Weekend of Adjusting

March 08, 2021 by Adam in Family

It was the first weekend with Duncan back.  He spent a lot of time hanging out with friends and catching up on computer activities.  While he seemed a little worn out at the end of the weekend, things seemed to go well.  We did watch anime instead of science during our traditional pizza eating Saturday night.  We also needed more food on the table for meals.    The kitties were happy to have more pets.  We were happy to have Duncan's humor and good nature around.

I was feeling a little under the weather, but managed to do all the usual things - making hearty breakfasts, helping with homework, and quality hang-out time with kids.  Joanna made it out to the farm both days to take down the stuck tree and cut down five or six more.  There are still things to do to prep the site for a cabin, but it feels like we're well on the way.  Next weekend we may try to make it out there with the kids.  Rumor has it Seraph has little chicks now.

Mocha Friday

March 05, 2021 by Adam in Family

The prodigal son returned, with Joanna and Duncan getting home late morning yesterday.  Christmas presents were immediately opened, followed by tech support helping get the new keyboard installed.  Duncan got his computer setup and had a friend over for a long while, making art in the basement.  Ben baked a delicious cake that morning, which we all ate and told him he should never make again because it was so good.

The rest of the day was mostly getting settled back into the routine of things.  I'm not sure if school will start today for Duncan - we're still playing next term by ear, which is coming up fast.  He does seem cheerful and optimistic, if a little worn out by all the changes yesterday.

It's hard to believe that only a couple weeks remain in the term.  Theoretically Ben and Duncan return to school a couple days a week soon after it starts.  Emma's going down to a single class.  Time keeps moving along and things that seem to take forever finally do happen.

Mid-Week Changes

March 03, 2021 by Adam in Family

Joanna picked up Duncan this afternoon - they're driving south on I-5 as I type this.  The plan is to stop somewhere soon and finish the journey tomorrow morning as otherwise it's quite a long drive.

Ben's new desk arrived today, which he immediately wanted to build.  Other than a few pointers through the frustrating bits, he made his desk and we moved all his computer stuff over to it.

Joanna left a variety of sweet notes hidden throughout the house before leaving, which have been entertaining to periodically discover.  Otherwise it's mostly been Ben and I being bachelors, though I've endevored to eat semi real dinners.  We started watching the Neil Armstrong movie First Man, which is great.  Presumably we'll start watching Chernobyl again tomorrow.

Corpse Removal Weekend

March 02, 2021 by Adam in Family

Joanna headed up to northern Washington to fetch Duncan.  It's quite the journey, so she's taking her time.  It'll be nice to have Duncan around again, and even more importantly I'm glad that he seems so much more cheerful than before.

We all had a pretty good weekend.  I helped kids with homework, Joanna put in some time gardening, and lots of Deep Space Nine was watched.  Sunday we headed to the farm, chatting with mom, Seraph, and the gang.  I took Emma and Ben up to the old hay farm where we continued to clean things out, including an old mummified opossum that Emma accidentally grabbed.  Still, it's looking quite nice and the kids are enthusiastic about further improvements.  Joanna cut a couple of the bigger trees, though apparently they got stuck on the way down.  More YouTube videos on the subject were being watched - I went to bed Monday night to the sound of chainsaws on Joanna's phone.

Ben and I have a bachelor's night tonight, though I'm trying hard to not just eat cereal.  Hopefully we can watch something fun after we finish up math and science.

Mocha Friday

February 26, 2021 by Adam in Family

Lots of small updates this Friday.  It looks like Duncan is coming home next week, which he seems very excited about.  We had a brief meeting about it on Wednesday and he seemed generally cheerful.  Leia, our older kitty, likely has IBS and needs daily pills to control it.  I continue to help Ben with math and science and he's generally caught up.  Last night he was building a little LED circuit just for fun.  Emma's getting through all her classes and looking forward to the weekend.  Joanna started Forestry classes this week and is headed out to the farm to try and feed things through the chipper.

At this point, I think all of the 70+ people in the family have had at least their first vaccine.  Looking forward to the rest of us getting it in the months ahead.

Midweek Updates

February 24, 2021 by Adam in Family

The week is moving along at a zippy clip - hard to believe that March is right around the corner.

It looks like Duncan is quickly approaching the point where he's coming home.  Maybe next week, depending on how things go.  There's always a complicated little dance between the therapists, insurance, and us that seems to happen at the end of these things.  We're excited to have him home and hope it goes well.

I was heartened to hear Hanni got her first vaccination.  COVID rates in Lane County keep dropping and we moved from extreme to high risk recently.  It also looks like hybrid learning will happen at 4J, likely in April.  I think that'll be good for the kids.

Otherwise it's been a generally uneventful week.  Joanna signed up for a forestry class and is planning on clearing the cabin site instead of hiring someone to do so.  I got Ben and Joanna watching Chernobyl, which is both terrifying and compelling.  I suppose it's a nice comparison with our current situation - at least we're not wading through radioactive water, trying to open valves before a nuclear power plant explodes.

Productive Weekend

February 21, 2021 by Adam in Family

Much was accomplished this weekend, which is extra satisfying as it was mostly Joanna doing the work.  Saturday morning we started the day with a fine breakfast of waffles, mocha, and the like.  Joanna practiced cutting down some tall arborvitae in our back yard with the new electric chainsaw, followed by some frustrating moments with the new chipper.  The kids were chomping at the bit to go out to the farm, so we drove out, followed by Joanna a little longer.

The new chainsaw worked pretty well taking out some of the shrubbery around the old hay barn.  Ben and Emma cleaned up quite a bit of the weird things, exhuming a number of old kid toys buried in the mud.  We swept up and took down some rotting paneling, plus removing the main door which was bent and couldn't open.

In the meantime Joanna cut down a number of the dead trees around the cabin site.  I think we'll skip paying someone to do the work as we were feeling increasingly confident after the outing.

Today was more garding, though closer to home.  Joanna mulched most of the arborvitae and planted the strawberries in the new bed we made for them.  I hauled up some soil to the balcony planters.  It's not quit done, but I think we're well on our way to being ready for springtime.

The kids finished up homework and Emma took a long chemistry test.  We occasionally took video game breaks for our entertainment.  Now they're cooking us stirfry for dinner, which is a magical thing.

Mild Winter Mocha Friday

February 19, 2021 by Adam in Family

Our power and climate has been fine this week, but much of the country is dealing with power and water outages along with the freezing weather.  Ben's been making science videos about earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis, so preparing for future disasters continues to linger in our thoughts.  It looks like our roof only has another year or two in it, so I'd like to add solar when we replace it.  I look forward to getting the cabin up and running, if only to have somewhere to go during the inevitable alien invasion and undead uprising.

Otherwise it's been a pretty quiet week.  Work's been good.  Ben's catching up with homework.  Duncan seems to be doing well.  Our chainsaw and chipper finally arrived, so we may go out to the farm to work on clearing things out for a cabin and orchard.

Happy Pancake Day

February 17, 2021 by Adam in Family

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday, which means making crepes for dinner. It was a little last minute but they turned out well. It's probably good we only do this once a year.

Tuesday Work Week

February 16, 2021 by Adam in Family

I'm back to work after a three day weekend.  I had big plans for my day off, but kept being thwarted by minor things and I ended up not doing much other than hanging out with kids, helping with homework, and getting a run in there somewhere.  I did hear from my mom that she'd gotten a COVID vaccine - she was at Safeway and they had a few left over after vaccinating employees.  Someone flagged her down and asked her how old she was.  It's nice seeing people in the family getting vaccinated.

Joanna also put in a bunch of work into our raised beds - the garden is looking really good lately.  We're also starting to talk about big house projects such as painting the house and replacing the roof, not to mention refinishing the wood floors sometime.  I try to leave such things in Joanna's capable hands as I get a little anxious thinking about all the things that need to be done.