Live From Austin!: April 2006 Archives

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April 30, 2006

A Great Day for Tennis

After the storms from the latest cold front blew through in the middle of the night, we awoke to a beautiful Spring Saturday.

Meg, Kate, and Claire were all in action on the tennis courts. Meg participated in the CATA Tour tournament held at the Austin Tennis Academy.

Meg competed hard and won her first match 6-3. In the second match she played a more experienced player that was coached earlier in her tennis career by one of the Austin Tennis Academy coaches. Meg battled her to 7-7 before not prevailing in the tiebreaker. I haven't seen her play a competitive match in a few months and her improvement is amazing!

Kate and Claire played in their first ever Texas Cup competition. This is much more like a Davis Cup match or college tennis where each win contributes to the team. It can get really loud and pressure filled.

They both had a crack at playing doubles against older, more experienced players. And Claire had a chance to play a singles match, against an 18-year-old SuperChamp boy, and one with a nasty kick serve to boot. Not only did she hang with him, she was making him nervous when he was only up 5-3 and starting to tighten up. I wish I had video to share of when she got into rallies slugging it out with him. She definitely held her ground and never looked intimidated. I think the experience will help her greatly in some of the upcoming tournaments as a newly minted SuperChamp player.

The girls are back at it on the tennis courts today, while I watch after Scott who picked up some sort of bug yesterday from hanging around the tennis courts... which means no picture updates of the new house.

Have (or hope you had) a Placido Domingo (Peaceful Sunday)!

Posted by Jim at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack

April 22, 2006

A Glorious Sunset

Now that we live out on RR 620, the Oasis restaurant is quite close, and we'll be even closer once the house is finished.

We met for dinner last Wednesday with our friends Steve and Karen, and two of her friends as we celebrated Karen's birthday.

Wednesday evening was the leading edge of all the storms which blew through over past couple days. The combination of incoming storm clouds and the sunset provide one of the most spectacular sunsets I've ever seen.

Check out the backdrop of our picture!

PS- I'd hoped for a huge jump in Lake Travis' water level, but we're only up a foot so far from these storms...

Posted by Jim at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack

Surviving the Spring Hail

It was quite an eventful week, with the awesome display of mother nature rumbling through Austin.

Our old neighborhood took a real pounding, and I think many will be contacting roofers to replace their hail-damaged roofs.

The good news on the new house is that the roof is not yet on, so there is no damage to report. Here are the latest pictures as it keeps moving along.

Front left to right view:

Back of house:

Special note to Pat... The glass block windows are not yet in place to show in their full glory...

The interior is beginning to take shape so we'll start getting some pictures from inside next week.

Posted by Jim at 7:44 AM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack

April 12, 2006

Time for the Tyvek

With the framing entering its final stages, the first signs of Tyvek began to appear. And the Champion Windows began to be put in place.

And the 3rd floor game room view is looking nice... it's a shame the Lake Travis water level is down 20 feet right now from it's 681 feet above sea level (full level.)

The fun will soon begin on the interior. Stay tuned...

Posted by Jim at 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack

April 9, 2006

Prestigious Townhome Living

OK, so our new dwelling does resemble an apartment complex, but the brochure assured us that we live in a "prestigous townhome."

It can't be wrong if it's in print... right?

The downside is obvious--the high density of people, both within our prestigious townhome and around the complex.

The upside is a beautiful spring weekend like we're having this weekend, we can enjoy the pool and hot tub, the sand volleyball courts, the pool tables, and the free DVD rentals.

Oh yeah... the best part is that the lawnmower, edger, and weedeater are in storage until we move out!

A couple more from the artsy look (I did finally figure out how to fix this mode)...

Posted by Jim at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack

April 8, 2006

Love Those Champion Windows!

It was a great day yesterday indeed when I went to check the progress on the house, and what do I find but the Champion Window delivery truck and the extremely professional folks who cover the Lakeway area of Austin.

The guys were just about finished loading when I asked to capture this great moment. I thought I'd give it an artsy look this time (errr or somehow I put the camera in black and white mode):

Here's what our Series 80 insulated vinyl windows look like stacked in the garage, ready to be installed next week after the roof decking is put in place:

Not that I'm biased (OK I'm biased), but if you're building a home in the Texas area you definitely want to call or get your builder to contact them.

Thank you Pat, Ralph, and Eric for all your help and guidance!

Posted by Jim at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack

April 2, 2006

Update on the House Framing

Here are some pictures after four days of framing. They missed Tuesday due to heavy rain showers in the area, and did not work the weekend. Pretty amazing progress...

Front of house: