Meanwhile, still away from the ranch...

I am now on an Amtrak train heading for Baltimore. I know a long time has passed since the caterpillar picture from just south of Dallas that I posted the other day. There have been many miles between then and now too - about 1733 in the car to be exact, not counting the drive up to arena to see Bruce and to the Tarjay for beach house supplies.

Let's see, it was a beautiful and fairly uneventful 28 hour drive from Austin, TX to Lavallette, NJ. There was one 30 minute delay in Tennessee waiting for an accident to be cleared. The whole DC to Baltimore drive took waaaaaay longer than anticipated and it added 3 hours to our GPS estimated arrival. Of course it was sort of expected because we hit the Washington beltway around 3:30 on a Friday before a major holiday weekend. I think we could have walked the nine miles around the beltway faster than we crawled in the car. Things opened up once we hit 95. I spent most of my non-driving hours on my phone or computer. Thursdays are my very busy conference call days and Friday was unusually phone-y too. We planned our drive so that whoever was not driving could do their calls and work. We finally arrived around 10 p.m, grabbed a pizza and went to Mike's parents' house for the night. Saturday we worked on cleaning the beach house and getting it ready for summer visitors. I didn't discover that the dryer wasn't generating any heat until after I had washed two loads of sheets and towels. Fortunately Mike's Mom allowed me to finish all the drying and other wash at her house just a few blocks away. We managed to get up to the beach for about 5 minutes before it was time to go to the Bruce concert.

We had seats in the lower level at the far side of the arena. There is nothing like a Bruce concert in New Jersey. EVERYONE in the crowd knew all the words and stood the whole time. It was amazing. He played a few really cool covers. Kitty's Back during the encore set was a good 12 minutes long. Check out the set list:
Badlands
Spirit in the Night
Outlaw Pete
Something in the Night
Out in the Street
Working on a Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Good Lovin'
E Street Shuffle
Cover Me
Thunder Road
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Incident on 57th Street
Kingdom of Days
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to Run
* * *
Hard Times
Kitty's Back
Land of Hope and Dreams
American Land
Glory Days
Mony Mony

Meg came back to the beach with us after the concert. We got back to Mike's parents' house at 1:15 a.m. Better than last year's July concert when we got home at 2:30!

On Sunday we slept in as long as we could and then went back to the beach house to finish up our work. Meg and I made a run to Tar-jay for cleaning supplies, tp, a new kitchen trash can, a new bath mat (the other one really needed to go!) and a new window a/c unit. As soon as we were back at the house we scooted up to the beach to catch a few rays but the weather was not very cooperative. Meg managed to get a little pink - I think it was wind burn. I was freezing the whole time and stayed covered up.

Mike's parents made us a delicous dinner at their home last evening. Afterwards we just had to go to the Crab's Claw for one beer before bed. The place was twice as crowded as any night last summer. In fact, the whole beach community looked busier this weekend than at any time we were here last summer. It was nice seeing so many people biking and walking around the small community.

Mike and I spent the night in our newly cleaned beach house but Meg chickened out and went back to the comfort of her grandparents house. We awoke to a perfect sunny blue sky day today and hit the beach by 11. We were off the beach at 2 though so that Mike could drop Meg and me at the train station and send us on our various journeys - Meg to NYC and me to Baltimore. We made it to the train by the skin of our teeth - about a minute to spare. Then I missed my Amtrak train by about 2 minutes and had to wait an hour. Now I am almost to Baltimore where I will find my way to the rental car place and drive to the eastern shore. Several more hours of travel for me tonight and then bed and a day to see my Mom tomorrow. I forgot my camera battery charger so no more pix unless I can find a place to buy a replacement. It's always something, isn't it.

Roadtrip!

Anyone who has driven to Dallas and taken the right fork of I-35 will recognize this. Sorry I was only able to get one photo so you will have to imagine the remaining segments of this very large caterpillar. This is one of my favorite sightings along the looooong road to Dallas. Another favorite is the Turkey Shop near Hillsboro that sells the best turkey sandwiches evah! I was not on the ball with my camera so I did not get a photo of the large turkey that stands outside the shop. Next time...

We made it all the way to Greenville which is some miles (45?) east of Dallas on I-30. We are 4 hours into a 28 hour road trip. Oh I forgot to mention our destination - the Jersey shore. I think it is a total of 1700 miles? We will get on I-30 in the morning and our next turn is in 281 miles.... My butt already hurts.

night!

Rent

We have had several experiences with Rent this week. Mike and I saw the musical on Thursday - a really fun and enjoyable 3 hours! Saturday we became guarantors on a rent agreement for Steffi - a not as fun 3 hour process..... but it was really exciting to see these kids go through the searching and signing for the first of likely many times in their young lives. So many words, so many pieces of paper to initial and sign.

On Thursday Abby and Nathan came up from San Antonio and they did the UT on campus housing tour. It is unlikely they would have been assigned good housing on campus because they are getting such a late start compared to other students. All three, you see, are transferring from UTSA after their freshman year there and don't have any housing options until June. Most everything will have already been assigned. So they started looking for apartments on Friday, narrowed it down to 2 to show us and on Saturday we signed a lease at the Venue. If you can believe it, it will not be that much more expensive than what we paid for housing at UTSA last year. We'll have to factor in utilities, and they've have to provide their own furniture. Click on Venue for the propaganda photos which are pretty close to reality.

This is NOT the student housing I experienced! I thought Stef would be bound for disappointment since her freshman year apartment was so nice compared to the dorms and apartments I knew as a college student. THINGS HAVE CHANGED a lot since my time. I want to go back to school! I want a workout facility in my building like this:

I want a walkin closet!

I want windows over looking the Drag!

I want a bathroom like this that I do not have to share with anyone!


I want granite counter tops, a side-by-side fridge, microwave, and pantry!

Here Steffi is petting the countertops. I think that is a second sink in the kitchen.

Move in will be August 12th. School starts about 10 days later. This place is on the north side of campus and they'll be able to walk or jump on a shuttle bus. Guadalupe is the main street through campus, hence it's nickname "The Drag." This place oozes convenience and security. They will have two parking spots in a gated lot under the building. Lots of security pass cards (with hefty fees if lost!). This should be a great first year at UT-Austin experience for these three kids. How will they possible out-do this as Juniors??!! It is too scary for me to think about right now.

On an amusing note, there was this box on the table in the lobby area where Mike and I had to sit while waiting for the paperwork. We didn't immediately know what these were. Showing our age and inexperience... Turns out there is a free tanning bed on premise and you are encouraged to wear protective eyewear. If you don't have your own, you can use these self-adhesive gold ones.

Ouch - don't you think that would hurt?!

Bonnie Rocks Austin

Mike and I saw Bonnie Raitt at Bass Concert Hall Sunday night. We were in the very middle seats of the orchestra section so it would have been impossible for the camera police to nab me, so I snuck a few pictures at the beginning of the show. It was a very emotional show for Bonnie since her good friend Stephen Bruton had just died this weekend. She said it was appropriate for her to be playing in Austin as a tribute to Stephen and she spoke many times of him and also of Poodie who died last week. After being spoiled by my children who made me a delicous brunch, listening to music was a great way to spend the evening. Days like today I just want to savor every moment.

Moving Day and Mother's Day

Warning - photo-full blog ahead!

Yesterday Mike, Duncan and I helped move Steffi home from San Antonio. Yay!! I don't know how she accumulated so much stuff, but it filled 3 vehicles. Here is Stef in her nearly empty bedroom at school.

And here is the living room after most of the stuff had already been moved out to cars. Abby, her roommate had already moved out so all of this stuff had to come home with us. Most of what came home is now in hobbitland ready to be moved into her next dorm or apartment in August. There are piles of clothes and sheets in the laundry room queued up to be washed. Who knows where all this stuff will go!

Today is Mother's Day and we did our usual ritual photograph out by the pond. It was bright and in most of the photos one of us has our eyes closed. Here are two pix where we all seemed to be awake. Notice how tall the reeds are. They have pretty much taken over the pond.

This may be the last year we can do a photo by the pond. :(
Over the years both the pond and the kids have grown.... I think I look the same except for my hair.
Let's see....this is from 2003. Yup, kids look smaller, my hair is pretty short and you can see just a few reeds and the lily pads in the pond.


I can't find 2004, but you can see that Duncan grew a lot between 2003 and 2005! I still see a few lily pads.

2006 was the year Steffi dyed her hair red and Duncan all of a sudden was taller than me!

2007. Taller still. Can't see the pond very well.


Last year, 2008
Yesterday and today have just been wonderful being with Steffi, Duncan and Mike. I have really missed having Duncan home this past year so anytime that we are all together is special for me. We had a really nice time sitting out by the pool last night before feasting on Rudy's bbq.

This morning I was treated to a delicous brunch. Steffi made eggs, bacon and biscuits. Duncan made crepes. It was all so good, I don't think I will ever need to eat again!

Check out this technique

We didn't need to apply the 5 second rule - it landed right back in the pan! Duncan and Steffi - thank you for being the best kids a mom could ever have! I love you more!!

Back to yesterday. Duncan, Steffi and Choco had some pool time yesterday.

Choco got out of the pool and shook all over me, much to the kids' amusement.

After she gets out of the pool Choco likes to rub up against the rosemary bush and the honeysuckle. You can see how happy this makes her.

Boo is happy to have both kids home too. I love that they are not too old to play Isn't this a cool shot?! Duncan definitely has had a lot of practice at this!

Stef attempting to style Munk's hair

So handsome!Well, that's it for the weekend so far. Tonight we are going to see Bonnie Raitt. We have tickets to Rent on Thursday. And dinner with friends on Friday. Shaping up to be a busy week!

Happy Mother's Day to you too Mom!! I love you to the moon and back.

Chubby Checker still has it!

We saw Chubby Checker last night at Threadgill's. Turnout wasn't spectacular (most likely because tickets were $40-$50 and we're just not used to paying that amount for shows at Threadgill's) but good ole Chubby still put on a great show. It was an hour long medley of his hits mixed with other well-known Motown tunes. He got the audience up and dancing and even brought probably half the women onto the stage at one time or another. He still wears tight jeans and wiggles his hips pretty darn well, especially for his age. He had on these great grey and black checkered boots - wish I had been able to get a picture of those! It was a lot of fun, but only an hour of it - not nearly enough for $50. But he's a legend and now I can say I've seen him. This is Mike's second show (the other was 30 years ago?) and he said it was very much the same show. To Chubby, I say "You Go Boy!" The other band members. He could really wail on that sax!

Whaddya think? is that is his natural hair?

Bob drives a hybrid

No pictures. What was I thinking that I didn't take my camera out and take a picture of Bob during his show at the Saxon Monday night? I don't know, maybe I was distracted by the Peter Frampton-like voice synthesizer that he kept playing with throughout the show? It was an average Bob show, and Katie's first, so I am a little disappointed that it wasn't a better show for her. There were some highlights, but his show at the Nutty Brown and the one at the end of February were much better. Bob's parents were in the audience. That may be one of the reasons why the show was rather tame. Bob is cleaned up with flouffy short hair, probably in preparation for his tour that starts today in Phoenix. When we walked out of the show he bolted to his car - a Lexus 400h! Of all the vehicles I could picture him in, this one would not be one of them, but I am proud of him that he is showing some enviro-consciousness. Maybe it was his parents' car. Kate, if you are reading this - Bob is playing at the Ramshead on June 19th - you gotta go!!

Last night Duncan and I had a date night. Well, sort of. We went shopping for new boring clothes and shoes since they have just imposed a dress code for him at work. What's up with that?! So after dropping $300 between Costco and Macy's he has 5 new pairs of Dockers, some new brown Clark's shoes and a few wrinkle-proof collared golf shirts. He says it is just like he is back at St Gabriel's except he can wear colors other than tan and green! After a delicious dinner of homemade tacos, we played Phase 10. We got all the way to the 10th phase and Duncan beat me. He is a really good card player.

Tonight Mike and I are going to Threadgill's to see Chubby Checker! His big hit, The Twist, came out before I was born!! Looking forward to it though and I will bring my fancy camera so check our my blog tomorrow at lunchtime.

Tomorrow is the eve of Steffi's return to Austin. Yay!!

Finally the internet is working for a few minutes!

I think we have waited all weekend for the cable guy to show up. It is now almost 8 p.m. on Sunday...I think he is not coming :(

We did do a lot of chore-y type things yesterday and today. I changed out another shower head and steam-cleaned the upstairs carpets at Mikes. We walked Town Lake - I mean Lady Bird Lake - yesterday evening and then watch the final episode of ER. I know, that was on like 2 months ago, but we had been saving it for a night when we could watch a 2 hour episode.

It must be officially pool season because Mike put his clocks and thermometers out on the posts around the pool. The first time I have observed this annual ritual. The boys and I sat around and watched. Actually, I read the second book of the Twilight series. Mike just picked up Katie at the airport and now we will grill burgers. I picked up some delicious corn and made a tomato mozzarella basil salad too!

Just a gray week

So much for my promise to blog more.... Can I claim extenuating circumstances!? Mike has been gone since Monday and it has practically rained or been lousy looking outside all week. It has just been a long boring week. Today is supposed to be sunny, but here is what it looks like outside my office window. Mike picked a good week to be away. Hopefully the sun will come out at the end of the day.

Right now here is what I can see from my office window to the right

And straight ahead. I think this one is the Spring condominium. I have been taking pictures of its progress each week. I think they are almost done.

and to the left is the Monarch condominium. At night the "wings" at the top are lit up in with colors that change.

and down below is a cactus garden and currently the only thing with any color today.

I hope the weekend gives me something more interesting to blog about. Have a great Friday and I hope you have some color in your sky today!