Christmastime in Texas

26 Saturday Dec 2015

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Alamo Draft House, Aquila strings, Grove Wine Bar, idiocats, Round Rock Presbyterian Church, Town Lake

I drive Mom to the Round Rock Presbyterian Church Tuesday morning to pick up the postings from Mary Ann. For decades, Mom has been assisting in the weekly bookkeeping effort of posting donations. They reconcile the numbers once a month. Mary Ann uses the computer while Mom works with paper and pencil. It keeps her brain sharp. All the better to mind her children’s business.

table

Coming home for Christmas provides opportunity to meet up with family. It’s been a couple of years since we last dined with the Horners – James, Liz, Emma and Claire. Liz and James are film producers visiting home from Berkeley California. Liz is Karen’s cousin. I would go on about how good the Grove Wine Bar and Kitchen is, but good eats is standard fare for Austin and to be expected. After quaffing a 512 IPA, I enjoy a flight of French wines; 3 ounces each of a 2011 Gérard Bertrand Tautavel Grand Terroir, a 2012 Chateau L’Hospitalet Coteaux de Languedoc La Clape and a 2011 Féraud-Brunel Cotes du Rhone Villages Rasteau. Not sure why I thought I needed to try a local brew, these wines are incredible.

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The girls visit Karen’s Uncle Melvin, Liz’s father, on Christmas Eve. He might be moving soon to live with his daughter Jane and her idiocats in Houston. We rarely travel to Houston so this is a good time to visit. Ever the history teacher, Uncle Melvin tells tales to the girls of the McBee family from the early days.

We attend services on Christmas Eve at Mom’s church and open presents. Here she is opening her grandchild Christi’s engagement picture. I meet Christi’s fiancé Kevin for the first time. He’s a super nice young man who teaches the PE program at Christi’s elementary school in San Antonio.

Kevin hums along as the girls entertain Mom with a few songs. This song above is You and I and the song below is Happy Ever After. The girls improvise as this is the first time for them to play the ukulele to most of the tunes.

We migrate to Karen’s Dad’s house for Christmas where Brit’s Uncle Steve upgrades her ukulele with some nice quality Aquila strings. Brilliant way to improve a cheap ukulele, assuming you can string a guitar.

charlies angels

I try to get Karen, Steve and Laura to strike a Charlie’s Angels pose here but they are too dignified. It’s always a huge multiple-family gathering at the Colliers for Christmas. Watching the little kids open their pile of gifts is entertaining.

Brit on Town Lake

Brit and I get down to Town Lake for some exercise. Brit runs while I walk. Still injured. It’s so warm this year, I sweat walking in the rain. I might remember the full moon though for Christmas more than the heat wave, it’s so spectacular. Mostly hanging out, reading and dining at my favorite Austin eateries before the drive home next week. The Alamo Draft House is on our list. Might even stay an extra day to avoid a coming blizzard. Merry Christmas everyone.

Keep Austin Weird

08 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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Tags

Alamo Draft House, BCRT, Flemings, Johnny Martinez, Moab Half Marathon, Susan Collier, Tomo's, Top Golf

Got in a couple more miles in Austin today before flying home. Thirteen more to be exact. My flight isn’t until 8:30 tonight. Too late to make Steve’s poker game. Not too late to see Karen after my three weeks away. Ellie will be at a sleep-over. I imagine Karen will have already eaten dinner. Maybe she’ll want to stop off for a drink somewhere. Of course it’ll be after 10pm. We’ll think of something.

I had some good runs down here. I ran 26.2 miles across the streets of Central Austin – surprisingly fast (for me) in 3:45 and felt good doing it. I had a fantastic trail run at Pedernales Falls – a state park with special memories for me. I ate at my favorite restaurants and discovered some new ones – from sushi to steakhouses. Saw a movie at the new Alamo Drafthouse at Lakeline.

I hung out with family; eating multiple plates of sushi bombs followed by quail egg shooters at Tomo’s, ate the best Thai ever. My father-in-law plied me with a 2011 Round Pond cab sav and bought me one of the best ribeyes ever at Flemings in the Domain. I played several rounds of Cards Against Humanity – always a riot. I also saw some old friends. Visited Ray Johnson in San Antonio where I drank home brew better than I can buy in a store. I met up with Johnny Martinez in Austin. This was a complete surprise as my sister ran into him in the grocery store. We first synched up at a Starbucks but went out last night to Top Golf. If you haven’t been to a Top Golf locale, think bowling. No, think swanky outdoor club with fire pits and live music and dance floor. No, think pub food. It’s hard to describe but pretty fun.

My run today was in the quintessential Central Texas rain and mist. Actually great for running. I planned to run down on Town Lake for my last day but Mom wasn’t feeling well so I opted to stay close by. I ran 13 miles on the Brushy Creek Regional Trail. Fairly pedestrian but really nice with the creek, Live Oak and Texas Cedar. My knees don’t care for the pavement but a good half of it is softer trail. Next weekend is Moab. That will be my last run for awhile. Which is fine. I have a sore knee that could use the time off. I’d like to squeeze in another snowshoe or two with Karen. I’ll need something to blog about.

Life is a Race

18 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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Tags

3M Half Marathon, Alamo Draft House, OWN, Running, Suzanne Turner

I drove my brother’s Toyota Tundra around town while down in Texas for 4 weeks and was always refueling at $50 a pop. Despite its 20 gallon tank, gas guzzlers like that are always running on empty. And that works as a metaphor to describe me during my last week in Texas. Work busted my balls and I missed running on Tuesday and Wednesday. I was able to follow up the half marathon on Sunday with 7 miles on Monday and I thought that was going to be it for the week. Work was weighing heavy on me and I wasn’t sure today would ever come. Then someone at work said some nice things to me that picked me up and re-energized me. Suddenly I was looking forward to my Thursday and Friday meetings and squeezed in runs both days. I was even in good spirits watching Lance own up to Oprah – tragic as that story is.

Not sure where this second picture was taken. My gloves are off so definitely after 4 miles. I’m guessing between 7 and 8 miles, likely where we turned off Shoal Creek onto 45th Street. If it looks like Suzanne is passing me here, I can tell you two things. First, she is half my age. Second, I beat her by nearly a half minute. More likely this is where I passed her. I was cutting corners everywhere. I like the way we both leaned into this curve though. That’s racing a half marathon at a 7:23 pace.

I saw my time at 9 miles and did the math. I was going to finish under my 1:45 goal – a PR in a half marathon. In fact I knew I could slow down a bit and still finish under 1:45. But my stretch goal of 1:40 was within reach if I maintained my pace. And I knew I felt good enough to maintain my pace without question. But like recognition for doing a good job, feedback like this motivated me. I sped up a little more. Marginally, but I picked it up. With 3 miles left, a pack of runners surged from behind me and I matched their pace. We surged again with 2 miles remaining on Duval and yet again in the hills of the UT campus. I finished strong and a good 3 minutes under my stretch goal.

I took that momentum into a tough work week. I started out the week with a big agenda and a plan to check off action items like miles in a race. I stumbled early on but got picked back up by a buddy and finished strong.

It was a good 3 weeks with my mom. She’s doing well. She learned both the iPad and apps on Windows 8. Not that she didn’t bitch about Windows but who doesn’t. The mind is still sharp. Fixin’ to board my flight home tomorrow. Going to see Django tonight at the Alamo Draft House to recharge and hit the road running again next week.