Up North

This year, the Lundeby family Christmas was hosted by Mel and Shirley (Austin's grandparents) in Brainerd, MN. Even from as far as CO and IA, everyone made it to northern MN to celebrate.

I had a great time looking around the farm. Here are some of the pictures I snapped, just click on any for the full set.

Boxing Day

We had a wonderful Xmas in MN with more amazing eats, drinks, and gifts. I've especially enjoyed hanging out with my little nephew, Conner, and watching his sheer glee at the new toys. Tomorrow we head "up north" for another Xmas celebration.

Today I got to see a friend who was in town from LA and we went for lunch at the Good Earth, one of my favorite restaurants. Then there was a little stop at a local art gallery that was filled with beautiful pieces. Now we're thinking about picking up some Thai for dinner. Not a bad December 26.

Back to Minnesota

After seven days in Wisconsin, we're back in Minnesota for the next seven. We did lots of cooking and eating and visiting and I think we have more in store :) Happy Holidays!

Cooking in Wisconsin

So far my mom and/or I have made:

Fudge-mint brownies
Chili
Sugar cookies
Leek-cheddar breakfast strata
Peanut blossoms
Meatloaf
Pickle roll ups

Enough to feed an army but that's how it goes this time of year.

...and After Pics

The Cookies. And sorry, I'm a grinch, but Xmas cookies are tedious to frost and decorate.



Here are the ice luminaries that Austin made for my mom:

Before

We are making cookies and brownies today so here is the before picture:



And Austin is making ice luminaries using balloons and this is his before photo:

Mrs. Claws

Chester hates me now.

Christmas in Wisconsin

We are in Wisconsin now, got a good night's sleep, and have spent the day tooling around town. All of the pine trees are covered in snow and the other trees that have bare branches that are covered in ice. It's really beautiful even though it's very cold, we seem to have quickly forgotten this. Here are a few pictures of our day today and you can click on them to see more if you like.

Morning at my parents'. This is the edge of their yard and you can see they like all the trees.



This photo doesn't capture the glow of these trees in the December sun.



This is the turkey trot taken through the living room window looking at the backyard.



Shopping at the art gallery downtown Spooner!

Blogging from Wisco!

We made it and we're tired and it's cold but it's great to see my parents and look forward to seeing many others soon too. We're going to a local dive for dollar beers, burgers, and appetizers tonight, something Austin is especially looking forward to, and then we're going to crash.

More updates soon.

It's the Final Countdown

We're leaving at a hideously early hour tomorrow morning so today I'm getting organized and doing laundry (at an as yet unknown location since our machines won't be delivered until mid-January). My dad is picking us up at the airport around 10:00 a.m., we're going to visit my aunt, then getting in some last minute Xmas shopping before heading to northern WI.

There's been a cold front in TX bringing temperatures around 30 and some freezing rain so we're practicing with chilly weather although I am acutely aware that the temps up north are nearly 40 degrees cooler! At some point, though, cold is cold and we're excited to see our family and friends so we'll try not to complain too much.

Meeting Our Neighbors

We live on the edge of a large subdivision that is still growing but there are a few open fields. We discovered that behind our back fence, we have some interesting neighbors.



There are two friendly horses that like to be petted and came right up to me.



These were some curious dudes who also approached me and stopped chewing their grass for a minute to take a look so they had long green leaves just hanging from their snouts.

Catatonic

We finally managed to trap and transport Mr. Stinky, thanks to some helpful advice from his former owner. Good thing we have an open adoption :-) Stinky is now adjusting to his new habitat and hanging in there.

Here is a sad picture of Stinky trying to kill us with his laser eyes for subjecting him to such turmoil. Poor thing.

Moved!

This will be a quick post but we are mostly settled in to our new home. The movers showed up right at 7:30 a.m. and were the fastest, most efficient, and friendly workers ever. Our apartment and storage unit were picked up and unloaded at the house by 11:00. It was the best move we've ever made and if you can get help for a reasonable price (especially if you compare it to renting your own truck anyway), well, it was worth it in keeping Austin and I stress free and actually laughing and joking around.

After the movers came, our new couch was delivered and it looks great. We did some unpacking, grabbed lunch, and then moved on to the toughest part of the day- Mr. Kitty. Our attempts to grab the little guy and put him in a carrier failed miserably and left all three of us feeling sad. We're going to go back later tonight when he is usually in a calmer manner anyway and give it another try. Poor Stinky, he's got some big changes to work through but he'll be ok.

Anyway, right now we're doing more unpacking and will spend our first night here, yay! Things are coming together better than we could have imagined and that's a great feeling.

Texas Snow

It rained last night, then there was freezing rain, then a nice layer of snow. The total accumulation was only an eighth of an inch but the rooftops and cars had a nice layer on them. Stinky McKitty is lucky we let him sleep inside last night, he ran out this morning and turned around and came right back in.

Here's the glare ice on our steps covered with snow for good measure:

Desperate Housewife

I was at the house today from 8:30-4:30, waiting for the refrigerator delivery, the cable guy, and the internet guy. In between, I studied for my big stats final tomorrow. Here are two pictures I took, one of the holly berries that are overgrowing the front of our house but finally got bright red berries and one of the fridge that looks like a bullet proof armoire.

Festive Fireplace

We finished roller painting the entire living room today and now just need to use the brush for trim and touch ups. The color isn't showing up very well in photos so that's why this one is mostly of the fireplace. The color is called "Clay Pebble" and is a nice balance of neutral with a hint of green. It looks nice against the stone of the fireplace and in contrast with the cherrywood floor.

Capitol View

My mother-in-law once sent me a cool photo of her office view of the WI State Capitol and I realized that I also have a capitol view here in TX. I happened to have my camera today since it's been in my purse from house painting stuff and decided to snap the view through my dirty office window. This is what I look at while working away on campus, not bad!

Last Week of Classes

I'm in a bit of haze right now since it's the last week of classes. In addition to my coursework, I have about 10 hours of oral interviews scheduled with my students and lots of grading coming up for the classes I teach. Then next week is finals week and all four of my final papers are due on Monday, I take one final exam on Wednesday, then we officially move out of the apt (and our storage unit) on Friday. A few days after that we fly home for the holidays.

I'm not complaining (much) because it's all good stuff- the end of my first semester in my doctoral program, a new house, home for the holidays, but it is keeping me on my toes. Austin has also been busy with work and has been doing a great job of getting things set up for the new house (can't work without internet!).

We're really excited to officially move and come home for two perfect weeks of winter.

Painting and Panting

We're been working hard on painting our very large living room (which seems to take up about a third of our home). The walls are textured which is good for nicks and imperfections but means that painting involves a little more elbow grease.

Beyond that, I've been working on end-of-semester school stuff (both as teacher and student) and Austin is always busy with his work too. Time is flying by and before we know it, we'll be in good ol' MinneSconsin for a two week break.

This is the only update for today because I'm tired.

T-day for Two

This year's meal has proved the best the LundeRoys have ever made and we did partially homemade, partially store-bought. Here are the details.

The overall spread (somehow still had gravy boat and hadn't sent it to storage):



The turkey that we almost didn't have:



Green beans with lemon hazelnut butter (zester and grater still in storage, Austin made the zest with a knife):



Mashed potatoes (masher in storage, had to go to a few stores to find one on Thanksgiving), best ever because they included butter, cream cheese, sour cream, ranch dressing mix, and sharp cheddar. Very healthy.



Stuffing was Stove Top, we've never been able to make anything better than this mushy goodness:



Cranberries from a can just like Gramma always had:



Not pictured include the gravy (jarred) and the pumpkin pie (shoulda made our own, store bought was just so-so). We had Beaujolais Nouveau with dinner and Sauvignon Blanc after. It was really tasty and we basically spent the entire meal groaning with satisfaction or saying "these are the best potatoes ever!"

Turkey Emergency!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we decided to get the delicious smoked and seasoned turkey from a bbq place right across the street from our apartment. We stopped in and the line was incredibly long; we decided people didn't want to cook on Thanksgiving Eve and wanted to have bbq before the turkey dinner. We came back a little later, foolishly thinking it would all be just fine. The line was still long and a bright yellow "sold out" sign was covering the turkey listing, nooooo!

It was then 20 minutes until closing and we called other locations to see if they had more. We jumped back in the car and took off, fighting the clock as the drive was going to be about 20 minutes. Then there was a detour! Then a toll road! We had no cash at all so Austin dug coins out of the cupholder with just enough to throw into the hopper at the unmanned "exact coins only" station.

We finally arrived and pulled into the parking lot; it was busy but the restaurant was still open. We ran in and found another long line but the turkey was still up on the menu. We made it through the line and finally procurred our sweet, sweet two pounds of turkey. Thanksgiving is safe and we have the finest turkey in all of Texas. We are now slumped in front of the tv/laptop and relaxing with Mr. Stinky who only raised an eyebrown when we explained what had happened then quickly resumed sleeping. All's well that ends well.

Our Sweet Pad

We have the house and I finished my school projects (until finals week) so last night we were able to toast to our new abode and get a few steps closer to a move date. We went to the house to measure for our sectional couch and brought our first load of STUFF along with us (every time we go, we're filling up the car). Then, using an elaborate system of string and tape, we marked out exactly what pieces would fit and where they would go; this is because Austin is analytical and I have no spatial skills so I had to physically see the dimensions. We called it String Theory and it worked out well.

After working this all out, Austin wanted to visit the couch at Crate and Barrel but we ended up ordering because prices are going up soon and one piece won't come in until sometime in 2009! Our sectional won't be an L shape to start with but just a nice long couch, not a big deal at all. This will be delivered on December 12.

Now we have to score a fridge in order to make the house workable and, sadly, may have to pull the trigger on Black Friday. We are both opposed to shopping on this day but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. The fridge is top priority but the washer and dryer might also be obtained soon if we decide to venture out in the wee hours of Friday.

It's coming together and we're going to pick up paint tonight so we can spend part of tomorrow painting some sample patches to finalize a color. So far every chip we've picked up that looked sage turned into a frightening sea foam green when actually in the house. We're looking forward to the long weekend so we can relax a little and start personalizing our house.

Officially Homeowners!

We came, we signed, we closed. It all worked out and we couldn't be more excited. Details to come soon but first some important school projects have to be done.

Sunday Night

It's Sunday night and we close tomorrow. We are going to go over the final paperwork with our mortgage dude in the morning, pick up a giant cashier's check, and then we go to sign our lives away. Hopefully it won't take too long so we can grab lunch before I have to run to my night class.

We ran a few errands today and tasted some smoked turkey at the bbq place that is literally across the street from us; it was really flavorful and delicious. We decided we'll pick up turkey there on Wednesday night and then make our own sides on T-day. We're thinking mashed potatoes, green beans, and pie for now. It will be really nice to celebrate after officially getting the house and me completing some final presentations.

Walking Through

We did the final walk through today! We close on Monday! No surprises and we played around with fabric swatches and paint chips; the sectional couch will be "walnut" and the walls are currently looking like they'll become "Hazel Woods" whatever that means.

Austin and I also did a little more exploring in the area. We have a Walgreens and Wells Fargo very close by as well as a cute little market with a nice deli. There is a great Mexican joint where we will take any and all visitors to experience the classic Austin tex-mex breakfast of "migas" (eggs scrambled with tortillas, onion, beans, salsa, delish!). There was a cute coffee shop, we also discovered the local and amazing Thundercloud Subs, and we found our neighborhood Radio Shack [more important for one of us, can you guess who? :-) ]. That, and there is a a close by grocery store and a Super Target along with Home Depot. Ah, suburban bliss!

As I'm typing, Austin just randomly said, "I'm really excited about people coming to stay with us!" We both are looking forward to guests and hope that (if we know you and you're not an internet troll reading this blog) you will consider a trip to Austin and a stay at Hotel LundeRoy.

Walk Through

Austin and I are so excited to do the final walk through of the house tomorrow. We have a few fabric swatches for the couch and paint chips for the walls to bring in with us. Very soon we can order our sectional sofa and appliances and get a move date on the calendar.

Besides that, I'll be working on two final presentations, administrative teaching stuff, and maybe, just maybe, I'll even start a final paper. Big ambitions but we go Home for the Holidays in 26 days so it's gotta get done.

As for tonight, we went out for dinner and are now staying cozy inside as the "polar temperatures" continue in Central Texas. Polar here means 30s/40s/50s. We're ok with that being the cold standard.

House Minus Four Days

I can't believe how fast the days are flying by and it gives me that feeling of wanting the semester to be over but wondering how all the projects, papers, grading, etc. will manage to get done. We were originally set to close this Friday but the date was changed to Monday. It worked out with my class schedule so I agreed to the change, not realizing that I have a final presentation in my Monday night class as well as another presentation in my Tuesday morning class. Oops. But... then I'll be off the rest of the week for Thanksgiving!

Speaking of T-day, Austin and I had hosted my family for the past couple of years and really got into cooking for a group. This year will be our first Thanksgiving as just the two of us. We really wish we could pull it off in the new house but we won't be moved in by then or have a refrigerator which would be key for the event. Anyway, it'll be a good way to say farewell to our little apartment where we first settled in as Texans.

After Thanksgiving, I have one more week of class then finals. I have a few papers to write and for the teaching aspect, will be collecting final projects, papers, giving an essay test, and conducting individual oral exams. It will be time consuming but not impossible. Then I'll have a few days before we head north for two weeks of winter :-)

November Weekend

That's the view from our apartment balcony (click for a few more), I like how you can still see the moon. Autumn here is blue and yellow- bright blue skies and yellow leaves. It looks nice but is very chilly, at least in my opinion (about 40 degrees when I woke up).

Yesterday Austin and I started browsing for a sectional sofa since we got rid of two couches when we moved. Our new living room will be really sad if we just have two Poang chairs from Ikea and not much else. Fortunately, we both have the same ideas in terms of style and colors and of course, comfort. It was so fun to look and we are both Crate and Barrel junkies and just want to move into the store itself.

Last night, Austin and I made corn chowder for dinner, he watched a movie, and I worked (syllabus revisions, conference proposal, and article searches). We made sure the heat was on when we went to bed, I threw a sheet over the container garden on the balcony, and we put extra blankets on our bed. Our thermostat said 68 but Austin, ever the scientist, triangulated the data (!) with other thermometers and we concluded that it was really about 65. Brrr! But it did feel nice to curl up under lots of quilts.

Today is the usual Saturday stuff with a Target run, groceries, work for me (lots of reading and maybe some grading) and the Packer game. We don't get all of them down here so it'll be fun to watch today and we can think of my cousin Erin and her fiance (and Austin's former roommate) Paul at the game experiencing Wisconsin-style cold weather!

Cold Front

Yesterday the high was in the mid-70's and it was a gorgeous day. The forecast indicated it would get windy and a cold front would move in. They were not kidding! I thought our apt building was going to blow over last night. I had to put in ear plugs to sleep because the windows kept rattling and other parts of the building were creaking and groaning. I woke up to 47 degree weather, just a few degrees warmer than the reported 40 degrees in Wisconsin. I was also interested to see that both a frost warning and fire weather warning were issued for our area, kind of reminds me of that "heat/defrost in the morning, a/c on the way home" way of life in MN/WI.

The high today should get up to about 60. This will be good weather for staying in and drinking lots of tea and studying. Austin will enjoy gaming today. We do love the Great Indoors.

TGITh

Thank god it's Thursday. Today is the day I breathe, don't go to campus, and try to get everything done (blogging included). The semester is nearing an end so that means things are getting really busy and as much as I'm looking forward to being home for the holidays, I want time to slow down a little so I can survive my first semester of finals here.

Besides school, teaching, and work here, we've got the matter of The House. Our closing date was mysteriously changed from November 21 to November 24, no big deal but I may be late to class. We're getting quotes on movers so we can get that date finalized and I can spam everyone with the new address so we can get Xmas cards.

We're also doing really grown up things like shopping for appliances; we need a washer, dryer, and fridge which is also a factor in the move date. I am really excited to have in-home laundry again. I do that task on Thursdays and walk a block to the "Clothing Care Center" at our complex. It's not the most convenient way to get the job done but at least I don't have to drive to a laundrymat.

Today is a special day for Austin- the new World of Warcraft expansion pack comes out today and he's waiting for the sound of a delivery truck. For those who don't know, WoW is an online game and highly addictive, it's also Austin's preferred passtime and stress-buster. I'm having a hard time finishing this post because he's like a kid waiting for Santa and keeps popping out of his office to say something about it. :-)

All in all, we're busy and a little stressed but really happy (and will be moreso when FedEx shows up).

Weekend

We had another great autumn weekend and are really enjoying our new life in Austin, TX. We had more house stuff to take care of and should be pretty much done until closing so we spent a little time at Home Depot just window shopping. We need to acquire a washer, dryer, and refrigerator before we can official move in to the new LundeRoy abode so we took a look at those items. We also went to the paint department and tried to get some direction; there are many options but the good news is that we are very much in line on color schemes.

I had a friend over last night and we made Spanish food- a tortilla (egg, onion, potato omelette) and some garlic shrimp and also enjoyed manchego cheese and rioja wine. Later, Ashley and I ate some ice cream while watching Sex and the City.

Today Austin and I watched the Packer game, ran some errands, and now are getting ready for another week. We're a little distracted by our grandiose home decorating ideas but we think that's a good sign that we got the right house for us.

LundeRoy News!

We're officially going to be homeowners two weeks from today! We're not sure when the big move will happen but I'll be sure and update everyone on the new address; most of you know how much I love getting snail mail. We are also excited to have guests, the Hotel LundeRoy awaits your reservations.

Autumn in Austin, TX

Fall is definitely my favorite season but it's always bittersweet because I detest winter, all six months of it as it seems sometimes. Anyway, it's been a transition to see what fall is like here but the end of October and November so far have been amazing. We sleep with the windows open and wake up to crisp mornings but by the end of the day, it's sunny and in the upper 70's (sometimes unseasonable 80's). The leaves don't change as dramatically here, again something I miss, but they're bright yellow and the sky is vivid blue almost every afternoon so it's still got an autumn feel to it.

My friend Sharon and I decided this year to exchange autumn gifts instead of birthday presents. Sharon has a lovely, sensible June birthday but mine is an unreasonable December date coinciding with the Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/Winter Solstice/New Year/Everything holidays. Anyway, Sharon sent me a very cool wine bottle candelabra that also comes with the added incentive of getting a really nice bottle as an excuse for making the perfect candelabra base. It's a little hard to describe so I'll let the picture be worth a 1000 words.



Another thing I enjoy about this time of year is cooking. Austin and I hosted Thanksgiving a few times when we lived in EC and loved practicing different side dishes. One thing I always wanted to perfect was a pumpkin flan since I had one years ago that was so good, I still think about it. I never found a recipe that worked and this past weekend, tried one from Cooking Light. It was a flan flop once again! However, it looked delicious.



My last autumn note is that the geranium that our neighbor left us upon moving is starting to blossom- in November! This seems to be a good trade off for the hot summers.

We May Live in a Red State but...

YES WE CAN (go blue)!

Scary Story for Halloween

I've posted on here a couple of times before about the possum that comes up to our landing and eats the cat food. Well, there is also a raccoon and he is a lot scarier than the possum. We have started bringing Stinky's food in overnight to discourage the local critters from eating it all. The first night I did that, Mr. Raccoon noticed a change in his routine and, I think, could smell the food inside. He began pawing and scratching at the door. It was intense and loud- I almost thought it was a person- I finally poked the broom out the door and hit it loudly against the concrete. The raccoon then sat there waiting to see if I was serious, got up on his hind legs for a minute and glared at me, then went down the stairs. He was back last night, banging on the door and then hissing through the crack when Austin tried to scare him away. I hope he learns soon that the Lunderoys don't like food thieves.

Keepin' On

Not much new here but just wanted to post to keep the blog alive. Work is busy, school is busy, but we're happy and enjoying the city. Our neighbor gave us a container garden since he is moving and I was happy with that because I enjoyed having one back in 'sconi. It's even better here since I get to have it year round.

No big plans for this weekend. I'm a little bit bummed since I absolutely love Halloween and I really enjoy dressing up. At least back in EC, we got trick-or-treaters but even that is doubtful this year. In fact, if we do get any, I have no idea what we'd give them. We're just going to lay low, maybe do some cooking, and I'll be studying, of course.

Economic Downturn & You

We ran to the grocery store tonight to grab one item and ended up with the most shameful list ever:

-5 gallons drinking water (the one item on our list, technically free but we don't like the taste from the tap).

-IPA Beer (Austin's been running low so we grab some microbrew bottles).

-Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream (Austin asks for ice cream daily so we thought it was time to grab a pint of it).

-Milky Way Dark candybar (Austin's been craving these since the Halloween candy has been out; we decide one bar is better than a bag of "fun size" bars).

-Fall flowers (I love fresh flowers and they were only $4...).

That's it, that's our shameful shopping list with nary a necessary item nor a pantry must-have. Us and grocery shopping during hard economic times = FAIL.

Are You Bored Yet?

All I have to say is that it's been another busy week for both of us. Random tidbits: there's early voting in our state and the lines are going out the doors! I literally swept a 'possum off our doorstep with a broom. Austin made really awesome chili this week when the temperatures dipped into the 50's. We wouldn't know we were in a red state if we only paid attention to local propaganda. I turned in my first big paper on Tuesday.

Maker Faire 2008

The weather yesterday couldn't have been more perfect; upper 70's, blue skies, sunshine. We got to the the Faire and first saw all the crazy cars. One was covered entirely in fake turf- outside and inside. My favorite was covered in singing fish and lobsters that would break out in song from time to time.



We moved on to the Bizarre Bazaar where I discovered lots of gorgeous clothes and jewelry. Later in the day, I returned and procured a shirt and necklace. We ogled blown glass, metal sculptures, fiber arts... We also toured the techie section where Austin saw some of his favorite vendors and got to check out more products. At random times during our shopping, a robot would swing around in the ceiling and talk and explosions could be heard. There was also a silver armadillo golf cart that cruised by.



We attended a demo of the Life Size Mousetrap- think Rube Goldberg- and saw bicycles modified to look like butterflies and long dragons. We went to see battling robots at the end and they did not disappoint.

With all this going on, you can imagine that the people watching was outstanding! Austin and I went home tired from all that we took in and a day in the sun; we had a great time.

TGIF

Whew, it's been another long and busy week here. Austin had lots of stuff going on at work and I'm now in that point of the semester where I have lots to do. As has become our tradition, we are having a Friday night in kind of doing our own thing. We made really good tacos for dinner (gotta love the Penzey's bold taco seasoning; we get it from WI to make tacos down here in the southwest :-)

Anyway, I've been doing some school stuff and Austin has been clearing his mind with a good, old fashioned WoW raid (online gaming). We've got the windows wide open and are enjoying a fall breeze.

We're gearing up for a good day tomorrow at the Maker Faire and hope to have pictures up by Sunday afternoon.

Thursday is Breathing Room Day

As I've mentioned before, Monday through Wednesday is my really busy, class-heavy, fully scheduled days and Thursday is the first day in the week I even have time to blog. Thursdays are still quite busy with studying, catching up, administrative tasks, etc. but I have a lot more flexibility. Anyway, just making the point that most blogging will occur Thursday-Sunday if you haven't noticed.

So it's been another busy work week for us but we're looking forward to the Maker Faire this weekend, expect lots of good pictures from that!


We're also closer to being cat owners since our neighbor will be moving at the end of the month and is letting us keep Stinky The food dishes have moved over to our door. Stinky is an outside kitteh which works for us but he's so cute, we've been letting him come in in the evenings. He just curls up under one of our chairs and lays there, enjoying the carpet since he spends most of the day lying on the sidewalk. Who ever thought the LundeRoys would have a cat?

Random Crap x 3

I finally won my first Bag of Crap from Woot!

1 x Yanni in Words
1 x Curious George Bath Set
1 x Kensington PCKey LE
1 x Mossimo Gift Set
2 x Targus Memory Card Case

Weekend

It's been another nice weekend here. On Friday, we had pizza and Austin watched a movie while I read or played on the laptop. The work week had been a little more stressful than usual so it was a great night to veg.

Yesterday, we watched the UT-OU football game, a huge rivalry, and saw the Longhorns win it after much excitement and back-and-forth. Then we went out for some art supplies for various projects and got some really good ice cream. After that, Austin tinkered around on art projects and I did some reading and caught up with a few friends. We went out to dinner last night too and sat on the patio, enjoying the nice breeze and mild weather, something we never did in October up north!

Today Austin looks like a snake that swallowed a sheep :-) He is full of bbq and some beer and is watching football; he is very content and relaxed. We've got a Target run coming up, a few other errands, and then I'll be hitting the books.

Almost the Weekend

Today I don't have class but did some studying and went to campus to participate in a dissertation study, mostly to get a little good karma on my side for when it's my turn. I am sworn to secrecy, but the gist is that I listened to speech samples and gave my impressions on fluency, grammar, comprehensibility, etc. It was enjoyable and I was happy to help.

I also took care of some housekeeping, both literally and figuratively, and got a lot done overall. We have no weekend plans but I'll have plenty to occupy me in terms of schoolwork and Austin has a number of techie projects at any given moment. I think the city will be crazy because UT is playing their big rival, Oklahoma University, in football on Saturday. At any given moment that we go out, at least half the population is wearing the school colors, but this weekend the ratio will probably higher and nuttier. Perhaps I should keep track and do some kind of statistical analysis since I'm so skilled in that field. :-)

Also, a little teaser, Austin may be doing his first post soon with an update on the loot he won from Woot on the crap sales (grab bags). There is one item that is just spectacular.

Sunday

Today we had an errand to run at Whole Foods Market, the one downtown which is also the corporate headquarters. We were after tickets to this awesome event that we'll be attending in two weeks. Anyway, we've been to the WFM right by our house and the ones in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The corporate one was quite the amazing experience, however, and we spent a lot of time checking it out and selecting some choice items. Here are some pictures I took before I was asked to kindly knock it off (you should be able to see more if you click on any pic).

Gorgeous Produce:



Not sure what these limes are:



Austin right at home on Beer Alley:



My view while not strolling down Beer Alley:



Mosaic on Candy Island:

Beautiful Saturday

Austin and I had a really nice Saturday. We ran a few errands and then Austin wanted to go to the Apple store to browse and show me a TV thing. We found a shopping center that turned out to be very high end- sculptures all over, fountains, ambient music, and stores from Barney's to Tiffany's to Louis Vuitton. We walked along and did lots of window shopping (or in my case, much "lache-vitrine," the French expression that literally means window licking).

We were considering getting a glass of wine from Cru, the wine bar, and sitting and people watching but decided to have our own picnic. We went wine shopping at one of our favorite liquor marts and browsed wines from all over the world. We got a Sauvignon Blanc for our picnic and some Malbec. We also went to their amazing deli and got a wedge of quiche- smoked salmon, cream cheese, and asparagus. Austin got an antipasta salad for lunch today and we also sampled the macaroni and cheese (made with a bechamel sauce, smoked gouda, homemade breadcrumbs... comfort food!). The deli chef told us about upcoming fall foods and we decided we may just have to visit every weekend. The prices are very reasonable and we may be inspired to recreate the dishes on our own.

Anyway, we took our loot home and hauled some chairs and a little table outside on the balcony to set up our picnic. Fall here (at least as far as we can tell so far) means that the temp was in the low 80's, there was no humidity, some leaves were turning bright yellow, and the sky was brilliant blue. Below us, a neighbor had spelled out "I *heart* U" in rocks at the edge of the lawn.



We enjoyed our picnic and then spent the rest of the afternoon doing our thing, then ordered in a pizza and watched a movie. It was really relaxing and a perfect day overall.

Friday Night

It's been another busy week and Austin and I kicked off the weekend with my department potluck. Unfortunately, traffic was bad so we made it for the last hour and then went out for a drink with one of my friends in the program. It was busy everywhere but we ended up at a Mexican restaurant shaped sort of like a giant hut with decor circa 1977. We enjoyed some watery margaritas and good chips and salsa and conversation.

We don't have much planned for the weekend since I have a lot of school work to do. We'll probably do the usual errand running and maybe go out for dinner tomorrow night. We're also starting to look at options for housing after our lease runs out here early next spring. We're definitely going to be on the move again, I mean, it's just so fun to move (/sarcasm). But it is fun to consider what our more permanent digs in the area will be.

Same Old, Same Old

Not too much is going on here. Monday through Wednesday is always a blur for me with my class schedule. On Tuesday night, we had the added fun of a car alarm that wouldn't quit. We had seen the car in question before with a tow notice on it because it hadn't moved in weeks. Then someone moved it to a new parking lot and left it again so there was no one in the area to address the car alarm.

Finally, I called the non-emergency police line (which connected me to 911, eek!) and they sent an officer over. Unfortunately, it seemed the vehicle couldn't be towed without the apartment complex manager's consent and guess who was unavailable. At some point late that night, it miraculously stopped (dead battery?!) and the car was still there in the morning. In fact, it had a banana peel thrown right in the middle of the windshield, I can only assume it was the act of a disgruntled neighbor.

Anyway, Austin and I were slow-moving yesterday with all the excitement and sleep deprivation but we're feeling much better today. He's been particularly busy with work this week and I have lots of reading to catch up on today. We also have a few errands to run to get our home office in better working shape.

As of yet, we don't have any weekend plans though I have a paper due on Tuesday that will require some attention. I think we'll just enjoy an autumn weekend in Austin- that is, 80 degree weather, sun, and no humidity. I do miss fall "up north" but the trade offs will come this winter :-)

Xmas for Kiki

I got home this evening to find a stack of packages on the dining room table. I got some cool clothes I had ordered from Boden, the Almodovar DVD set that we ordered thanks to the tip on an amazing sale from our friend Hoy, and a special "just because" package from my mother-in-law. It included a serving plate and knife that were artfully embellished with spirals and beads- very "Kelly." Hopefully Austin will get the little gadget he is awaiting tomorrow; I think he was a little bit envious of my haul :-)

Quiet Weekend

It ended up being quiet here in the LundeRoy household. First of all, we wish our friends Ryan and Meghan all the best after their beautiful wedding on Saturday, wish we could have been there!

Other than that, it was the usual weekend stuff- reading, studying, a movie, lunch out, football, some cleaning, some errands... All very boring and very relaxing. We're coming up on another routine week and we're learning that September in Texas means 80's and low 90's. Not bad, though, considering it's not a descent into the below zero temps! All is well and we can't complain.

Friday

A friend of mine was in town today for a conference so I was able to see her presentation and have lunch and dinner with her. It was really nice to catch up and to be a semi-native guide to Austin and UT.

Austin (the husband, not the city) had a stressful day of work and is unwinding with some good, old fashioned, online gaming. It's a low-key Friday night, just how we like it.

Tomorrow, we're going to see Vicky Cristina Barcelona, a Woody Allen movie. Scarlett Johansson is in it, an actor I like, but the main star to me is the setting, Barcelona! It seems like a large number of movies are set in Paris, London, or NYC but to see something set in Bcn...... I'm so excited. Since the movie isn't Austin's #1 pick, we're going to see it at the Alamo Drafthouse which, as far as we've heard from the many people who have recommended it, is a nice theatre where you are can also have beer. Sounds like it might be a good compromise venue.

Other than that, I think they'll be more gaming, studying, and footballing going during a beautiful weekend in Austin.

Organizational/School Items, By Request

My friend, S, is a lot like me in that she also enjoys back to school and organizational items. Here are a few of my new favorite things.

Backpack:

Yay, Jansport, it's also the brand of my tromping-across-Europe pack.



It has an interior, back pocket for my laptop.



I also got a new tea mug since Austin's made my Earl Grey taste like coffee :-)
It was clear so we went to Archiver's and found some cool, die-cut swirly paper to spruce it up a little. I put it on the fireplace mantel with my favorite sculptures (from Pier 1) to shoot it.



And finally, our new mail sorter from The Container Store. It was sold as a magazine organizer but it works for what we want (though can swallow small things) and is really nice, bright fabric that matches our living room. It is hanging on the side of our big Ikea shelf right in the entry way.