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Happy TG!

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We spent the day at our friend's house in what was our 4th annual thanksgiving meal with them, two in SF and two in Austin. They are both super chefs and this year we shared in their first ever Goose. It proved to be a treat and we enjoyed the bird with oyster stuffing, squash soup, greens, watercress salad and A's pumpkin and pecan pie.

We finished our carport door last weekend and are really happy with the results. This weekend we are looking forward to relaxing, watching movies, reading and of course getting through the leftovers!

Have a great week.

Doors

With the election over and the weekend calendar relatively clear, we embarked on a house project. We have been discussing for the past few months about putting up a privacy/security gate in the front of the carport. Honestly since we don't really have to worry about anyone snooping around it was more of an issue of privacy...I guess we are at that age! But our dryer is outside and before you would have to fully dress to go out and grab your clean gear, now with a quick enough dash we'll be lucky enough to grab the clothes and be back inside before anyone knows what hit them.

We counted and this is the third set of doors we have completed, large sliding door in MT house, sliding door on the TX house (see earlier blog) and now the carport door. I am beginning to see a theme.

A quick recap of the month of November had us lucky enough to enjoy a visit from our friend Tony. We went to see Bright Black Morning Light and ate a spectacular dinner prepared by our mutual friends. We are double fortunate as we will be sharing Turkey day with them, and their feasts are da bomb! Another SF pal will be arriving Saturday and fun is to be had, (must get planning asap!) It is really great to have all the guests and we never tire of seeing the faces of friends and family. MT was so far off the beaten path and hard for people to get to with limited airline carriers - we love Southwest, JetBlue, Continental, United, etc, etc.

Have a great week!

Fall Standstill

October was a great month that brought us a welcomed visit from T's parents. We had lots of fun showing them around Austin and superb weather conditions during their visit. Highlights included of course Texas BBQ, a short road trip and being witness to a UT football crowd.

In addition we have been closely following the election coverage and are crossing our fingers and toes for Tuesday's outcome. All of the media coverage has been kind of a mind drain and we are sad to say we haven't been ambitious in the outside fun arena. We boycotted costumes on Halloween and went to the cinema instead. The picture we saw, "Tell No One" was great and we gave it two thumbs up.





Have a great week! Remember to Vote on Tuesday!

Fall is here!

The leaves are starting to drop and the temperatures have been out of the triple digits for several weeks. The cooler weather has been motivational and we are looking forward to starting a few new projects.

This past weekend T was busy planning and coordinating our new studio/garage project. The layout looks great and it is nice to have friends in the business to help out. We'll keep you updated with pics as we break ground.

A went to Montana to see family and was lucky enough to catch up with some pals too! It has been nearly a year to the date that we left Big Sky country to head south, so it was a nice way to recap the year. Lots of things have changed like the niece and nephew growing like weeds, but it was great to have the usual familiarity. Fall was a bit more advanced up north and a coat was deemed necessary!

Have a great week!

Texas Gold!

September rushed by and here we are already in October! The month proved to be very fulfilling, first T found a place that reminded him of all the great things of Montana - old cars and lots of them! He was lucky enough to spend an afternoon perusing the rows of cars and talking shop.

Cool weather finally find us and the nights are now in the low 60's. Needless to say we survived our first Austin summer and while it was toasty we didn't think it was that bad. In celebration of the cool down we went to our favorite BBQ shop - Kreuz's. The info board near the door states it all!

September also saw the end of A's chair project. The final product was a success!

Note: If you get a chance to pick up this month's issue of "Metropolis" - check out the California Academy of Sciences project in San Francisco. I think a few of you out there saw the fly-thru years ago when A worked on the project and now it is built. It turned out better than could have been imagined.

Have a great week!

Half Work & Half Play = OK

After coming off the last home remodel we have been trying to figure out the right balance between work and fun and we think we are on the right track! On Saturday A resumed work on the chair and hopes to finish it up in the next two weeks (remember balance!).

That night we met up with some new friends that relocated from NY and had a great time at the Peacock Lounge. It is a super fun place and the interiors are great with peacock blue walls, white furniture and metallic geometric wallpaper in the loo. It was also a nice reminder as to why we did not paint our bathroom that color because as much as we liked it, we didn't want to own it.

In the auto arena T was happily surprised to find that there are great model A and T parts in Austin and snatched some fenders up for a steal.

Last night we fell below 70 degrees for the first time in months. Something is happening!

Summer Sizzle!

We were lucky enough to have T's brother and family visit us over Labor Day weekend. The festivities included BBQ, lots of swimming due to the extreme heat wave and an outing to BatFest 2008. Things were pretty rockin' for a Saturday matinee as Adrenaline Factor took to the stage. The lead singer put on a great show and had the crowd in awe, not sure if it was all for their raw talent or the fact that the band's song "Seven Beer B...." was coined kid friendly. We saw our guests off and proceeded to relax for the next 30 hours.

Our cool neighbor Eddy was kind enough to let us adopt his cactus. It took a spill in a storm and we are bringing it back to life. The top was broken off, but growing back quickly.

Have a great week!

Hot August Daze...

It has been a few weeks since we checked in and we have been up to our usual tactics. We sought escape from the heat and saw a cool movie about a TV program that is coming soon, "Long Way Down" which follows Ewan McGregor and his friend ride their motorcycles from Scotland to South Africa. It was great and we are thinking of updating the rabbit ears to get the program when it hits prime time.

We welcomed another addition to our rusty, heavy and in need of some TLC tool cache. T brought home a machine lathe. It guarantees to be a backbreaking good time!

A has been paying tribute to a modern architectural master by recreating her take on his chair, any guesses?! Stay tuned for the final unveiling.

We saw the temperature gauge in the car reach 118 on Sunday and made a beeline home to make homemade limeade. It saved the day!

Have a great (cool) week!

Lathe to Order!

The past couple of weeks have flown by and filled with lots of activity! This past weekend T helped out some friends build a grid that will hold solar panels for a house that will go to a low income family once completed.

A can officially take the GRE book out of circulation since she took the test last Saturday. While she may not be a member of Mensa, she felt good about it and purchased a new plant for the occasion.

A and her office intern have also been busy the past couple of weeks designing and coming up with a new marketing scheme for the office. T makes a great model for the t-shirts, check out the website www.coffeelids.com to see the totes and other fun details. Note - the site is still under construction at the moment but you get the idea.

T had a friend build him a hammer to use on sheet metal and the result was amazing! It is so fantastic I wonder how much metal it will really see...

Have a great week!

Happy 4th of July!

It was great to have a three day weekend and fun things scheduled. The temperatures had lowered slightly and we have been giving the car a break, so we filled up the tank (ouch!) and headed south to check out Houston and the route along the way.

Highway 71 proved to be a great find for T as it was littered with various salvage yards containing old cars and rusted out treasures. We didn't stop this time but plan to go back for a more in depth look at a later date. The landscape changed several times and we found ourselves thinking at one point it looked like Flagstaff, AZ...must have been the pine trees. When things completely flattened out we knew we were close to Houston, plus the highway turned into 6 lanes.

We had heard various things about Houston from various people, not all good and not all bad. We kept an open mind and had a really great time. First, the museums are free! It has been a really long time since either one of us has been to a city where this is the case. Second, the museums have great art. We were lucky enough to see work by Picasso, Monet, Klee and Basquiat just to name a few. Finally, we were able to eat Indian food. All in all it was a great tropical, art filled, delicious and memorable good time, even when A stepped in dog doo and a monsoon struck on the drive home.

Have a great week!

Summer is here...

Actually it has been summer weather since April! We have been hovering in or near the triple digits for close to three weeks and crossing our fingers for a drop or two of rain. There has not been a cloud in sight! Don't think you are hearing a complaint from us, the two who joyously missed the thermometer drop below zero for the first time in three years!

Speaking of things cool, we went to the Cool House tour this past weekend. It was sponsored by our energy company and highlighted green concepts consider when remodeling or choosing home systems. There were lots of great ideas and we saw some great tile, a nice porch and some great siding options.

This lizard decided to become a fixture of the house and is helping with the overzealous bug population.

back to reality...

It has taken us nearly a week to regain the physical and mental capacity to check back in. On Saturday we were invited by some friends to travel to Lockhart, Texas for what sounded like an innocent enough adventure of BBQ and tubing down the Guadalupe River.

We were introduced to http://www.kreuzmarket.com/index.shtml... This place is crazy. When we drove up there was a long line of people waiting out front. We joined the quickly moving line that snaked through the building past old cash registers and BBQ equipment. We finally found ourselves outside of two closed doors being monitored by a guy. We could see inside and there were two counters with people placing orders. Finally the doors were opened and we were hit in the face with hot, brisket flavored air. The room was nearly 3,000 SF covered with brick smokers. We were granted the privacy to order what we liked and served pounds of sausage, brisket and ribs by a character named Roy. We were then ushered out the door to the sides line where we ordered pickles, onions, tomatoes and jalapenos by the pound. Even the sides had meat. Meat sauerkraut, Meat mashed potatoes and Meat beans! This may sound terrible, but it was actually super delicious and maybe the best BBQ we have had to date and honestly we have become BBQ connoisseurs. If that was not enough, we then jumped into the river and floated in a tube for four hours.

On another note, things that are making us smile are the attached picture, T's current job site...must be terrible to be on the job and can you image swimming in that cantilevered pool.

Our neighborhood goat, Coco who loves being walked on a leash and that tomorrow is Friday!

A weekend of firsts...

This weekend was full of first times in Austin. We started by checking out the Congress Bridge bat colony (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHYk8vBStFQ) see for yourself...

A reintroduced herself to her sewing machine and made a dress for the first time. And pulled out a zipper for the first time...and ripped apart the side seams more times that she would like to have counted....

The final product turned out pretty good. For those of you unacquainted with Mike this is his debut.

We also checked out Stubb's a local music hotspot and saw a fun group called Ladytron. We have been enjoying Stubb's BBQ sauce for years and finally made it to the place it all started, a BBQ joint and music venue. It proved to be as delightful as the sauce!

Have a great week!

Causing a Ruckus!

Our three day weekend was super fun! We finished the carport/storage project, but balanced out the work with delicious food and fun with friends. With gas prices rising we have been scratching our heads trying to figure out alternative modes of transportation.
We found our answer on Saturday in the mode of a "ruckus" a Honda Ruckus! Our latest pony in the stable is a 50cc scooter that gets 115 mpg, not to be confused with MPH...high speed is 40. Have a great week!

STORM

This past week we had a storm system that included, tornado watch, super high winds and 3" hail. We got the first two and luckily not the hail, although part of our tree was damaged. That meant Saturday was spent on channeling the inner lumberjack. With the help of our neighbor Jerry the tree cutting went pretty quick. We had heard some pretty scary stories about the Austin dump including mandatory hardhats, relinquishing your rights, several hundred dollar dump loads and massive fines for improperly secured loads. Our adrenaline was rising since our tarp kept blowing off as we neared the entrance. We were very happy to find these tall tales untrue and only out $18.

After tripping over rocks for the past couple of weeks A made a rock sculpture. It is still in the works so check back soon. Have a great week!

What a difference a day makes!

We had an exciting weekend in Austin! We started things out on Friday night by treating ourselves to the STAX show at the Victory. We heard some great music and even found ourselves on the dance floor. On Saturday T revisited the hole in the carport wall and I decided that I could no longer live with purple trim. The 97 degree day was super productive and we were able to see results. We took it down on notch on Sunday and ate cinnamon rolls and pizza, (but not at the same time) as we gave shout outs to our super cool moms.

This flower is on a vine that grows in the neighbors yard. I think we might need to find a place for it too!

Have a great week!

The fun starts now...

This weekend as we started our first home project at our new place. We had been staring at some tricky storage options that were the brainstorm of a 1950's family with no-stuff. Today the blackhole next week, plenty of storage.