Austin ModHouse

the two older kids had friends over for their birthday party.  the daughter's birthday is during the summer when her friends are often out of town and unavailable.  she has been using her 1/2 birthday combo party format to have both their parties at once.

#1 son said his favorite part was when he was part of the chicken dog circus show.

I think we had our last combo; #1 son/daughter, party.  the daughter only has a few months left in elementary school.  this was change she had been sad about.  they recently had a field trip to experience some of the programs at the middle school and she now seems to be looking forward to it.  her friends suddenly seem much older, and many did wander off while the chickendog circus was happening.  sort of made me sad as even the adults enjoyed the show, but the girls are getting to that age...

sunday:  we stayed home and did the taxes.  must have been some changes in tax law as we paid more this year despite not making more...  kids don't seem to be worth as much to the IRS, that makes me sad too.

kat got back on that pretzel horse.  last week's attempt sucked.  I am guessing her yeast never did proof so the dough never did rise...  all the appeal of a cardboard pretzel.  but these pretzels have changed all that...

we dug out an old recipe binder from ten years ago.  HA!  there was the old recipe that we'd perfected before.  these pretzels ROCKED! 

those mall soft pretzels can suck it!  you bring the beer, we'll make the pretzels (you drive, I'll nah-vigate). 

jump back to friday evening: Blanton B-Scene

the simple things in life, like pretty girls working illuminated hula hoops, never get old.

the blanton's current exhibition: desire, was interesting.  video of nude ballet in water and also video of an octopus slowly forcing itself through a skinny glass tube... 

great music by suzanna choffel

number two son jumped in to assist on the drums all on his own.

Posted by paul at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

the apartment therapy article stirred up interest in our dining room table.

I made the table myself using kirei board and off the shelf table legs from ikea

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what may appear to be a big thick slab, is not the case.  the board is only 5/8 inch thick and came as one 6x3 board.

the corner detail underneath shows how I made a cap by ripping a section from all four sides at a 45 degree angle then turning them around so they make a lip.  I used gorilla (polyester) glue to make it one piece, then I applied wood filler to any voids on the top seams, used a router and sander to make it all smooth. 

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the kirei board part of the table is more like a cap that rests over a plywood platform.

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I ripped a redwood 2x4 to create a reinforcing spine for the length of the plywood.  the attachment points for the legs are doubled plywood.

and the kirei cap slides right back on.  it has held up well considering the abuse the kids have issued.  I made this over six years ago, and survived two moves.

Posted by paul at 01:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

 number #1 son has survived seven years on this planet.  his 7th year meal request was gattitown, (like that other pizza-arcade place but cleaner and gattis pizza is much better).  I already had a full day of running all over town in really nasty weather but we stuck it out and drove to south austin to honor the birthday wish.

salad before pizza.  we try to have a salad with every dinner, not optional. 

after filling up on salad, pizza and desert pizza... time to slaughter some virtual endangered animals.  that monkey asked for it!

the arcade can teach quick lessons.  he found a few games he INSISTED he had to play.  he assured me that he knew how to play etc.  but a few are just quick losses of $, as was this sucking game... it sucked.  some things are just not as fun as they appear or are what they are advertised to be.

the bumper cars were a big hit, as always.

those moles were a bit too quick for his whac ability.

she got a prize for being the first person to reach 150.

he did well at this ball slide/horse race.  he ran all around, waving his prize in the air, jumping up and down...  

we gave him his birthday present, "it's just what I asked for, pokemon emerald!"

(gameboy cartridge that also works in nintendo ds lite)

then, the daughter and I had to race off across town in the rain to get her to cotillion.  I ended the day with an amazing stress headache, it was great.

Posted by paul at 01:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)