Everything around me seems to be in motion this week. Kids moving through milestones, colleagues moving on to new things, seasons shifting. Even the birds are starting to come back.

Shipped

Saturday I attended a UGA swim meet with my youngest, who’s on her high school team. She’s lucky enough to practice at the UGA natatorium, a genuinely world-class facility, and it was fun to watch the collegiate teams compete, including several nationally ranked swimmers.

The UGA Gabrielsen Natatorium, showing the diving well, competition pool, and championship banners under the massive steel truss ceiling

There’s something satisfying about watching people who are really, really good at something do that thing at full speed.

Sunday we took the eldest back to college for their final semester. They’re packed with senior-level classes to finish out a degree in computer game design come May. On the way we explored Little Five Points, one of Atlanta’s iconic neighborhoods. It felt appropriate: a neighborhood that’s survived by constantly reinventing itself, visited on the cusp of a big transition.

Tuesday we went out for dinner, an extreme rarity for us. Half-price oysters and creole enchiladas. Both delicious.

Wednesday was our monthly virtual happy hour at work, where we bid farewell to an amazing co-worker who found much greener pastures elsewhere. He came to us right out of boot camp several years ago, and it’s been a joy to watch him grow into a developer as capable as any we have. Bittersweet, but the right kind. The kind where you’re genuinely happy for someone even as you’ll miss them.

Read

I found time for a few more chapters of Automatic Noodles, which remains a fun and interesting read. Also had to dive into documentation for Shibboleth, a single sign-on authentication system I’ll need to integrate soon. The name is appropriately intimidating for an auth system. A word you have to pronounce correctly or be identified as an outsider.

Played

Not much play this week, other than with the cats. I did start cleaning the craft area, something I should have done months ago, so I can get a few things done for the rapidly approaching steampunk convention. “Start” is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

Cooked

On a friend’s strong recommendation I picked up the River Cottage Much More Veg book and made the recipe she’d been raving about: a red cabbage biryani.

Red cabbage biryani in the pan, showing the braised purple cabbage ribbons and turmeric-stained cashews

I’ve never made a biryani before, much less a vegan one, and it was fantastic. I still have some cabbage left and will absolutely make it again. Tonight, even.

The finished biryani plated with fresh cilantro and sliced red pepper

Noticed

The songbirds are starting to return, which means I need to disinfect and refill the bird feeders and bath. They have cameras in them, and I love getting little video postcards throughout day. One of those small technological pleasures that actually delivers on its promise.

Thinking About

Trying not to panic about all the stuff I wanted to do for the steampunk con that I haven’t done. I wanted to have more done by now, but here we are.

What’s Next

It’s a short work week for me so I can go help with Inuhele, Atlanta’s tiki weekend. I can’t wait. After a week of watching other people’s transitions, I’m ready for three days of escapism and terrible puns about rum.