.

Joanna and I were talking on the couch when we heard scraping noises from inside the fireplace.  I thought it might be the bat and sure enough, out it popped from the side of the fireplace.  Joanna started screaming and the bat started flying around the room.  Joanna tried to cover herself up with her half-knitted sweater, which was clearly inadequate, and yelled to be covered with a blanket.  After complying, I texted Sam to come upstairs with a blanket.  He knew exactly what was going on, having done this before.  We cornered the bat in the kitchen, who refused to go out any of the open doors, but eventually it grew tired and landed on my blanket.  I set it outside and the bat was gone in the morning.

Then there was picking up Emma from school yesterday, which was apparently the last day for seniors.  They released three goats into the school labeled 1, 2, and 4.  There was no 3, which caused the desired confusion when people went to look for the nonexistent third goat.

Benny has no school today and is going to a birthday party.  Jamie leaves on a long vacation tomorrow, with Sam house sitting.  Life's never boring.

Mid-Week Update

June 07, 2018 by Adam in Family

My cold continues to linger, more annoying than painful at this point.  Joanna has been giving me cheek kisses since her return from Bend yesterday.  All is generally okay.  Benny is launching a ballista in the living room that they built, trying to determine the optimal angle/distance amount.  Sam is off somewhere.  Emma is at Jamie's.  Duncan is glued to his computer screen.

Work has been making progress.  After a frustrating day of flailing around, I think I have something that's actually working and much speedier than before.  Hopefully I can get it wrapped up in a day or two and move on to something else.

Bob's Recovery

June 05, 2018 by Adam in Wielesek

Sadie sent along some pictures of Bob recovering from his heart surgery.  After a couple weeks of being heavily medicated and a brush with pneumonia, having him up and chatting is a relief to everyone.  He still has a few weeks of physical therapy ahead, but it's nice to see him on the road to recovery.

Sniffly Weekend

June 04, 2018 by Adam in Family

I had a cold all weekend, which fortunately is fading this Monday morning.  Painkillers and caffiene kept me upright and functional, though it did put a damper on an otherwise good weekend.

Mom didn't cancel her Blue Apron subscription, so Guillaume has been bringing them over and I've been making meals from what's inside.  Sam and Emma have been helping out, which is great.  With Joanna away at her class, there's a fair amount of work around mealtime.  After dinner the kids clean up and sometimes we'll play Jackbox games.  It turns out that Trivia Murder Party is Guillaume's favorite.

Saturday after a hearty breakfast I shoveled bark-o-mulch on the front bed, with Emma helping at the end.  I wore myself out, but we managed a trip to the library where the summer reading program started.  Benny and Duncan picked out a couple free books and we ate bagels while enjoying our loot.  The day rounded itself out with pizza and Mythbusters.  Guillaume hung out enjoying vr.  I fought giant robots playing Battletech.

Sunday we had a hearty breakfast, went to the park, and I ran Benny to the hairdresser where they got their hair colored as part of the hairdresser's project.  It turned out really well.  Duncan and I hung out in the afternoon, playing games, while Sam was away and Emma was at her mom's.  I scooped Emma up later and went on a shopping trip for essentials.  That night Emma and I made stir fry for dinner, which turned out well.  Afterward Emma and Duncan had the longest talk I remember about school and life and such.  Guillaume played I Expect You to Die in vr, which he declared his favorite game.  Sam returned, ate dinner, and we played a little Enter the Gungeon.

Now I have to start making kid breakfast and getting Benny ready for school.  The fun never stops.

Single Dad Mocha Friday

June 01, 2018 by Adam in Family

Joanna left for her class yesterday, leaving me to be the parent for the next few days.  I managed to cook steak out of mom's Blue Apron meals that Guillaume keeps bringing over, though we supplemented it with tofu for Sam, Benny, and I.  Afterwards everyone but Duncan played Jackbox games, followed by Sam and I playing some Enter the Gungeon.  Duncan and Benny managed to bathe and get themselves ready for bed with very little prompting.

I'm off to take Benny to school, stopping by Hideaway Bakery for a mocha and almond croissant on the way back.  I'm itching to work on this performance improvement pass for our application.  I got the 17+ second load times down to 2 seconds, so I'm feeling pretty good about my approach.

As for the weekend, I'm hoping to do a library trip, get outside a little, and play a lot of games with kids.  Sam says he'll be busy all weekend, so I'm not sure how much I'll see him.  We've been playing co-op games all week in the evenings, which has been a treat.  He also signed up for a driver's test in early July, so hopefully he'll get that taken care of soon.

Emma finished her presentation on Versaille yesterday and has another on the housing bubble of 2008.  Benny has a sub today.  I think we're all okay.