As always, I'm thankful for my family and friends. However, this year I am also thankful for Jill. I asked her to marry me this past Sunday, and she said yes.
For those who are curious, I proposed at Sonic, our favorite resteraunt. Seriously. When our weeks are hectic, we like to go there on mini dates and relax and talk over ice teas for an hour or so.
The car-hops typically give you a couple of mints when they skate over with the order. Knowing this, I took a spare mint, removed its wrapper, and replaced the candy with an engagement ring. Then Sunday, when we ordered at Sonic, I swapped out the mint they gave us with the wrapped ring. I guess I did a good job with the disguise, because she dropped the mint, and I had to insist she pick it up before she noticed it was a ring.
Went to the Slow Food happy Hour at HausBar Farm (owned by the East Side Cafe people). I think both owners are patients of Mollie's. They have some nice donkeys and a goat:
Next up, Ron rode into town as part of the MS150 finish. He crashed spectacularly 50 yards from the finish line, but I arrived too late to see or help him. He did get some sympathy from the ladies, including Dotsie Baush (ex-road racer, current Olympic track racer), who was at the BP tent signing autographs. I knew Dotsie by sight, because I bought her T-Mobile team bike years ago on the internet (back when she was Dotsie Cowden). I had a chance to say hi, chat about her old bike, introduce Ron's sore shoulder, and take a quick picture:
Towards the end of the month, I rode the Hill Country Ride for AIDS with Pete's law firm team. They had a couple of teammates who could not make the ride, so I rode for one of them - a lady, but I forget her name - which was bad because I had to sign in at the medical tent to get a couple of ibuprofens, so I just made up a name.
The ride did have some nice rest stops, including an old hall, and a make-shift roller rink (complete with roller derby girls):
And last, but not least, Jill and I went thrift store shopping at the end of the month. Jill found these naked GI Joe's. I, on the other hand, was happy to find out that most Dell swag gets donated and recycled:
My sister had a legal conference in town earlier this week, so my brother and my mom tagged along for the ride. Jill asked my mom if she'd teach her how to make a traditional Taiwanese dish that I grew up with. They decided on seaweed salad, since it takes few ingredients and can be easily converted from vegan (for Jill) to non-vegan (for me).
Here we are picking up supplies at the MT Supermarket in Chinatown center. The ceiling high stacks of dry goods makes for a colorful background. It's like the Costco of Asian foodstuffs:
Most of the time was spent in preparation (as with most recipes), with lots of chopping and slicing. And here we are finishing up the salad (the roses are from Jill's garden):
Usually, my mom adds sliced ham and sliced egg omelettes, but I can add those to my portion.
The weather Saturday was cool, overcast, and breezy. Very breezy - like it is just before a big storm blows in. In other words, it was a great day to be outside.
After having lunch with Dustin and Emily Sue at the Hyde Park Grill, I met up with Mollie at Art City Austin:
There was some interesting stuff to see, but with so many vendors, the art and booths got mind-numbing and repetitive after a while - which is just a good reason to break for dessert. Luckily, Trace in the W Hotel has a nice patio and even nicer desserts. It didn't hurt that it was also happy hour. This would be my Deep Eddy sweet tea vodka martini, which was quite tasty:
And for proper desserts, a dark chocolate pot de creme (Baileys Ice Cream, Fried Truffle,Roasted Bananas & Toasted Banana Marshmallow) and some drunken doughnuts (Vodka Whipped Cream, Tequila Chile Fudge Sauce & Bourbon Dulce de Leche):
This being Easter week, Jill has a lot on her mind and a number of services to attend.
I spent the week with a new pizza choice from East Side Pies. This is their Moon Dingo Pie with added spinach:
Saturday, I went to see The Hunger Games with Mollie and Maurie. The movie reminded me a lot of The Running Man and several others of that genre. But it was entertaining.
It was a long movie, and when I got home around 1:AM, the Easter Bunny had left me a surprise Easter basket on my front door:
Sunday afternoon was spent at Pete and Maria-Elena's place for their annual Easter pot-luck. It's always good to see the Kennedy clan - with a surprise visit from Doug this year. Also surprising this year was the oak aged beer that was served. Pretty strong stuff - and I did good just to finish one pint of it.
The Texas State Latin competition was this past weekend in San Antonio. This year, Jill and I offered to help chaperon the trip. These are magnet middle school kids, so they don't require a whole lot of chaperoning - just an adult presence is usually enough to keep everyone in line. Here we are on the bus ride to San Antonio. Jill is flying the Latin club colors:
I did get to see my sister in action as a teacher - a side of her that I usually don't get to see. Very impressive. Her husband also joined us for the trip:
The wild flowers were in a Monet-like bloom all along I-35 heading into San Antonio:
Being a first time chaperon to the state competition, I was amazed how long the days were. The kids were in tests or other forms of competition until past 11:00 at night. Then they started up again at 8:30 the next morning. Jill and I were tasked with helping to judged the art competition. I judged models - which were very impressive - from suits of armor, to metal swords, to a mausoleum made from cake. Jill judged Latin club scrapbooks. They take their judging very seriously, and we were there for several hours.
In addition to individual prizes, the kids ended up taking 7th place overall - based on all their tests and competitions (out of 25 schools). Pretty impressive to me, but my sister tells me that's the worst they've ever done while she's been in charge of the Latin club. But the kids were still excited. This picture was taken about 11:00 at night, when we arrived back in Austin - the kids look like zombies:
Jill and I went for a hike and picnic in McKinney Falls State Park Saturday. It was the first time there for each of us, which seems odd given how close the park is to us (it's actually in the Austin city limits). We purchased a year long Texas park pass, so we'll be visiting it and other parks soon.
Jill had some fun with the rock shelter:
It was a short but pretty hike to see the falls (bonus - there was actually water going over the falls). And we got a chance to wear our matching Alvin High School t-shirts (goofy, yes - but it's where Jill went to school and it's the obvious self-reference for me):
and finally, we settled down for a light lunch - all sourced from Costco (where we stopped on our way to the park):
It's SXSW time again in Austin, America. If there was ever a year for me to get a badge, this would have been it. Bruce Springsteen gave the keynote address this year and also played a showcase with his band. And he also made a special surprise appearance at the Austin Music Awards show, playing with Alejandro Escovedo and Joe Ely (pic from linked Rolling Stone article):
Alas, I didn't have a badge, so I occupied myself with some of the free shows. Saturday afternoon, I met up with Mollie and Pete at Rachael Ray's party at Stubbs. We were there a little late, so we didn't get any of her signature food dishes. But the Blue Moon beers were cold, and we did get to see Train perform:
Leaving Stubbs, we passed by the Belmont, where Dre and Dustin were hanging out on the roof at a Shiner sponsored party.
Mollie and I grabbed a quick bite at Walton's on 6th before taking the bus to the LBJ library to see the Big Easy Express movie and show. We met up with Glenn, Karen, Benjamin, and Madeline in line and got in pretty quickly:
It was a really great night to be outdoors - cool, breezy, soft lawn, and bug-free. Pre-show music was provided by an ensemble of band members from Mumford and Sons, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros:
Afterward, Emmett Malloy came out to present his movie, The Big Easy Express - about the week and a half railroad trip and tour with the 3 bands playing later that evening. Good band movie, with lots of shots of Austin for local color:
About 9:PM, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros took the stage:
And around 10:15PM, Mumford and Sons:
Here's a video I shot of the band playing "Roll Away Your Stone." The video quality is ok, but the audio sucks. The microphone on my camera hasn't been the same ever since I dropped the camera a few months back:
Both bands united, along with guests from Old Crow Medicine Show for the last couple of songs before leaving the stage:
It was a nice nightcap to a very full day. Btw, the bus is THE way to get around during a huge event like SXSW.
Jill usually goes to the AWP conference this time of the year. But this year she wanted to take a break, so we went East to visit her publisher friend in the DC area. Here we are about to leave Austin:
Reb, Chris and Gideon live on a picturesque wooded lot in Reston. Gideon is Jill's godson:
Jill has a childhood fascination with Montichello, so Chris rented a minivan, and we made the 2 hour pilgrimage to Charlottsville. The grounds were beautiful:
I learned a few things along the tour. For instance, the African workers are called 'enslaved people' by the tour guides; Jeffereson died deeply in debt (a million dollars by today's standards); and he only freed 5 slaves in his will.
We also had a chance to visit the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's annex at Washington Dulles International Airport. Growing up, I had a fascination with WW II airplanes. The Udvar-Hazy Center allowed me to geek out a bit in that regard. Some of the more interesting displays include:
All, in all, it was a really nice trip with really good people. It was relaxing, we ate a bunch of good food, and drank some nice spirits.
