Because its good to laugh

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Can't seem to ever finish a post...

Between working and mommying, I can't seem to finish any of my blog posts -- this is bothering me...

So, I signed up for twitter -- wundarous

Maybe I'll get some ideas out...

or maybe it will be random thoughts that make no sense..

Either way, no excuses not to add a sentence here and there!

More about → Can't seem to ever finish a post...

3 Months Later...

Almost.

Babies are challenging... Giving birth was easier... Forget about the note I was sleeping better after Kaylee was born, that didn't last long!

Ah, but the human condition. We adapt. Disrupted sleep included.

Now that I've adapted, I'm consulting again.

Apparently, I really, really like to code AND its much, much easier than being a mommy! Not quite the same ROI...

Since I do most of my work from home, I get the best of both. I'm quite lucky.

I'm with the same company and working with lots of WPF and TDD. We just started using the Isolator AAA from typemock, which looks nice. I know Roy was very involved with its creation and I usually agree with all his testing methodologies :)

My heart is still with rhinomocks, but hopefully I'll find a place for typemock too!

And being a mom, I have to include some newer pics of my lovely daughter!

More about → 3 Months Later...

My Little Wunda

I'm proud to say I'm a mom to a beautiful daughter born Saturday, August 16th. I'd like to thank my great birthing team of my husband, Vanessa (his sister) and my doula, Amy. Between them and hypnobabies, I was able to have an incredible birthing experience!

To keep up with the academic nature of this blog -- I'd like to share what I've learned so far in my few days of motherhood (note, I never picked up an infant or changed a diaper before Saturday)

1. Giving birth was the most intense, satisfying and romantic experience of my life
2. Its better to let your dog lick your infant than a person kiss their face
3. There's all kinds of great feelings for your own child you could never imagine
4. Wearing your baby is lots of fun and lets you do something while they're sleeping other than watching them sleep
5. Its still early, but so far I've been sleeping better than I have in the past few weeks (my husband however, is learning the joys of interrupted sleep)
6. Every person you talk to will give advice and everyone has different opinions on the same things (that goes for doctors, nurses, grandparents and strangers)
7. Babies like loud noises, cry before they go to the bathroom, fart louder than you could imagine and produce incredible amounts of poop!
8. If all you do is breastfeed, change diapers and sooth an infant, it can take you days to write a single email
9. In a single day, your entire outlook, appreciation and viewpoint changes completely
10. Every coo, cry, movement, poop and breath from your infant is precious

Although I'm sure I'll have my hands full, hopefully, I'll get to write some of the posts I had been putting off for the last few months while I'm away from work -- I've had a lot of adventures in WPF and TDD I'd love to share!

More about → My Little Wunda

Where I'm going, where I've been

I'll start with the where I've been:

After NBC took over Oxygen, our lovely, little agile group got a bit... lost. We lost our product owners and inspiration and little by little, we found other opportunities and now, there is no more group.

Next, I went on to an agile coaching role. While bad experiences can inspire the best writing, this was not the case. I decided to resign quickly.

That leads me to my next bit of news -- I am 20 weeks pregnant. I want to spend every week before embarking on motherhood on a worthwhile and fun adventure!

So, where am I now?

I am consulting in NYC on a motivated and talented team working on WPF applications. Its great to be back in this space!

Where am I going?

No idea. From what I hear, into sleepless nights! I plan on working after the baby, but nothing is official at the moment and I'm happy that way.

What about the hot agilistas?

No worries! Oksana and I will still be at TechEd in June. Pregnant women are hot too! Seriously, 7 months pregnant in June in Florida! Who plans that?

More about → Where I'm going, where I've been

Because laughter is good for you..

Human tetris anyone?

More about → Because laughter is good for you..

Ript video

There is a funny ript promo available for your enjoyment. Check it out!

More about → Ript video

Mass Effect or Rock Band?

That is what I said to myself when I got home from the store yesterday.

Decisions, decisions...

I started with Rock Band -- we had a full band waiting to play (myself, husband, sister and brother-in-law). I needed to set everything up before they came over. (i.e. I wanted the drums all to myself)

Having 4 friends rocking out is really a blast! My sister thinks we should dress up and do a show on Thanksgiving for our family. I'm not sure, will they appreciate our musical talent?

Can someone tell me how to stop playing the same songs over and over again? If I have to sing In Bloom one more time...

My sister and her husband went home after a few hours of rocking and it was on to Mass Effect. It looks great! Only problem... How do I play? KOTOR is one of my favorite games of all time and so far this game feels more like Halo than role playing... Need to work on using powers better... I figured out the equipment screen though!

I couldn't agree with Penny Arcade more :P (read all 3)

More about → Mass Effect or Rock Band?

Morning Scrum -- Remote Style

This is what life at Oxygen looks like in the morning (from the comfort of my home):

More about → Morning Scrum -- Remote Style

Skulls are fun!

Who would have thought Halo could be improved with some skulls? It really makes the campaign rock :)

I can't play without the grunt birthday blast. How else can I be sure I'm getting head shots?

Did you know bungie keeps a detailed record of all your games? If achievements weren't enough to keep me going...

More about → Skulls are fun!

If only this really existed

If they would feature this service at software conferences, that would be most excellent too!

More about → If only this really existed

Countdown to Halo 3...

Its almost here... the reviews are in and, well, outstanding.

Eternal Sonata is keeping me busy in the mean time (I highly recommend it for all you JRPG fans!)

So many games (Halo, Rock Band, Guitar Hero 3, Mass Effect, Beautiful Katamari...), so little time... I don't think I'll be blogging much this fall :P

And I still didn't beat Bioshock on hard...

More about → Countdown to Halo 3...

Harry Potter

I finished the last Harry Potter yesterday. I'm sad to see the end of the series, but it was done really well. I'd love to say more, but I'm not going to spoil it for those less crazy than me :P

More about → Harry Potter

Remembering the future

(added book reference below)

Six months from now is January...

Its cold and snowing. I'm drinking a latte, writing this entry and expecting a call for the morning stand up since I'm working from home. I can hardly believe just 6 months ago I missed this weather during a heat wave in July.

As I write, I reflect on the last six months, its crazy how much has happened on my quest to become a better developer.

The summer was hectic, both professionally and personally. We released the Beta version of Ript, it was awesome. We celebrated at the Brass Monkey with a few rounds of beer and great smiles. We all love the application and we learned everyone else does too!

Shortly after the release of Ript, Oksana and I presented The Gentle Art of Pair Programming at Agile 2007. It was awesome! We played lots of games and having the whole team there was a great demonstration of agile team spirit.

While all this was going on, I was on my way to becoming a Rails guru with the help of an expert mentor and a small Oxygen web app.

Aside from my professional adventures this summer, there was a lot going on personally. Somehow with all the chaos, Oksana and I took up surfing with the help of a coworker, Lee. It was definitely an adventure! I also got serious about the gym and yoga after slacking off all year. My husband and I started kitchen renovations (they're finally done!) and we took a trip to Bermuda with my sister and her husband.

Of course I can't forget, I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in one night. I'm gonna miss Harry and his friends' adventures...

The low point of the summer was Jury Duty. That's all to say on that subject.

Once fall began, things picked up even more. The release of the Rails application was successful and I sadly said goodbye to my mentor. I then spread my new knowledge to the rest of the team, which Robert was absolutely loving!

We had several new team members join our team at Oxygen and they were totally rockin'. They quickly came up to speed on all our projects (so many projects...).

I spent a lot of time in the fall working on our upgrade to high definition, a domain reminding me of my past experience in broadcast software. I also spent a great deal of time preparing for my DevTeach sessions in Vancouver (Thanks Scott and everyone for the great memories!). Of course I spent plenty of hours blogging, reading various books, blogs and anything else to help my projects and presentations.

On the personal side, my husband and I created a web site for our consulting company, making our business a little more official feeling. Since then he's created several applications and I've been coaching agile practices every so often. I keep telling him to leave his job and work for our company full time so he can be a full time daddy if we ever have kids :P

By far, the most frustrating and exciting project was my kitchen renovation. It was quite an undertaking, but well worth the investment -- I love to cook! Its amazing how agile practices help home designs, renovations and working with contractors :)

Once December came, things slowed down. I love Christmas time. My husband and I took time off and relaxed, prepared for the holidays and enjoyed life.

I took the time to do some counting:
Blog entries -- 63
Emails to Ayende -- just over 50 questions about rhino mocks and other things (with a few reminders to get some sleep :P)
Movies watched -- 73
Series watched -- Smallville, FullMetal Alchemist, FruitsBasket, Berserk!, Invader Zim (again), Samurai Champloo, thats all I can remember at the moment...
Books read (fiction) -- 18
Books read (development) -- 5

After New Year's, work started again. New projects and interest in Ript 2.0, which is super exciting! Our HD release is just a few months away. Broadcast deadlines are absolute, so we have little time to lose.

I'm now awaiting the spring and looking forward to what the future holds...

Thank James Kovacs for the details of my future.

I'd like the following people to reflect on their past 6 months from now:
Roy Osherove
Hammett
Lee Bankewitz
Scott Bellware

If you are wondering, this is called remember the future. Its a great exercise to use with stakeholders to help determine the long and short term goals of a project. Also a fun personal exercise too! I learned this exercise in a class with Luke Hohmann and he has a book with this and other games called Innovation Games: Creating Breakthrough Products Through Collaborative Play.

More about → Remembering the future

An odd sense of humor

This comic recently crossed my path... It is definitely interesting (and slightly disconcerting).

I recommend these:
Sun Love
Suicide Train
Monkey Photographer

Enjoy :)

More about → An odd sense of humor

The value of user testing

There is great value when you let your users try out your application as it evolves and allow their feedback to inspire you further.

Here's a great demonstration:
Halo 3 Documentary (I recommend downloading the HD version onto your 360 from the marketplace)

Did anyone else notice the dual monitors with multiple keyboards? Are they pairing over there?

I'm drooling over here :P

More about → The value of user testing

Thanks for the Scrum Training

I'm a certified Scrum master; I learned the secret handshake and everything!

I highly recommend taking the class, even if you have read a lot about scrum or are working in a scrum organization. Ken had very good insights, was thoughtful in answering questions and sent me home reflecting many things.

As for my fellow classmates, I'd like to thank everyone who supported the leukemia and lymphoma society with your tardiness! For those who are curious, $47 was the total penitance; though the number of late resources was quite less -- quite a generous group :)

Slightly off topic, if you are in Boston and are looking for an Italian restaurant, you must try Giacomo's (Ken, you really missed out!). The new law that lets you bring your bottle of wine home, makes the affordable wine menu great even for the designated driver, who happened to be me.

Speaking of driving in Boston... hmm... its too late to get started on that one.

More about → Thanks for the Scrum Training

Xbox is Down!

And the oblivion expansion, Shivering Isles, comes out today.

What timing... not like I'd be playing anyway, being that I'm at work and have to paint my living room when I get home :(

More about → Xbox is Down!

xkcd

Robert recently posted about a web comic he found and I love it!
Some of my favorites:
fun with resistors
sometimes math is useless
pair tactics

Thanks Robert!!

More about → xkcd

Killswitch Engaged tonight!

I've been looking forward to this for the past two months! I haven't been excited for a concert in a while, so its nice to have the teenage excitement of seeing one of your favorite bands :)

The show comes during a tough week because I'm still adjusting to my training schedule for team in training and Oksana and I have been working late for our Code Camp presentations. I'm still looking forward to it though!

More about → Killswitch Engaged tonight!