So, here are some pictures of the house, just to show you that we're settling in and that we've unpacked most of the boxes!
Alas, I can't show you the office since that room really is a, um, work in progress!
Monday, March 30, 2009
The house
This post is a bit of cheapie, since these pictures were actually taken two weeks ago. But Mike was gone at a conference this weekend and I didn't really do anything photo-worthy in his absence.
So, here are some pictures of the house, just to show you that we're settling in and that we've unpacked most of the boxes!
Alas, I can't show you the office since that room really is a, um, work in progress!
So, here are some pictures of the house, just to show you that we're settling in and that we've unpacked most of the boxes!
Alas, I can't show you the office since that room really is a, um, work in progress!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Duuuuuude
So last week was spring break here.I had a few days off from work, and then took the rest of the week off in order to make a whole week that matched Mike's schedule.
On Monday we took care of some stuff around the house. After a trip to the hardware store, Mike built some shelves for the garage and a storage unit for the laundry room. We also borrowed a ladder from our friends and hung the rest of the pictures downstairs. Our house is really looking much more like our space now! I'll post some pictures soon.
On Tuesday we left for the vacation part of spring break. We were headed to a dude ranch down in the Texas Hill Country. We managed to time our drive so that we stopped for lunch in Austin. And it was AWESOME. To be fair, I think Austin is ordinarily pretty cool, but we were there during SXSW (a giant arts/film/music/culture festival) which was like steroids for Austin. And rain for our parched hippie souls. We didn't actually attend any of the events, but the place where we had lunch was quite near some of the venues, so there were lots of people associated with the festival. After lunch we were torn between finding an independent coffee shop or this cupcake bakery a friend had told me about. I won. Guess where we went?
Yes, that is an airstream that sells cupcakes (I'd hate to think how hot it gets in there in the summer!). Also, for ultimate perfection, there was a yarn store across the street from the cupcake airstream. 
I never wanted to leave.
After our lunch fun, we were back on the road, headed for the small town of Bandera and the dude ranch. We actually didn't end up spending any time in the town at all, so I can't really say anything about it. The dude ranch, on the other hand, was very nice.
We met my mom and her best friend, Harriet, there. Harriet is a native Texan, so she'd been to the Hill Country before, but this it was new to the rest of us. For the southern Californians among us, I'd say the Hill Country is a bit like Poway/Escondido/Rancho Bernardo (before all the houses went up everywhere) - which is to say lots of chaparral and scrub oak. It was pretty, in a mildly rugged sort of way. It also might have been a bit early for spring, since many of the trees were without leaves. I didn't find it to be a place of awesome scenic beauty, but it sure beats having a big box store on every corner (I'm not naming any names here, Fort Worth).
We mostly did a lot of relaxing and hanging out. Our little cabin had a very pleasant veranda. The ranch staff cooked all the food, so it was very easy to wake up (at 7:30am, when they knocked on your door, bringing you coffee and juice), eat breakfast and then pass the day walking around the ranch, reading, resting, knitting, etc. The ranch also always offered the option of eating outside; we did this about 50% of the time.
On our second day there, Mike and my mom went horseback riding.
Also, the ranch had deer (very quick and quiet) and a peacock and a rooster (less quiet, especially at night!).
And, for the record (I've verified this!), the stars at night ARE big and bright.
I would totally go back to this place - it was very relaxing. I also think it would be fun to go when it was a little warmer so that one could go tubing in the river that borders the ranch property.
I also think that if one had kids ages 6-12, this would be a totally awesome place for them. Since it was spring break week, there were lots of kids around having a really good time.
We left on Friday; Harriet headed back to San Antonio to pick up her daughter and Mike, my mother, and I drove up to Fort Worth. We drove home via Fredricksburg. Fredricksburg is a town in the heart of the Texas wine country. It's a bit like Port Townsend - filled with little gifty shops. We visited a nice kitchen store, had some good pizza, and Mike and my mom tasted some wine. Incidentally, if you are from California or Washington, you may not find yourself that impressed with Texas wine. I'm just sayin'.
Friday night we had dinner at our favorite Indian place and then headed to the house so that my mom could finally see it. She really liked it!
Saturday was kind of a low-key day. Mike made French toast for breakfast, and then there was lots of hanging out, lunch, a walk, baking lemon bars (only my second attempt ever; not a staggering success, but not bad, either), and then Thai for dinner.
On Sunday my mom and I headed to the Modern Art Museum for brunch, then we had a walk, and then Harriet and her daughter arrived in town just time for dinner. Dinner was pizza made by my Chef Extraordinaire.
And that was spring break. The end.
On Monday we took care of some stuff around the house. After a trip to the hardware store, Mike built some shelves for the garage and a storage unit for the laundry room. We also borrowed a ladder from our friends and hung the rest of the pictures downstairs. Our house is really looking much more like our space now! I'll post some pictures soon.
On Tuesday we left for the vacation part of spring break. We were headed to a dude ranch down in the Texas Hill Country. We managed to time our drive so that we stopped for lunch in Austin. And it was AWESOME. To be fair, I think Austin is ordinarily pretty cool, but we were there during SXSW (a giant arts/film/music/culture festival) which was like steroids for Austin. And rain for our parched hippie souls. We didn't actually attend any of the events, but the place where we had lunch was quite near some of the venues, so there were lots of people associated with the festival. After lunch we were torn between finding an independent coffee shop or this cupcake bakery a friend had told me about. I won. Guess where we went?
Yes, that is an airstream that sells cupcakes (I'd hate to think how hot it gets in there in the summer!). Also, for ultimate perfection, there was a yarn store across the street from the cupcake airstream. 
I never wanted to leave.After our lunch fun, we were back on the road, headed for the small town of Bandera and the dude ranch. We actually didn't end up spending any time in the town at all, so I can't really say anything about it. The dude ranch, on the other hand, was very nice.
We met my mom and her best friend, Harriet, there. Harriet is a native Texan, so she'd been to the Hill Country before, but this it was new to the rest of us. For the southern Californians among us, I'd say the Hill Country is a bit like Poway/Escondido/Rancho Bernardo (before all the houses went up everywhere) - which is to say lots of chaparral and scrub oak. It was pretty, in a mildly rugged sort of way. It also might have been a bit early for spring, since many of the trees were without leaves. I didn't find it to be a place of awesome scenic beauty, but it sure beats having a big box store on every corner (I'm not naming any names here, Fort Worth).
We mostly did a lot of relaxing and hanging out. Our little cabin had a very pleasant veranda. The ranch staff cooked all the food, so it was very easy to wake up (at 7:30am, when they knocked on your door, bringing you coffee and juice), eat breakfast and then pass the day walking around the ranch, reading, resting, knitting, etc. The ranch also always offered the option of eating outside; we did this about 50% of the time.
On our second day there, Mike and my mom went horseback riding.
Also, the ranch had deer (very quick and quiet) and a peacock and a rooster (less quiet, especially at night!).
And, for the record (I've verified this!), the stars at night ARE big and bright.I would totally go back to this place - it was very relaxing. I also think it would be fun to go when it was a little warmer so that one could go tubing in the river that borders the ranch property.
I also think that if one had kids ages 6-12, this would be a totally awesome place for them. Since it was spring break week, there were lots of kids around having a really good time.We left on Friday; Harriet headed back to San Antonio to pick up her daughter and Mike, my mother, and I drove up to Fort Worth. We drove home via Fredricksburg. Fredricksburg is a town in the heart of the Texas wine country. It's a bit like Port Townsend - filled with little gifty shops. We visited a nice kitchen store, had some good pizza, and Mike and my mom tasted some wine. Incidentally, if you are from California or Washington, you may not find yourself that impressed with Texas wine. I'm just sayin'.
Friday night we had dinner at our favorite Indian place and then headed to the house so that my mom could finally see it. She really liked it!
Saturday was kind of a low-key day. Mike made French toast for breakfast, and then there was lots of hanging out, lunch, a walk, baking lemon bars (only my second attempt ever; not a staggering success, but not bad, either), and then Thai for dinner.
On Sunday my mom and I headed to the Modern Art Museum for brunch, then we had a walk, and then Harriet and her daughter arrived in town just time for dinner. Dinner was pizza made by my Chef Extraordinaire.
And that was spring break. The end.
Monday, March 09, 2009
More Pictures
So it was totally my goal to hang pictures in the house this weekend, and then take pictures of a few rooms to show how well we're settling in. However, it turns out that we'll need a stepladder to hang some of these pictures, so that project didn't quite get off the ground (so to speak). We did hang a few pictures in the eating area, but nothing really major.
But, despair not! I have other pictures to share.
On Saturday, two of our good friends here in Fort Worth got married (and to each other, no less!). We went with them to the ceremony in the courthouse and then to the Japanese Garden to take some pictures. We then celebrated with some pizza afterwards. The bride was beautiful, the groom handsome, and everyone was very happy and a little weepy.
But, despair not! I have other pictures to share.
On Saturday, two of our good friends here in Fort Worth got married (and to each other, no less!). We went with them to the ceremony in the courthouse and then to the Japanese Garden to take some pictures. We then celebrated with some pizza afterwards. The bride was beautiful, the groom handsome, and everyone was very happy and a little weepy.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
More from the ultrasound machine
Here are some more exciting pictures. These were taken at the 20 week appointment, which was on Tuesday. For those of you keeping track at home, the gestation period for a baby is usually about 40 weeks. According to our sources, the "fish" (as we call it) is currently about 7 inches long and weighs about 11 ounces.
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