discarded phrases

Booze and Pixies

I walked to the nearby liquor store for my "lunch" break (it's almost 2 and i finished lunch hours ago), because I wanted to pick up a little extra imbidement supplies for the weekend.  As usual for the particular intersection where I was, cars screech around corners and slam on their brakes, so the cute pixie-haired girl and I discussed that while I browsed. 

As she was ringing me up, the phone rang, and she said "This is she" and then broke into a perma-smile, the kind you can't wipe off, even if you try.  The card reader was being slow, so I stood there while it printed my reciept and she was able to write down a number and hang up.  Because of the way the convo went, as I was signing my reciept, I asked her if she got asked out on a date, and she laughed and said 'yes," and apologized.  I said not to, because she was glowing and it was nice. 

I wished her a great date and went on my way, but it was a nice encounter I'd like to remember.

I've been out walking

Or hiking as the case may be. Since the rain from Hermoine, the Barton Springs trail looks a lot different, with white-water flowing over the once dry rockbed. It's incredibly cool to see nature's results on herself, and how the land reacts to the change.

Having two hours with mu husband all to myself -where we talk about movies, games, podcasts, and life - is a great big scoop of whipped cream and fancy chocolate shavings on top of the lovliness of the walking itself.

Further down the trail we saw swans, but the picture I took could just as well represent doves, white plastic bags or cotton balls floating on the water ;)

Unfotunately, the lovely hike ended with me falling up the gravelly hill that leads back to the road. So now I have a giant goose-egg on my knee, but also a great excuse to not move from the couch - which was my plan for the day anyway.

wishful thinking

I'm pretending it's fall today by wearing my docs, my favorite knit hoodie and listening to the Counting Crows.

I'm wishing it were Friday, and that I could afford to buy LightRoom and that our house was sold.

But I'm trying to remember that I have so much more than some, and that really, life is good. 

 

Labor Day Weekend

My parents came to visit, which made Labor Day an extra nice, extra special long weekend.  On Friday, mom and I both worked from the couch, catching up on random minutia as we plugged away at our laptops.  We had TacoDeli for breakfast (mm mmm), then Mr. Zal set up the bike races (tour of Spain, I believe) to stream from the laptop to the big tv for my dad. After pizza for lunch, we came into downtown (hello, traffic!) and went to Whole Foods to pick up some dinner and stopped by REI, where I finally found a pair of shorts and dad picked up some energy gels. 

On Saturday, mom and I went to Ikea, leaving the boys to more cycling (I'm sure Mr.Zal was thrilled).  Once we made it back, we decided to take them for a walk along the Greenbelt.  Forgetting my parents are in their 60s, we may have been a little overambitious and under-estimating in the length of the walk.  Neither of them complained through - such troopers.   We had hoped to eat at Chuys, but it was crowded and had a 40 min wait time, so we went next door to Kate's Southern Charm.  At least the lemonade was good - that's all I'll say about that since my momma raised me well.   The rest of Saturday was lazy, as we were all pretty much spent from the walking.

On Sunday, my parents had to leave pretty early in order to make it to other parts of Texas to see my nephew for a few hours before heading home.  We decided to go grocery shopping and errand running, and then spent the evening watching Farscape and Dexter.

Monday we decided to walk to Zilker park, and it was a nice walk there - but it started raining just at the turn around point, so the walk home was.. a sopping wet adventure.  It was hard to find motivation after that, so there were naps and baths and crocheting and more naps.

And to officially welcome the end of summer, my laptop has a sweater made out of beautiful The Yarn Side yarn.

 

 

Settling in

It is somehow the end of August and we've been in Austin for a month.  We're slowly settling into a routine, getting things arranged, creating our own rituals, getting used to the changes and challenges, including:

It was my call to work ~7 to 4 daily, and it's been working out pretty well, but I underestimated the effect of no natural light in the bedroom.  Getting up and moving in the mornings has been ridiculously hard.

Being away from my husband all day is tragically awful and is bar none the worst part of the new job.  Several people questioned our sanity - hanging in the same house all day, all week, for almost 4 years - but I loved it.  I miss that boy something fierce.

Attempting to put a house on the market from 600 miles away sucks.  We've had to schedule carpet cleaning, termite inspections, roof repairs, and window replacements without actually being there.  Bless my parents for all their help, but even the phone calls are wearing on me at this point.  Once the roofer shows, we should be done (I hope!) and we can get the house on the market at least, and be done except for the waiting.

Paying double rent/mortgage/utilities also sucks.  No money for anything fun, or for eating out, or for anything except maintaining two residences, one of which is fucking vacant (with clean ass floors and new windows).

But there are really fun things too, like sitting on the balcony of our apartment watching the squirrels run by and owners walk their dogs, lots of nature, Sunday morning walks, and the chance to learn what we really want and what we really need.

 

Another weekend passes

I can hardly believe the weekend is almost over.

On Friday night we got a little tipsy and watched Hot Tub Time Machine - which was predictable, but way more fun than I anticipated.

On Saturday we walked and swam and went to the mall - on what we had forgotten was tax-free weekend. But we got ice cream and I got my free Sephora birthday gift, so all was well.

Today we hiked the greenbelt trail in the opposite direction as last week. After lunch and a nap, I started crocheting a laptop sleeve. Tres excellente.

Now, though it's later than I planned, I'm snuggling under the blankies and cuddling up to Dixie-doodle, and hoping Monday comes slower than I know it will.

I have been so busy

You may not know this, but moving is hard work!  There is just so much to be done - packing and cleaning and touching up and fixing parts of your house you never even noticed before.   We got a lot done, but we also left a lot of things for my parents to finish (bless them so much - they have made everything sooooo much better).

Ignoring the crazy stress of a 5 days between when the POD left with our earthly possesions and the day we left, here's a little recap.

• On Saturday, we drove through to Houston - with Alice in the giant cat carrier and Dixie sitting on a tower of blankets and pillows.  They were surprisingly well behaved, though obviously a bit stressed.
• Saturday night, Kymberlie drove to our hotel and we went to dinner at Five Guys and then for ice cream at Marble Slab.  It was so good to see her.  <3
• Drove in to Austin on Sunday and arrive at our apartment complex around 1:15.  Got keys, signed some papers, checked out our apartment, unpacked the car, collapsed in a heap of exhaustion.
• I came to my office!  Picked my desk, worked.
• The POD was delivered, so I took lunch and drove to the apt to meet them, survey any damage (there was none!!) and help Y unload the heavy pieces.
• I came back to work, Y unpacked way more shit than any two people need.  In 100+° heat, bless his heart.
• Came home, realized where we had planned to grab dinner from was closed.  Bought ingredients for pigs in a blanket from the convenience store, fucked them up royally.  :\

Beyond that, things are slowly settling into a routine.  We went grocery shopping last night. I packed my lunch for today, my third day in the office, and while driving in, I realized just how lucky I am.  My commute is beautiul, first I see the sun rising over the skyline of Austin, and then I drive right past Zilker park.   I have amazing parents, the best husband, a great job, fabulous friends, and lot of choices afforded to me simply because life worked out for me that way.    I never, ever want to take any of this for granted.

 

 

Parking Lot Sky

Sent from my mobile.

Busy Weekend

It was a busy, but good weekend. The POD was delivered on Thursday afternoon, and while we are still working on filling it, we've packed and removed a significant amount of stuff from our house.

Today, the husband will be packing up the 'essentials' - our beds, the telly, the tivo and the rest of the kitchen - so we'll have an interesting 2 weeks sleeping on a mattress on the floor, eating off paper plates, with only ourselves and our (comparatively) teeny-tiny laptop screens as entertainment.

I can't say it's been particularly fun yet, but the adventure has began, that's for sure.

Out of the Forest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPtUwjr1czI&feature=youtube_gdata