Austin ModHouse

To conclude Christmas 2019, we rented an apartment Downtown Dallas.  

We met with my Dad for dinner and gift exchange. 

We spent a couple evenings with friends. We had a Christmas beer exchange. I brought some Other Half and they brought some Great Raft and Parish beers we can't get in TX. 

We had our annual cheese buffet at Cellestial Beerworks. 

We took the kids to the Nasher Sculpture Center for the Elmgreen & Dragset special exhibit. 

Kat had to deal with an emergency at work. The digital "always connected" world we live in enabled her to put out the fire, with only minor wrinkle in our plan (at Turning Point). She also had her weekly skype with her mom while enjoying chicken wings at Craft Growler.  

It was an easy and relaxing trip to Dallas. 

Posted by paul at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The largest gift this Christmas is also the one that is most invisible, Cable internet and a mesh network.

We have had super slow DSL internet for 12 years. #1 son is serious about his gaming. This slow internet has caused him a lot of frustration. He might even get so upset that he goes around the house expressing his frustration towards anybody else that might be using the bandwidth. I’ll spare you the strong language he’s issued toward his siblings during these confrontations. The new cable internet service is more than 10X faster, and the new Orbi mesh network is also much faster.  

Posted by paul at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(BIG) 

2019 was a bit of a dark year for us. Our Christmas card reflected that theme.  

this was an out take from the same photo shoot (BIG) 

Posted by paul at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Torches were raised, drums were beat... and Krampus did emerge from the woods, looking for children to feast upon. 

That Pug dog pledged to improve behavior to avoid being eaten by Krampus. 

#2 son is not the best with time management. Despite several advance notices to be ready to leave the house at a certain time... he's the one we often wait on. He is known to wait until we are out the door and in the car before he sets out to find shoes or jacket. This often results in improper attire. He complained about being cold, as he didn't grab a good jacket as he raced out the door. His mother offered hers. Somehow, he managed to pull the look together on this Krampusnacht. 

We came home and feasted on homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches made from Cabot (VT) seriously sharp cheddar. An extremely pleasant dinner on a chilly evening.  

Posted by paul at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It was our eighth year to host the Quiet Company Holiday House Show.

It was a good evening and everybody knew their part. My floors were all shiny, I had the trash bag set out before they asked, Kat made clear signage for the trash and recycling (to answer the most popular question).

We coordinated our steals for the White Elephant Exchange. One guy was not happy about that and insisted on telling people how such coordinated schemes are not allowed at the gift exchange he coordinates. #2 son was able to add to his collection of creepy animatronic Christmas dolls.  

The Daughter briefly held the cross-stitched QC song lyrics.  

Posted by paul at 01:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

 This week is always a scramble. Holiday cards, gifts, parties...

Kat's firm holiday party was held at an arcade for the second year in a row. The kids enjoyed compiling a massive amount of tickets that were later redeemed for trinkets.  

We stayed late so he could participate in the 5PM go-cart race. It happened at 5:25...   

He was happy to have the fastest lap, then I had to RACE to get us to Costco before they closed at 6PM.

Most of the tree is dressed, most of the indoor decorations are up, and I finished the outdoor lights up the ladder in the trees, etc.  

Quiet Company party will be hosted here for the 8th year. This event usually prompts me to refinish the concrete floors. It's a big job that I will be back at as soon as I publish this entry. 

We finally made it to H-Mart. While it is larger than Ranch99, and it does have a fun food court and live music stage... it doesn't have some of the items we have come to expect. It was fun to try, but I think we will continue Ranch 99 patronage. #2 son dropped his spoon into his instant ramen. He successfully handled his spoon, with chop sticks. That's advanced level chop sticking.

I finished my final project for my Design 2 (3d) class. It's about two different shapes that don't quite fit, yet they remain bound together and manage to make it all work.   

(BIG) 

Posted by paul at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We have been camping at Lost Maples for ten years now. Our 2009 trip was documented here.

This year was another perfect camping weather weekend. 

We did two hikes, enjoyed good food and a nice camp fire.  

Posted by paul at 08:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)