Figgy Friday

July 26, 2024 by Adam in Family

The fig tree has started producing tasty figs and I've been plucking them off the tree at a steady pace all week.  We're getting into peak harvest season and I usually eat something from our garden every day.  More is just around the corner, with tomatoes, apples, plums, and other delicious treats ripening in the weeks ahead.

It feels good to get toward the end of a rather intense month.  The most stressful things are nearly wrapped up.  Ben's friend heads home to Canada on Sunday, though Liria has been an easy guest and Ben's enjoyed having an in-person friend around.  The most stressful thing at the moment is that I managed to mess up Duncan's computer when doing an easy memory swap last night.  After thinking about it for awhile, I think I just disconnected one of the hard drives on accident while rooting around in the case.  Hopefully it's a quick fix.

It's a back-to-back nerdy weekend.  Saturday has the family D&D group, with more whimsical fae realm adventures.  Sunday I get to be a player in an 80's themed summer camp slasher RPG, with Francis running the game for us.  Super fun!

Last Year as a Teen

July 22, 2024 by Adam in Duncan

Jeaux is the usual birthday organizer, but I managed to order a cake and Duncan invited a couple friends over for an impromptu birthday shindig.  It was cool hearing Duncan talk about how college was so much better than high school and how well he was doing.  Plus it was fun seeing these kids I remember in first grade now as adults, reflecting on all their time together and enjoying each others' company.

I got Duncan some extra memory for his computer, hopefully making video editing a little easier.  I think Kevin wants to help with another computer upgrade, so I've got some disassembly in my future.

Anyway, it's cool seeing Duncan move another year into the future and become even cooler.

Full House Weekend

July 22, 2024 by Adam in Family

It was a full house, with Ben's friend Liria being picked up from the airport, flying in from far away Canada.  That brings the house up to four teenagers, with a brief burst for Duncan's birthday when he invited a couple friends over.  It was great seeing a couple of his good old friends who are now strapping young men going to college.  The three of them talked excitedly about video games, Minecraft, and old friends they went to school with.

Emma hung out with me and we finished up our ongoing Trine game with our awesome gamer skills.  I'm still getting used to her driving her giant truck over lately.  We cut some new utensil blanks for her whittling projects, did a usual library run, and had our early morning Data visits.

I had a good chat with our wayward Albuquerque son - he's sweating away in the heat, but generally doing well.  It was great to just touch base and hear about his exciting social life.

Jeaux is back from the graduate program today, driving back from Washington.  I'm settling into work.  The next few weeks will likely be exciting and full of change, but I'm working through it.

Birthday Mocha Friday

July 19, 2024 by Adam in Family

It's my birthday today - Jeaux sent me a card from their graduate program, writing in fake birthday wishes from the children that completely fooled me.  They'll be back Monday and have promised a real birthday cake and presents at some point down the road.  Since Duncan's is tomorrow, I ordered him a Sweet Life cake for whatever friends show up for his self-organized party.

It's been a week of excitement, both good and bad.  There's currently a worldwide computer outage, which is always a fun time.  The drive to Portland and back was draining, but Ben's been settling into home just fine.  I've been feeding cats, watering gardens, and cooking dinner for everyone as usual.  Otherwise the other humans in the house have been taking care of themselves.

I'm picking up Ben's friend at the airport tomorrow and getting some birthday cake.  Other than food shopping I don't think there's anything unusual I need to accomplish.  Looking forward to some downtime after all the weeks' excitement, as much as I can manage anyway.

Thunder and Lightning

July 17, 2024 by Adam in Family

It's been a busy week so far - work is feeling like Star Trek's Kobayashi Maru's impossible-to-win scenario at times, at least in the time frame people keep talking about.  I'll do the best I can, I suppose.

Yesterday I worked a little, had a run, then hit the road to head to Portland to pick up Ben.  Traffic was lousy so the end result is that I spent nearly six hours driving.  Once getting home I threw together dinner, folding clothes, and the usual housework.  

I started watering the garden just as the sun set and noticed both a beautiful sunset and thunderstorm brewing.  Soon enough the sky was flashing and rumbling overhead and I stood by my car in awe.  A bat flew by to add to the ambience.  Eventually I returned inside to wind down for the night and collapse. It was a nice reminder that nature carries on regardless of my minor trials and tribulations.

Summertime Weekend

July 15, 2024 by Adam in Family

I was solo parenting, though it was a house full of adults so I suppose all was well.  Emma drove her big truck over Friday afternoon, which caused both the neighbor and my friend Jason to spout exclaimations of awe and envy over its immense power.  Later she drove me to Market of Choice to go shopping and it felt like I had to stand on my tippy toes to load up the truck.  I think she likes the freedom it represents and she's looking forward to driving to her pottery class this week.

I picked up Duncan's sweetie Jace from the airport on Saturday - everything went well and since they only see each other in person a couple times a year, they've been floating around and smiling.  Duncan's got a birthday next weekend so I've got to get a cake sorted out - he's inviting a few old friends over to hang out.

Sunday was D&D day with the friend group and I finally got to crack open the campaign book and break out some of the minis I worked on long ago.  It generally seemed to go well, a pretty standard dungeon crawl at the moment.  They're all tenth level and immensely powerful, so I'm hoping to add some challenging moments here and there.

Tomorrow I drive to Portland to get Ben.  Next weekend I'm picking up Ben's friend from the airport.  I've got lots of things I need to get done, kids to take places, food shopping, household maintenance and so on, but it's all generally going just fine.

Busy Mocha Friday

July 12, 2024 by Adam in Family

Lots of scurrying around this morning - watering plants and making sure cats are fed.  Jeaux's college experience so far doesn't involve much in the way of keggers and zany pranks and mostly involves orientation, name badges, and old institutional dorm rooms in a building built in the 1800s. 

Emma passed her driver's test yesterday, which she reported was pretty easy.  I expect to see her pull up in her big truck later today to hang out for the weekend.  She also had her first summer pottery class with three more sessions to go.  Even better she can now go in to use the craft center whenever she wants.

Tomorrow I pick up Jace from the airport, go to the library with Emma, and take care of various house chores and food shopping.  Sunday is D&D and hopefully I'm adequately ready to pull that off.

School Time

July 11, 2024 by Adam in Family

Jo packed up the Subaru and headed off to Washington this morning, hopefully bringing along enough dorm room supplies to survive the next ten days.  They seemed excited and left me with long enough lists that the cats and plants and children should all be alive upon their return.

It's been a fairly exciting week so far, with more to come before the month is over.  I handled the 100+ degree weather by retreating into the house and setting up my computer in Jo's office.  It was fine other than the cats being a little noisy and demanding.  We had more plumbing issues and eventually called a plumber to deal with the clog after quite a bit of cursing and wet/dry vac work.  Emma's taking her driver's test today and I'm hoping for the best.

This Saturday I'm picking up Duncan's sweetie at the airport and the friend D&D group runs this Sunday.  I've got a mini I want to paint and maybe some handouts if I'm feeling enthusiastic.  I do try and spoil my players.

Beach Time

July 06, 2024 by Adam in Family

We're in Yachats at the moment, enjoying a couple days away before the madness of July hits in earnest.  Jo and I have had a lovely couple days of hanging out in our little rental place.  We just finished watching the Barbie movie and now there's a beautiful sunset over the ocean.  Earlier I saw a whale migrate past the house, blowhole spraying as they moved north.

I'm also finally feeling much better after a somewhat cruddy week.  I kept the advil and mochas flowing constantly, which generally made it possible to head to the farm with Emma, Sadie, Greg and Simon.  We tromped around and admired the beautiful desolation - things continued to become overgrown though the trees we planted are generally doing well.  I headed to Creswell for the 4th of July parade, hanging out on Seraph's porch as every manner of old car, fire truck, beauty pageant winner on horseback and candy-tossing people of every persuasion headed down the street.  It was an interesting experience.

Later we headed to Jenny's where I continued the sibling hangout time.  It was great visiting with everyone.

As for the month ahead, Jo starts their program in less than a week, Francis is hosting an 80's slasher themed RPG one-shot, Duncan's sweetie comes to visit, and who knows what other strange turns my life will take.  At least it's never boring.

Blah Monday

July 01, 2024 by Adam in Family

My Friday sickness continued on through the weekend and into today.  I did manage a D&D session with the family on Saturday, wearing a mask and popping chocolate covered espresso beans like they were candy.  Otherwise it was very low-key.  Emma and I blahed on the couch, playing video games and occasionally taking a stroll around the neighborhood.  Sunday I helped Jo setting up the inflatable hottub on the patio. 

I picked up a new video game - Cobalt Core - which hits my Slay the Spire itch.  It has deck building, space ships, and a fun little crew.

Work continues to be wacky.  My manager quit today, though I'm working with another team so I'm not sure how much it matters.

Really looking forward to a few days off starting tomorrow afternoon and hanging out with Sadie and her family tomorrow.