Eating Christmas

December 09, 2019 by Adam in Family

It was a busy weekend, full of shopping trips and setting up Christmas decorations.  Emma had endless homework and Duncan woke up in the middle of the night with a cold.  We managed a bit of downtime, and I played some recently purchased Resident Evil 2 for some seasonal zombie fighting fun.  It felt good to get the lights up and the kids are amused with our Christmas laser display thingie.

Joanna picked up a gingerbread house making kit which the kids enjoyed making and later that day, devouring.  Mom came for dinner.  The neightbors appreciated our outdoor lights.  More presents were purchased.  All is well.

More Hawaii Adventures

December 09, 2019 by Adam in Lohring

Hula dancers at the luau (stop looking at the coconuts)

Ana and her sister with the Samoan fire dancer

Ana swimming with the fish (and turtles)

Mocha Friday

December 06, 2019 by Adam in Family

My mocha is ready to be made.  The kids are getting ready for school, more or less, and Joanna is slowly waking up.  It's another cold misty day, winter slowly sneaking up on us.  

The week has generally gone well, kids getting good grades this term, Joanna feeling increasingly perky, and we had a virtual face-to-face at work.  The only challenging thing was a particularly tricky technical issue that I finally figured out towards the end of the day, though it took days to finally isolate the problem.

I need to hunker down and prepare for Christmas - the Amazon boxes have started to arrive, but we don't have any decorations yet.  Maybe I can make some progress this weekend.

Virtual Face to Face

December 04, 2019 by Adam in Adam

Instead of traveling to Salt Lake City this week, we've been having a virtual face-to-face.  It's worked relatively well and I appreciate being at home.  This morning I was tasked with hosting a Jackbox session, so we played Bracketeering and TKO.  They both worked out quite well and the winning t-shirt used my art.

Slay the Spire

December 03, 2019 by Adam in Adam's Games

One of my favorite games is Slay the Spire, which is a card building computer game that has huge amounts of replayability.  It reminds me a little of Magic the Gathering, except cards are assigned randomly as rewards and the things you fight just have powers instead of cards themselves.

I got Emma playing the other day, which made me want to play more, and so I've been going against increasingly difficult challenges.  I usually fail horribly, but occasionally get the right combination of cards.  Today was one of those days and my win against the final boss was especially decisive.

Hawaii

December 02, 2019 by Adam in Lohring

Dad and Ana are in Hawaii and he just sent along some photos.  The following captions are his alone.

Thanksgiving Vacation Ends

December 02, 2019 by Adam in Family

It's the end of my week-long Thanksgiving break - tomorrow I return to work and hopefully become a productive developer again.  We're trying out a virtual face to face, meeting over video chat instead of flying to Salt Lake City.  That'll happen in early January most likely.

It was a good vacation overall.  I spent a lot of time hanging out with kids and family.  I managed a few projects, from pruning back the butterfly bush to getting a better display for the PIPBoy 3000 my dad made me.  I played a fair bit of computer games, finishing my cowboy game, playing Slay the Spire with Emma, and trying out the local coop sharing with Sam today.

I wished Sam a happy 21st birthday and he finally got all his presents.  Hopefully they're well appreciated.

Thanksgiving dinner at mom's was pretty small and quiet.  Yayoe had to leave early.  Jenny and her kids were there.  Emma helped cook and Joanna made assorted goodies to take over.  I think this was the first Thanksgiving without Sam.

Of course, now Christmas is right around the corner and I'm feeling entirely unprepared for the experience.

Red Dead Redemption 2

December 02, 2019 by Adam in Adam's Games

I finished my cowboy game yesterday, Red Dead Redemption 2.  It was one of the longest games I've played, a lengthy tale of change, both personal and as a nation.  Pretty much everyone got a redemption arc of some kind, though not everyone made it to the end.  My favorite part about the game was spending time with my gang of outlaws, hunting for meat to throw in the stew, chatting with everyone, and singing songs after our various exploits.

Snow!

November 27, 2019 by Adam in Family

It snowed a little, this day before Thanksgiving.  It was a good weekend and I've enjoyed my last couple days off work.  The weekend was pretty low-key, though there are always a few bumps in the road.  Ben required some motivation and assistance with catching up with math.  Emma had finals to study for.  Joanna's still not quite back to normal, though she's slowly getting there.

Monday was a hang out day with Joanna, our ten year kissaversary.  We went for a hike, had lunch together, and did a little shopping.  I managed some yardwork time in the afternoon, cutting back the butterfly bush that overshadowed our patio.  Yesterday I took a break from my cowboy video game to hack back the rest of it.  I also called Sam and wished him a happy birthday.  He's doing well, still getting used to working so much and standing on his feet all day.  I made the mistake of requiring a signature on his package and it still hasn't quite made it into his hands.

I've got a fair bit of running around today.  It's Emma's half birthday, the last day of the trimester for Duncan and Emma, and Duncan had his last vision therapy session this week.  I guess it's time to take down all the weird letters and things off our basement walls that made it look like a conspiracy theorist lived there.

Friday Before Vacation

November 22, 2019 by Adam in Family

Work is feeling like it's winding down already.  No one wants to schedule a Friday afternoon meeting on the day before a week off.  I want to get started on some things so I don't forget how they work, but I find myself wanting to wind down as well.

Life's generally moving along.  I need to start getting ready for Christmas, adding things to my wish list and buying things for people.  Less than a month until Sam returns home for a visit.  I'm getting excited.