« April 2006 | Main | June 2006 »
May 28, 2006
HVAC, Electrical and Septic System Update
Lot's of progress was made this week at the house. The ducting for the HVAC system was put into place and the Heater/Fan units were placed in the attic spaces.
Bonus room HVAC:
The electrical wiring is now in progress with the electrical outlet boxes being put into place. And the holes and tanks were make for the septic system.
And if you look out at the lake closely, you can see the Oasis up on the ridge:
Hope you're having a great Memorial Day weekend!
Posted by Jim at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack
Newly Discovered Beach at Mansfield Dam Park
We enjoyed a beautiful Saturday afternoon having a picnic and swim over at Mansfield Dam Park. The park is located just across Ranch Road 620 from where the house is being built.
The best part was that we discovered a nice sandy beach (and a fair share of rocks) given the current Lake Travis water level. When the water level is higher there is more rocky shores, and when it is lower it is again rocky. But it's really nice where it is now.
It was really cool to look through the spill way from the beach and see our top deck. Check this out:
Here's Deb taking a picture of the gang:
It's great having a beach so close. Come on out to Austin some time this summer and check this out with us.
Posted by Jim at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack
May 21, 2006
Plumbing, Doors and HVAC
The work on the house has moved mostly to the inside now. The plumbing has mostly been all put into place and we met with the HVAC folks and aligned on where the units should be located. Also the doors have been hung.
It's been dry the last two weeks so progress is being made. Here's some photos from today.
Front:
Front Doors:
Plumbing shot:
Bonus Room above garage:
Posted by Jim at 6:17 PM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack
May 15, 2006
A Great Weekend of Tennis!
I'm not sure why the USTA decided Mother's Day weekend was a great weekend for junior tennis, but we had Claire, Kate, and Meg in three different cities competing in the SuperChamp, Champ, and ZAT tournaments. And we hated missing Kiki's big brunch bash in the Woodlands.
Since Deb and I couldn't figure out how to be three places between the two of us, Claire went with the team and competed at the SuperChamp tournament in Houston. After a close tough first match, Claire went into the consolation bracket, and not only won her first SuperChamp match, she decided to give her mom a nice Mother's Day present and win the consolation bracket. And she did it in style winning the final match 6-0, 6-0.
I was with Meg up in Georgetown. Meg faced some heavy hitters and learned quite a bit competing against these players. With the summer and tennis camps rapidly approaching, I'm betting she'll continue to rapidly improve.
Deb was with Kate and Scott out in Kerrville. Kate was seeded 1st in her draw. And did she ever play like it. She won her only match on Saturday. After a struggling in her first set Sunday morning winning 7-6 in the tiebraker, Kate started steamrolling and won the match 6-0 in second.
Meg and I arrived to see her semifinal match, which Kate continued in steamrolling fashion with a 6-0, 6-0 victory. This semifinal win gave her enough points to Superqualify! Whoo hoo!! Another Mother's Day gift!!!
The way Kate played, I believe she would have won the tournament but Mother Nature prevailed with a hail and lightning storm. It was brief, intense, and enough to spook the tournament officials into calling off the rest of the tournament. It's too bad, because as we were driving back to Fredericksburg for a Mother's Day dinner, the sky was again blue.
But we had a great time celebrating Deb, some great tennis, and some great German food!
Posted by Jim at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack
May 13, 2006
5th Grade Pool Party
Yesterday I went to the 5th grade pool party. The parents who organized it had bought little beach balls. The fight started out with three people. My friend and I started throwing them at another kid. Then we brought 2 more people in. Little by little, most of the boys there were included in the fight. Only six girls were fighting but we were SO much better than the guys, that it didn't matter. It took about ten of them to take 1 weapon from the girls. The fight ended when they made us get out of the pool.... sort of. Anna wanted to get her favorite weapon back from Jake but he wouldn't give it to her, so I came in and threatened to use my weapon again, after that he dropped it and ran. :)
Posted by Meg at 8:08 AM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack
May 9, 2006
Here's to Black Jack!
It's not everyday that your brother and sister-in-law's dog makes the front page of the Dallas Morning News.
Congratulations Black Jack and Tara and Bob, thanks for the note and description:
Black Jack had a blast yesterday--Sunday at the "Dog Bowl" which was held at the Cotton Bowl. That's him...the black lab behind the cute bulldog. They opened all the fountains at Fair Park to dog swimming and all the labs loved this including Black Jack.The caption refers to "...frenetic running, jumping, and drooling..."-----they were refering to Black Jack.
Posted by Jim at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack
May 7, 2006
Guarding the Storage Unit
We swung by the storage unit to track down some odds and ends we needed. You know this is a high-dollar place when we were greeted by a guard at our door.
This sentinel almost sent Claire into the stratosphere when she looked downed and saw the critter with claws up defending our storage unit door.
As you can see he (or she) was far too cute to take home and "tro' in an ol' pot filled wit' 'dat 'ol kyyyyyy-yen peppah... Ooooo weeee!"
Posted by Jim at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack
May 6, 2006
Cedar Brush Bonfire
Now, Mount Cedar is no more!
Posted by Jim at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack
The Friday Evening House Update
With more Spring stormy weather this week and May Day protest marches, there was still progress on the house.
The plumber has kicked into gear putting the piping in place. Also we finalized the design for the room over the garage and the framers are going to town on it.
And the mountain of cedar trees we cleared at the beginning, which we discovered was a very expensive proposition to mulch, is being burned thanks to the lifting of the burn ban with all the recent rains. So far no protests out front that we're raising the CO2 levels and contributing to global warming!
Finally, the glass block windows are in place! Below per special request of the fine folks at Champion Window is a picture of them.
Here's a few pictures.
Family Room:
Dining Room:
Shrinking pile of cedar brush:
Glass block windows:
Posted by Jim at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack