ATX: Eating, Drinking, and Reminiscing

We spent part of this week in Austin!

JP created a new swim products company and has samples of his first product ready to go (more on that later), so we headed out on a promotional trip to all his swim contacts in Austin. We rented a little bungalow off South 1st with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, and a fabulous bamboo filled backyard that the kids LOVED.

It was a little crazy, as he was basically just calling up coaches and stopping by practices wherever he was invited, so the kids and I were often entertaining ourselves in random locations (like my best friend J's house which we crashed for about 5 hours on Monday; 6 kids, 2 moms, much chatting- thank you J!), but we still fit in some of our favorite hikes, parks, and margaritas.

hello lover

It was delightful to find that while Austin has grown up, out, and everywhere in between, a Polvo's frozen margarita is still the best margarita I've ever had. And in fact, all of our favorite hikes and restaurants remain existent and fantastic.

Bull Creek is still beautiful, though the water was so high we couldn't hike much of it. Cora was deeply skeptical of the waterfall. I'm not sure she's a fan of nature in any form.

hiking game face

We crammed in quite a few of our favorite restaurants- Kerbey Lane among them. My Eggs Francisco were a thing of beauty and Landon was quite proud of his full-sized grown up breakfast platter.

Claire didn't remember anything about Austin, and wasn't quite sure she ever lived here, but it's her hometown. We've had one kid for each place we've lived and this beautiful spot is Claire's.

True to form, Landon enthusiastically remembered everything, including several places we'd never been.

We hiked around Zilker and Barton Creek, meandering down a favorite path that leads to a view of downtown. I couldn't believe how different the skyline looked- I don't think I'd have recognized it without knowing what I was staring at. But it was still Austin- the place we met, fell in love, grew up, grew together. The city we came back to and bought our first house, found out how fun parenthood could be, and grew our family from 1 kid to a glorious 2. Unlike Chicago, which only I miss, I think both JP and I left a piece of our heart here.

We went to County Line, the only BBQ place I really like, at 4:30 and ate all the things on the menu with a few senior citizens because JP had to meet a coach at 6 p.m. I ordered the lean brisket with their beef rib- the only thing I've ever voluntarily eaten that requires me to touch a bone- and every bit of it was as delicious as I remembered. Apparently Cora thought so too as she took a giant bite and then held on tight while I tried to shake her off.

She's totally ready for college.

On Tuesday night our old nanny, Natalie, was free and came over to babysit the kids so JP and I could go out on a date. She was SO excited to see "her kids," Landon and Claire, and to meet Cora, and got all misty-eyed when she saw how big the big kids had become. I don't miss needing a nanny after daycare, but I definitely do miss her!

JP and I drove down 6th street, reminiscing about the night we met, and then continued on to the more grown-up West 6th and stopped in for a few drinks, plus french fries for me. A Mexican martini, french fries, and a hot man in cowboy boots, great jeans, and a button down shirt- these are three very wonderful things.

We took the kids to campus on Wednesday morning because Landon really wanted a Texas shirt and we realized that none of our children had anything with a longhorn on it and we were failing in our duties as UT grads. We parked at the Coop, picked up a few Texas shirts and a jacket for JP because it was freezing in Austin and we didn't pack properly, and then used our remaining minutes of free coop parking to take the kids across Guadalupe to campus.

As we crossed onto the West Mall, Claire exclaimed, "YES! THIS is COLLEGE!!". A girl was walking behind her and laughed, saying she wished she was so excited to be there. I think prior to that moment, "college" was just a mythical place she heard JP and me talk about rather wistfully.

I love that campus. I love that city. Some of my best memories are were made there. But as much as I love it, and as much as I miss some of the people still living there, it wasn't home anymore. Home is Fort Worth, where we have time for hobbies, each other, swim product companies, and third babies. And there's no traffic and we never drive more than 5 miles to anywhere.

Austin remains, however, a fantastic place to visit. We need to get there more often.

Tidbits Illustrated

Because I seem to only blog in bullets now, and I need to watch the new Mad Men before I go to bed (which needs to be very soon because we went on another road trip this weekend and anything that is not sitting on my couch for at least 8 hours/weekend day makes me exhausted), I present, the last few days:

1. I watched Claire out of the corner of my eye and realized she is very much a little kid/girl now. She's feisty and extremely sweet, but no matter what JP still calls her, she really isn't the Biscuit any more.

2.5 years later, Claire wants to know what is the hold-up on our grocery shopping;
oh nothing honey, just being pregnant and reminiscing on the driveway

2. We got a pool cover for our pool, brought to you by our tax refund (which I was initially excited about until I realized we got it because we made so much less money in 2012 than we did in 2011) and Claire's newfound ability to open our exterior doors all by herself.

$2,000 of custom-made couture pool netting;
will hold up to 400 lbs. above the water and goes beautifully with your zebra print swim suit

3. Studious Bear went with me to Starbucks on Friday when my office was closed (we're moving floors) and she woke up with a perfectly timed low grade fever (her first in five months; she's so cooperative). She worked much harder on her Leap Pad than I did on my 10-K reading. She also kept stealing sips of my "Foffee" (aka tall non-fat no-foam chai tea latte, the only chai tea latte I've ever liked and the only thing I've ever ordered at Starbucks; so delicious).

 

4. Landon helped me bake brownies on Friday afternoon while Claire when sleeping off her low grade fever and I needed more chocolate in my life.

 

5. Claire woke up fever-free, so we decided to celebrate JP's highly successful first week of the swim school (and my overwhelming pizza craving, and the beautiful weather outside) with a trip to our favorite pizza place in the whole world. We hadn't been since before he lost his job and it was SO MISSED. JP was on a call with a client during the ordering, so somehow we ended up with a full order of giant pretzels and an extra large pizza. Pregnant ladies are expensive and full of carbs.

 

6. We took a road trip to Austin/San Antonio this weekend to stay with some friends on the way to see my four grandparents in San Antonio. My mom's dad (of the Silver Lake lake house) is not doing very well with his back and hip and is having a very big surgery next Monday, so we wanted to make sure we saw him before the big day, and we were overdue on a visit generally. Since it's hard to stay overnight at the retirement center with the kiddos, it works out quite well to do the 3 hour jaunt to Austin on Saturday afternoon, stay with our friends (whose daughter is bffs with Landon), head out Sunday morning for the extra hour to 'Tonio (as Claire calls it), visit with the great-grands, and then leave for the 4 hour drive back in the early afternoon. Last night was a night of fajitas, watching four kids giggle and play in the hot tub and all over the backyard, and then listening to the kids not-sleep for much of the evening and very early in the morning.

Here they are bright eyed and bushy tailed, about to leave for 'Tonio to meet the grandparents from brunch. Claire started crying like 5 seconds later because, you know, tired.

 

7. We enjoyed a delicious brunch with all four great-grandparents, which was just wonderful. When we were thinking of moving back to Austin, one of the biggest items in its favor was being only an hour away from the great-grandparents again.

Claire does nothing half-heartedly, especially hugs

The kids were admired by many a retired-military person and spouse and took a ride in my grandpa's orthopedic space chair before we piled back in the car and headed home.

 

Speaking of home, we drove by our old house on the way out of town. It looks great and the HOA built a nice park behind it, which kills me because that would have been SO NICE to have a short walk away and I can't believe they added it months after we left. We really like Fort Worth, and love this house and our gorgeous, old neighborhood, but I couldn't help but think how much our old house was designed for our family of five and our new one is not. Then again, if we'd stayed in that house we'd both be in our old jobs with full-time daycare and a part-time nanny and we'd have all the baby things stored in our giant attic and walk-in closets and we'd probably never have decided to have baby #3 at all. So clearly, the only way to make baby bean III happen was to move to a smaller house with no closets and no attics, make way less money, and give all the baby stuff away.

I like how it's worked out for us so far.

Now, on to Mad Men, week 10 of pregnancy, and my second round of Angel food cake topped with strawberries and an indecent amount of whipped cream. For the baby.

Looking for Level

I mentioned ups and downs a week ago, but they were nothing compared to the ups and downs of the past few days.

JP continues to job search. He has resumes out at three Fort Worth companies (and several out of state companies), each of which he's had some sort of lead or contact with. There's hope, but not much progress. Sometimes I forget he's unemployed- since he's worked from home the past 7 months, it doesn't seem like much has changed. The kids just have a shorter day at school (they've switched to the part-time program, which is 9-2:30, 5 days a week) and he does all the pick-ups and drop-offs. Then there's also the evenings where he's depressed or frustrated and I can't help him, or the times I'm annoyed at something little but feel like I can't/shouldn't bother him with it, but then if I don't, I end up stewing on it and mess up the fact that our relationship is founded on the fact that we're both upfront about things like that and fix it early.

So you know, other than that, it's like nothing has changed.

 

Our realtor had the virtual tour done for our house in case we need to list it. We toured a (much) smaller (cheaper) home in a nearby neighborhood with a better elementary school. Our future is full of contingencies right now. Fully researched, carefully considered contingencies.

 

JP turned 31 on Thursday. The kids were overjoyed. JP was reflective and sad going in (lying in bed Wednesday night, "this is just not where I thought I'd be at 31."), but enjoyed the surprise Angry Birds breakfast when he got home from swim practice and dinner of pad thai and cookie cake (the homemade cake did not work out, but all the batter I ate in the process was still delicious).

I made up the table before the kids woke up and Landon was so excited he decided to hide to surprise JP when he got home from swimming. I tried to warn him that it would be a while, but Landon crouched behind the chair in the living room for 25 solid minutes, only to be overcome and jump out of his spot as soon as he saw JP's lights pulling up the driveway at 7:30 a.m., totally blowing the surprise factor. His face when he realized he was out of position when JP walked in the door was priceless and adorable. Claire sang "Happy Birt-day to Clairebear" on a continuous loop, occasionally replacing her name with "daddy," and always dancing and smiling with joy. It's hard not to love a birthday with kids around. So, up.

 

Then, down. On Friday my grandpa took a sharp turn for the worse in his recovery from spinal surgery. I hadn't written about his troubles yet, mostly because I just kept thinking they'd go away. The persistence of them, and how deeply they've started to affect him, finally hit me this week. He is, was until recently, the most active, loud, inquisitive, caring, positive, hard-working, stubborn, OPTIMISTIC person I know. I used to call him on a bad day in law school just to get the 4-minute "you're wonderful" pep talk he and my grandma invariably dished out (not that they knew I was calling for that purpose, but they never talk long, and they always make you feel a combination of warm and fuzzy and f-ing amazing every time by the time you hang up). I love him very much.

at Silver Lake in 2010

He's been in pain for months from long-time complications from ejecting him his shot-down fighter jet in Vietnam (a move that earned him a Purple Heart and compressed spinal nerves) and he recently had surgery to improve the situation. And it seemed the situation was improved, but then the pain came back, much more severe than before. It was constant and it was wearing on him in a way I don't think we, or certainly not I, fully understood. By Sunday, he couldn't get out of bed and was transferred by ambulance to the hospital. He had surgery again on Wednesday but was not doing well. He called me on accident Friday and our 90-second conversation had me crying in my office for a half hour. He wasn't lucid. He told me three times "I'm just not doing well, I'm just not doing well." I didn't know who that man was.

 

We drove to Austin Friday afternoon. We had been planning to go on Saturday, to stay with close friends and celebrate JP's birthday with a double-date night at our favorite restaurant (Moonshine, get the trout with cornbread stuffing), with Natalie (former part-time nanny) babysitting the four kids. All four of us couldn't wait. We moved the trip to Friday because of a scheduling conflict with Natalie and to allow us time to drive to San Antonio to see my grandparents if possible and needed. My mom was there, her two sisters and brother had all been there, and everyone was taking 2 days at a time to keep my grandma company as she tried to keep up with my grandpa and the doctors at the hospital.

We had an amazing time out with our friends on Friday. Moonshine had a 90 minute wait, but we got some drinks, tucked ourselves in the corner of the patio, and talked non-stop. JP and M talking about entrepreneurial plans; J and me talking about everything from babies to law firms, to raising children without eating disorders to euthanasia (it was that point of the convo that the husbands checked in and then immediately checked back out, and our parallel conversations resumed). Dinner (and the shared conversation) was amazing. The drinks were even better. We stopped at not one, but TWO bars on the way home and pulled back up at their house minutes before midnight. I barely recognized us. And the whole time I kept checking my phone and reading updates from my mom, "Gpa very fevered, labored breathing, not lucid at all." "Gma is scared, having trouble keeping tears away." And then I'd feel bad I was laughing so hard with the boys and J between the texts.

 

On Saturday morning we went on our favorite Austin hike, with J and M's little girl showing great prowess as a "hikist" and their 9-month-old slumped in a happy little ball in Claire's hiking backpack. I talked to my mom while jumping on rocks across a small stream. My grandpa was doing better, he was in the surgical ICU, visitors were tightly regulated and my uncle was flying back in. They were glad we offered to come, but thought we should wait until Thanksgiving as planned.

 

We went back to our friends' house and spent a couple hours lightly supervising the four kids playing with each other (except for their 9-month-old, who I stole for my exclusive entertainment at all opportunities), watching football, and eating Mexican food. We headed home at 2:30, 22 hours after arriving, feeling like it was a fantastic trip, even given how surreal it was to have such a sharp, bright amount of fun amidst a backdrop of so much worry and tears. It was, I think, exactly what we needed.

Today we found a new park and river in Fort Worth to jump around on and explore. We climbed a rock mountain, scurried up ropes, and flew high on swings. We grocery shopped. We picked up acorns in the front yard. I made my mom's spaghetti sauce. My Grandpa continues to improve in lucidity, if not pain management. JP is next to me. I feel very peaceful, despite the stress that I know lurks within (and despite the hour of zombie fighting Walking Dead gore I just watched).

As my grandma always says, life is good. Even while it sometimes is not.

Home the First

We have cable! We're closing tomorrow morning! We're moving tomorrow... sometime. We're unpacking tomorrow night super late!

Fort Worth: New Adventure 2012 is a GO.

Which means we have to say goodbye to this house, our first house. When we moved in, Landon was 11 months old and I was studying for the Bar (or not studying, depending on the day). JP got his MBA, started a business, ended a business, looked for work, found work. I was pregnant again- quite unhappily at first- and then we met our beautiful baby Claire. Landon learned to walk- learned to do pretty much everything- and fell in love with his baby sister. It's been a good 4 years. Some ups and downs of course, but overall, quite good. I'll miss it, this lovely stone house and our wonderful neighborhood, but I think I'll miss the time we spent here even more. But oh am I excited about our next stop.

And in other good news, beyond the existence of internet in our house and the potential of our owning it by noon tomorrow, JP had his performance review today and got super high marks and a much bigger bonus than we expected! I'm so, so happy for him. Not only is the money coming at a really good time (renovations! JP's dream for a fire pit in the backyard may come to fruition), but he was so tickled and proud and excited... I'm just so happy for him. I got all teary when I read his performance review tonight and I could see him watching me with a proud smile he was trying to keep off his face. Much kissing followed. Man did I miss him.

I drove home without stopping tonight, barely staying with my "don't go more than 8 mph over the speed limit" rule, because I was overwhelmed by the need to see and touch and hold my family. I spent 3 nights away, really 4 nights given how early I left Monday morning, and I was fine. It was the longest I'd even been away from them, but everything was so busy with the new job, new house, big move, and new trilogy, that I felt like I was living in some sort of twilight zone with no time to miss anybody. But once I got on I-35 towards Austin, I suddenly couldn't stand it. I needed them. I called JP and begged him to keep the kids up until 8. I pulled in the driveway at 7:53 and flew up the stairs calling their names. Landon ran out to give me a hug, and Claire followed close behind, clutching a flashlight under one arm and a firetruck book under the other. I will never forget her face as she turned the corner and saw me- it was excitement to see me, sadness to realize I'd been gone, panic at not knowing what to do with all these emotions... even now I can't get it it out of my mind and can't stop alternatively wanting to laugh and tear up at how overwhelmed she looked. She dropped the firetruck book for faster land speed (kept the flashlight though, practical girl) and launched herself at me.

I really missed them. After we put the kiddos to bed, I spent about 60 minutes talking non-stop to JP. It appears I might have been lonely. It's nice to be home, which really, is wherever JP, Landon, and Claire are.

Which tomorrow, will be in Fort Worth!

8 Days

We listed our house last Thursday afternoon, spent six hours in Fort Worth on Saturday, bought a house in Fort Worth on Monday, got two offers on our house on Wednesday, and went under (a seriously great) contract on Thursday. Both houses were inspected yesterday and we're moving forward on all fronts. It has been a crazy few days. And now I've been wasting many many minutes looking up furniture for the new house. I know I need to be reasonable and decorate slowly and use all of our existing furniture for at least a while (and I will), but it's such a different house and I just want to change EVERYTHING. At the least it's fun to look and plan and it distracts me from the thought of actually moving all our stuff.

My last day of work is three weeks from yesterday. I start at the new job three weeks from Monday. It's all getting so close! Amidst all the madness, we're trying to hit up our favorite Austin haunts and restaurants. Last Sunday, when it was 38 degrees and we were kicked out of the house for five hours for showings and the open house, we went to our beloved Bull Creek Park and then for a hike in a new spot- up a cliff that borders Lake Austin and the 360 bridge.

rocks and sticks- what could be better?


rock-skipping lesson


taking this picture made mommy nervous

I'm really going to miss this city. (But oh I'm so excited about the next one!)

New Adventures

We celebrated New Year's Eve with my favorite blend of relaxed family fun and relaxed romantic fun. For the first part, I baked two kinds of dessert (s'more bars and brownies) and we had some friends and their kids over for sparklers and contraband roman candles. It was fun and everyone was gone and our kids were in bed by 7:30. Then, for the second part, JP and I cooked up a fancy home date night- filet mignon, twice-baked potatoes, fresh veggies, bread, wine that cost more than $8 (it was $11 and it was good), and champagne. We dressed up, we ate over the light of a single candle (I swear we used to own more, but we couldn't find them), and toasted to a wonderful year behind us and the possibilities of a wonderful year before us. We didn't stay up until midnight, but it was a perfect New Year's Eve anyway.

And in the spirit of the new year that began today, I baked cinnamon rolls from scratch for the first time ever -- from scratch!

 

Thank you Pioneer Woman for your recipe and step-by-step pictures.

 

Also in the spirit of the new year, I went on a run this morning before baking, so when I ate two of these babies immediately out of the oven, I felt I was in a place of perfect caloric karma.

 

The kids liked them too. Landon licked off all the frosting before eating; Claire just sucked off the frosting and abandoned the dessicated doughy bits. Efficient.

Our goal for this year is to go on more adventures. Simple ones, big ones, family ones, career ones... I think it's going to be a year of them.

One little adventure we had the other day was a day trip to Pedernales Falls State Park. I camped there as a little girl and remembered it being so far away, but as it turns out, it's only about 40 minutes from where we live now! It was a beautiful day and we had a blast hiking on the trails and then climbing up and over rocks around the falls.

After two hours of constant up and down, climbing and jumping, my legs were shaking and even JP admitted we were getting a work out. I don't know if I'll ever belong to a gym again (JP currently has a solo membership), but hiking outdoors is the kind of exercise I enjoy and hope to do more of this year. Adventures- it's going to be a theme.

I'm watching The Waitress on Lifetime because both my kids are asleep and JP is at practice swimming some ridiculously hard New Year's set that sounded more like punishment than the two hours of awesome his excited tone implied and my kitchen is clean and my work laptop is broken (it was an accident I swear) so I can indulge in a bit of daytime TV. Keri Russell just had her baby, and she's holding her saying, "We're going to have so much fun little girl. We're going to have SO MUCH FUN." And out of nowhere it made me cry (I'm not pregnant, I swear).

Because we are. We're going to have so much fun.

Not Working

I like my job. Sometimes I even love my job - sitting in my beautiful office, drinking my 3rd or 6th cup of hot tea, talking to co-workers, researching cases, writing briefs. Finding that perfect quote from the perfect case to cite in a brief that tears the other side's brief apart- that's fun, and I enjoy it.

But you want to know what else is fun? Not working.

Not working is awesome. Being born with a trust fund really would have been the way to go. But then I probably wouldn't have grown up camping all over the US in a little white, orange, and brown striped trailer, creating die hard traditions over things like asparagus casserole. So I wouldn't change my actual family or childhood, but the trust fund thing would still be pretty cool.

Neither JP nor I have worked at all since the 23rd and it has been so wonderful. Christmas was lots of fun, but hanging out at home with the kids the past few days has been even better. We've done a lot of laundry, a lot of cleaning, a lot of organizing (all the Christmas presents have a home and all the Christmas decor is put away), a lot of playing, and a lot of just being. For example, today I felt tired around noon. I lay down in bed and woke up an hour later. JP was asleep next to me and both kids were asleep in their rooms upstairs. I rolled over into his arms and fell back asleep for another hour. Heaven.

In other examples- we've been hiking. Santa brought JP a hiking backpack so we could go on longer hikes around the Austin area without our arms feeling like they're going to fall off from holding Claire. The Bear-carrier is a slightlyly ugly, discontinued pea green color that made it $59 on ebags.com as opposed to $220 at REI. Personally, I think the color is bea-u-tiful.

As is Austin. We've gone on 2, 2.5 and 3 mile hikes around town and loved every minute. Landon is fast and adventurous, though when we're climbing something steep he likes to be in the middle, "so if I fall down, someone can catch me, and if I fall up, someone can catch me!" Exactly. When we were jumping from rock-to-rock over a river, and he had to scramble up a ledge nearly as tall as his head, I moved to help him, but he waved me off with a, "Don't worry mommy, I'm an expert climber."

Indeed.

We're heading to a state park tomorrow for some longer, fancier hikes and I can't wait. JP worked too much around Thanksgiving and I worked too much the week before Christmas - and I'm sure we'll both work too much again some time soon (though hopefully not at the same time), but as long as we can steal away days or even a full week like this, it feels like the balance gets restored, at least for a little while and I have loved every. single. second.