Summertime Mocha Friday

June 24, 2022 by Adam in Family

It's been a long while since I last posted.  Joanna and I went down to Ashland for our ten year anniversary, taking in a play and walking around the cute little town.  The musical was called Once on our Island, a mythical romance set in Haiti, and had some great music, dancing and costumes.  Just being out and about was fun, as many of our adventures.  I also ended up getting Joanna a puzzle recommended by a fellow jury member called a "magic puzzle."  Sure enough, it was strange and wacky and broke many puzzle rules.  We ended up staying up way too late to finish it.

As for everything else, the kids are all settling into summer.  The casual summer schedule is easier in many ways - no rush to get kids out the door or school issues to sort through.  Ben and Duncan have been making art and gaming with friends.  Emma's been practicing her ukulele, gardening, reading and enjoying her possibly last summer of leisure.

Father's Day last weekend was fun and I ended up with a bunch of miniature-related gifts.  This morning I tried out the new brushes and paint, happy with the results.  I'm hoping to spray a clear coat on a bunch that I finished over the last few weeks and get them into a new carrying case.  The other gift was a new D&D campaign - Tomb of Annihilation - and I suckered Emma, Seraph, Robbie, Francis, and Jordan as players.  It's a jungle adventure and I printed my first dinosaur as a test last night.

I've been settling back into work, finishing a long, complicated feature.  I think we have a relatively quiet weekend ahead of us.  So far the summer is going nicely.

Mocha Friday

June 17, 2022 by Adam in Family

It's been a good week back at work, slogging through complex integration problems.  I think I'm nearly done after almost giving up a few times.  Emma suggested giving it one more try and that was enough to push me over the edge.

It's the last day of school for Duncan and Ben.  It's certainly been challenging at times, but I'm really happy they both made it to the end.  COVID really threw everyone for a loop and getting back into the swing of things was touch and go at times.  Still, they made it to summer - hopefully that transition goes well too.

It's been a very full week.  Emma, Joanna, and I had a nice visit with the gang at dad's house on Wednesday.  Yesterday Joanna and I went out for dinner and a walk around the neighborhood.  This Sunday is Father's Day at Jenny's.  I've got to get ready for our upcoming anniversary trip.  Busy, busy!

I'm hoping I can sneak in some R&R somewhere in there - paint some miniatures, play some video games.  At least life isn't boring.

Room with a View

June 15, 2022 by Adam in Family

Seraph's chickens arrived earlier this week.  I now work away in my little shed while listening to chicken noises.  They seem to have adjusted relatively well to the move - at least they're still cranking out eggs anyway.

Emma's been here the last few days which has been a treat.  Last night we walked down to campus to pick up my official U of O community card.  Hopefully it lets Joanna and I take some classes down at the craft center.  We finished both Strange Horticulture and Spellcaster University the last couple nights - both of which were games that fit Emma's sensibilities perfectly.

The younger kids are wrapping up the last few days of school.  It's been a bumpy couple weeks for Duncan but my hope is that we can get him moved into the summer routine and then set things up for the fall to better support him.  I'm still very happy he's been able to get through the school year.

We've got a busy few days ahead, followed by our ten year anniversary next week.  I really like having things to look forward to.

Clearing the Land

June 13, 2022 by Adam in Family

Friday was filled with exhausting, back-breaking work.  I got up early, had a mocha and hearty breakfast, packed up lunch and safety equipment, then we headed to Home Depot to rent a brush hog.  A brush hog is kinda like a lawnmower on steroids.  One lever moves it forward, another back, and a third handle engages these giant blades that can cut through 2 inch saplings.  It weighs over 350 pounds, which I very much noticed when hauling it out of stream beds I'd driven into.

We loaded it up on the trailer and spent five hours with occasional breaks cutting through brambles around the shed.  Joanna and I traded off and on and I had to stop occasionally to cut through fallen tree limbs.  The terrain was exceptionally rough with a stream buried under where I was cutting.  Still, it was a magical experience and we cleared a huge amount of area in just a day.

Saturday was a blur as I was incredibly sore and my head ached.  Sunday I was mostly back to normal, going to the library with Joanna and Emma.  I'm doing some research on what Ben and Duncan might like to do over the summer.  One suggestion was to paint 3D printed miniatures, so I've been cranking them out for Duncan and his friends to paint.  Emma's last assignment was graded and she ended up with an A in her honor's biology.  Now she's trying to fill the summer hours with vaguely useful things.

A chicken coop appeared outside my office window, assembled by Seraph and Robbie Sunday afternoon.  The chickens arrive today - moved from the farm since the racoons keep eating them there.  Hopefully their clucking calms like wind chimes as I work away in my shed.

I'm getting excited about our anniversary trip next week.  Once again Seraph proves her awesomeness by watching Duncan and Ben and ferrying them around to various appointments.

Justice

June 09, 2022 by Adam in Family

It's been a fascinating, difficult and sad week.  I hung out with 12 total strangers, learning oddly specific personal things about each one during the voir dire process that weeds out "problem" jurors.  That took over a day, followed by two days of testimony from a bunch of questionably believable neighbors, some of which were horrible people and others with very bad anger management.  There was consensus that there was a parking dispute which escalated into one neighbor punching two other neighbors a single time.  The defense argued self-defense and the prosecutor didn't clear up reasonable doubt that was possible.  We all agreed on disorderly conduct and finally returned a single guilty decision on that count.

The whole thing seemed sad and sordid, with very bad communication skills all around.  I felt bad for the defendant's girlfriend and their daughter - they sold the house and moved away.  The jury wanted to put one of the neighbors on trial for being a horrible person and starting the whole conflict, but sadly that's not how justice works.

It's been somewhat challenging fitting in the rest of my life, and I very much miss work and my work routine.  Joanna and I managed a subdued date night where we made cake pops and painted watercolor pictures.  I've started printing miniatures again.  Tomorrow we head out to the farm to clear land with a brush hog and chainsaw.  Hopefully it's cathartic.

My Life is a Sims game

June 06, 2022 by Adam in Family

I was seated on the jury, so I spent a long time Thursday going through the jury selection process.  It continued through Friday morning and finally the case started in earnest.  Hopefully it'll be done Tuesday, but it might go through Wednesday.  Today there's no court, so I get a brief reprieve to work at my real job.  It does seem like my life is full of weird obstacles that come out of nowhere - thus the feeling that I'm a character in a Sims game played by a mischevious child.

My manager Jonathan ended up getting COVID, along with not getting the job he applied for.  I told him I was both happy and sad for the outcome.

Joanna and I  booked our ten-year anniversary trip last night.  We're going back to Ashland where we spent our honeymoon, which sounds lovely.  While it's just a couple nights, I'm very excited to hang out just the two of us.

I hosted another D&D session over the weekend, showing off miniatures and generally having a good time.  The bullywug dance-off was a highlight and Jason pulled off some impressive diss tracks with only a few minutes notice.  Once each month seems like a pretty good pace as I'm able to prep quite a bit.  The aged and sealed Letter of Marque was well-received by the players.

Jury Duty

June 02, 2022 by Adam in Family

I was called for jury duty, so I'm sitting in the heart of the lane county courthouse.  It's a testiment to the brutalist concrete architecture of the 70s.  Reminds me a little of Lane Community College's campus - I understand they filmed science fiction movies there.

Muddling through the week.  Looking forward to this weekend's D&D session.  The kids are approaching the last two weeks of school, which is wild.

Building fences

May 31, 2022 by Adam in Family

Our fence has been in a rough state for awhile now, sagging and coming apart from the posts.  Joanna picked up a fence post months ago, but it finally fell over and turned into something we couldn't ignore.  After much swearing and brute forcing, the fence is upright again.  The final step was to seal myself on the other side and say farewell to Joanna.

Joanna's farm stand continues to earn praise from the neighbors, with produce vanishing at a steady pace. Emma and I tried to go for a walk at the South Meadows, but mother nature had other ideas and we returned soaked. My long-awaited D&D session starts again next weekend, which I'm busy prepping for. I might need more handouts and another side quest or two.

The Final Stretch

May 25, 2022 by Adam in Family

Joanna set out the farm stand they built out in the driveway today.  It's very pretty - hopefully it catches they eye of passers by.  We also went out to dinner and music last night.  It was a questionable reggae band at the Springfield Public House, but they were enthusiastic and Joanna got to eat some meat so I think it was a success.

I stepped out to have coffee with Seraph this morning.  It was great to catch up and chat about our lives.  I'm returning to 16 Tons later this afternoon to visit with mom, so I'll be well caffeinated by the end of the day.

Emma's birthday is coming up shortly.  I've got presents to wrap and a cake to pick up.  Busy, busy!

Lovely, Sunny Weekend

May 23, 2022 by Adam in Family

It was a good weekend.

Joanna was feeling pretty good.  I was slightly under the weather Saturday morning, but nothing that a mocha and Advil couldn't fix.  Emma went off to the coast for a class trip and had a great time despite some scrapes and bruises from clamboring down to the tide pools.  We managed a tremendous amount of projects around the house and yard.  Joanna's farm stand is approaching done.  I started repairing the broken fence post, digging out rotten wood from inside the concrete base.  I mowed the lawn and swept the patio, followed by edge trimming work by Joanna.  Things are feeling tidy and ready for outside activities as the weather improves.

I was especially proud of helping Joanna with a broken wheelbarrow, one that they got their mom way back in the teen years.  The wheel had gone flat, but bolts were rusted and the axle was improvised from a threaded steel rod.  We didn't have enough plastic spacers, so I excitedly offered to make some.  Soon enough I was breaking out the calipers and designed a simple cylinder-with-a-hole that I printed out.  After a first failure that needed more tolerance, the rest worked like a charm.