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)

Overheard last weekend

On our way to "Austin Museum Day" last Sunday, we took a short bus ride from where we parked into downtown. Two women on the bus with us were heading into town with the same idea. As they departed a few stops before us, one said to the other "this is the best evacuation ever!". While I'm sure those who suffered significant losses would not agree, I could not help but smile over those two and their impromptu vacation.

My family stayed in Houston and thankfully only suffered minor damage to their homes. Nathan and Kelly found a leaky window. My parents lost both of the trees in the front yard and part of their backyard fence. Luckily they weren't as bad off as some of their neighbors, who lost major chunks of roof. The real downside is the lack of electricity that is still stretching on for them, potentially over a few weeks. I think Nathan and Kelly have water and electricity, although the water pressure is crap when it's working and the water is not safe to drink. No one is going to work because no employers want to make their employees drive given the lack of gasoline. Even here in Austin there are roadside signs heading out of town warning not to drive to Houston or Beaumont due to a lack of gasoline availability on the way.

After a whole lot of potential doom and gloom from Austin meterologists, we got absolutely nothing from the storm. Oh, pardon me, it did drizzle at my house Saturday night. I was kind of bummed. I had my relax at home weekend all planned. Sitting at home doesn't feel as nice when it's nice outside. Since the lazy plan was shot, we decided to be productive citizens and take advantage of the free museum admission. We visited the German Free House, the Capitol, the Mexic-Arte museum, and the ArtHouse. It was absolutely beautiful out, and my trusty camera helped me capture some images to share. I'll put them up in another post soon.

Not waving but drowning

Thanks to everyone who's been concerned about the family's well-being in the face of incoming Hurricane Ike. My parents, Nathan and Kelly are all staying put in Houston. They are outside the evacuation areas and would rather face a weekend of intermittent electricity than join the masses heading further inland. Schools here are letting out early to try and spread out the traffic since so many people are coming to Austin for the weekend. I've seen the video footage from Galveston and heard the dire warnings of impending doom. It's all very surreal from here because, other than being ridiculously humid, there's no indication that even mildly unpleasant weather is coming. I'm planning on a relaxing weekend at home to avoid the rain we're expecting. If Nathan and Kelly keep the power on, we might try for some online bonding via WoW. Otherwise, I've got a good book, plenty of coffee, and the phone number to Austin Pizza.

My boss is hopefully on his way back from the coast with his family in tow by now. The roads look super packed from the pictures I've seen. I really hope that Galveston Island is capable of withstanding the storm. The last time I was in Galveston it looked like this:I'm hoping things will be that tame again soon.

Austin people are friendly, intelligent, and HOT

Or so says this CNN poll I happened across. Austin is also apparently a safe city and provides a lot of live music (well, duh).

Pretending to run

Rob decided to enter the Nike+ Human Race 10K ages ago. It was for a good cause, and there was a free concert scheduled after the run. I was very encouraging about this endeavor, and joked that he'd beat Lance to the finish line. Lance Armstrong's personal cancer-support charity was one of those that runners could choose to support. Besides, any decent-sized athletic event in Austin has to include Lance Armstrong as a rule I think. Anyway, Rob started some training runs and all was well with the world. And then he told my friend Brook about the run. This led to some internet research on Nike's site verifying that, yes, you could walk the 10K rather than run. I was out of excuses. I'm a piss poor runner, but I'll walk you into the ground. Rob refers to a weekend walk with me as a "death march". 

Brook and I signed up for the race literally the day before. So much for training runs. The good news was that Brook and I agreed to stick together. We'd jog a bit, walk a lot, and enjoy the chance to move down the middle of Congress Avenue with 15,000 friends and zero cars. 

So I was obviously pessimistic, but you know what? It was a lot of fun! Still hot out when the race started at 6:30pm, but nothing unbearable. Brook and I jogged out with the slow end of the masses because we couldn't bear to look like slackers right off the bat. We spent a lot of time discussing the local landmarks we passed - the Capitol building, UT campus, local restaurants... I think Brook was hungry. In spite of the many scenic areas planned on the route, my favorite part was the presence of two bands playing on street corners. Only in Austin. They both sounded pretty freaking good while we passed. 

Brook also got a kick out of my bargaining strategy to jogging - "Ok, I'll run to that third intersection, but then I'm walking again". It's good to know your limits right? Our true humbling moment came when we realized a little old lady - I am not exaggerating, she was at least mid-70s -passed us. We sped up, but she still stayed with us for a long way. In our defense, this lady was in good shape. She had the running pants and everything. Really... ok, I need to hit the gym more often. 

We did run in the last few city blocks and sprinted the very end. That's how a picture like this came to be. Don't I look convincing though? Brook got some pictures of the masses that I'll add later, but here are some pre-run shots we took:

Post-run, we went to check out Ben Harper, then made some new friends by sharing an outdoor table at a way too crowded pub. This place obviously didn't realize so many hungry people were about to converge on the neighborhood. On our way back to the car we had to walk through the normal Saturday night crowd. One of the door callers in front of a bar somehow convinced us to stop in for another drink. I was not a fan of this plan, but bowed to peer pressure and the promise that we wouldn't be the only runners in the bar. Such a lie! There is nothing quite so bizarre as sipping a vodka sour in sweaty run clothes while surrounded by people that obviously put effort into their appearance. We left after the one drink, but it seemed a somewhat appropriate ending to the evening I'd never planned to begin with.

Dog park - Austin style

The mutts have been limited to neighborhood walks and running around the backyard lately, so we decided to spend a couple hours of our Saturday out at Red Bud Isle. I think this park may be what dog heaven looks like. It's not bad for humans either. Check out the scenery:

Red Bud Isle is actually a small peninsula that juts out into the river. Rob and I harbor a small delusion that our dogs might someday be the type to enjoy swimming after tossed tennis balls and such. So far, though, they've only mastered wading. Note that our dogs are the ones by Rob, not the two out swimming.

I always say that Cora's fur looks just like a deer. See how she blends in with her scenery.

Luna playing up her lab side.

After dropping the dogs back at the house, Rob and I took our showered selves over to Taco Deli for some well-deserved taco goodness. Mmmmmm, tacos.

Not a bad Saturday so far. We're meeting Thea and Sunil for dinner in a little over an hour. For now, I'm going back to catching up on Red vs. Blue.

By way of introduction

As my friends and I become increasingly far-flung, keeping in touch gets to be a bitch. So the plan is to use this blog as my cheater's way to let everyone know what I'm up to. It's also my attempt at explaining why Austin is my favorite place in the whole world. The blog title should be a tip off that I don't promise super-hip tales, or even all that many drunk stories - although the latter really remains to be seen. I hope you enjoy! Remember, I miss you all, wherever you may be.