I did mean to post this update earlier this week, but stuff happens right? In our case what happens is the first year we skip flu vaccinations Gideon gets the Flu. Yes, diagnosed and verified by testing. So that made for a great end to the week for him. Add in the snow and we’ve all been more or less stuck inside not doing much for a couple of days. I did do the driveway twice and Heather went outside to play with each of the kids separately. Gideon wanted to get out so bad that we let him, he seems to be mostly recovered anyhow. He actually lasted longer than Cecilia did earlier in the day.

So, updates for me. After a vacation I finally am getting back into the freelancing classes. The available resources are impressive for the fee. ($25 a month) Anyone else interested in freelance writing would be well-served to sign up when they can. Let me know and I’ll get you some info.

I have finished an outline of a book that I didn’t expect to write. I’ll start the rough draft next week. Maybe when this one is out I’ll be able to start that fantasy epic, but I have a feeling this book will spawn a couple more before the characters let me take a break. That’s OK though, I should write the stories that are bursting to get out versus the ones I need to force out because I like them. I’ll start looking for beta readers as I’m cleaning up draft 1. The book is geared to the 4th grade crowd, give or take. It’s a general fictional story set in more or less today’s real world. If you’re interested let me know. My plan is to be done with the draft by the end of this month.

The job-hunt is hanging steady at 1-2 leads a week. That said, this last weeks leads felt a little stronger than most. Nothing really worth reporting yet, but perhaps at the coming weeks update there will be.

Yes, I did a title about the weather, but the post isn’t about the weather.

Another week another couple of positions put in for. No bites yet but there’s always a chance.

I’ve been researching the proper way to break into freelance writing and hope to get some actual traction there in the next couple weeks.

The last week was a little slow for story writing. I started my first pass at an outline. I’ve done a lot of research on process for writing stories and think I’m going the right direction. The outline in this case is done as more of a tentative guide than an actual outline. Moving from it to the actual story it isn’t followed the way an outline for a research paper leads to the final product. That said I think I know roughly what the first couple chapters will include.

That’s all for now. Yesterday was extremely long and the hosting server for the site was down earlier when I tried posting. Next week will have more I’m sure.

I am not 100% yet. I’m still using cough drops at a decent pace, but I can speak without it hurting, most of the time. I also am getting tired out a little faster than I should be. Such is life, I’m sure it’ll be all better soon enough.

Scrum Master jobs aren’t exactly plentiful out here right now. Personally, I’m thinking the local economy might be slowing a little. My father-in-law has been seeking employment for longer than I want to think of and the plethora of jobs that I was applying to last summer just aren’t there anymore. I am putting in for the ones I find though, and have gotten through the initial phone screen a couple of times even. Unfortunately it hasn’t gone past that yet.

As for writing. I received an “experience” for my birthday to help me figure out how to move this forward. Basically, a team of writers opened up their process for coming up with an idea and writing a novel to people who were interested enough to purchase it. Originally it was a KickStarter project but now the archives are available for sale on their site. They put themselves on a very tight time limit, 1 month. They then recorded all of their story meetings, published all of their drafts and edits as they went, talked about the process as it unfolded, and basically just let everyone see how the “sausage” was made. I feel like I’m not a bad writer, so for me it was all about seeing the process they use. As I finish that journey I am going to take what I can learn from it and try finding my own process. In fact, I’ve already started.

I’m working on writing short fiction, up to the 100-word stories now, to help hone my writing. I’m learning what schedule best balances writing and job-searching for me. I’m building a world to write in, and it’s not the world I originally though. Finally, I’m also poking into what it would take to do freelance writing for income until I build enough fiction to make money. Does all this mean I’m hanging up the IT hat? No. I’m still looking hard for that job as a Scrum Master, Software Project Manager, or Software Development Manager. There just aren’t a lot of them now and I’m not ready to write code for another 5 years. (Good thing too since DRC was 90% VB.Net and most places are C# or Java.)

I had originally hoped that by now, assuming I hadn’t been hired, I would be working on a novella and have some actual short stories published to this blog. Being sick for the last month has really slowed that wagon down though. Instead of letting that get to me I am moving forward. By the end of this month I anticipate having short stories on this blog and making good progress on a novella/novel. There is one wrench I’m seeing right now though. Due to the competitive market for the jobs I’m hoping for I am going to split some of my fiction writing time off and work to complete the Agile basics book I had envisioned two years ago. That isn’t just talk either. I have 3,500 words (11 pages) down already. Granted this is largely the copy from previous blog posts, but it’s in the right place to become a book.

With that I’ll leave you the last few short fiction stories I’ve done in case you don’t see them on Facebook.

55 word:

3/1/2016
“It all fit!”
That was an exaggeration really. The drive would not be comfortable. “More like it barely fits.”
“So this is it. The big dream coming true.”
“Maybe. I still have a long way to go.”
“You’ll make it though. You always do.”
After a hug I got in the car and drove off.

BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Not again. It’s getting hard to function with these constant interruptions.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Three days? A week? I don’t even know anymore.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
How did this happen anyhow? Why do I deserve this?
<Silence>
“Mr Cooper. The test is over. At the agreed $50 per hour you get $150.”

100 word:

3/7/2016

Sara was crying when she called. “Bridget? Are you busy?”
Of course I’m in the middle of an experiment, but I always have time to help a friend in need. “No, what’s up?”
“My grandma died last night. That’s why I wasn’t in school today.”
“The silly Grandma?”
“No. Grandma Hamilton. I, I didn’t know her as well.”
“Do you know what happened?”
“Dad said she was old and it was her time. We’re leaving tomorrow to see the rest of the family.”
“You can call me anytime you need to.”
“Thanks Bridget, I knew I could count on you.”

3/9/2016

Bridget burst into her shed clutching the package tight. She carefully cleared a space on the workbench before putting it down. She had been waiting for this since last time Grandpa took her to the science museum.
She opened the toolbox and got out the box cutter. She worked her way around the package, careful not to push the blade into the box. When she had all the tape cut she first put away the knife, then slowly opened the package.
There it was, her own soldering iron. This would bring her experiments to a whole new level, adding electricity.

As many of the people who actually read this blog know I have recently been laid off. Something you may not know is that I did horrible at updates to the TWB posts during January and so far in February. I made posts for around 4 of them, but they are all blank. I will try to fill in some I think, but I won’t hold myself to too much. In the end I may just skip a bunch of them.

All standing, all the time.

One of the things I did at my job was install a self-made stand-up desk. It was an arrangement that lent itself easily to sitting or standing with a quick change between the two available. I brought the materials home and have set it up here now. Unfortunately the easy to convert option was unavailable here. Changing it back and forth is not hard, but it’s a good 5 minute job as opposed to 30 seconds. 5 minutes might not sound like a lot, but in this case it is. Just as 1 minute is nothing, unless you’re planking with proper form for the first time.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sitting can be bad for a person, especially over time. Thing is, I’m getting tired of standing. The monitor on the left is tall enough that it creates a tenancy to tilt my head up a little resulting in a sore neck. Of course, that monitor needs replacement anyhow, but I digress. The mat I’m standing on is actually two anti-fatigue kitchen mats and an entryway carpet strip. I generally stand there barefoot, shifting and pacing away. At the end of the day, I need to stand the same way for any gaming or video watching I do as well. I figure in another week or two I’ll make it over “the hump” and not be bothered by the standing, but for now it’s getting old. (I’ve made the transition before, but always where I could take sitting breaks easily every few hours.)

Anyhow, back to the job loss. I am currently back in the search. I’m primarily looking for Scrum Master or Agile/IT/IS Project Manager positions. I’m also interested in managing/leading a software development or other IS/IT team. I am approaching the job hunt a little differently this time. I am leaning heavily on “Manage Your Job Search” by Johanna Rothman for the technical/procedural aspects. I’ll post a review of it over at OurAgileJourney.com later. From a more abstract standpoint I’m trying to approach it a little less fervently than I did before. The pace I attempted to maintain last summer was ultimately unsustainable and causing me much more stress than I should have allowed it to.

To help force this new approach I am also splitting my time with trying to ramp up my writing. I have a few classes/books I have been slowly looking at that I know have time to kick into high gear. I am going to approach it as a part-time job versus as a hobby during the search, with the search itself being my other part-time job. For now the fruits of this will be seen here, Facebook, and Twitter.

That’s all for now. I should be loading the kids up to go to the park and I still need a shower. On the bright side, Cecilia isn’t ready and looks like she wants to ruin the park trip altogether.

We’ve been busy spending time with family such that we didn’t get this posted right away but for those who we don’t have address information for.  Here is our Christmas letter and a hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas.

Dear Friends and Family,
We hope this letter finds you and your family doing well this Christmas season. 2015 has been a year filled with growth and change for our family. The two largest changes were our move to Colorado at the end of June and Adam’s new job in August. For those who don’t know the story we have been looking at moving to Colorado to be closer to Heather’s family for a while. Last year’s move to Circle Pines was part of this process. Finally, this April, after finding out that Boston Scientific would allow Heather to work remotely for a period of time we decided to make the move. We started making plans and although there have definitely been moments of needing to trust God it has been good for our family overall and it is clear that God is working.
Other Highlights of the year include:
* A family getaway to Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Waterpark over Valentine’s Day weekend which was a wonderful decision. We were just about able to pretend it wasn’t winter for the weekend. The kids have been asking to go back since we left. One is supposed to open in Colorado Springs in 2016 so we will see.
* Gideon’s first year of Little League baseball, which he really enjoyed from March to June. These four months were a little long but worth it. It was coach pitch and Gideon was telling us he was ready for kid pitch partway through the season.
* Cecilia participating in Gymnastics and loving it in May and June. She seemed to like this more than the dance class she had been in previously. We really need to find time to let her do it again.
* Gideon’s Kindergarten Graduation in June.
* Cecilia’s Preschool Graduation in June.
* Annual Camping Trip to Great Sand Dunes the end of July.
* Start of First Grade (Gideon) and Kindergarten (Cecilia) in August. We were a little wary of the school at first since it uses a style of teaching we weren’t sure would be good for Gideon. Cecilia appears to be thriving and Gideon is doing well. He says he prefers it to the one in Circle Pines. The biggest thing they miss in terms of school is Love To Grow On.
* Attending the wedding of two of Heather’s cousins (1 in April and 1 in September). Heather also attended a third cousin’s wedding in December. We wished the whole family could have gone but between the cost of airline tickets and missing school we just couldn’t pull it off.
* And lots of family time going to parks, on bike rides, and just enjoying being together.
As we look ahead to next year we look forward to seeing what else God has in store for us. And pray that he will bless you and your family as well.
With Love,
The Myhr Family (Adam, Heather, Gideon, and Cecilia)

Dear Family & Friends,

Merry Christmas! We hope this letter finds you and your family doing well. 2014 has been a full and busy year for our family.

January and February found us trying to survive the record breaking cold temperatures while preparing to put the house back on the market. On the bright side it made finishing some projects around the house easier as we didn’t want to be outside.

March brought an offer on our house after just one fairly quick showing. That showing? A day early while Heather was home with a very sick Cecilia due to a scheduling mix-up. They didn’t leave the house and hadn’t done last minute cleaning. The accepted counter offer started the process of looking for a place to rent and getting ready to move. Thankfully Heather’s grandparents and mother were able to come help finish packing. They were able to stay and help with most of the unpacking and setup in our new place as well. Gideon’s 5^th birthday also fit in to the craziness of the month.

April brought our move and a month of faith stretching. Literally hours prior to closure we found out we were not going to close on time, and likely not even that day. Everything had gone smoothly to that point. After we were moved leaving an empty house in Elk River it seemed like the deal would fall apart. Our buyers were not able to close on the house they owned and thus couldn’t secure financing to purchase ours. We hadn’t even realized they had a place they were selling. Thus began several weeks of praying for things to come together after deciding our best option was to try and stick it out with them rather than putting an empty house on the market. God came through and we finally closed right before the end of the month ending up with a couple extra weeks interest rather than a full month’s mortgage.

May was spent getting settled in to the new location and schedule. Heather enjoyed a much shorter commute to work and daycare as the new place is literally 5 minutes from the daycare and about 10 minutes from her work.

June saw Gideon graduating from preschool and starting the school age program at Love to Grow On’s other location. It kept him extremely busy and made him tired as well. He played t-ball and we spent lots of time-park hopping. This was to compensate for the rental townhouse’s lack of outside space. We must have visited almost every park with a playground in a 20 minute drive.

As June shifted to July we drove to Colorado for a two week vacation. The first week allowed Adam and Heather a couple of nights away while the kids spent time with Grandma and Grandpa. Next we all went camping at the Sand Dunes for a couple of nights before heading to Longmont for a Shutts family reunion. (Heather’s mom’s side of the family.) We had a chance to see all of Heather’s extended family from that side, even her aunt Nancy when we skyped with her briefly. We briefly got to meet Felix, Erin’s (Heather’s sister) little boy, who was born mid-June. Activities with extended family included a BBQ, the Zoo, a ride on the Carousel, and shooting off air rockets in the park. While in Longmont we also had lunch with as many of the Reed side of the family (Heather’s dad’s side) as we could. Then we finished off the vacation with a few down days in Monument at Heather’s parents place.

After we returned from Colorado we had a couple of weeks before we headed to Osh-Kosh Wisconsin for AirVenture. The biggest air show in the U.S. The kids loved seeing all the airplanes and we got a chance to hang out for a while with Heather’s cousin Nathan who was there with work.

August highlights included the State Fair with good friends and then again with Heather’s parents.

The first part of September brought Cecilia’s birthday, Heather & Adam’s 10^th wedding anniversary and Gideon’s first day of Kindergarten.

The rest of September and October were spent trying to find a new rhythm with school. This was difficult while trying to make going to the park a priority. After all day at school Gideon definitely needed the outside run around time. Halloween at our house included a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and Princess Elsa. And 5 people at the door. 2 of which were coming home. The kids were bummed and wanted to know why people weren’t coming to our house.

November brought the start of cold and attempts to find indoor places to run off the afternoon energy. We settled on a local community center which includes a water park. A low-key Thanksgiving out with Adam’s brother (plus family) and parents was a nice way to not worry about cooking and cleaning in a small space, and a nice gift from Adam’s parents.

December looks to be relatively full as we look forward to celebrating Christmas in a few different ways.

Overall it has been a year full of change, fun, and growth. 2015 looks to be full of the same.

If you want to keep up with what we are up to a little more often feel free to check out our website, myhrfamily.net, where there has been at least one post a week for the past year giving glimpses into our family life.

We would love to hear from you as well and hope you have a wonderful Christmas season while you celebrate with family and friends. May you remember the reason for the season is Jesus’s birthday!

Love,

Adam, Heather, Gideon & Cecilia Myhr

Shut the front door. Remember that? It was really popular a few years back. It’ll be an indicator of age eventually.

In the last I didn’t use the front door much. In this one I use it less. Nobody in America really uses the front door anymore. (At least here in Minnesota, maybe different regions of the US do.) Instead we tend to have a large door specifically for our vehicles. That door is generally opened and closed automatically via a button in the vehicle. It leads to an under-insulated room of our house which is attached. There usually is a wall with similar thickness and insulation to the outside walls in-between the main living spaces and this room, and not generally any HVAC service. Because of the button in the vehicle it’s not unusual for the big door to be closing before anyone exits the vehicle, and not opened until people are already in it.

Further reducing the use of the front door is the fence around the back-yard. Instead of letting the kids out front to play, or heading out the front to the neighborhood park, we let them loose in the backyard.

This loss of the front door is, to me, tied directly to the lack of neighborly connection. Since we’re always isolated near our home we are no longer meeting our neighbors. If we assume that this is a major cause then we next have to decide if that is good or bad, and if bad how do we change it?

Beautiful early April spring morning in Minnesota.

One of the primary messages in the writing class I signed up for is to write often. A lot. Write even more than you might think you should.

This is hard for me on some levels. It’s kind of a chicken and egg thing. I want to write a lot. I often have half-formed ideas of things to share. I’ve been getting little flashes of inspiration from time to time. Usually this happens when I have no easy way to take notes on the inspiration. I should try to remedy this by always having a way to take notes. When I actually have time and means to try writing, nothing. The inspirations I had before are no more. I feel like if I write more I’ll have more to write about. The problem is that I have trouble writing when I have nothing to write about. It’s a feedback loop really.

What I need to do is use this space to write, even when I don’t feel as if what I have to share is worthwhile. The problem with this is that some of what I have to write is interesting and/or useful to some people. I fear those posts would get lost in the noise. Seriously, imagine it takes a year to get to where I write mostly useful/interesting stuff. How many people would stick around that long? The months of noise would cause people to tune out, and when the proverbial music appeared later it would go unheard.

Maybe I’ll have a standard opening line letting people know that a given post didn’t really feel like it was worth sharing. When the line is there people would know that I really don’t care if anyone reads the post. When the line is missing it’s a post I feel might be interesting or valuable to others in some way.

I have seen the future. In it the snow doth recede.
According to prophecy when the snow doth recede there shall be grass beneath.
And this grass shall grow. And it shall not be good.

We must prevent this grass from attaining great heights. We must stop it mere inches from the ground. We must correct it when it tries to rise past the station we have designated for it. This duty was mine. Now, should you prove worthy, it is yours.

To accomplish this feat I offer you the Spinning Blade of Correction.

This is a good blade. It has served me well for 6 years.
It spins fast, powered by explosions up to 190cc.
It has large wheels in the back with five corrective height settings.
It corrects the grass 22″ at a time. It can collect the pieces in an attached bag, spit them off to the side, or (my favorite) mince them and let them lay next to their brethren as a warning.
It starts with a pull, sometimes two. It also has a key which draws on arcane reserves, but the mystical cord of reserve filling has long been broken. A new cord should refill the power of the key.
It pulls itself forward when taken firmly by the handle. It is easy to tame as selectively releasing part of the handle preserves the spinning while removing the forward pull.
The inside can easily be cleansed of the clingy grass pieces via a magical water portal in the outer shell.
We have writings that came with the Spinning Blade of Correction and tell many of it’s secrets.

Continue reading →

As I was writing the latest blog post for OurAgileJourney Gideon decided that he really wanted a turn typing, so here is what he did (I removed extra paragraph breaks and helped spell his friends name, but not his sisters, she helped with that.):

tiuikyghfjhgngkjgkthmgh,gh gthkgmnnnbbnnnnnbbbbfcnhgbggjgggtrhggggggghhhhhhruryhgiuiuiuruyyyyuyyyyttthgkihtiumjrhthurthu5t4tuhgugt4ruruyrh87ewyweiruys7r648we7ew87rwetwe6323e74rtyuhjy8r74ertyrtyvtnbtbvgvtrgfdgfydgsdydbfhfnfbduerygewuewuewu4refsr7hfhudhugthguguf8tuguutttttt711111111dye4tg7t7u4t5rvugrgjfufeuehefhurerf8rhiutr8grttggtgg

jufjgtjguhtiudefuhureruert7rtryt5r7eurrehghcfdghdfjjdfhgnj  hjycgugfujfhefhfehhfdklfijotheriiundgiuggiugdrttitgngjjdjvnfnghbmvhfdhbgvfjcdfduhbghrgtuierukfrhgdhrjyhditrgfdjhgfdfjurhfhufhfudfy8rgut8tyrfurysyurgfurrudyf8yfhyghgfhjigfjjbfbjfbjgbjfjgtjbmfvu gtfhjktjgdkgckgiohkjgk  gfjjgbgfkmlgjtygidnmgbnjthbgfuigdturjhgturbg fg  gyfdfrgygyuyyeryrytryrtydyeyeyyerye4ry7r4eyr4e67ufer7htgrd,dgfvdjgerhebfuedfhsufehuyruydchrrfnerjgfhfhfghfghuf fbfbdfhfdrehjyudfhjrgrgtjruytvnjgbjfbjbj;g,lkhnkhglhlthlhyklthkhyk         gjrjurhreiukurgtij9ruiriruturhgudgugyyuudfdhuuyrturduruguguufurdududf7fyrrterser7rw67  bb        75yuthuigfurgfhrgiutgigtiuufudhufhuiugurhurhurtiutug

gkghkggkkgkgt4kltyyoioiotitiy6iiit5ru5ouriti56tkjgkgtrgghdhdrjfshjehdhufrjuffdudjrtfhfredrywu4hgf8qefhfehryuryfhfghfhhfjfbghfhdfshhfuhbddsbhsdedfjigfkifrgriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggttttttttttttttttttt

ddhshshsbhxbssssshg0fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff000ffs0g0wgwg0wgh0qdwg0x67w0r6t7duqdhadguewudch87upofvklfgkffvgroooooeyeiudfhbernu54turjmdkgioy88y6ij,ltggbjfdfjruxggfggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhetfhutrtywtrytutjutuotiuthtiurtrurutt89

ceciliaa

gideon  henry      fhjnbjnh ngbj fmgbvukr4tghbi5ti4trfofkgbgtjbghjffvjvv ufbjewrnghtrgjrriug3iitutuyuytr67t8rt8ttut7t8rtter75543563373312g3gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg3673ry7thn74runthnurgrgufyggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

gideon