Weeknotes 25:49

Posted 16 seconds ago

Week of November 30–December 6

• I hit the ground running on Monday after taking the whole week off at Thanksgiving. I had several different projects to work on. I built a landing page for Revive Our Hearts Read through the Bible in 2026, which is part of the Wonder of the Word initiative. This page will replace the current signup page and include links to the daily readings, which also include the ability to comment and share takeaways. The landing page will also have links to other helpful resources.
• I also continued work on the Revive Our Hearts annual report. The first round of edits and issues came in so I addressed those. I did not realize the iOS does not support background-attachment: fixed so I had to find another solution for several sections of the report.
• I also updated an email template for the Read through the Bible daily emails. We are continuing to put the last minute polish on several of those things that will launch on January 1.
• I implemented a scroll-driven animation timeline that I created for the annual report on the Wonder of the Word page. The scroll-driven animation works on browsers that support it and then falls back to a scrollable container. Progressive enhancement for the win.
• I worked on polishing up some templates on the Thinkific platform. We are using it for the first time for our Women’s Ministry Essentials course in January–March. The platform is fairly limited but I did my best to update fonts and polish up a few elements the best that I could.
• I was distracted most of the day on Friday as we had a plumber come out to take a look at a leak in our front yard. I had noticed a puddle on the sidewalk earlier in the week but not thought much of it because it had rained. But I noticed that it still had not gone away on Thursday and called for an appointment. The problem was that a root from a maple tree had grown under the water main and snapped the PVC pipe. It was not too bad of a hit financially but still a good size investment. I was glad to have that taken care of before the weekend. I was able to take advantage of a sonar crew who was able to find the leak faster and not tear up too much of our yard (and spend billable time looking for it). The leak caused a muddy mess in our front yard.

“Advent” Calendars

With the start of December, I thought about the dev “advent” calendars that I have followed in the past. I miss 24 Ways (2005-2019). I liked that I was introduced to a lot of newer features through their articles down through years. Always a good blend of inspiration and practical code.

More recently, I have enjoyed Stephanie Eckels, 12 Days of Web (2021–24). I appreciated that these articles were very forward looking, diving into new features and some features that were coming soon. I remember her Intersection Observer article in 2021 helped me to understand and begin to implement observers in my project work. I also remember working through a tutorial on creating custom elements for the Audio API, which I may be using in an upcoming project. (I realized there is a treasure of articles on features that are just coming to the platform that I need to go back and peruse.) Stephanie is not doing 12 Days of Web this year but she did contribute to the HTMHell Advent Calendar on popovers and dialogs.

I also think about the two different advent calendars I built for SAVEUR Magazine. These cookie advent calendars revealed a different cookie recipe each day. You can see a recreation of the 2011 Cookie Advent Calendar (fixed width) on Codepen and an article on Codepen I wrote about the project and recreating it with CSS Grid. I have been working on a responsive version. I also created a 2012 version which you can see the polished prototype. Both of these projects were created before we embraced responsive design.

Work styles

I enjoyed listening to the One Footer in the Grave podcast on my Monday walk. They had an interesting discussion about work styles. Jon Hicks started the discussion. He had worked from a studio space for years but will start working from home after his last studio mate decided to no longer rent. Jon asked the other three how they don’t go crazy from working at home. Each of the guys shared their thoughts. But one thing was clear. They all had different styles. Some liked working from home better. Others preferred getting out to coffee shops. Paul at one point worked from different locations while his family traveled across America in a motor home.

Working from home has worked out pretty well for me. I like the space that I work in and I am pretty self-motivated. It helps that I really enjoy the work that I do. But I also found that I could work in an office. People around me didn’t bother me too much because I would get so focused while I was coding and building different projects.

I did pause to think about the fact that I do feel a bit lonelier the past six months as my mother-in-law passed away and we only have one kid living at home but is out most of the day. And I no longer have our guinea pig, who I would often go in and talk to or hold as I took breaks during the day. A lot more days I am home by myself and I had not really thought about that change until I was listening to this discussion.

I have more thoughts on the subject and it will probably turn into a longer article later on.

Slug Bug

My daughter and I play slug bug. She tends to get me more because I am driving and can’t pay attention to a broader field as she can. But I is always fun when I am able to get her. I took this picture at CVS. I had not seen the die casts bugs in awhile.

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Articles I read

• Two Wedding Aisles To Walk Down (Stephen McAlpine)
• A Sparkle Of December Magic, 2025 Wallpapers Edition (Smashing Magazine) – I enjoy going through these each month and adding some to my collection.
• A Love Letter To The People Who Believe In People (Tina Roth-Eisenberg) – This is great article and a great idea to recognize those who are your biggest fans.
• What’s the point of learning this stuff? (Josh W. Comeau) – Some great perspective for young developers.
• Building empathy (Chris Ferdinandi)
• Are Young Men Being Drawn to Christ or Christian Culture? (Benjamin Vincent on The Gospel Coalition)
• Not for Granted: Giving Thanks May Be the Humblest Thing You Do (Abigail Wallace)
• Amazon Data Center Linked to Cluster of Rare Cancers (Joe Wilkins on Futurism)
• IW329303 4 ME AT 60 (Andy Clarke)
• Christmas Tree / Create Day / Chatbots (Joe Crawford)
• Today’s Right (Joe Crawford)
• Misunderstanding Porn (Matthew Loftus on Mere Orthodoxy)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, and the Most Inspired Dialogue I’ve Ever Had (Randy Alcorn)
• The Jeopardy Phenomenon (Chris Coyier)
• Studio Notes #62 (Dan Cederholm) – A lot of good finds in this one.
• Web Design / Dev Advent Calendars for 2025 (Adrian Roselli)
• Tension: Reflections from Leading Design conference 2022 (Amy Hupe)
• Out of Season (Darryl Dash) – Good advice for any of us.

What I watched

‘Forks Out’: A Benoit Blanc Sesame Street Mystery (YouTube)

Daniel Craig’s reaction to Sesame Street’s Beignet Blanc (YouTube)

Patrick Mahomes the Second (Instagram) KC area school Christmas concert

• Prep and Landing, Prep and Landing: Naughty vs. Nice, Prep and Landing: Snowball Protocol (ABC)
• A Man on the Inside, Season 2 (Netflix)
• The Voice (NBC)
• Watson (CBS)
• Project Runway (Netflix)
• Ocean’s 8 (Netflix)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+) – I just started season 3
• Matlock (Paramount+)
• The Great British Baking Show Holidays – We enjoyed the Scottish “all-stars” celebrating Hogmanay

Caught My Eye

Scroll animations with CSS on Codepen – A great demo of different scroll-driven animations with CSS.

In Common Lighting – I love the detail on this page with light and dark toggle. (via Piccililli)

Ellen Lupton’s “Oh no” Typography videos (Instagram) – I love these videos. I love how she incorporated her cooking with these. (via SimpleBits)

Dimensions (via SimpleBits) – A great database of measured drawings.

What I listened to

• Modern CSS quick hits: range syntax, grid-lanes, random() and more (General Musings with Kevin Powell)
• Shop Talk Show #693: Hobbies, Puzzle Game Circuit, and Web Monetization News
• Episode 18: The dot of shame (One Footer in the Grave) – I enjoyed the discussion about different working styles and locations.

Books I am reading

• Sunday Matters (Paul David Tripp) – I read one devotional a week.
• Everyday Gospel (Paul David Tripp) – Reading through the Bible this year with this devotional.
• Telling a Better Story (Joshua Chatraw)
• All That Jesus Commanded (John Piper)
• Keep Going (Austin Kleon) – Finished this one.
• Star Trek and Faith: Volume 1 (Mark Hansard)

Walking – 13. 5 miles

I got back out again after work on most of the days this week. I have a small group on Wednesday night and we had a plumber over on Friday fixing a leak in our water main. I would like to be able to get in at least 12 miles a week. It is also a great time to listen to podcasts.

• Monday – 3.23 miles in 58 minutes
• Tuesday – 3.47 miles in 1 hour 2 minutes
• Thursday – 3.12 miles in 58 minutes
• Saturday – 3.67 miles in 1 hour 8 minutes

What I played

• MLB The Show 20 (Twins) – I went 4-0 this week. I am close to setting the MLB record for most wins in a season.
• NBA 2K25 (Nuggets) – I beat the Thunder twice in OKC.