Things I've been up to

We'll start with a Tyler update, being as I'm sure he's the guy you're most interested in hearing about. Tyler's latest trick is that he's starting to have thoughts of his own. Ever since he's been able to talk, he's been really good at parroting, repeating things he's already heard. New to his repertoire, though, is coming up with his very own ideas and sentences. That's right! There's a little human in there after all.

The most memorable example of this behavior has been when we were singing “Wheels on the Bus.” It's always been one of his favorite songs. After a few verses, I asked which sound he wanted to do next.

“Tyler, what else is on the bus?”

He paused, staring ahead, like he does when he's deep in thought (we all know where he gets this from)

“Enui!”

Okay, he technically just said “En-We”, but I think we all knew what he meant.

“Enui? Really? What sound does Enui make?”

Another long pause.

“Boop, boop, boop.”

And so we sang, “The Enui on the bus goes boop, boop, boop.” And he laughed. He laughed so hard, he thought it was just the greatest thing.

It shows up in a lot of smaller ways, too. We'll ask him what he wants to eat and he'll come up with something all on his own. You'll point out something that's big and he'll remind you that Tyler is Little all on his own. He hasn't yet used it to suggest that Daddy and Mommy are always wrong and that he should get more ipad and candy, but give it time, I'm sure.

Work continues apace. I got to travel last week to Patuxent river, again. I was supposed to be gone for the whole week, but we got out there, got everything working in a couple of days, and then everyone went “great, it works, I guess we're done” and went home. Jess has been really busy at work, too, well befitting a person who is so well regarded. And before any of you ask, I'm not worried about the sequester. It may make us trim back a bit, but I suspect that the most likely prospect is that we'll hire new people a little slower. I've been on the test team for maybe 6 months, and there are 5 new people in the group that have joined since. We're busy.

I've also been working on my Minis for ReaperCon. I decided to pull together some of the guys I've been painting and give them a platform to stand on together. Give it some scenery and character, so to speak. Here are some pictures, I hope you enjoy.

I'm also excited because I think I'm going to build a new computer. I've never actually done this before, but I've read some tutorials and it doesn't appear too difficult. The main source of work will probably be selecting all the components, and if you ask any computer-building nerd, that's the best part of the whole endeavor.

-N

Last Day...

Just had my last quiet morning in the office.  A couple of appointments cancelled at the last minute, several easy straight-forward patients, a homeless man cashing in a gift certificate we donated to charity (he had a horrible prescription and was legally blind without specs, now will be perfect, at least visually), several folks stopping by for hugs and good wishes.  The last senior partner in our building has annouced his own retirement today, like its going around or something.

In truth we are ready, more than ready.  Saw the Fletcher Dad known to my kids through his kids.  We discussed wood shops and he advocated for the same store that Mom is starting her chip carving lessons with in south Seattle. Chatted up a retired ship's captain too busy to work anymore.

Had a nice surprise dinner with church/choir friends last night, listened to the current choir director bemoaning the hassles of directing "volunteers".  Did we want to stay for one last Easter?? Trucked out to the apartment and dusted out the last bits of our presence, left the keys on the counter, and closed the door on that final chapter, literally.

I don't know how many ways I can say it, but again, we're ready.  Noticing lots of last times for everything.  Maybe a bit of wistfulness now and then but clearly overcome with excitement.  See you all soon......G

Home Projects

When you move into a house, people seem super interested in "what you are going to do to the place?" We are pretty pumped about the fact that the house doesn't really need anything.  We painted some walls for esthetic reasons.  But nothing is breaking.

However, the out side parts of the house are going to need some help. There are some big, established plants around, which I am excited to watch transform into whatever the turn into.  Will that tree out the kitchen window blossom?  I'm starting to see some tiny buds on things, which will be exciting as the spring develops.  But, I don't see any sign of bulbs, so I am loking forward to putting those in.

I'm also looking forward to adding a raised bed to the back for veggies.  I'm not really sure how that works though, so I need to learn about it.  I also am looking forward to having a worm bin, so I should probably get that build too.  Dad doesn't seem to understand my interest in using reclaimed lumber for these projects. Sure, it is harder to find than a tree currently standing in the woods, but I like the idea of giving a second life to lumber, and garden projects can be forgiving in their dimensions.

I'm also collecting idea for brainlessly easy things to cultivate in the Seattle summer.  I'm thinking peas/beans and some herbs.  If this goes well, we can try more in the future.  This is just the first little baby step in transforming the yard though.

Visible transitions

So today was spent hashing out final details of our retirement settlement with our financial advisor.  As it turns out, he was one of the first professionals we engaged when we arrived in Juneau and sold us some insurance and disability contracts that we needed for our obligations to our predcessor.  Turns out we were one of his very first clients and, according to him, sort of broke the ice and started his business out in a critical time for his success.  Had no idea he was as new to this stuff as we were but he has grown with us all these years.

So, feeling all nostalgic and old, we noticed the old Elementary school is being rehabbed and updated, so we shouldn't be the only ones in the family feeling dated and old, eh??

I want to Master Cakes

I don't think I've really ever baked a cake from scratch.

I'm sure I could. The mechanics aren't that different that other things that I have baked. But I haven't ever taken the time. Now that I have this super fancy kitchenaid that my big brother got me, I feel compelled to bake ambitious things.  Matt and I were brainstorming "things that should be baked" one night, and he started riffing on cakes. Carrot Cake. Yellow Cake.  Princess Cake.  And all with the niave confidence that they will be easy and totally worth the effort.

Now would be a great time for someone to chime in in case this is actually false.

And then I got the crazy idea (I'm having a lot of these lately), that when I recruit people to take part in my 30 for my 30th project with group volunteer things, I should pretend it's my birthday party and offer cake.  I was specifically imagining that I've talked my friends into some trail maintenance which turned about to be a terrible idea, and everyone is brutally exhausted and frustrated, and then I whip out a carrot cake and suddenly everyone is glad they are helping! That could work, right?

As Nana says, if you don't hear about it again, don't ask!

Mt Bike Racing

This is going to be a year of bikes.  I can tell.  Our favorite 3 year old is on a two wheeled (pedal) bike these days, and he bravely rides on trails.  Nearly every day, I'm told.  Since hiking with short legs is a bit harder, it seems likely that more of our group summer adventures will be mountain biking.

And you don't have ask twice if Matt would like to go for a mountain bike ride.  All this talk of "rides" and "trails" and "mud" and "huge scary logs" got him thinking about mountain biking in Janurary this year.  Not that he ever stops riding out doors, he really does ride 12 months a year here.  But other people start organizing events in the late winter.  He started a mountain bike series a couple weeks ago that will last until mid-spring.  These are fun because he gets to ride in different parks, and compare his time to others and improve his own performance. (Or so I'm told. Racing sounds awful to me.)

His first race was in Tacoma.  He made his bestie Jeffrey come with to spectate. The start line was staggered by race class, so all the Sport (faster than beginner, slower than expert) riders launch by age group.  They ride 3 laps in a winding park.  He passes people, people pass him. They had fun, and went to a hearty lunch as soon as Matt crossed the finished line.  Some hours later he pulled up the race results online and said, "Um. Oh. I guess I got third?"

Matt has a fairly binary approach to being competitive.  He can go have some rides with other people and push himself and that's cool. He is pretty laze-faire about going to these events when it's just for a ride. But as soon as he placed, I knew he was committed to the series.  Fortunately, so was Jeffery.  (Bike racing is cool, but it is in lots of different far away places that are nice to have a co driver for,)

The second race was also in Tacoma. Again, the staggered start, with multiple classes on the track at the same time.  I'm told it's hard to pay attention to whether the person passing you has grey hair or acne, so both of the guys felt like they did OK, but couldn't judge their rankings.

When the race results came in, Matt had taken second place. Jeffrey came in the top half, easily. Now there is talk of series points, and the next race is next week.  They guys speculate that most of these riders are road bikers who are getting off the street for a few hours because they both pass other riders on the technical parts (read: rooty, dropsy, chasms). I'm sure it has nothing to do with them both riding this type of terrain for most of their lives.

You can check out pictures here. Most of those people aren't Matt. You can tell some of these riders are out of their element.  How can you tell they are doing it wrong?  Both tires should stay on the ground (#728 is my favorite).  Here is a nice one of Matt just doing what he likes doing.

(I feel I should add the Matt says people crash here because they rode it too slow.  Wheee!)

Finished my mini

Remember that guy I was working on before?  He's done! 

 

Here's more progress shots.  I'm pretty sure on this day I worked on his pants.  It's subtle, I know.

 

Here I'm starting to work on his coat.  I did the green lining inside his coat.  Nice highlighting, yes?  Also his epaulettes, which I also learned how to spell.  

 Worked on the gun today.  Did some shading and highlighting on the wood and metal drybrushing on the...metal parts. 

And here he is, all done!  I did a chrome look for the sword.  Impressive, no?  I think it came out pretty good.  Also did some grass around his feet.  The grass nearer to him is dead, I imagine it's a side-effect of his crazy-evil power.  I'm quite pleased about how well he came out.  I'm going to go get him a fancy little plinth to display him on for the convention.  Next up on the painting queue, a frog king and queen for Ray and Jeanne. 

-N