Hurricane Ike has deccimated Houston. Fortunately, all my friends and family are ok. Many of them are MISERABLE in Houston right now, no power, no water, it's 90-100 degrees and humid. They have actually enstated a curfew from 9pm to 6am for the entire city! Jeff and I chose a great time to move to Austin! We offered to let friends and family come stay with us, but only Ingrid and Chris (and Brady) came here. Tom and Judy bought a generator and decided to stay home, they live pretty far North of Houston and didn't expect any real problems. They still have no power, no stores are open, etc, Judy is flying out (she's a flight attendant) tomorrow and I think Tom will come out and stay with us for awhile. Cherie and Cullen are with family in San Antonio, they live in a mandatory evacuation zone, and I don't think they have heard any news about their house. Chris (Jeff's old boss) had a lot of damage in his area and he and his family are now staying at the Performance store because it still has power. Cassie decided to stay in Houston and start cleaning up, but I think Kim is going to come here tomorrow. We haven't heard from Matt or David and Gillian. Vicki and Tamria are fine, but both sounded pretty miserable today (no power, no water, and BORED) I haven't heard from anyone else from Tomball College.
Stay safe everyone! and if you somehow end up seeing this, please know you are still welcome to come to Austin and stay with us for awhile!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Bike
Nic, who works with Jeff, is buying my old Specialized bike for his girlfriend, which is good since I haven't ridden it once since I got my new bike. But I'll still miss the old bike. I really hope Melanie enjoys it.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Flat Creek Winery
There are lots of wineries in the hill country just west of Austin, so Jeff and I went to Flat Creek Winery, mostly because it's one of the closest to Austin.
We did the wine tasting there and got to try 7 different wines. They were all different from what we normally drink. Jeff and I both generally like more robust red wines. We were both surprised that we liked a Pinot Grigio and a couple of lighter red blends that we tasted. 
We talked with our server about the winery for a little while and walked around the vineyard a little bit.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Kayaking on Town Lake
Jeff had the day off yesterday so we decided to go kayaking on Town Lake. I ran by a kayak rental place on Wed. so we went there and got 2 single kayaks for 2 hours. We started near Mopac and paddled under Lamar and the railroad bridge and almost to the First street bridge. We saw the transition area and where I got in the water for the triathlon on Monday. It was a lot of fun and really pretty, I wish I had taken the camera.
We also planned to go to First Thursday last night, but the cable guy came to set up our cable and internet and was here for 4 hours!! Firsth Thursday is the first Thursday of each month when the businesses on South Congress stay open late and they close down the street and have local people come out and set up booths to sell the stuff they make, like art, jewelry, candles, clothes, etc. So we decided to go down to South Congress anyway and see if anything was still going on around 9pm. The street was opened back up when we got there but most of the shops were still open and a lot of people still had their booths up, so we got some cupcakes and walked around and looked at shops and people's art and jewelry for sale. We had a great time, but I think in Oct. we'll try to go earlier.
We also planned to go to First Thursday last night, but the cable guy came to set up our cable and internet and was here for 4 hours!! Firsth Thursday is the first Thursday of each month when the businesses on South Congress stay open late and they close down the street and have local people come out and set up booths to sell the stuff they make, like art, jewelry, candles, clothes, etc. So we decided to go down to South Congress anyway and see if anything was still going on around 9pm. The street was opened back up when we got there but most of the shops were still open and a lot of people still had their booths up, so we got some cupcakes and walked around and looked at shops and people's art and jewelry for sale. We had a great time, but I think in Oct. we'll try to go earlier.
Long Run
I hadn't run more than 8 miles since the end of July, so I was getting a little worried about running 13.1 at Longhorn in Oct. Wednesday, I decided I was going to run 12 miles if I could. I wasn't at all sure I could. 12 miles would be my longest run since the 1/2 marathon in Feb! I have run 10 a few times this summer. So I parked at Barton Springs and ran on the trail, it was a nice day, a little hot, but breezy. At first I wasn't sure I could do 12 miles, but I just kept going along the trail and didn't turn around until I had run over 6 miles. At mile 10 on the way back I stopped at the coolers of water RunTex puts out. I drank about 4 cups in a row. I knew it was a bad idea as I was doing it, but it tasted so good! I started running again, but I had drank too much water. I walked for about 5 minutes then ran the rest of the way for a total of 12 miles! Then I went for a short swim in Barton Springs. I told Ingrid that night that if I can do 12 I know I can do 13.1 at Longhorn! The Town Lake trail is a beautiful place to run, I ran on it once while we were house hunting, so this was my second run around the lake.
Sept. 1 The Austin Tri
I was wide awake when the alarm went off at 4:30, I slept pretty well, but I was excited about the triathlon! Matt stayed at our house the night before and since he is notorious for being late, I set his alarm for 4:15 instead of 4:30, it worked! When I got up he was already sitting on the couch eating breakfast! (Sorry Matt!)
Jeff had planned to have the day off and come to the triathlon, but Jim obviously couldn't work after his bike accident, so Jeff worked for him.
I ate my oatmeal, grabbed my race bag and Matt and I headed down to Auditorium Shores. A couple minutes after we got there, Kim and Ingrid showed up, and then David.
David before the race.
David biking
It was a long way from where I had my bike in transition to the bike start, but once I got on my bike I started to feel better about the course, it didn't seem all that crowded and it was really well marked. I headed up Congress, it was uphill, but not that bad, then the first of many U turns, then back down Congress to the capital. Then over toward the steep hill everyone had been warning us about, I finally got to it and it was steep, but it wasn't that bad, cool! Back to the start and 2 more laps. I felt great on the bike, no problems at all really. I didn't like all the U turns, but I'm sure no one else did either. I finished the bike in 1:40, which is exactly where I wanted to be.
Matt running 
Kim running
Jeff had planned to have the day off and come to the triathlon, but Jim obviously couldn't work after his bike accident, so Jeff worked for him.
I ate my oatmeal, grabbed my race bag and Matt and I headed down to Auditorium Shores. A couple minutes after we got there, Kim and Ingrid showed up, and then David.
David before the race.As I was setting up my transition area, I also saw Kelli, she was just a couple spots down from me, so we talked for a minute. David signed up in the open wave (elite) so he was the first of all of us to start. Kim, Ingrid and I had another 30 minutes to wait after David started. I went back and forth at least a hundred times about whether or not I wanted to wear my wetsuit. The water was 78 wetsuit legal but barely. I know I would have been fine either way. I decided no wetsuit and Chris held it for me during the race, Thanks Chris! All that waiting around was also making me more nervous about the bike course.
the Austin Tri is a 1500 meter swim, 25 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run.
Finally it was time to get in the water, it felt cold getting in but once I started swimming it felt good. I felt much better swimming than I did last weekend at the Clear LakeTriathlon (I had some breathing issues in the water that day). I ended up out of the water in 35 minutes, my goal was 37, so I was happy with that.
the Austin Tri is a 1500 meter swim, 25 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run.
Finally it was time to get in the water, it felt cold getting in but once I started swimming it felt good. I felt much better swimming than I did last weekend at the Clear LakeTriathlon (I had some breathing issues in the water that day). I ended up out of the water in 35 minutes, my goal was 37, so I was happy with that.
David bikingIt was a long way from where I had my bike in transition to the bike start, but once I got on my bike I started to feel better about the course, it didn't seem all that crowded and it was really well marked. I headed up Congress, it was uphill, but not that bad, then the first of many U turns, then back down Congress to the capital. Then over toward the steep hill everyone had been warning us about, I finally got to it and it was steep, but it wasn't that bad, cool! Back to the start and 2 more laps. I felt great on the bike, no problems at all really. I didn't like all the U turns, but I'm sure no one else did either. I finished the bike in 1:40, which is exactly where I wanted to be.
Matt running Kim runningIngrid running
Me running
I hadn't studied the run course too much and they didn't have mile markers so I wasn't sure about my pace most of the run. It was 2 3.1 mile laps. The first lap went well, I saw Kim and Ingrid toward the end. The second lap was tougher, it was getting hot! Around the middle of the second lap I started getting chills, not good when it's 90 out, so I slowed down. Just before I got to the finish I saw David, Gillian, Kim, Matt, John, and Del all cheering for me! Thanks guys! Ingrid and Chris were at the finish.
Everyone had a great race! We all hung out for a little while after the race, then got our stuff from transition and left. Matt and I decided to go to Marble Slab for milkshakes, YUM! I did nothing the rest of the day, I was so tired! Sometimes after races I'm really tired, and sometimes I'm fine, today I was super tired!
Getting our bikes from transition after the race
I really had fun at this race, partly because it was really well organized and I had a good race, and partly because so many of my friends were there too. I hope Longhorn is this much fun and goes this well!
I hadn't studied the run course too much and they didn't have mile markers so I wasn't sure about my pace most of the run. It was 2 3.1 mile laps. The first lap went well, I saw Kim and Ingrid toward the end. The second lap was tougher, it was getting hot! Around the middle of the second lap I started getting chills, not good when it's 90 out, so I slowed down. Just before I got to the finish I saw David, Gillian, Kim, Matt, John, and Del all cheering for me! Thanks guys! Ingrid and Chris were at the finish.
Everyone had a great race! We all hung out for a little while after the race, then got our stuff from transition and left. Matt and I decided to go to Marble Slab for milkshakes, YUM! I did nothing the rest of the day, I was so tired! Sometimes after races I'm really tired, and sometimes I'm fine, today I was super tired!Getting our bikes from transition after the raceI really had fun at this race, partly because it was really well organized and I had a good race, and partly because so many of my friends were there too. I hope Longhorn is this much fun and goes this well!
The Austin House
We found a house in Austin! We're renting a very cute house near Jeff's work. We looked at ALOT of houses, some nice some really not nice. I'll post some pictures when I get the computer working properly.
Here are a couple pictures of our Austin house. Since our old computer crashed, I still haven't found the pictures from some of the other houses we looked at.
Here are a couple pictures of our Austin house. Since our old computer crashed, I still haven't found the pictures from some of the other houses we looked at.
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