Mocha Friday

September 13, 2019 by Adam in Family

It's the end of the first full week of school.  Though we've had the occasional rocky moment, the kids all seem to be doing okay.  Everyone was up and eating breakfast and chatting about the amusing going ons in the high school cafeteria.  Ben's having a rough time with some friendships, though school itself seems okay.  Duncan generally likes his classes, especially computer fundamentals.  Emma is cheerful all around, feeling much better about school and homework after getting a free period.  Last night we watched more Avatar while she worked on a drawing of a lost Athenian statue for her AP World History class.

It's certainly rained more this week and the sunrise is coming later.  Fall certainly feels like it has arrived.  I dusted off the PS4 and started playing the last Uncharted game again.  Joanna and I finished the impossible puzzle and she got a new one for us to work on.  We had a nice date night at the nearby Mexican restaraunt, though the jalapenos were a little spicy for my delicate tastes.

Rainy Tuesday

September 10, 2019 by Adam in Family

It's been soggy the last couple days, a reminder that we do indeed live in Oregon and our endless sunny summer isn't year-round.  All the kids generally seemed to survive their first week of school.  Emma worked hard on her homework and extra credit, wrapping up late Saturday so she could have a free Sunday homework-free.

We didn't do anything too exciting over the weekend.  Ben had Jaiden over Sunday, which was a nice step after they had a falling out a few months ago.  Duncan played a lot of Minecraft.  Emma and I watched yet more Avatar.  Joanna nearly finished our incredibly hard puzzle.  We did our usual Savage Builds and pizza Saturday night.  Sunday I called Sam and chatted for a bit.

I did manage to get Emma and Joanna to walk around with me at Hendrick's Park.  Playing on the swings was more fun than I would freely admit.

Gris, X-Com, and Many More

September 08, 2019 by Adam in Adam's Games

It's been a summer of assorted video games, mostly played with family or in the stolen hours in the morning hours or after dinner when Joanna is getting the kids to bed.  Emma and I will go through the assorted Humble Monthly games, picking out the best ones to play through and uninstalling the others.  It's become a bit of a monthly tradition after the first Friday.

Emma and I played a ton of Regency Solitare, Yoku's Island Express, and strangely Emma got into 911 Operator.  I played Darkest Dungeon a fair amount, then sunk into XCom2: War of the Chosen. 

XCom finally wrapped up, the motley group of soldiers fighting the alien invaders.  I'd named them after my family members - Sadie and Seraph ended up dying horribly in an early mission, though I managed to keep everyone else alive.  For the final battle I took in Joanna, Adam, Sam, Skye, Emma, and Isa.

I picked up Gris a week or so ago, which ended up being a very pretty platformer about dealing with grief.  It was short, bittersweet, and the art style was great.

I've got assorted VR games I want to dig into more.  I played a little Bridge Crew, pretending to fly a starship around in the Star Trek universe.  I managed to save a few crew in the Kobayashi Maru simulator, which is better than most.  I had fun with the VR sailing game, ducking every time I came about so the boom didn't hit me.

Schoolin' Mocha Friday

September 06, 2019 by Adam in Family

It's the first week of school - I think I broke out my dentist voice with basically everyone.  Transitions are hard and everyone apparently needed a little assurance that things would be okay.  Duncan seems enthusiastic and was talking about actually liking his French geometry teacher.  He met with his tutor Denise yesterday and she seemed to help him get organized.  Ben didn't quite leap out of bed yesterday, but they got all the classes they wanted and had a good time after school at the Eugene library making shrinky dink art.  Emma has been overwhelmed with homework, finishing it up around nine last night.  Jamie and I both told her it was okay to drop her History of Rock and Roll class to get a free period for homework.  The teacher didn't quite get hired yet - something about contracts with the Navy I didn't quite follow.

As for me, I'm doing okay.  Work is going well.  I've started meditating as part of a work thing, but it's actually been quite pleasant.  I finally finished my XCom 2 campaign, with my core team of Joanna, Adam, Sam, Skye, Emma, and Isa taking on the aliens in their undersea fortress.  I'm quite ready to move on to other games now.

Hopefully this weekend can have a little downtime.  I'm excited about Joanna and I going out for date night.  Emma and I will likely watch more Avatar and play some of the new Humble Monthly games.  Maybe I can work in a house project or two if I get the time.

First Day of School

September 05, 2019 by Adam in Benny

Ben started their first day of school today.  There was some last minute switching around as they wanted to take a science class first period.  They were also going to walk with a friend to school, but she had to go do announcements early and Ben wasn't quite motivated enough to leap out of bed today.  It's a slightly reduced schedule, which hopefully works out okay.  I think Ben is both nervous and excited - last night was a little rough, but they seemed better this morning.

First Day of School

September 05, 2019 by Adam in Emma

Emma had her first day of school yesterday.  She reported that she had quite a bit of homework between physics and her AP comp class.  Her History of Rock and Roll class doesn't have a firm teacher - she's apparently off in the national guard or something.  Emma's considering dropping it so she can have more homework time.  Finally, she has Computer Fundamentals in the class before Duncan - she's thinking about doing web design, which makes me not-so-secretly happy.

First Day of School

September 05, 2019 by Adam in Duncan

Duncan started his first day of school yesterday, heading to South with his friend Josh.  I grilled him when he came home and he generally seemed to like his classes.  He said his French classes aren't going to have much homework and he liked his Geography teacher.  He was also missing a fifth period elective, and there were so many kids in the same boat that they created a Computer Fundamentals class for them all.  I think he wants to do video editing.

End of Summer

September 03, 2019 by Adam in Family

The kids were debating whether or not summer was officially over today.  Duncan marched down to South Eugene for Freshman Orientation.  Emma goes tomorrow and Ben starts Thursday.

This Labor Day weekend seemed a fitting end to the summer.  Emma and I watched a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender.  We got all the kids out on the water kayaking down the mill race.  Joanna and I managed to beat back the butterfly bush and blackberries around the shed.  There was a somewhat successful attempt to walk the cat around the house a couple times.  Board games were played.  I had a nice phone chat with Sam.  Mom, Jenny, and Jordan came over and hung out to chat for a long while.  It was all very pleasant.

Batty Mocha Friday

August 30, 2019 by Adam in Family

We had two bats in our house when we arrived, and they've been returning each time we drive them out.  Though the cost seemed insanely high, it looks like we'll be repairing and resealing our chimney.  Leia found a bat roosting in our doorbell on the stairs - it looks like we'll be driving it out after Joanna takes a shower this morning.

Emma was excited to see me yesterday and we had a pleasant time grocery shopping and making dinner.  Duncan was excited to see her after his vacation and I think showed her the most critical Pewdie Pie videos.  Emma and I watched a bunch of Avatar, the Last Airbender and generally hung out.

On our shopping spree I picked up a new puzzle for Joanna and I to work on.  We started getting this separated out, but I'm hoping some of our date nights can be spent putting pieces together and chatting about our day.

Home Again, Home Again

August 28, 2019 by Adam in Family

We made it home yesterday afternoon, running on four or five hours of sleep from our semi-grueling Chicago hotel stay.  The place was clean and fit all of us, but there was a cockroach in the bathroom and the air conditioning was iffy at best.  The free shuttle was full, so we had to take a taxi to the airport - I had a big piece of luggage in my lap all the way there.

Coming home was nice, settling into some of the normal routines.  Poor Duncan had a long Windows update waiting for him, but hopefully we can get his computer working as expected soon.  I worked for a couple hours, getting my feature ready for review today.  Joanna made a tasty dinner.  We unpacked and did laundry, got the kids back to bed, and collapsed ourselves after a short show.

I put together a little photo album of our trip for everyone's enjoyment.