Non-Traditional Guy: January 2014

Monday, January 27, 2014

January 19-25 in Pictures

Reed helps me carry beer back to the car on our way to a Seahawks party.

Microsoft loves the Seahawks.

My Christmas present from Andrea, which she picked up Tuesday.

Reed helps Andrea make banana bread.

A beautiful ride to Bellevue, but too sunny too see Mt. Rainier.

A quick stop by Hidden Hand in Fremont for my own tattoo consultation.

My murder mystery persona.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Twenty thirteen was another exciting year for our little family. As I reflected upon the year, I considered what I would want to go back and tell myself on January 1st, 2013, about the upcoming year - positive or negative. Certainly one of the best changes for the year was my switch from Amazon to Microsoft. People still ask me how the new job is, and I still tell them the same thing which boils down to: I enjoy my new position, the new work and the new people.

I've made one of my life goals to try at least one new adventure each year, lest I become a fuddy-duddy. In 2012, the big adventure was moving to Seattle. The year before that was skydiving or learning to ride a motorcycle. (Take your pick.) But 2013 doesn't seem to have a particularly distinct adventure. I changed employers and hiked Camp Muir, among other hikes. I also tried surfing down in Santa Cruz. So I think those things cover me.

Our various 2013 excitement includes:

Hikes up Mailbox Peak, Mount Si, and even Rattlesnake Ledge with the boys; and an 18mi one-day hike through the Enchantments.
Andrea starting Sigh of Relief Organizing
Eight years of Babbage Tech
Jacob starting kindergarten
Reed's second year of preschool
Whale-watching in the San Juans (well, porpoise-watching, anyway)

I do have my adventure selected for 2014: Andrea and I are getting tattoos. Well, she already got hers, but I will get mine designed and inked.

Other things we are looking forward to in 2014:

The growth of Andrea's business
Buying land/a house near Seattle
Reed starting kindergarten this fall and Jacob entering first grade
Andrea's and my tenth wedding anniversary (and finally drinking the mead +Eric March gave us so long ago)

Monday, January 20, 2014

January 12-18 in Pictures

Reed double-fisting some homemade bread.

Testing my new motorcycle mitts in the cool weather.

Window washers on one of our buildings.

Playing in the living room with the boys.

People checking out the Maserati on display outside my building.

A small creek on the Little Si trail

Andrea's first ink.

More about our mountainous, inky Saturday here.

A mountainous, inky Saturday

Saturday was a pretty wild day for the two of us. I started my training for Mount Rainier with a fairly leisurely hike up Little Si, carrying an extra half gallon of water with me to weigh me down a bit. The hike ended 1200' above the trailhead -- not nearly that of Mount Si, but it still gives a great view of North Bend and the Cascades below:

Better than the view from Google Earth

I've been using Strava for tracking my walks, runs, hikes and bikes, but I did also try Google's own My Tracks app with comparable results. For now, Strava gives better analysis, so I'll probably stick with that for a while.

A small creek on the way back down

The bridge over Middle Fork Snoqualmie River leading to/from the trailhead.

I finished my hike quite a bit ahead of my expectation, and I happened to make it back to Seattle only fifteen minutes or so after Andrea head handed off our boys for their own independent adventures -- Jacob with a classmate of his for a birthday party and Reed with a classmate of his for a play date.

Getting back into town, the 12th Man is everywhere.

Andrea and I have discussed for some time getting tattoos, so while she was still in Minnesota over Christmas, I checked out Hidden Hand Tattoo in Fremont. When we found ourselves temporarily child-free, we decided to go check it out together. Of course, Andrea is the kind of person that makes a decision quickly and doesn't waffle, so she decided that she'd get her tattoo right then and there, given the opportunity. So when we found that Asher had some time, Andrea picked out a font right there, filled out the requisite forms, and waited for her turn.

Preparing Andrea's wrist

Tracing the text. Nice bumper sticker, by the way, dude.

The finished work.

Andrea did pretty well with the needle, stopping only for a few minutes after the first "you" to regain her composure. The text, "I love you and you are Mine," are lyrics to her favorite Catholic song that is particularly important to her.

Somehow, Andrea was able to get her tattoo in before I got mine. But mine will require some design, as I intend to get a cairn.

Monday, January 13, 2014

January 5-11 in Pictures

Making chocolate chip cookies Sunday evening. Jacob wanted gummy bear cookies (which didn't turn out well).

Sunrise over the Cascades.

I took Jacob to the doctor on Tuesday. Like his old man, he can at least maintain some silliness despite clearly not feeling well.

Both boys are hedgehog eggs waiting to hatch.

A view of downtown from the Magnolia Bridge as I walked home in the rain.

Reed and Andrea hanging out during Jacob's sportball.

The boys watched a bedtime movie in their umbrella fort.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

2013 in books

In 2013, I read fewer books than I did in 2012, and I didn't break my habit of reading non-fiction like I'd wanted. I blame it on the switch to Microsoft and on taking on a machine learning course. Still, I'm disappointed that I didn't devote more time to reading, and I'm hoping 2014 will be better. Here are the books I did read this year:

I also started Your Money or Your Life but didn't get around to finishing it, so let's call that a half book. Seven and a half books this year isn't too hot.

There's certainly a theme to my reading. Can you spot it?

This week, I started reading Kerouac's On the Road, so at least I'm starting off 2014 avoiding my typical nonfiction fare.