The Season for Announcements

There is something about the holiday season that lends itself very well to Big News, and I've definitely been on the receiving end this year. First, one of my very favorite people in this world got engaged over Thanksgiving to a guy that I very much approve of. The only down side to that news is my guess that wedding plans could postpone their already overdue visit to see me. You get a pass for now guys, but I'll drag you here eventually!

The second bit of news went down something like this: A picture is placed in my hands. My mom asks if I know what I'm looking at. Well, I'm too highly educated (and I've watched wayyyy too many chick flicks) to not recognize a sonogram when I see one. I may not know the difference between a sonogram of, say a watermelon, and a human baby, but I know what black and white fuzzy pictures mean, thank you very much. Well, this sonogram had Kelly's name on it. We'd been talking about the many stupid things Nathan and I accomplished as children, so I assumed we were looking at a sonogram of Kelly as a baby. But.... this sonogram said 2008... and that definitely appeared to be two babies in there. Kelly is not a twin... Wow! I am going to be an aunt! Times two! I get to buy all that cute baby stuff, and my brother may never sleep again. Best - News - Ever! Congratulations guys! I can't wait to spoil your children.

Wow...

...crazy weatherman was right.

I swear it was warm this morning

When I got ready for work this morning, I was thinking we must be in a warming trend. It felt like low 70's, and I happily set out in jeans and a T-shirt. I went for a walk around 3:30pm. It was crazy windy (that should have been the clue) but still pretty nice out. When I left work to go home just before 6:00pm, it was no longer entertaining to be outside without a coat. It's now a quarter til 10:00pm and I just finished taking these pictures:

For the record, that's ice, not snow. The weather guy on the radio said we're expecting snow after midnight, but that's got to be crazy talk. However, if it ices up enough, maybe the city will do its wonderful "we're not equipped for this" thing and shut down. Then I'll get out of that conference call I'm dreading tomorrow. A girl can hope.

They'll take your ass out

So I've been able to determine that Twilight is a good movie, finally! Even more importantly, I love, love, LOVE the Alamo Drafthouse. Good to be back in town.

Heading North

Well, to North Carolina anyway. We took a trip to Asheville, NC to see relatives and test my ability to deal with temperatures below 70F.

First things first, we roadtripped it to Houston so my Dad could babysit the pups. (Ha ha, sucker!)

Cora took the time to chill...

while Luna took in the sights.
After a night at Hotel Mom and Dad, we picked up Nathan and Kelly and flew away from flat old Houston, to a place where the topography looks more like this.
Have I mentioned that my Aunt has never been someone you'd call a "city girl"? Welcome to her front yard.
Spending some time with family was the best part of this trip. We don't get together nearly as often as we should since we're generally at least a few states apart.

This is my super awesome grandma.

I've always known my Aunt to have a plethora of animals - Horses, dogs, and cats always. I kind of miss the chickens whose eggs I'd help collect when I was a kid on visit, but I hear she's thinking of getting goats, which cheers me immensely since Rob still won't let me put one in our backyard. The real mainstay, though, are the Great Danes. She has 5 currently. They're all giants, and they're all big sweethearts.

Maverick isn't always big on the picture taking.

Me and Maverick hanging out. Yes, his head is at least as big as mine.

Bella (or maybe Fancy, they look a lot alike), Maverick, and Hanauma.

Me and Hanauma, who I'd like to rename "Snuggle Pig". I'm sure she won't mind since it turns out her Hawaiian name means something like "Stinky".
Nathan wades through dogs.
Meanwhile, Kelly gets the mellow version.

Rob is too cool for dog accompaniment.

Mom, Kelly, Nathan, and Rob out for a walk on the property.

The tobacco barn. Apparently, this was once used to smoke tobacco leaves. Now it leads a much less controversial life by storing hay and feeding horses.

Free car with purchase of property!

No horseback riding on this trip, but that doesn't mean I can't go make some friends.
Baby stretch.
It's hard to tell from the picture, but I was actually showing Rob the ginormous sticker burr that I pulled out of the horse's mane with, wait for it, knit gloves. My brilliance is astounding sometimes.
Sunset from the back deck. Thanks to my Uncle Ted for snagging my camera and reminding me that, duh, sunsets are pretty.

After leaving North Carolina, we headed to Houston for Turkey day and more of the good life that comes from staying at my parents' house and doing a lot of nothing in particular. 

My one remarkable adventure in Houston was going to see "Twilight" with Kelly. Wow, was that horrible. I don't mean the movie. I can't accurately tell whether that was any good. I can tell you that if someone had offered to tie my tubes as I walked out of the theatre, my response would have been something like "Oh please yes!". There were many many many many teenage girls at the movie. I saw that coming, but I failed to recall just how awful teenage girls can be. The first time the audience screamed and yelled "He's so hot!" as Edward walked onscreen was kind of cute. The eighteenth time was a lot less so. I told some girls next to us to shut the F up. Yes, I'm going to hell. It was an effective strategy, but only worked on the small number of girls I'd managed to traumatize. The rest of the crowd continued in obnoxiousness. Anyway, going to see "Twilight" at the drafthouse this weekend. 18 and over. Sounds perfect. 

Dangers abound

True story:

Last night I got out of bed and ran across the room. I turned around, my back to the wall, and faced the bed. Rob woke up and asked me what I was doing. I informed him that he was trying to kill me. He assured me that he was not... so I went back to bed. I remembered none of this when I woke up this morning.

Nourishing my inner aspect

I signed up for newsletters from Gwyneth Paltrow's new website today: goop.com. If the limited information on the site is anything to go by, I am in for some pure comedy gold. I especially can't wait to see where she thinks I should be staying in Austin.

What's going on? Oh, ok. So where's the party?

Is it just me, or will we throw a party for just about anything around here? Last night there were a ton of local election results parties going on that I'm aware of. I took the old lady way out and went home. Rob's car is in the shop and we had to do a car swap so that he wouldn't miss German class. Yes, I could have done more juggling to meet my friends at the Driskill and joined at least one of them who definitely called in hungover today. After the way work went today, I am mildly regretting not following that path. But my inner old lady prevailed, and I watched the results at home on my own tv with just the dogs for company. Besides I'm saving my hangover for after next week's "Thank God this week is over" happy hour.

Speaking of things like election results and drinking, preferably together, Rob and I took a major step toward American adulthood this week. That's right, we joined Costco. Rob has never really had the full big box warehouse store experience before. His eyes were like saucers when he realized the gigantic volume in which he can now amass junk food. I am regretting this already.

Unexpected pleasures

We live fairly close to the Central Market on West Gate, and tend to head over there maybe once a week for lunch or dinner in the cafe. We went after the gym tonight because neither of us felt like cooking (Rob never feels like cooking, for the record, but he makes a mean omelet when I can guilt him into it). I always forget that there is live music on Wednesdays in the Central Market Cafe, so I'm always pleasantly surprised when we show up for dinner on the right night. It's usually a small country or blues band that sets up in one corner. Tonight was a blues band that sounded fantastic! I tend to get a bit overwhelmed by the music scene in Austin. I am paralyzed by the multitude of options and tend to either luck into things or miss them altogether. Hitting Central Market on the right night to enjoy tasty food AND great local musicians is one of my favorite little things about where I live. Plus, I now have half and half for tomorrow's coffee. Bonus. 

A serious vampire kick

I've been reading a lot lately and thought I'd throw out some titles in case you're in need of some recommendations. But first, a suggestion, do not tell people about the vampire-themed book you're reading unless you really want to hear about some other vampire book you ought to be reading. I'm just saying. It's gotten me into a bit of a rut.

Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer (The first movie is out next month so you better get on it)

Sookie Stackhouse series - starting with Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (The True Blood HBO series is based on these. The tv show is ok, but a tad melodramatic. The books are awesome.)

Undead and Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson (I haven't actually read this yet, but see my suggestion above for a hint as to how it got into my collection)

Now for a few non-vampire books.

Marley & Me by John Grogan (Another soon to be a movie - very sweet)

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (Again soon to be a movie - one of my very favorite books)

Watership Down by Richard Adams (This is my favorite book ever)

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (The very best Bill Bryson book - hilarious!)

Deep down, I'm still 16

How else to explain why I am so ridiculously excited by the fact that the final trailer for Twilight is out? The movie comes out one week before my birthday. The proximity may come in handy when I'm badgering Rob to accompany me to a midnight show. 

Twilight HD Exclusive Trailer

Nike+ pics from Brook

My friend, Brook, brought her camera along for our speedy stroll through Austin as we took part in the Nike Human Race a while back. As promised, here's evidence from her camera:

How did I get here?

"I fell in love with Austin while I was a student at UT." That's a very summary explanation of what many people tell me when I ask why they decided to settle in Austin. It all makes perfect sense to me, since it's my story too. I took a detour through Southern California after graduation, but I never got over Austin. I'll always be grateful to the University of Texas for giving me my first opportunity to discover this town. I mean, I could have left Texas thinking the best thing a university town had to offer was College Station. That would have just been sad. (Just kidding Kelly... sort of)

One thing I more recently adore about UT is the advertising campaign. I've seen what some other universities use, and they really need a better advertising budget. Narrated by Walter Cronkite (hey, if you had him as an alumnus, you'd be giving him a call too), these ads are a mix of inspiring and amusing. I highly recommend following this link to watch a few of the spots. My favorites are "Soul", "Horns Up", and "Breakfast Tacos". 

 You could also just watch a UT football game, since the ads run during the commercials then. Besides, who doesn't want to watch "Colt McCoy"? I defy you to tell me that isn't the best name ever  for a football player from Texas. Second best goes to "Major Applewhite". I think there is some kind of screening process for these things. 

Do you want to be responsible for this?

I'm just going to let the Austin Chronicle say it for me. Texas deadline is today people!

ACL is great... I imagine

For the last two years I've followed a simple set of steps regarding the Austin City Limits Festival:

Step 1- Tickets become available and I tell myself I'll wait to see who signs on to the lineup.

Step 2- Tickets start to rise in price and/or run out and I convince myself that there won't be enough bands of interest to me to justify the cost.

Step 3- The full lineup is announced and I stick my head in the sand so that I won't be tempted to pay the now highest price for tickets.

Step 4- ACL weekend arrives (last weekend to be exact) and I hear about the ridiculous number of bands I would LOVE to see and I proceed to kick myself for not buying tickets in the first place.

I'm going next year... seriously.

Productivity - sort of

So, work gave me the option to move to a shortened work week with longer days, but the promise of an additional day off. Let's just say, for me, Monday is the new Sunday. I have been trying to use this extra time to myself for productive pursuits. I've been teaching myself to use Aperture, putting finishing touches on house projects, and, most importantly, annoying the crap out of my work-at-home husband. Sometimes it's the other way around on that last point. 

Today has been a bit of a low point on the productivity scale, though. I did get the oil changed in my car. Other than that, though, it's been a sleeping in, catching up on America's Next Top Model episodes, and playing video games kind of day. Maybe I should do some laundry? Or at least take the time to determine how many times I can poke Rob in the back of the shoulder before he flips out. Gotta earn my keep.

Update: It turns out, just letting Rob realize he's being mentioned on here again is enough to be pretty annoying. Must file this knowledge away for future use.

Pictures as promised

So, as I was saying, we did a bit of roaming downtown last Sunday. Here are some photo highlights:

The Littlefield Building

Frost Tower

The Capitol

Inside the Capitol dome

Capitol grounds

The view back down Congress Ave.

Looking east from the Congress Ave. bridge
South

And west (give it up for the navigational skills)