finished: CSS: the Missing Manual, 4th ed

Mostly review, of course, but repetition causes things to sink in....

Hour of Code 2016

Truly uninspired logo

I was inspired to start this learn-to-code project in response to the 2013 Hour of Code.

• Laconic blog entry, "Hour of Code is Cool," 2013
• "One Year Later", 2014
• "Blank Semester Here", 2015
• It's now three years later. 2016

Three years later:

My daughter has entered a STEM-themed middle school where takes an excellent Python class twice a week, and loves it. She looks forward to working at Google some day.

Her father has finally moved out of the house, making new things possible for me.

This one was better

I am in the final projects stage of Free Code Camp's Front End Web Development Certificate, begun in summer 2015, after a year and a half of initial searching, experimenting, wandering. My blog post then saw a depressing estimate of three or four years to finish this "boot camp"-- if I could manage ten hours a week-- which I knew I could not. It's now 1.5 years later, and surprisingly, I am still at it; still at less than 10 hrs/week. My life has changed. Not yet enough; but it hasn't been 3-4 years yet either :)

2013 video featuring President Obama

Greater than Code

Podcasts help me have imaginary coworkers. I currently listen to:

• CodeNewbie - for cheerleading and an imaginary friendly conference, usually while doing housework. On episode 117 now. 
• BikeShed - so I can pretend I am overhearing more advanced coworkers and learning something by osmosis, usually while falling asleep
• Greater than Code - my newest thing, for cheerful imaginary coder friends

Meanwhile:

Making progress through the Simon Game project. Lost a week to a flu. But still have put in 6 hours so far.

Completed: "Build a Tic Tac Toe Game"

Finished the Free Code Camp Tic Tac Toe game assignment.

Thirteen hours of work, spread over three weeks.

I think I'm getting this

Midway through the Tic Tac Toe project, something shifted. Exactly today, at 11:00am. Something clicked. The worked started to be fun rather than painful. Partly because I have finally cleared enough other stuff out of my life that I can concentrate in sessions longer than 15 stolen minutes, at least on some days. But also partly because I finally know enough words so that I can speak. It's stopped being an exercise in frustration, and started being an act of building. One brick at a time. I have the bricks, and know where to get more.