Friends and Family
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Summer Vacation, 2022
School starts next week. Buy a new backpack, meet the teachers, visit the classroom, and talk about “What you did during Summer Vacation”. A few minutes ago, Jae and I were talking about our summer, and I thought I’d write up the list. Our summer was packed – camps for the boys (Neuron Garage, DoubleCreek, EarthNative, Camp Allen), swim lessons at the Y, movies at the Drafthouse, challenging projects at work with ever-present pandemic complications, traveling to visit my parents in El Paso, camping in the Limpia Mountains, and a family trip to Santa Fe. Including stops for meals, fuel, and bio-breaks, the trip to Santa Fe was a little…
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Diwali
Sujata and Aaron hosted their inaugural Diwali party this week at their beautiful home in south Austin. Diwali is a Dharmic religious festival that typically takes place in October or November and symbolizes the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance”. The celebration includes home cleansing and decoration, fireworks, gifts, and partaking in a feast and mithai sweets. The kids made rangolis (pattern art made with colored sand) on the back porch, decorated little saaki lamps, and decorated themselves with temporary tattoos. Sujata gifted us a Masala Dabba spice box – she told me that her family tradition is for guests to return each…
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Kitchen Sink Upgrade as Plumbing Antics Continue
Our house was built in 1968. Young if you are a person, but old if you are plumbing. The plumbing in our house has been attempting to get our attention for more than a year now. Back in February 2011 Joey repaired the drain basket on our kitchen sink, and then almost immediately had to put in a new seal around the faucet. Sometime in the summer of 2011, Joey fixed the faucets in the bathtub of the green bathroom. The real insanity came in January of 2012, when the kitchen sink backed up, and the bathtub in the master bathroom leaked. Here we are in October of 2012, and…
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Waterlogged afternoon
Sujata and Aaron invited us over to meet Elias Aaron Camp, the newest member of their family on Sunday. We took BBQ and went over for the afternoon. We played with Satchel and held Elias. We took a dip in the totally awesome salt water swimming pool. As we were getting out of the pool, the weather went from lovely to quite threatening, with loud thundering. The party moved inside, where we ate dinner, talked, and watched Thomas the Train. By the time we left, the sky had opened up and was pouring rain. Joey got us home safely and pretty quickly given the weather. I am really looking forward…
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Asher in a tree
Today was my nephew’s third birthday party (his actual birthday was yesterday). His birthday party was at the Northwest Recreation Center. My older godson was very excited about attending the party because he remembered that the Northwest Recreation Center is the “park with the climbing tree”. He actually climbed the tree several times. I took a few nice pictures, all of which were vetted and approved by their subject. Joey has many more pictures of the party itself, which I am sure he will post in a day or two.
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Shopping with Mom and Laura
My dad had surgery on his back yesterday. My sister, Laura, and I came up to Maryland to be with my mom and dad for a few days. The surgery went very well, and Dad is resting and recovering. After visiting with Dad today, Mom, Laura and I went over to the mall and went shopping. Laura tried on some fancy gowns. She found a beautiful gown that looked amazing on her. Hopefully some wonderful patron will read this post and donate the money necessary to make the purchase. We left the gown on the rack, but I did get a picture. We shopped for a purse for mom, and…
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Liam and the dirty sheep
Several years ago I bought a pair of Haflinger slippers with a sheep on them. The sheep is gray. It started out gray. But Lee and Billy thought that it started out white, and that I just took such bad care of my things that they turned gray from dirt. They didn’t tell me that for a long time, it came out years after the fact. Of course, I still have the sheep slippers. We now refer to the slippers as the “dirty, dirty sheep”. Last week Joey was taking care of Liam and I was working in my home office. Joey, Liam and Elanor came in to visit for…
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Liam at the Grocery Store
I got Liam a onesie with a picture of a dump truck, and the words “Tipper Lorry” on it at the Brooklyn Flea back in July. It was way to big for him at that time, and he has finally gotten big enough to wear it. Billy sent me this photo while I was traveling yesterday.
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Trip to Austin and visit with friends
While I was in North Carolina I had a bit of a scratchy throat, and some allergy type symptoms. Nothing too terrible. Then I got on a plane and flew home. While I am glad to be home, the airplane air, and the pressure that flying put on my ears pushed me over into really congested and uncomfortable! I landed back in Austin later than expected due to a delayed flight out of Raleigh-Durham airport this morning. The flight delay was due to “crew rest”. Sujata commented on that, “crew rest = hangover”. In any case, the flight took off late enough that I missed my connection in Dallas, and…
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Walnut Creek Park
Kay, Daniel, LisaDiane, Ela, and I went for a walk through Walnut Creek Metro Park this afternoon. Ela was almost invisible as she led Daniel through the tall grass.
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Chuy’s and a Pub Quiz
Joey and I had a big social afternoon and evening. We started off joining Rachel, Debra, Asher, and Chiara at Chuy’s for a dinner and a lovely visit. Asher was wearing the shirt I brought him from Japan, and Chiara was wearing a hat that I made for her. I felt very special! Joey, however, was the favored guest because he gave Chiara a new copy of They Might Be Giants Here Come the ABCs. Years ago we took a copy of the original DVD so that we had a copy for the kids to watch at our house. The original had since gotten lost, and Joey made a copy…
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Salt crystals
Joey and Lee had vestry responsibilities at church, so Billy, Liam, and I hung out together for the evening. Once Joey and Lee got to our house, we had steak, asparagus, salad, and salt potatoes (see recipe below) for dinner. If you have never had salt potatoes, don’t let the amount of salt freak you out. The large amount of salt changes the boiling point of the water enough that the texture of the cooked potato is quite different than regular boiled potatoes. The skin gets a nice salty crust, and the inside is creamy and smooth. Although you can serve salt potatoes with a meal as we did, they…
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Seder Plate
Years ago Kathlyne and Ross invited Joey and me to celebrate the Passover Seder with them. I want to say it was the spring of 2000, but I could be wrong. Celebrating Passover became a tradition. Joey and I would go up to Fort Worth, or Kat and Ross would come down to Austin. We invited others to join us over the years. Sujata, Troy, Christinne, Kay, Lindsay, Don, Misty, Brian, Robert, Laura, Jason, and probably some other folks I am forgetting joined us one year or another. When Ross and Kat got married in January 2001, I found a beautiful crystal Seder plate. It was awesome. We used it…
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Burke and Michele sitting in a tree…
I just got an e-mail from Burke, and I must tell the universe… After ten years together, Burke and Michele got married on Sunday, 10 October 2010! The opening line of his e-mail was, “Since 10/10/10 is 42 [in binary], it seemed like a good day to elope. So we did! I *KNOW*! I was surprised, too!” Congrats and best wishes to the newlyweds!
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SoCRA
I dashed off to Dallas on Friday for the Society of Clinical Research Associates (SoCRA) Annual Conference, where I gave a presentation on Audit Readiness. The conference was really great, with many good speakers and interesting topics. I got to stay at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, and had a room on the thirty-first floor! An added benefit of the trip to Dallas was getting to hang out with Laura and Jason the day after their return from Amsterdam. I drove up to Denton to see them. Naturally I asked to go to Sweetwater for ceviche, and Beth Marie’s for ice cream. Reading that sentence, it dawns on me that beer,…
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Play doh monsters
Kay and Daniel came to visit us yesterday. We felt very lucky to see them before our trip to Amsterdam! Daniel played with the blue ball, and zoomed his race car around on the floor. He really got a kick out of making it drive under the couch, and then moving the couch. He actually moved it on his own several times – strong kiddo! At some point Kay pulled out the play doh that they had brought with them. Joey, Kay, and Daniel all played with the play doh (I was finishing my breakfast so that I could go to work). Joey made several sea creatures with his play…
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Delayed Shrug
Last summer I made Lee a shrug for her birthday. I almost finished an entire sleeve before I realized that it would be big enough for two of her. I ripped the whole thing out – this is called “frogging” in the knitting world because you rip it, rip it. I started again, but was disheartened by the set back, and took a LONG time to finish it. Her birthday is in July. I finally delivered it in November. The first time I saw her wear it I realized that the back was too broad. This was my own fault. I totally did not trust the pattern (in my defense,…
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Dinner at Chuy’s
Yesterday afternoon I suddenly realized that if Joey and I did not connect with the Serrins/Springfield clan that very evening, then we would not get a chance to see them before we leave town. I called up Rachel and asked if we could meet them for dinner. Thank goodness they were free! We had a delicious meal at Chuy’s, and we had a great time visiting. The kids really liked this stand-up of the Beatles, and I managed to get a picture of each of them. Rachel and my goddaughter taught me a song that Rachel wrote for the kids. The lyrics are: There was a lamb, his name was…
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Birthday Cake, aka – if you DO have a flame thrower…
Billy and Lee offered to host an early birthday dinner for me, since I will spend my birthday in Europe. We decided to combine the dinner with our regular Twenties and Thirties Design Team evening. Misty, Brian, and their boys, Don, Lindsay, Eric, Daniel, Lee, Billy and Liam were all there. Misty made some fantastic appetizers: asparagus frittata, potato frittata and cheesy poofs (not their real name, but we have to go with the South Park reference). Billy and Lee cooked spare ribs. Lindsay and Don made a lovely spinach salad. We all took turns holding Liam. Don was the only person who got caught on film! He had a…
- Abroad, Brooklyn, Friends and Family, Laura and Jason, Lisa and Tim, Manhattan, Massachusetts, New York, Tanglewood, Ted and Becky
More pictures from NY Trip – July 2010
Joey posted his pictures from our trip to New York and Tanglewood to Flickr. Lisa added more pictures to her NYC Staycation 2010 photo set on Flickr. Lisa’s pictures include some great photos of Laura singing at Tanglewood. Here is Joey’s album:
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Tanglewood – Summer 2010
My sister, Laura, spent the summer at the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, MA. She was one of the handful of vocal fellows who were invited to participate in the festival. During our time visiting Brooklyn, NY, Joey and I traveled with Lisa to Lenox, which is in the Berkshires. Lisa commented that the trip to Tanglewood made our experience of New York City in the summer very authentic – extreme heat and humidity, several days of riding the subway and pounding the pavement, and then an escape to the much cooler country! Tanglewood is an amazing place. It has all kinds of musical artists: instrumentalists, singers, composers, and conductors. …
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Brooklyn, New York – July 2010
Joey and I went to visit our cousins, Lisa and Tim, in Brooklyn, NY. We also got to spend time with our dear friends, Burke and Michele. We ate our way through New York, and walked across the rest of it (to make up for all the calories we ate). Lisa actually took the week off work to show us around. We fell in love with the Park Slope neighborhood in Brooklyn. Tim and I took a Saturday morning jog in Prospect Park, which is just a few blocks from Tim and Lisa’s place. We had a totally fantastic time! Here are a few of the places we went: We…
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Five states in nine hours
I previously posted about a crazy drive around Texas, during which we were in three cities in fourteen hours. Well, this past weekend I completely topped that when I went to see my mom and dad! I started in Raleigh, North Carolina at around six in the morning. I flew to Baltimore, Maryland, where my mom and dad picked me up. We drove through Maryland and Virginia on the way Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, where my mom works. I got to see Mom’s building, office, and classrooms. We walked around Shepherdstown, and had lunch in a nice tea shop. I browsed through the shops on the main street…
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Looking after Boston and Lola
Aaron and Sujata had to go to San Antonio for several days, and they asked us to look after their two dogs Boston and Lola (she was a show girl). Boston is a basset/springer spaniel mix, about four years old. Lola is a basset/rottweiler mix, about eight months old. They are both very cute! I love it when they sit or stand facing you, their paws look like they are in ballet first position. Lola, Elanor and Boston have been having a great time wrestling and playing in the backyard. Four dogs all at once is a bit of chaos, and feeding time is quite a circus, but we happy…
- Friends and Family, George and Nancy, Home, Jacob, Kay, Laura and Jason, Lee and Billy, Ted and Becky, Troy
Survived the Holiday Season
We did not take many pictures this year. No, not even Joey! Lee took this one of us together with the dogs on the night we put up our Christmas tree. We went to the Mercado Christmas celebration with Grandma Margaret on 24 December. We had a lovely Christmas Day meal with the Lupa/Carlson clan, Joan Jones, and the Reads. It was pot luck, so we didn’t have to do too much cooking, but we wound up with all the leftovers. Yum! Joey did make plum pudding, and it was a hit. George and Nancy joined us late in the evening on Christmas Day. We went to breakfast with the…
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Elanor trees a racoon
Elanor loves to stare up at the sky. Sometimes she chases and barks at things she sees as she looks up. Today she managed to spot a baby racoon. Not only that, she cornered it up the utility pole. She was insanely proud of herself. When we convinced her to come inside, she pranced around the house showing off. The next time I let her out in the yard, she ran back over to sit and stare up at the racoon, who was still on the pole! Actually, she managed to keep it up there all day. It was still on the pole when we closed up the house tonight.
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40th Wedding Anniversary
My mom and dad celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary today. I am so proud of them! They were married at Los Angeles Heights United Methodist Church in San Antonio, Texas on 13 September 1969. The spent the day together at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor to celebrate.
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Ginger Dogs
Recently Joey and I have been going to a great bakery that is just on the other side of I-35 from our house. The bakery is called Pablito’s. It is a family owned business. They have awesome empanadas, pan dulce, and all kinds of other baked goods as well. Joey really likes eating baked goods for breakfast, and their prices are so good that it is reasonable to go there frequently. My favorite item at Pablito’s is a ginger/molasses cookie in the shape of a pig. The ginger pig is soft, and not very sweet – more like bread than a cookie. About a week ago, it dawned on me…
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Changes at the House on Hornsby Street
Several people have given Joey and me grief over the years about our lack of furniture. Joey is not fond of stop gap measures, even when the “gap” is five years (amount of time we have owned our house) or eleven years (amount of time we have been married), so we still have the same furniture today we inherited when my folks moved to Pennsylvania! We know what kind of furniture we would like to purchase, but somehow it is never the top priority. Sujata and Aaron have decided that Joey is morally opposed to coffee tables. I do not think he hates them, but he does not have a…
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Dogs – 07 August 2009
Here are some recent cute pictures of the girls. As you can see, Elanor is way more interested in the camera than Katy!
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Mighty Cones!
Right after we got back from El Paso, Lee had a birthday. Billy and I went down to Hill Country Weavers to get her a present. Since I was on vacation, I slept late, and had not eaten breakfast or lunch when Billy came to pick me up to go shopping. We had fun in the yarn store, well, I did, and Billy worked on not killing me for taking so long. By the time we were done we had worked up an appetite! Next to Hill Country Weavers is a vacant lot, and over the past couple of years, the lot has begun to fill with food vendors. Billy…
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Opera in Dallas, A Weekend in Denton – May 2009
Last Saturday LisaDiane and I loaded Ela into the car and made a road trip to Denton to visit Laura and Jason and to see Laura’s new opera in Dallas. Ela stayed with Laura and Jason, and was well behaved around the cats (although she did knock over that one flowerpot in the living room). We visited our favorite stops on the square – Beth Marie’s Ice Cream, Jupiter House Coffee, and Recycled Books – and added a new favorite stop: Laura’s new business, Massage on the Square. Laura and her partner Wendy have opened a very comfortable, beautifully appointed studio right next to Recycled Books. LisaDiane blogged about it…
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My Nephew
Kay and Daniel came over to visit for a while today. We went to Tacodeli and spent some time hanging out in the deep grass in the back yard. That boy is super-cute.
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Maybe, if I’m really quiet, they won’t see me
Last weekend I went camping with some friends at Canyon Lake (a little west of San Marcos). Lee and I carpooled out to the campground. We loaded the car with gear and tied everything down before we loaded the dogs. Ela and Cali made the ride down without incident and with only a little whining. Saturday turned into a lovely day at the lake as we set up camp, made dinner, played Apples to Apples, roasted marshmallows, and counted stars – all the stuff that makes for a good camp out. We got up the next morning, everybody cooked breakfast, chatted for a while, and a little before noon decided…
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Massage on the Square
You may or may not know that in addition to being an amazing opera singer, my sister Laura is a registered massage therapist (RMT) in Texas. From the time she was a little kid she would volunteer to give people a neck rub, and everyone always said she did a great job. She took her natural talent to the next level when she attended massage therapy school between her undergrad and graduate degrees. She has been working as a massage therapist for about five years (I could be wrong here). She does all kinds of massage from hot rock to deep tissue. She is always looking to improve her technique…
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Camping at Willis Creek
Rachel, Debra, Joey, and I have been saying we would like to go camping together for YEARS! We finally managed it on Easter weekend. We decided to try out some federal camp grounds run by the Army Corp of Engineers. We wound up with a reservation at Willis Creek Park, which is on Granger Lake, near Taylor, Texas. The website indicated that the usual camping activities were available at the park: swimming, hiking, etc. As Rachel describes, this was only partially true. We actually had a great time despite the lack of formal activity. I got some much needed rest. We got to play with our godchildren, and visit with…
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Random Image Widget – Cousins
The Etherlimits main page has a random image widget at the top right corner. Each time you visit the page, you see a different picture. Today the random image was a picture of me and my female cousins in Market Square in San Antonio. This picture was taken right after my grandfather’s funeral on 09 January 2006. I totally love this picture, and since it is extremely unlikely that anyone else will see it on the random image generator, I thought I would share. The five granddaughters of Esperanza and Louis Rodriguez, from left to right: Madelynne, LisaDiane, Laura, Lydia, and Katie
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Hiking with Elanor on Wells Branch
We take Elanor to the park very often. She runs back and forth sniffing everything. She swims, or jumps around in the water. She plays with other dogs we meet along the way. She chases lizards and craw-fish. We usually hike in Walnut Creek Park. The park has three creeks: Walnut Creek, Tar Branch, and Wells Branch. Tar Branch and Wells Branch both empty into Walnut Creek, and then Walnut Creek flows out of the park, and eventually to the Colorado River. We usually play in Tar Branch and Walnut Creek upstream of the point where Wells Branch joins Walnut Creek. On this particular trip we went down to Wells…
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Aaron and Sujata’s New House
Aaron and Sujata just bought a new house. It is in Onion Creek, on the golf course. Actually, the golf course wraps around their house. Joey had gone over and looked at the house while Aaron and Sujata were still shopping, and he helped them move on Saturday, but I had not seen it yet. We were invited over for dinner, and to tour the house this past Sunday. The house has very high ceilings and so many windows! All the houses on their street are quite close together, but the windows are arranged to ensure privacy. The living room and kitchen/dining areas wrap around and open out onto a great…
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That was in your back?!
OK, I am in Florida again with my dad. He is having more of the laser surgeries for his back. One of the procedures they did was remove hardware from an old fusion that was done on his L4, L5, and S1 vertebrae. When dad told me they would be extracting screws from his back, I thought, small screws. Like the kind they use to put glasses together! That was not at all the reality. The reality is so creepy I have to share it with you! Upon seeing the picture, my co-worker joked that it was no wonder Dad was having back trouble if the package of Kleenex was…
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Canoeing on Lady Bird Lake
The All Saints’ Twenties and Thirties Group went canoeing on Lady Bird Lake on the same day as Daniel’s First Birthday Party! We had the perfect size group. Just enough people for three boats. Joey and I had a kayak. Don, Misty and Ewan had a canoe, and Brian, Robert and Greg had a second canoe. We started on Barton Creek, and headed down toward the lake. We turned upstream, since it is nice to have the current working with you on the way home. We paddled a good way upstream, but were forced to turn back downstream before we reached the MoPac bridge, because there was a regatta going…
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Daniel’s First Birthday Party
Our wonderful nephew, Daniel, turns one year old on 01 April 2009! His birthday party was held at his Uncle Troy’s house today. Asher and I enjoyed playing with the pirate themed party favors. The blocks we got for Daniel were a big hit with both Daniel and his cousin on his father’s side, Jonah. Happy Birthday, Daniel!
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Puppy Adventures
Here are the latest pictures of the dogs…
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Pictures of the hike with Megan and Robert
I mentioned a hike with Megan and Robert, and Megan’s dogs, Reese and Anna, in a previous post. Here are some pictures of the event.
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Workout Summary 08-14 March
total minutes = 210 total calories = 1696 Well, down again this week. I did Body Pump on Tuesday and Thursday, and Cardio with Debra on Friday morning. Being out of town on Saturday was one contributing factor. Also, I did not work out last Sunday or Monday. I have realized that if I don’t start the week with working out, I just don’t do as well all week! This week started off strong thanks to the hike with Megan and Robert. Also, I did Body Pump on Monday morning with Debra. I was so glad to have her join me, and to get to try out Robyn’s class.
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Weekend outings
Joey and I had a great weekend. It was an amazing mix of relaxation and seeing friends. Upon expressing my amazement at how relaxed I felt, Joey told me that ‘normal people’ (by this I assume he means people not raised in the Mercado house) have weekends like the one we had all the time. I am skeptical. Here is the run down: Friday evening and Satruday – I was at Camp Allen for the ECW Spiritual Growth retreat.Saturday night – Dinner with Megan and Robert at Taj PalaceSunday – Sunday School in the morning, nap, reading my book, and lunch.Sunday afternoon – Hike with Megan and Robert, and Megan’s…
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Trip to Fort Worth
Joey and I drove to Fort Worth on Friday night. The main purpose of the trip was to see Ross and Kat before they leave Texas and move to Baltimore, Maryland. Joey got us all packed for the trip, and arranged for Elanor to stay with Lee, Billy, and Cali. Troy came over to pick up Katy for the weekend. As he left our house, he was holding her bed, and the bag with her food, etc. He called Katy, she followed him into the driveway. Katy was confused about what car to get into, since the tailgate of our CR-V was open, she she stood behind the CR-V waiting…
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Valentine Dogs
Elanor and Cali asked me to post this picture. They wanted to share their kisses with everyone. Happy Valentine’s Day from LisaDiane, Joey, Katy, Elanor, and Cali!
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Recent puppy activities
Here are some photos of recent activities with the dogs. Cali is staying with us this weekend while Lee and Billy are in San Francisco for friend’s wedding.
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Chocolate!
Joey and I went to the big chocolate event at Billy’s school, The Texas Culinary Academy, last Saturday. There was an amazing amount and variety of chocolate items. Billy had entered the cupcake competition with his wonderful Texas Grapefruit and Dark Chocolate cupcakes. Joey and I toiled away a few weeks ago helping him pick the perfect flavor combination. By toil I mean eating a bunch of really yummy cupcakes – it was hard work, but what are friends for? The Choclate Event was fun, if crowded, and we got to see Billy looking official and wearing his chef outfit. Billy’s friend, Robin, had also entered the competition with some…
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Day with Asher
Today Asher came over to my house to play for a few hours. Rachel and Debra were able to go see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which they said was very good, if very long. Asher and I played with his encyclopedia. We read about Alcohol, Alexander the Great, and many other “A” words. We put together the Latin America puzzle, in alphabetical order, of course! We spent much of our time looking at my atlas, which, according to Asher, “will tell us where we are”. We looked up Andora in the index. He noticed that not only did the index give a page number, it also gave numbers…
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“Helping”
Elanor thought she would help Joey wash all the blankets and sheets from our guest rooms, but I don’t know how helpful she was… …cute she has covered!
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9th day of Christmas
Laura and I started the morning with a trip to the gym. We took a Body Pump class. Laura did great, and even got a compliment on her performance from the lady standing behind her. The class was at the Hester’s Crossing gym, and I decided I don’t like the group exercise room as much as I like the one at Tech Ridge. It is much harder to see the teacher, and I am uncoordinated enough to really need to see the teacher! It was a good class, and we got a great workout. After our workout, Laura and I dropped by to see Rachel, Asher, and Chiara. Asher was…
- Debra and Rachel, Elanor, Friends and Family, Home, Kay, Laura and Jason, Lee and Billy, Lindsay and Don, Misty and Brian, Ted and Becky, Troy
New Year’s Day
Yesterday Joey and I hosted our tenth annual New Year’s Day party. A great group of people showed up! We ate hoppin’ john, bean soup, and sausage balls (aka meat cookies). Dad, Asher, Laura and Joey decorated the garage and side walk with chalk. The Etheredge siblings were all present, and our nephew Daniel was charming, as usual. Chiara played with Elanor. Lee and Billy brought their friend Melissa, who talked physics with Dad, and then discussed opera with Laura and Alissa! We finished the evening with a round of Apples to Apples. In short, it was a wonderful day, a perfect start to 2009.
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Etheredge Christmas – the third day
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me… family, a bell mishap, and a shopping trip. Troy, Kay, Andrew, and Daniel all came over to our house for breakfast on Saturday, 27 December. Andrew and Dad cooked eggs and sausage. Joey made sticky buns and hot sauce (not to be eaten together, those are just the things he prepared). Everyone sat down and we really enjoyed the meal. Next we opened our presents. I got a perfume, and framed picture of Joey and me from Joey. Troy gave us a copy of his wedding video, and a gift card to Alamo Drafthouse. Kay, Andrew and Daniel…
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Christmas Eve, and the first day
Many of you know that I absolutely insist on Christmas being celebrated during the actual twelve days, and Christmas Eve. Joey and I usually set up our tree on Christmas Eve or the eve of Christmas Eve. This year we set it up on Tuesday, 23 December, 2008. Lee and Billy joined us. Lee helped me hang the lights. Joey made hot chocolate. We got the tree up and decorated in record time. On Christmas Eve Joey and I slept late, and then got up and did some chores around the house. Joey put up the lights on the exterior of the house. Then we drove down to San Antonio…
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Backyard Project
And in the fourth winter Joey said, “let there be grass”, and there was grass, and it was good. Ok, well, there is not grass yet, mainly mud… let me back up. When we moved into the house four years ago, the backyard was all weeds. We never minded much. KatyDog was thrilled to have a backyard at all. She didn’t complain about the lack of grass. Also, since she mainly likes to find a sunny spot and lie down, she did not really put to much stress on the vegetation that was there when we moved in. The horrific drought, on the other hand, really did a number on…
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Etheredge Family Gathering
Joey and I are so lucky to live in the same city with his siblings. Although we did not spend the day of Thanksgiving with our Etheredge family, we did see them over the weekend. Christinne’s folks, Dave and Sarita, were in town, and we got to visit with them as well. Everyone assembled at our house in the afternoon, and we visited and relaxed. Daniel met Elanor; they seem quite fond of each other. Babies and dogs make for really cute pictures. Daniel got to hang out with Uncle Troy and Aunt Christinne, and also met Dave and Sarita for the first time. Troy brought Ziegy over as well,…
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Thanksgiving Part Two
Thanksgiving weekend was full of wonderful food. Not only did we get invited to Aaron and Sujata’s on Thursday, we were also invited to Lee and Billy’s for a Thanksgiving feast on Friday. Lee and Billy celebrate with Lee’s family on Friday – their drive down from the DFW area is much less crazy on Thursday than it would be on Wednesday. Joey and I were really grateful to be asked to join their family gathering. We had a lovely time visiting with the Cagle clan: Roy, Becky, Anne, Chris, Rachel, and Emily. We were also joined by Lee and Billy’s neighbors, Carson and Robert Alexander. The food was fantastic. …
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It is a doggy dog world
Elanor has definitely made a place in our hearts. Here are some more pictures of her from the past week. She went with us to Lee and Billy’s house this past Friday. She and Cali played with one of Cali’s toys in the backyard. You can see it in a couple of the pictures – a dino cuz. It is hard rubber, it squeaks, and it has a dinosaur tail – what more could you want in a toy? Not much if the fun that Cali and Ela had is the measure we are using to judge! Elanor’s bed arrived on Friday. She has already made it her own by…
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Thanksgiving Day
Joey and I realized about a month ago that we were completely foot loose and fancy free this Thanksgiving. For the first time since we have been married, we were not hosting Thanksgiving, and we were not traveling somewhere for Thanksgiving. Although we were stunned at this turn of events, we were very pleased about the situation! Aaron and Sujata invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner at their house. We were more than happy to accept the invite. Joey went over to help them set up on Wednesday. He even assembled one of the many pies. It turns out that Aaron and Sujata were not hosting an ordinary Thanksgiving dinner…
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New puppy! Welcome, Elanor!
After much debate and consideration, Joey and I decided on which dog we wanted to adopt. I went and got supplies for a new dog: bed, crate, food, food bowls, toys, leash, etc. Last Friday Joey and I went to pick up our new puppy. She is a yellow lab. She is just about one week shy of one year old. Here are some more stats for those of you who like to know the size of things: she is fifty-five inches long from the tip of her nose to the end of her tail, her tail is sixteen inches long, and she is twenty-one inches tall at the shoulder.…
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A little house shopping (Not for us :-)
Here are some pictures of a house I looked at with Troy this morning.
- All Saints', Camp Allen, Diocesan ECW, Friends and Family, Lee and Billy, Lindsay and Don, Misty and Brian, Twenties and Thirties
Episcopal Church Women Annual Meeting and Retreat
Many of you know that I was president of the Episcopal Church Women at All Saints’ Episcopal Church back a few years ago. The last year of my tenure, our church hosted the Annual Meeting of the Diocese of Texas Episcopal Church Women. The meeting was well received, and everyone had a great time. It was a really tough job, and I was glad to take a break and relax once it was done. Apparently people sat up and took notice of the job I did as Annual Meeting Chairperson, because this past spring I got a call from the president of the Diocesan ECW, Anne Hart, asking me to…
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Picking a new family member
Joey and I have had KatyDog for eleven years. She used to have trouble playing well with other dogs. Lee and Billy have a dog named Cali, who has become a friend and playmate for Katy. Based on Katy’s interactions with Cali, Joey and I decided that we could add a new dog to our family. Joey really wanted a big dog, specifically a lab. Since I had no particular opinion on that count, I was happy to go with his suggestion. I got in touch with Heart of Texas Lab Rescue. There is a very elaborate process for adopting a dog: application, phone interview, meet and greet, home study,…
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Daniel, a baby on the move!
Kay, Andrew, and Daniel came over for lunch on Wednesday. I was working, but managed to escape my office for part of their visit. Joey grilled some chicken and made salt potatoes and a field green salad. (Have I mentioned that having a house husband is great? It is even better when you work from home AND he can cook 🙂Kay looked through the bags of clothes from my closet cleaning project and found a couple of dresses. Daniel has always been advanced in the mobility department. As of Wednesday (a lifetime ago for a baby, so this might have changed already) he was crawling, bear crawling, pulling up on…
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Clean Closet
Last weekend Kat and Ross were here in Austin. They arrived in Austin before I got home from North Carolina. Saturday morning as I was unpacking, I decided my closet needed some help. I had lots of clothes that I never wear in my closet. Due to lack of space, some of the clothes I actually wear were in the sewing room closet. Kat helped me weed through all the clothes in both closets. We made several piles: clothes I still wear, things that don’t fit, but that are in good shape, and I would wear again if they fit, stuff that I just don’t wear anymore because it is…
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Halloween revisited – Dragons return
In my earlier post about Halloween, I posted pictures of my godson’s various costumes over the years. I also posted a picture of my goddaughter’s first Halloween costume. I did not have this picture at the time, but I feel it definitely belongs in the collection. This is Joey and my nephew, Daniel, in his first Halloween costume. You may recognize it as the same dragon outfit that Asher wore his first Halloween. Joey wore his big dragon costume again. The Serrins/Springfield family kindly lent the costume to Kay and Daniel. I do not know if it was Rachel or Debra, but one of them took this picture too –…
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Halloween away from home
I have had to be away from Austin for Halloween the past four years. Today made five halloweens away from home. I have missed every Halloween that my godchildren have experienced! Here are some examples of what I have missed… My company does a costume contest at each location. So instead of hanging out with my godchildren, I have had the pleasure of seeing grown people act crazy. Here is a small taste of what was going on at my office in Wilmington on Halloween. The Pac-Man and Miss Pac-Man costumes were pretty good. You can’t see them clearly, but there are also several ghosts in the group!
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Cat nip filled knitting frenzy
The other day I suddenly remembered a cute pattern (recipe, as K calls them) for Feline Dim Sum. No, not dim sum filled with felines! Knitted cat toys in the shape of a wonton or eggroll. I searched the web and found the pattern. Then I ran to my stash and found some scrap yarn. I knitted one up while dinner was cooking – it took about 20 minutes. I did not have any batting or other materials to stuff the toys with, so I called on my friend to see what she had. She came up with some fabric scraps that worked out very well. The actual knitting, stuffing…
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Mental Health Day
Lee has been working like crazy lately. Billy asked her to take a day off for mental health purposes. He asked Joey and me to join them for a day trip. We decided to drive out to Shiner, Texas to visit the Spoetzl Brewery. We had fun trying the beers that were on tap at the brewery. The tour was interesting, and we had a nice tour guide, but there was also a crazy tour guide who always sounded like she was angry. Billy and I had a good time laughing about how much she yelled. We also stopped into Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church in Shiner, which is one…
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Filter Poetry
So I’m sitting here at breakfast with Kat and she just demonstrated how you can use the power of the spam filter to create poetry. Open your spam mailbox, pick a subject line as your starting place, and just read each subject line aloud one after the other. Today mine is: Suffering from low self-esteem? Ever wished to increase your man’s size? Than do not miss the opportunity. Now you can easily put your most intimate problems to end. Get the pair of shoes you have been eyeing all season Branded shoes at affordable prices now Go to our online store to enjoy shoe heaven, as you will find what…
- All Saints', Friends and Family, Lee and Billy, Lindsay and Don, Misty and Brian, Twenties and Thirties
TnT trip to the Blanton Museum of Art
The All Saints’ Episcopal Church Twenties and Thirties decided to take a trip to the Blanton Museum of Art as a group. Most of us had never been there before, despite its location right in the middle of Austin. Misty found an engraving with a chubby Jesus. Lindsay was terrified that she might meet the same fate as St. Agatha. Trenton found a car that he could connect with. Joey found a penny. Jeff, Trenton, Joey and I got lost in a bunch of yellow noodles. Fun was had by everyone. After exploring the museum, we wandered over to The Dog and Duck for some dinner and beer. It was…
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LisaDiane’s Birthday – 09 September 2008
Karen suggested that we go to the Alamo Drafthouse to see Tron. As it turned out the showing that Joey and I were in town for was on my birthday. What could be better than Tron as part of a birthday celebration? Billy, Jacob, Joey, and I went to Sushi Sake for dinner. We ate appetizers and lovely sushi. After dinner we made our way down to 6th Street. We were a little early for the theater, so we went into Pecan Street Bar for some refreshment. We met up with Karen, got out tickets, and made our way to the theater. The pre-show was ads and documentary bits about…
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The Village of East Sound
We began our day today in the charming village of East Sound. Lovely morning, good breakfast, enjoyed exploring. Looking forward to tonight’s festivities. I’m so happy for my cousin 🙂
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Unexpected Day in Fort Worth
Joey and I got up early on Thursday, 19 June 2008, to travel to Troy and Christinne’s wedding in Cozumel, Mexico. We boarded the plane in Austin at 5:45 am for the forty minute flight to DFW. From DFW we were catching a connecting flight to Cozumel at 10:25 am. If any sane person had to guess, they would say five hours is plenty of time to get from Austin to DFW, find the correct gate, and board the second plane. If they were on our flight, AA1038, they would have been wrong. As we approached DFW, the pilot announced that we would have to circle for a about twenty…
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Hamilton Pool – June 2008
On Saturday LisaDiane and I went with some of our friends to Hamilton Pool. LisaDiane, Don, Coye, and Sydney drove out to the pool at about ten o’clock. Both Misty and I had commitments in town that left us free to leave at noon, so I hitched a ride with Misty and her boys. Brian is currently a pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago in the Pyrenees, so he was not able to join us this year (Brian – I’m looking forward to seeing pictures from Spain). Misty, the boys, and I got to Hamilton Preserve at about one o’clock. We had to wait about half and hour for a…
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A Day in the Park with Daniel and Kay – June 2008
Last Thursday LisaDiane and I went to lunch with Kay and Daniel. We went to Freddie’s on south first. Kay had never been to there and Freddie’s is so kid friendly that I thought we should help her get acquainted with it. We enjoyed some burgers and walked around the playground and took pictures of Daniel. I was a bit restless (the girls had chatted and eaten slowly – I had wolfed down my burger in a few quick bites and was in dire need of a walk to make amends) so I proposed we head over to the park for a stroll. We relocated to Zilker and I pulled…
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Afternoon with the Springfield/Serrins Family – 31 May 2008
Joey and I decided that it had been too long since we had spent some leisure time with our wonderful friends Rachel and Debra, and our godchildren. We went over to their place on 31 May 2008, and spent the entire afternoon, and even went out to Serranos for dinner. We had a great time just relaxing and visiting. Chiara demonstrated her sitting up skills. Asher and Joey built a marble run, and we had a terrific time having international “marble parties”. Just in case you haven’t had the pleasure of attending a marble party, they work like this: Asher decides where in the world the marble party will occur…
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Mayfield Park – May 2008
Mama and Papa came to visit Daniel, Kay, and Andrew. The day they left town, we had breakfast at Cafe Java with Troy and Christinne. After breakfast, we went to Mayfield Park to stretch our legs and get some fresh air, and walk of the yummy food. Mayfield Park includes a wonderful garden, and has peacocks. There was one peacock that really understood the program of showing off for the visitors. He stood around for twenty minutes while we took pictures. Here is a link with more information about Mayfield Park: https://www.austintexas.org/listings/mayfield-park-and-nature-preserve/6859/ We had a lovely lunch at home with Kay, Andrew, and Daniel. I got to hold Daniel for half…
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TnT Design Team Meeting – 10 May 2008
Joey and I are members of the All Saints’ Twenties and Thirties Design Team. The Twenties and Thirties group is mainly a fellowship group at our church, and despite anything Rachel says, it is not a singles group! The design team is a group of couples who get together to plan the upcoming events for the larger group. Happily, the other couples who are involved, Don and Lindsay, Billy and Lee, and Brian and Misty, are all really great people who enjoy the same things Joey and I do – good food, good wine, and good conversation. The design team gets together once a month, whether we need to or…
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Party at Don and Lindsay’s House – May 2008
Don successfully finished the semester, and Lindsay had a birthday. Double reason for a party! Joey and I met many of Lindsay’s high school friends. There was a shark piñata, but not for long! Check out the pictures to see the shark’s sad fate…
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Nancy and George Visit Austin – March 2008
Mama and Papa came to Austin to visit with Kay before Daniel was born. During the stay we decided to spend a day out all together. First we stopped by the fire station to visit with Troy. Then, in celebration of the lovely spring weather, we drove out to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The Wildflower Center is a remarkable garden and research station situated in suburban south Austin. Take a look at the center’s website: http://www.wildflower.org/
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Kat’s Birthday – February 2008
LisaDiane and I drove up to Fort Worth yesterday to eat cake, slay a piñata, and celebrate the beginning of Kat’s 32nd year on the eighth return of her birthday. Tim’s father was at the party and I spent some time chatting with him and Tim and Rod about home improvements, cellular networks, recumbent bicycles, and other worthy engineer topics while feeding my Yitzchak Spector glass a fair supply of bubbly sweet red wine. Kat made a wonderful yellow cake with rich chocolate icing – I had two pieces and took a big piece home after the party. Sad news for Fort Worth – Tagel is moving to Seattle to…
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The Crestview “Wall of Welcome” – February 2008
Kay, Troy, Mama, LisaDiane, and I ate lunch at Little Deli in Crestview on Monday. I had not been over there in a few months and so I did not know that Jean Graham had been hard at work on a beautiful new mosaic mural on the Woodrow side of the shopping center. Jean has been providing mosaic lessons and supplies to Brentwood and Crestview residents and this (nearly complete) mural titled the “Wall of Welcome” is the fruit of those labors. Here are just a few pictures from this pleasant addition to a pleasant neighborhood.
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Rachel’s Birthday Lunch at Freddie’s – February 2008
We celebrated Rachel’s birthday with a lunch party at Freddie’s on South First Street on Sunday. Children, dogs, and friends were in attendance. I got to play with Asher, Chiara, Keegan, Molly, and Lea while LisaDiane caught up with Audrey, Will, Maggie, and Jay. And there was birthday cake. With strawberries.
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Kay and Andrew’s Baby Shower – February 2008
On Saturday LisaDiane and the Zimmerman family hosted a baby shower for Kay and Andrew at the Zimmerman’s home in south Austin. We stuffed ourselves on snacks from Central Market, tasty homemade deserts, lime punch, and lemonade. Here are some photos from the party:
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Aaron and Sujata’s Wedding, Austin, Texas – February 2008
I am very pleased to announce that Sujata Prabhu and Aaron Camp were married on Saturday the sixteenth of February, 2008. LisaDiane served as Matron of Honor and I served as Best Man. The Bachelor-Bachelorette party was at Cafe Castronova Thursday night and we mingled with their new extended family at a pre-wedding open house in Lakeway on Friday. We spent the day Saturday at their fabulous wedding celebration at Arbor Point in Round Rock.
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Debra’s Birthday at Volente Beach – September 2007
What a relaxing party! Debra took her whole family out to Volente Beach for her birthday. Volente Beach is a small water park on the shore of Lake Travis (just northwest of Austin). They have nice sandy beaches, a few water slides, and (this last weekend) no crowds 🙂 We met at ZuZu’s for lunch and birthday pie and then drove out to Volente. Debra and I took turns swimming with Asher in the big kid pool and we all took turns riding the slides. I had a really nice time. Thanks Debra! Happy Birthday!
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at BookPeople – July 2007
We just got back from the BookPeople release party for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” – fun & chaotic. Thousands of costumed fans followed inter-laced carnival queues to see fire spinners, eat Gryffindor kettle-corn, join Luna and Neville for a wand dual, dunk Voldemort, listen to the Orchestra, and get a copy of the 7th and final Harry Potter novel. We bumped into Michelle and Hannah. Hannah looked like she was having a great time while she was officiating at the Wizard Battle booth. Lee and LisaDiane got their copies of the book shortly after midnight.
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A day with Papa in San Antonio – July 2007
LisaDiane and I spent Saturday in San Antonio with Papa – It was so nice to see him. Papa was in SA to attend Promise Keepers. We met him after the event and enjoyed an afternoon browsing in the shops on the Riverwalk, exploring the dragon exhibit at the Institute of Texan Cultures, and shopping in Market Square. We had dinner at El Mercado and bought desert at the candy counter at Mi Tierra.
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Logan, Utah – July 2007
Last weekend LisaDiane and I went to visit Laura at the Utah Festival Opera in Logan Utah. I was delighted to discover that Jason was also visiting Laura that weekend (it is always a treat to spend some time with Jason – the other other of a Mercado daughter :-). LisaDiane and I spent our days shopping in town and hiking in the canyons while Jason got in a little fly-fishing in the cold waters of the Bear River. The three of us spent our evenings at dress rehearsals of “Porgy and Bess” and “Il Ttovatore” — the performances were terrific (I learned that the anvil chorus is from “Il…
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Our Anniversary – July 2007
On July 4th LisaDiane and I had some friends over for a party to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary. We played games, grilled burgers and hot dogs, made ice cream and mojitos, danced, and socialized well into the night. We had a terrific time – it was a pleasure to spend time with everyone who came, and food hit the spot. I have finally finished eating the chocolate torte that Billy and Lee brought to the party – gotta remember to return that cake-taker.
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Krista and her Amazing Space – November 2006
Twas the night before Thanksgiving and we visited a friend of Ted and Becky named Krista. Krista is a creator. She is living in a renovation in progress – a retired trade school in south central Pennsylvania. She is transforming the space from sturdy-single-pane-school-house to fanciful-curvy-found-industrial-restoration. The space is sparkling textures, warm wood floors, pastel paint, futurist appliances, fiber-optic bath fixtures, and comfortable antique farm machines. Click. Look. Enjoy.
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Ted’s Haircut, Chambersburg, PA – May 2006
Work dictated that I travel to Hagerstown, Maryland, and I decided to use the opportunity to visit Mom and Dad in Chambersburg. They were good enough to pick me up at the airport and have me stay with them for a few days. Dad mentioned that he had been thinking of shaving his head and mustache. I told him if he wanted help, I would wield the clippers. Mom had her doubts, and Laura declared, “He has been threatening to shave his head forever, and he is never going to do it!” …that was all it took. We went to CVS to get the proper head shaving supplies: gel shaving…
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Lata’s Sushi Party – April 2006
On the last evening of our week off, LisaDiane and I joined Aaron and Sujata to celebrate Lata’s birthday with a sushi party. Aaron cooked about 5 pounds of rice and we took turns rolling our favorite rolls and sharing them at the table. Aaron and Sujata had done a terrific job of shopping for ingredients – they selected a very nice sake, toro, ebi, and a fabulous squid salad which we enjoyed while we worked.
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Spring Bluebonnets
Kay, Troy, LisaDiane, and I took these pictures in a field of Bluebonnets near Rachel and Debra’s house in Pflugerville on April 16, 2005. Then I took them home, moved them onto the computer and promptly misplaced them. Ten months went by and then, a couple of weeks ago I was cleaning out some files on Continuity’s storage array and found an archive with some image data in it and *voila* the bluebonnet pictures resurfaced. So here they are… some pictures we took last year.
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Grandpa’s Memorial Services – January 2006
Sunday January 8, 2006 and Monday January 9, 2006 Lisa Diane and I celebrated Grandpa Louis at two wonderful solemn memorial events. On December 30, 2005, Grandpa Louis Rodriguez passed away. Grandpa Louis was married to Esperanza for 63 years, raised six children – scientists, soldiers, businessmen, teachers, and musicians – and shared his smile and charming character with the world. He was a charter member of the Pan-American Golf Association, sang with the San Antonio Chordsmen for 20 years, and retired from Southwestern Drug Corporation in 1983. His family and friends gathered at the funeral home on Sunday night. Members of the Chordsmen sang, friends told stories about his…
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Dialogues of the Carmelites – January 2006
Great show. Real guillotine. Principle overcomes fear through fellowship and faith. Faced with death, nuns lose their heads. Laura was terrific. Our trip up to Fort Worth was the first part of a whirl through central Texas – we went to the opera on Friday, celebrated Dory’s 80th birthday in Houston on Saturday, and sang at Grandpa’s memorial services in San Antonio on Sunday and Monday. Not only did we see the opera and get to spend time with Laura, Jason, and Nathan, but I finaly got a chance to meet Mary and Gordon.
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Thanksgiving in El Paso – November 2005
LisaDiane and I spent Thanksgiving week with my parents in El Paso. She and I had just recovered from a couple of weeks of flu, so we took it easy – LisaDiane spent a lot of time knitting, we took a drive through the upper valley, we had lunch at Little Diner in Canutillo, and we saw a couple of movies (’Good Night and Good Luck’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’). Toward the end of the week we were feeling a little more adventurous, so we went hiking up above the theater in McKelligon canyon and then drove to Chico’s Tacos for some lunch.
