6 Years

6 years ago when I moved down here, I found out that the garage had a little kitty door. I decided that this seemed like a brilliant idea to catch myself a pet cat and so I turned the little lock knobby thing to the point where an animal could come in, but couldn't get out.

Of course, after Ivy found us, I left it that way because she and Quazi would frequently go out into the garage and sit at their little kitty window and look outside trying to figure out a way to get out. (What happens if I push on it? hmm, Nothing. Okay...What happens if I push on it now? hunh. Odd. Nothing happened)

Since it's been 6 years and we've never had a problem with animals coming into the garage, I completely forgot about it. Until the other night when we had a feral cat in the garage. Well, we can't blame the cats - they tried to warn us (they both REALLY wanted out in the garage even though it was fuh-reezing outside). It also should have tipped us off as we came home and the garage smelled like cat piss, but I figured that the smell was because I had been cleaning out the litter boxes and throwing the waste in the garbage and we hadn't thrown away any other trash. So instead we sat in the house until the poor animal knocked over a rolled up rug Shawn had next to the garbage can. When we saw the cat, Shawn just opened the garage door and the cat left (though I feel like we should have put food and water out for it first because who knows how long it was stuck in the garage).

But man, can those feral cats jump. It was jumping about 6' straight up in the air trying to get away from us (and it was already in the opposite corner of the garage).

Fall

from my mom when she was down here in October:
"So the leaves haven't started turning yet. What color will they turn when fall finally hits down here?"

from my coworker:
"Do you consider brown a color?"

So much

So much has actually happened in the last week. Not to me, personally, but big things were afoot.

First on Thursday there was the whole thing with the guy and the airplane and the IRS and the the firetrucks and the weewoo, weewoo, weewoo. and the fact that at work we were glued to the TV for 2 hours straight wondering if we should even be in our building, or you know, maybe going home.

Then I spent all day Saturday reading a book.

Sunday, Shawn and I went to MaBelle's house. There are pictures somewhere of Shawn and me with the kids (MaBelle and her brother, Meegle). I will get a copy of this picture and put it on my desk next to the computer so it will confuse the hell out of people when they come to my office. It will be glorious. Also, MaBelle decided it would be fun to call Shawn "Daddy" for a bit. IF there were any plans for kids in our future, they have officially been pushed back at least 5 years.

Monday...uh, Oh yeah! I ran hills. Fun. And came to the realization with the help of some coworkers that since our interns and temps are counted as 'half a person' for budgeting reasons, it effectively makes them worth less than slaves in 1860.

Tuesday it snowed. Actual SNOW in some places even. So once again, work was a bust because a) we were watching it snow, and b) they let us out early because it was snowing. Some good pictures can be seen here

On Wednesday I talked to my mom and laughed a lot because she said email was the new hip thing in 2001. (we were talking about social networking, texting, faceyspaces, twitter, and what have you). Also we at at Moonie's Burger House on Anderson Mill at 183. I liked it. I think we shall eat there again sometime. Though maybe not on Wednesday because it was packed...because of the live music.

Yesterday was once again boring.

Today I wore a skirt. with heels. and tights. I know, hell hath frozeth over.

Yep. I'm ready for another boring week, but Restaurant Week starts on Monday. And this year they're doing LUNCHES. I may have to broaden my culinary horizons.

A lazy day at home

So I started and finished a book this weekend. And am already half way through the second in the series. And it all started with a massive rain storm on Saturday.

No. Really. MASSIVE.

It caused the power to go out twice. And according to my rain gauge, we got about 3.25" of rain.

So I read a book for some ungodly amount of time (like 4 hours). And then I went back to researching stuff for the East Coast Vacation.

Then on Sunday we went to Jamie's Birthday Celebration at the Salt Lick. And followed that up with a showing of Star Trek: XI. Both the movie and the BBQ were great!

And then today. Today, I didn't get dressed. Because that's what you do on a holiday, don't you know? I did get some stuff done--like I booked all the hotels for the East Coast Vacation. The deal I'm most proud of is booking two nights at the Westin in DC for $104 per night because hotels in DC are EXPENSIVE. And how sad is it when the B&B you're staying at ends up being the cheapest place for the entire week ($73)?

I remember reading once that the average family took a two-week vacation every year. And the amount of money they spent on that two-week vacation was usually the equivalent of how much they made in two weeks. Ouch.

Hail Damage

As most of you know, there was a large hail storm in Austin last week and our neighborhood was on the hit list. Luckily my garden avoided damage (and I really don't know how), but the north side of the house and the roof did not. The hail fell at such an angle that it chunked divots out of our siding and the roof looked deplorable.

On the down side, it appears that our siding is just old enough to not be matchable any more. That sucks.

Flood Pictures

Hey all, here are some flood photos from Saturday (Jan 13):

Here is Lake Creek close to the Walmart, and by the fire station (the flood picture is upstream looking downstream, and the normal picture is from the bridge looking upstream...so in other words, if I took both pictures at the same time, the flood picture would be a picture of me on the bridge taking a picture of my other me by the tree next to the water quality pond. Clear as mud? good):

Here are a few pictures a little closer to my house...this bridge is close to the middle school, and is right next to the swimming pool. The first one is upstream looking downstream (so if you were a ping pong ball, you'd be floating INTO the culverts) and the little culverts are about half full, the second picture is from the bridge looking downstream, (you'd be floating OUT OF the culverts) this creek is normally dry.

And what's this, why I do believe it quite possibly might be SNOW (1-16-07)!

Flood Pictures!

Yay! I found flood pictures at work...so, I figure that I shall post them here, because you're interested right? If you want to get an idea of where each of these were taken, click Here



Here is a picture of Shoal Creek after the 1981 flood. The car lot is between 5th and 6th on Lamar Blvd. In this picture, the photographer is standing on 5th street looking towards 6th.







The Blue Line on the building shows the high water mark (about 7 feet) for the 1981 flood. This building was the original Whole Foods Market. It was located at 10th and Lamar. It is now the home of Cheapo Discs. Cheapo Discs was flooded with about 3 feet of water in 2001.









1935 flood overtops Congress Bridge. the picture is taken from the south side of the river. You can see the capital building in the background.











1915 Waller Creek (?) probably around 12th and Waterloo park.