What a Great Weekend...

Even though it started off a bit shaky with me rolling into bed Friday morning at 2:00 AM, this weekend turned out to be pretty pimp (with apologies to Adam). Friday night we hung around the house and I made some frozen Stouffer's enchiladas and watched Deadliest Catch with Gavin. After a rough week of travel, watching these guys do what they do really puts things into the proper perspective: THEY GET PAID HOW MUCH FOR A CRUISE ON THE BERING SEA?

On Saturday we cleaned up the house in preparation for a last-minute open house. (And just for future reference, when your realtor calls you to check and make sure the number they have on record for people to call to setup showings is correct - you know you've probably got some issues.) We decided that since we had to vacate the house on Saturday afternoon that we might as well head to Granbury and get our Babe's on. So we asked the neighbors and they wanted to hang with us there as well!

Both Gavin and Reagan had games on Saturday at noon-ish and they both won. After that, we picked up the neighbors and headed to Granbury with a van full of kids.

Oh yeah - you're probably wondering how the open house went. It went okay, there is a couple that stopped by and they are interested in buying our house and renting out their existing house. We'll see how that goes. Nothing can be easy where we're concerned. It's our lot in life. It's not a lot, but it's our life.

Thursday is Nicole's birthday, so we decided to show her how the country folk roll Babe's style: dressing up like a chicken!



I've seen some pretty over the top restaurant birthday celebrations, but this one is pretty good - at least for the people watching. My birthday is in January and I don't plan to be anywhere near Babe's for the entire month.

Other than that, we hung out at the square and walked the land (again).

It was a good weekend and I'll be back up there this week to finalize the house plans with the architect and head into the Fort Worth office for work. Then Amy and the kids are coming down on Friday night to spend the weekend (again) so our house is vacant for any traffic. Being at home on the weekend knowing that you could be called any minute and told to vacate your house is just not very relaxing. I like to let it all hang out on the weekend, you know?

Upcoming trips for me: Fort Meyers, Florida and back by popular demand: Taipei, Taiwan (I plan on taking my video camera this time and doing my best Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern impression. I'll show him how real men get stinky tofu down their gullets.)

Planes, Trams and Automobiles

I started out 2008 in an airport: Madrid, Orlando, Taipei, Tokyo, Los Angeles... American Airlines was falling all over themselves to make sure I kept it up. I got personal phone calls on my cell phone to let me know when one of my flights was going to be late.

Then I just stopped. Partly because I spent a lot of my travel budget already but mostly because I needed "butt" time - or time sitting in my office with my butt in my chair, getting things done.

Well yesterday I broke a long airport silence after about 6 weeks or so. I was headed to XNA, AKA Fayettevile, Arkansas. That airport provides service for two, very small towns in Arkansas: Bentonville and Springdale.

Bentonville is the home of Wal-Mart and Springdale is the home of Tyson. I've been to both companies several times during the last 10 years of my career - in fact, Fayetteville was the very first airport I flew into to start my long career at NetIQ in January 2000. I think I still have the expense report somewhere to prove it...

But I digress, as I am apt to do. You know it's a bad travel time if you are considering driving 8 hours for a 2 hour meeting. American doesn't exactly have a stellar track record so far in 2008. I've been sitting on the sidelines for the past few weeks watching my fellow travelers head into the game, only to get sidelined for hours or even days with hundreds of flights getting cancelled.

I figured, if I left at about 4:30 AM, I could be there by our 1:00 PM meeting. And if I left at 4:00 PM, when our meeting was over, I could be home by Midnight. Boy, that sure is a lot of driving - wouldn't flying be easier?

Well... getting there, it was easier. My two flights were on time, but both were so short that I couldn't finish my movie I had rented for my iPod: No Country for Old Men. I'm used to having 3 hours or more and 40 minutes in the air just doesn't cut it. (By the way, I finally finished it and it is awesome.)

On the way back, my flight out of Fayetteville was on time, but I should have known I was in trouble when we were still about 30 minutes out from Dallas when the pilot came on and said that there was a storm and he had to fly around it (no problem - I like to live). And oh yeah, it could get bumpy so he's going to ask the flight attendants to end service and prepare for landing. I hate to hear these words. 30 minutes staring at the seat back in front of you because the stewardess made you turn off an episode of Sleeper Cell just plain sucks. Maybe I'll take a crack at that SkyMall magazine one more time... I sure would love to have one of those Harry Potter chess sets...

We landed (with NO bumps I might add - thanks for nothing) and I was starving. I'd been on the go since breakfast and the only thing they had at XNA was a pickle cart with soda crackers. I had 20 minutes until my next flight started boarding, so I had time. I ran past a bunch of suckers standing in line to make alternate arrangements because their flight had been cancelled. Suckers.

Karma took note.

I ran to Manchu Wok, home of the decent orange chicken with everything else tasting distinctly crappy. I wolfed down the food and walked quickly to my gate - just about to board. I'm a traveling stud...

"Folks... ah... I've got some bad news for ya... uh... it looks like the crew for your flight has been delayed out of San Antonio and umm... the Austin flight's going to be an hour late."

Crap! I'd just wolfed down what every DFW traveller considers to be the worst airport Chinese food ever! Oh well, at least I can bust out my iPod and finish that episode of Sleeper Cell. Even getting in at 10:30, I'll still get home before midnight, which is what it would have been had I drove.

30 minutes later: "Well folks I just got the news that a big storm is headed this way and they're going to shut down the airport."

60 minutes later: "Well folks, we're still waiting on your crew to leave San Antonio, and we've had a mechanical failure on another plane, so we're going to give your plane to these nice folks here who need to get to Las Vegas to blow what little savings they have."

At these point, being just recently reamed by the big stainless steel wienie, I'm thinking that I should have driven.

30 minutes later, after they had the thieving Las Vegas folks on OUR plane, they came back on, "Ummm..." and you know it's going to be bad news because that's how they all start the bad news. "Folks I've got bad news..."

At this point I realize I'm about to get the double-penetration action from the big stainless steel wienie and I'm just not ready for that. I haven't been training for a long time. So I run down to the rental car tram stop and wait... and wait... about 15 minutes into my wait, folks start to show up from my flight to Austin.

One guy says he stood in line to get on another flight. The lady he spoke to told him she had good news - he would be booked on the 11:00 PM flight, the last one to Austin. Great! Says he. That's just about to leave. Ummm... (I could have told him he was screwed at this point.) Sir, that flight is tomorrow.

By the time I leave the rental car center, my friend the storm is back, laughing at me. I'm in a small TOYota (emphasis on TOY) and I can't find any of the buttons because the only thing they thought people might like to use in the dark is the speedometer. But at least I got a car. 3 hours and I'll be home...

At about 2:00 AM I safely, and thankfully, pull into the driveway. Note the two hour time difference past midnight.

Yep, that's right. When you can make better time driving over 500 miles than you can flying, something's seriously wrong.

Honestly, I don't blame American Airlines. Weather at DFW this time of year is brutal and unforgiving. And also honestly, this is the second time in 10 years of heavy travel that this sort of thing has happened to me, so I really can't (read: shouldn't) complain.

I'm at home right now, but there's a bunch of suckers sitting in a hotel near DFW waiting for the 11:00 PM flight tonight. I wonder... has anybody told them they could probably walk to Austin by then?

Why You Should Buy My House

Sure, the pictures are great, but why should you buy my house?

• Because it is in Pflugerville, part of one of the fastest growing metros in the U.S. today: Austin, Texas.
• Because Pflugerville has a cool slogan: "Between a Rock and a Weird Place"
• Because they film Friday Night Lights in and around Pflugerville
• Because they filmed Secondhand Lions right down the road from my house
• Because my house is in Falcon Pointe
• Because Falcon Pointe has very cool amenities, like 3 pools, tennis courts, playgrounds, basketball courts, 24-hour fitness center - all within 5 minutes walking distance
• Because Falcon Pointe has a lot of cool happenings that are all family friendly
• Because my house is on a loop - one way in and one way out
• Because the neighborhood is a safe place for kids to play
• Because the neighborhood is close-knit and keeps in contact by email
• Because my house is 5 minutes walking distance from Murchison Elementary, Kelly Lane Middle School, and Hendrickson High School
• Because you can walk to all the high school sporting events, including football games in the fall - live your own Friday Night Lights episode in Pflugerville, TX (and don't pay for parking)
• Because there is an access road on one side of my house - lots of room and your neighbor isn't right on top of you
• Because my house is clean, well-maintained, and ready for you to move in and start living - no complex home improvement projects necessary
• Because my house has a great kitchen/breakfast/living open area that is great for family and entertaining
• Because my house already has warrantied garage door openers
• Because my house already has a warrantied water softener and filter that is maintained by THE Culligan Man
• Because my house has a great covered front porch for enjoying the cool evenings and watching your kids play
• Because my house has a great covered back porch that is great for entertaining and grilling
• Because my house has a huge (HUGE) backyard that would be great for a pool (pool not included)
• Because they are building a Home Depot, Best Buy, and a Super Target less than 1 mile away
• Because my house is less than 1 mile from the new 45 and 130 toll roads - get anywhere in Austin much more quickly
• Because my house has already survived a severe freeze
• Because my house has a great decked walk-in attic
• Because my house has been lived in and loved by not only me and my family, but our friends, our extended family, and our neighbors.

Seems like I'm forgetting something. I mentioned the water softener and the Friday night football games. I mentioned the walk-in attic...

Oh yeah... because we have the greatest neighbors in the whole wide world!

Update: Tax Day 2008

Days on Market: 5
Number of Showings: 0 (zero)

It only takes one... It only takes one... It only takes one... It only takes one... It only takes one... It only takes one... It only takes one... It only takes one... It only takes one... It only takes one...

The Finished Product, Part Deux

(Note: If you're reading this in the future, this post is probably irrelevant because our house is going to sell quickly and these links won't be valid for long.)

The virtual tour for our house is up. You can peep it here.

This is the only MLS listing I could find online that I could link directly to. There weren't any pictures up, but you can see them below.

The Finished Product

We got the pictures from the photographer today. She said our house was really fun to photograph and she was delighted that she only had to bust out the squeak toy a few times to get its attention. From these pictures, it's hard to see the results of all the work we've done the past two weeks, but I guess that's why every house looks really good on the internet. Our house REALLY IS GOOD - come see for yourself.



My flag is hidden! This was actually the fourth flag bracket that I have installed in the past few months. Thanks to wind whipping across the plains of Pflugerville, most brackets don't last too long, but this one seems to be determined to be in it for the long run.



Remember the window washer I told you about? This is a prime example of why it's worth the money to hire one. Look at that shine and the reflection - see my flag?!



Ah the dining room... many a good meals have been shared here with our family and friends.



Behold the living room in all it's glory. Isn't it inviting? Come on in ... sit a spell ... sign a contract on our house...



Where all the action happens - in the kitchen and on the island. This is where the cooking happens, the circling for prayers before meals, and where Amy makes the kids' lunches. Suburbia - it's where the action happens!



Is the table at a 45 degree angle or is the house? You be the judge...



When Amy painted the master bedroom this summer, I was not thrilled. But she wanted to paint it and it was her first big home improvement project that didn't involve me, so why not? Now that we've staged it for the photos and finished hanging all the pictures, it looks great!

The master bathroom. No camera trickery here - it really IS that big.

The gameroom - this is where the weekly Lord of the Flies reenactment happens on the weekends. The coffee table covers the burn marks on the carpet where the bonfire is built by the kids and their friends. Those carpet cleaners do some magic!



Another shot of the gameroom. See that door to the right? That's where we keep kids that misbehave when they're at our house. At last count, there were 4 in there, but we had to let 3 of them go to make room for the de-cluttering activities of late.



Finally - the back yard. Yep, it's got grass.

Almost There...

We're done. Well, we're not 100% done, but we're done enough to take pictures later on today and done enough for the first day on the market. If I get adventurous this weekend, I really need to straighten out the garage and the storage unit. But I'm pooped and so is Amy.

I must say - we looked at several "pre-owned" houses when we moved to Pflugerville, but none of those houses hold a candle to what we've done to ours in 2 short weeks. Since we didn't have any major projects to tackle, we were able to focus on the little things that make a home a home. It's just too bad we didn't make our home a home two years ago when we moved in. I'm pretty sure I said the same thing about our previous house as well. What's the definition of insanity...?

Other than that, all we really have left is the housekeeper to polish the rough edges and the photographer to make our house look better than it really does. Those both happen today.

Then all that's left is the waiting. That's okay for now - I'll be happy to just not have a deadline hanging over our heads. Of course, I still reserve the right to begin complaining at any time about having to wait on an offer, just so we're clear.

God has a plan...

One Man's Stuff is Another Man's Clutter

Well, it's official. We've officially de-cluttered. I tend to think we run a tight ship in our house when it comes to clutter in general. The attic, garage, and 10x10 storage unit are all full. How in the world do we have so much crap?!

The window washer came on Monday. I would have never dreamed of paying somebody to wash windows, but I gotta tell ya - I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I had no idea that glass was supposed to be clear with no haze at all. I'm fairly certain that we've single-handedly increased the chance of bird collisions/fatalities in Pflugerville by almost 4.56%.

I finished the touch-up paint yesterday. I will never have flat paint in my house again. It literally soaks up whatever it touches. Of course, I didn't have to do any touch-up in the grown-up areas of the house because we, as adults, tend to live on the floor and not on the wall. However, the kiddo areas upstairs like their rooms and the gameroom - ugh.

The outside is prepped and ready to go. I laid down black mulch at the stager's request. I would never normally do that, but I have to admit it looks sharp. Of course, the purple flowers I planted are dying already. Sigh. I so badly want to have plants around me but I tend to kill them with a single touch. If God wanted my carbon footprint to be neutral, he wouldn't have cursed me with a brown thumb.

The housekeeper comes tomorrow to do the things that we don't have the energy to do anymore - like clean the baseboards and the showers. The photographer comes as well tomorrow. I hope all this effort pays off - I feel like the house is getting all the attention of a preening rockstar these days. I'm half-expecting to expect an American Express Black to show up in the mail addressed to the house. I draw the line at brown M&M's and glow-in-the-dark condoms.

In short, we're about 95% there. The sign goes up tomorrow and the living on eggshells starts on Friday. The kids already hate us. We'll get their rooms staged and in less than 5 minutes it is cluttered. I'm not sure how they do it. Even with boxes of their precious clutter locked up in multiple locations, they seem to attract crap with every breath. I hear things upstairs during the day when I'm home by myself working. I'm certain it's their clutter trying to escape the bonds of cardboard and packing tape. The scary thing is that some of them are succeeding.

It hasn't even started and I'm already finished.

The Great Move of 2008

Last Tuesday was a big day for us. We closed on 2.5 acres in Granbury, Texas. Why? We're moving, or at least that's the plan.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Back in December we started talking about leaving Austin. With my new job I can pretty much work anywhere in the world and Amy can always get a job as a teacher. We talked about moving BACK to the Houston area, and as much as we miss our family and friends, it didn't feel like home. (Truth be told, when we moved back from Hawaii in 1997, our plan had always been to move back to Houston to get our feet on the ground and then go "home", where ever that ended up being. 10 years later we moved to Austin.)

Then, during a "piping" session on the back porch with Granddaddy and Uncle Lance, the prospect of Fort Worth came up. Interesting. My company has a pretty big office there and it is growing. We also have family in the area (Lance and Elise and family). After some chats with Amy and some prayer, we modified the idea just a bit and started to think about Granbury - only 30 miles SW of Fort Worth.

In 2002, we walked a raw piece of earth for the first time in a development called Grand Harbor right on Lake Granbury. There was no house and it was far away from home (Houston at the time) and we were on our way to Kansas for Spring Break so we congratulated Granddaddy on his new purchase and hit the road.

By the Summer of 2003, he had sold that property and had purchased two lots right on the water with a nice little 3 bedroom cabin already built. 2003 was an interesting year because it was our 10-year anniversary, it was the year we stopped going to the "Heart of My Heart" ranch in Round Top, Texas for family gatherings (opting for Granbury instead), and it was the year we both lost our maternal grandmothers within a span of a few weeks.

It was 700 miles from our front porch to Iola, KS, where Grandma Weseloh lived. It was 700 miles from our front porch to Perryton, TX, where Grandma Barclay lived. We drove 2 round trips for each grandmother that summer - one to say goodbye, and one to attend the funeral. In the case of Grandma Barclay, we were pulling into the driveway after saying goodbye when we got the call that the end was nearing. So we did laundry and turned right back around.

For both funerals, we used Granbury as a stopping off point - to gather ourselves before returning to Houston and the real world. It was a chance to sit on the back porch, watching and listening to the lake, and to reflect and mourn.

For me, the Summer of 2003 cemented Granbury in my heart as the closest thing to home that I'd known.

Now, five years later, we're moving there. A few weeks after we started to talk about and look at land for sale, my company started commenting on how they would really like for me to live closer to an office. I wasn't about to move to California, so it looked like God was nudging us closer to Fort Worth.

We looked at one piece of land literally across the street from Grandmommy and Granddaddy's lake house that had a great view of the lake, but people had already bought it and started building shortly thereafter. Then we looked at a piece of land that was down the street, but still within walking distance.

The land reminded me at first of the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. You know the one I'm talking about. We walked that land up and down for an entire weekend. It was about 500 or so feet wide and only 160 feet deep. It sloped from north to south. The more we walked it, the more we fell in love with this land that just needed a little love and attention.

Then, we stumbled upon a stock pond in the back corner of the lot. It was surrounded by trees, so it was not easily noticed from the street. We had been driving past the lot for five years, and it had been for sale for much of that time - and we never knew there was a pond back there.

The pond drains down the backside of the lot, down a ravine lined with natural stone that had been placed there years ago to control the erosion. If you stop and listen, you can hear the water running underneath the stones as it makes it's way to the lake, and ultimately to the Brazos River - right through Sugar Land, TX.

It took about two months to nail down a deal with the seller, but we did. It culminated last Tuesday and this weekend we worked on our land for the first time. We could have probably paid somebody to move some rocks around to prevent erosion on the front of the lot, but it felt good to work the land.

This Friday is a big day for us as well. We're putting our house our house here in Pflugerville on the market. It's a leap of faith, really. Faith that we'll start building in Granbury in the next month or so. Faith that our house will sell before we want to move into the new house. Faith that Amy will find a teaching job in Granbury. Faith that I will continue to have a successful and rewarding career with my current company. Faith that we'll find a good church family in Granbury. Faith that Granbury is where God wants us to be. Faith...

I met a man last week. He is 67 years old and "retired". He used to have the biggest window washing company in Austin until he sold it to retire. Now he cleans windows on his own when the right job finds him. He works at HEB to be around people. He has his own photography business and wants to move into videography...

He came by the house last week to give me a quote on the windows. He told me that in the few years he's been doing this since for the stager we worked with that he's done hundreds of homes and they have all sold. We talked for a good hour - he was such a godly and gracious man that I just listened to him. At the end before we parted ways, he told me that he was going to take $50 off the price on one condition:

"That you call me when your house sells. Then I'll know I can take it off my prayer list."