It's Buda-ful here

Tuesday morning I went down to the parking garage before dawn with Kim and she sat on the tailgate to weight down the truck as we drove back out of the parking garage without destroying an overhead pipe.  With the truck secured I went to the Admin Offices in Mueller park for my day of operational reviews and Kim tried to go back to bed without waking the kids.  

There's literally never and easy day, but I get off early enough to go see our place in Buda before dark.  When I arrive it's dusk and Amelia and Henry are on their own.  The Barndo is straight out of a magazine.  Set in a field of lavender, the 2b/2b barn had a main open kitchen/dining/living area with floor to ceiling windows all around.  The two bedrooms had everything you could want or need...the owners were so meticulous.  

It was only a 5min drive from the south hospital, but far enough out to really feel lost.  Kim ran out for groceries so I sat there on the porch with Hannah running free and slowed my breathing for the first time in quite a while.  

This "Extended Staycation" we've embarked on has been a veritable buffet of housing options.  The dream of living on Franklin Dr. in San Marcos hasn't slipped away, but the whole search for anything at all has stalled and, regrettably, given space for alternate ideas. 

We lost the bid on the Thousand Oaks "fixer upper", but I've not lost the sense of wanting to live on property, in peace connected to nature.  Kim showed up a hero with a six-pack of beers and we sipped, played Uno and relaxed in the cool air.  Later in the week Andrew came by with Jordan and we all watched the sunset over the hill country from a bluff on onion creek.  I could get used to this...

Home in Austin...for a Minute

Houston just vibrates differently.  My old buddy Ryan told me he could always tell when he was close to Houston because everybody on the freeway would collectively accelerate to 80mph and start shifting lanes.  It's the true melting pot of Texas, built on industry and over the last 20yrs has made significant investments in parks and quality of life.  

When I'm home in Houston I vibrate differently.

After working remotely from the front room at Liz's, I closed up shop and we started to pack.  Before leaving we all went downtown to drop off my Niece Jordan at the Houston Ballet and walked around Market Square, my favorite place downtown (La Carafe, Scotch at Charity Bar, Critical Mass, Liz/DK's wedding and my favorite birthday bike ride to Market Square Grill).  We all grabbed a slice at Frank's, then said our goodbyes down by the Buffalo Bayou.  I pointed the truck West and we headed home to the hill country. 

Our stay in Buda didn't start until Tuesday so we needed a place to crash.  I had an early morning meeting in downtown Austin so we booked a suite at the Holiday Inn Express "near campus" as Kim put it.  "Near campus" turned out to be a block from the ARCH, a particularly rough part of town. 

After checking in we drove into the parking garage and the canoe on the truck just happened to be about 1" too high.  We moved the boat to the back rack and cleared the garage safety bar by about a quarter inch.  I figured they set those things a couple inches low to be safe.  They do not.  I hoped they would have parking on the first floor.  They did not.  

We made it down to the 3rd floor slowly, scraping the ceiling as the angle of the truck changed going down the ramps.  As I unloaded the truck the kids were literally standing everywhere I needed to be and when I made them stand aside they started wrestling, Henry got popped in the mouth (accident) and started bleeding.  Wounded, tired, adrift...we took the elevator up to our room.

Prologue:  I popped out for a bottle of wine from a corner store a few blocks away.  Downtown Austin is beautiful and mostly quiet at night.  I had the late night traffic on I-35 at my back and the muffled cacophony of 6th street two blocks to my left as I wove my way through homeless campsites.  I made my way past the federal building where LBJ kept an office during and after his presidency, past the Omni to a corner store right around the corner from the Bike Austin office near the capitol.  

As I walked the same route back, a bottle of wine in hand, I thought of all the great memories literally everywhere I turn.  I was making good pace back up the hill and excited about a glass of wine and crappy cable TV when a homeless man noticed me, stopped peeing long enough to expose himself and give me the finger. 

We are living in chaos right now.  I keep thinking to myself, "This isn't normal..."  It's hard and exhausting but we are living out of principle, breaking through every obstacle because it's not "if" we will get where we are going, it's "how" we will do it.  In all this chaos, I genuinely believe that years down the road (possibly after a bit of therapy), I'll walk past 8th and Neches I'll laugh and retell a few stories from our big float. 

Floating Further Out

 Our time at the big pink house came to a close on Friday and we took my sister up on an offer to come stay with her in Houston.  The idea was to check out in the morning, I would work from the hospital while Kim spent the day taking kids to class and well...floating until I got off work. 

There have been very few houses coming online in San Marcos and all of them have 1-2 dealbreakers.  Too small, too expensive, too close the I-35.  That literally sums up the three houses that came online, so we started to look farther afield and that's how I came across the A-frame.

I was hooked on the description of the place.  "The patriarch of the Patterson family had traveled the world but said his favorite place on earth was the corner of the deck overlooking the beautiful oaks of the Texas Hill Country. For four generations, this home made forever memories for the Pattersons."   It needed a lot of work of course, but to me that just means there's more value on the flip side. The big downside was it was so far out west and I wasn't sure if that was too far to drive. 

We got all worked up on Friday and decided to delay our trip to Houston by a day so we could go to the open house.  Erik once again let us crash with him in East Austin.

Before we even got to the property I knew it was too far out.  Too far to drive to the hospital.  Too far to drive to the airport for PatternShifts.  Too far to drive to the bloody grocery store.  The place was awesome with three huge bedrooms, two workshops and a garage apartment.  The Guadalupe river was less than a mile away!  But our search afar had met it's limit. 

We drove straight from the lake to Houston and were greeted with the usual smorgasbord from Liz and a chiminea fire from DK.  Sunday was an easy day relaxing at the house.  Kim and I got to break away to eat the world famous Tommy's tacos (my all time favorite), the kids played in the park.  That afternoon we went down to Discovery Green to let the kids run wild and grab some specialty foods from Phoenicia, and that evening we set up the big screen in the yard and watched The Dirtbike Kid.  The days spent with the Kilgores are always full of adventure. 

I worked from Houston on Monday and Kim booked our next spot in Buda, TX.  

Alright, already, we'll all float on

No, don't you worry, we'll all float on 

Alright, already, we'll all float on 

Alright,don't worry, we'll all float on...

Trial Run in San Marcos

We asked for two weeks with Erik and we wanted to honor it lest we wear our welcome.  So we packed our things and moved into an Airbnb in the heart of San Marcos for the week. 

What we ultimately dubbed "The Pink House" is a two story historic house two blocks from the Square in San Marcos, and we stayed in the two bedroom apartment on the upper floor.  The owner did an excellent job decorating in style embracing a midcentury modern theme, and it even had an old clawfoot bathtub...something I look for as we house hunt.  

Even though we are in a smaller town, our wrap around windows overlooked one of the busiest streets in San Marcos so it had a city feel.  Everything was within walking distance, including an HEB and Zelick's, a new favorite pub.  

Due to the tight space, I went into the hospitals on days the kids weren't with their homeschool groups so that Kim didn't have to spend the entire day keeping voices down.  It's November and temps are cooling, but it didn't stop us from walking down to the river each night for a swim.  The kids are impervious to cold, but my hands were numb by the fourth or fifth float.  

It was great to be "right in the guts of town" as my old Aussie coworker would say.  We had a better lay of the land but it doesn't matter much, because there are now new houses on the market.

We start the week with our heads down, trying our best not to scan Realtor.com.  By Thursday we are glued to the app hoping somebody will list.  Friday just know there will be a house coming on the market but they don't, Saturday all hope is lost and we start again Monday.  

There is always an end state...I just don't know how we'll get there.

Temporary Reprieve in the Old 'Hood

We left the neighborhood in such a hurry to go say goodbye to Nathan, that we never said goodbye to our neighbors...

We are leaving Austin with a heavy heart, taking a gamble on a new community to lock in our financial future.  I loved the house (although a little small), but I loved the neighborhood more than anything.  People always complain that things aren't like the 50s anymore, but it was alive and well in our little half-moon community.  Kids ran from house to house all week, BBQs every weekend and holiday, neighbors looking out for each other in major storms and block parties.  It is such an idillic place.

But as I've said before, it was a place we could buy, but not afford if ever I lost my job.  The pandemic made me realize it was a house of cards that would too easily fall.  I'll always work, and have always made a comfortable income since I was a kid...but to be a true libertarian, free to make my own decisions independent of how it would impact my income, we needed to be completely in control of the assets that are core to us functioning (house, cars, emergency fund).  

While we are confident in our decision to move, we miss our neighborhood dearly.  Halloween was our first chance to go back to the old neighborhood and say goodbye.  It was perfect timing because all of our neighbors were out and we got to update everybody on how things were going.  

Hellen and Alisa were posted up in the driveway drinking wine and getting excited about all of the costumes, George and Tia Rosie were out with a table, AJ and Caroline were in their driveway for their second year (time flies) and Sam had a big ol' party in the driveway.  The Lindbergs had better costumes than their kids, with Lisa as a Go Go Dancer and Dave in a full Batman costume. 

After trick-or-treating, the kids went to the Lindbergs to watch a scary movie in the garage while we all drank beers and had a great time in Sam's driveway with Tejano music blaring. 

In the midst of all the craziness in our lives, it was so good to ignore it for an evening and spend time with so many friends.  I really hope we can recreate this when we land, but it's a tall order. 

That night the kids counted their candy and fought over who got more.  We all went to bed in strange beds, and I slept restlessly knowing our we would get back to our great staycation in the morning.

Offer #1 - Thousand Oaks

 A couple properties came up that weren't what we set out for, but with a bit of reframing, they could be viable.  

The first was a small place on the backside of town.  The street was trashed, the house was very small and backed up to a church (guaranteeing parking lot lights 24/7).  It was a "hard no", but it felt good to finally look at a place.

The second was a pretty run down property on 6 acres of land and I thought I might be up for a fixer upper.  

The location was just 7 min from Aquarena Springs on a two lane winding road through ranches and horse farms.  It was stunning.  The neighborhood was much like the Olden's old place in Montgomery Trace, with multi-acre plots and houses set back in the woods.  

When we pulled in, I had already decided I wanted to make a bid.  The people were home and very kind to us as we poked around through the house.  It needed significant work.  We would have to take it down to the studs in most cases but the layout was good.  

The property also had a 20x20 outbuilding (office for me!) with a kitchen and drywall and there was an additional 10x20 barn as well.  

We walked the property and Hannah and I went all the way to the back fence.  The Blanco flood plain was behind the property, so there was another but woods between us and the Blanco river.  I stood out there in total silence and let the potential wash over me.  

We said thank you to the owners and quietly got into the truck and drove back down through the ranches and horse farms in silence. 

I kicked it off and instead of asking "How much will we offer?", I gauged the silence and realized a mutiny was at hand.  I made a strong case based for the potential of the property:  Proximity to San Marcos, LAND, an office and future development ideas (ex. Airbnb, capital gains on sale in 5yrs) were a few.

Kim felt it was a money pit, claimed I was not as handy as I think I am (bullshit) and didn't have the desire for a project.   But what really resonated was her desire for close community.  She didn't want to be out in the country all by herself while I travelled.  She wants neighbors to rely on and BBQ with, people who will look out for our kids as they get into mischief.  

I mentally added this to the list of "must-haves" and we decided not to offer. 

But I couldn't shake the potential, and on my drive home the next day I called Kim up and asked her to trust me.  We can't afford our dream house right now, so we need something we can flip in 5yrs that will get us there and this property was the vehicle for that.

The offer was for $335k cash ($10k over) and we asked that all of the junk on the property be removed and that they have the motorhome convey if they couldn't remove it from the property.   

The offer was not accepted. 

Lessons learned:  Don't sweat the small things unless asked.  It would have cost us $1,000 to remove the junk, and we should have never even mentioned the motorhome (I wanted to turn it into a guest house).  Kim thinks we didn't put down enough money (likely), but to improve on the next one we won't give the seller any ammo to downgrade our offer.   Make it easy, make it good.

Tight Family and Rethinking the 'Burbs

 After leaving town so suddenly for a family funeral, then a week vacation in Mexico we landed back in Austin with nowhere to go.  Brother Erik kindly took us in.  

Erik lives on the east side of Austin in a new house purchased several years back.  I've never been fond of new builds as developers scrape the land of all character and mix up 4-5 layouts in a row.  They have a sterile feel and all too often they are built quickly and cheaply.  The irony that every house I've lived in originated this way is not lost on me, but after 20-30 years the trees grow and a neighborhood develops a vibe.

The Paseo house is 4 bedrooms and probably pushing 2,000 sq. ft.  We are coming from 1,500 sq. ft. and I can't believe how nice the extra room is.  The Olden family also chose wisely on the location of the neighborhood (hemmed in by Onion Creek and a State Park), and the location of the house (back of the neighborhood next to a major green space.  

The convenience of modern layout and amenities is also something I was not used to.  No oddly placed breakfast nook and undersized bathrooms.  A modern space for a modern family.  

As we think of our own house we want to buy this concept of buying new entered the conversation.  I don't know if I want to invest a lot of time developing the character of a neighborhood (or betting that it's quality will last), as opposed to buying into the vibe we want.  But the convenience is undeniable if certain criteria are met.  If the builds are quality, there is proximity to natural features (parks, creeks, etc.) and they neighbors show the same values (i.e. if grass is mowed and there are no broken down cars in the street) it's worth a shot.  

But rethinking the 'burbs wasn't the biggest learning from our two week stay at Paseo...spending time with Erik was the best part. 

Our families are so spread and even though Liz, Mark and Erik live close enough for a day trip, we usually only visit on special events.  We live day in and day out with our siblings until we leave the house, then spend the rest of our lives "catching up" on what we've been doing in 2hr sprints, competing for time.  

We all lived our normal lives while staying with Erik.  Erik worked from home during the day, then spent evenings playing disc or skating.  I have a hybrid work situation so I would come in and out throughout the week.  Kim and the kids continued to homeschool and attend classes periodically through the week.  The house was busy, but at the end of each day we would play a game together or watch disc golf without saying much.  No pressure to have "intentional conversations" to stay close...we were just close. 

I'm very grateful for Erik to take us in, and even more grateful to hang out and not just know about who he is and what he does, but be involved in it.  But a single guy can only take so much of our chaotic family, so before wearing out our welcome we moved on to San Marcos!

El Decomprescion

Herb Dyer (mentor, business partner and friend) told me that if I didn't take control of my time, somebody would take control of it for me.  In January, I became the Finance Director for four hospitals in some of the fastest growing areas in one of the fastest growing cities in the US.  Each hospital has unique strategic challenges, and each are operated by leaders (COO, CNO and CMO) with very different styles. 

In any new job I put everything on hold for several months while I work up the learning curve as fast as possible and this was no different.  It took about four months to get the lay of the land, restructure a few things and put out all the fires, all while working through COVID surges and a very memorable winter storm. 

While those fires were still smoldering the company started looking to the horizon and I began developing massive business plans that had systemwide impacts and would change the physical footprint our our network.  I've never worked so hard in my life, nor dedicated so much time (even compared to the Oil and Gas days).  

I blinked...and summer was gone. 

Herb's advice is sound, and while it would be naïve to think I can control 100% of my time, I had to put a flag in the ground and claim some time back.  Hell or high water, I was taking a week off. 

Fast forward, it's cool out and we are all in Detroit about to takeoff on a plane to Mexico.  We came prepared with Peppa Pig downloaded on the phone and tootsie pops in our bags.  Five hard won passports are in a fanny pack and an old Ipod shuffle playing in my ears.  Kim has Hannah, Henry is narrating everything happening outside the window and Amelia is in the front of the plane to get away from...well, us.

It took two days to decompress and disconnect.  In this brief clarity I learned a few things.   

Know Your Why

I was initially really upset that we were staying that the "Royal Princess Hotel", a cruise ship on land who's business is "capture and upsell".  It's damn near impossible to leave the place and they have a monopoly on any excursion you book.  "I came all the way to Mexico to swim in olympic swimming pools and eat at buffets?"

When I stopped being a drama queen I realized we came here to eliminate as many decisions as possible.  Not sure what to eat?  Enjoy the buffet.  Don't want to spend every day worried the kids will drown in the surf?  Enjoy your pool 20ft from your door (with a bar!).  

If we chose a dinner or adventure more complex, we had a rental car.  Some days we drove deep into the interior in search of Cenotes...some days I drank rum and played marco polo all day.  Travelling with kids is tough, and this was how we kept our balance.

Sometimes It's OK to Get Ripped Off

Akumal bay is covered with sea grass growing in 8ft warm water, so naturally it is a favorite for Sea Turtles.  Kim and I have been driving here for years and when we first came you just walked out and swam with the turtles.  The attraction grew and today it is fully “captured” and you will be upsold services at least twenty times before you even touch sand. 

I blew through the unofficial guides waving our car down in a very officially manner, declined another guide who was also looking after the carpark, blew off every bystander walking through town and finally got to the beach, now blocked by a building administering the protected turtle park.  OK, I’m into protecting turtles.  We paid the fee and learned that you cannot swim in protected areas without a certified guide. 

Normally, I would blow through this rule as well and go check out the turtles, but this wasn’t the teachable moment I was looking for.  In the end I paid about $20 for Amelia, Henry and I to swim with massive, beautiful turtles, schools of fish, lobster and squid.  At some point being frugal and “savvy” just makes you bitter and annoying and you just must pony up and enjoy the turtles.

Traveling with Children is Travel 101

I grew up as a non-rev airline kid and eventually married an expat kid before becoming expats ourselves.  We’ve been around, from parties at the Ambassador’s residence representing my company to remote motorcycle adventures through the Andes.  When we go, we get our own car and beat our own path to find the obscure and unknown gems everywhere we travel. 

So…it’s hard, but necessary to dial that back when traveling with kids.  I’m not saying we will go all-inclusive from now on, but they now have context.  Some of Amelia’s best memories were shopping in the local supermarket and walking around town at night.  We have to try different things we’ve previously written off to give the kids space to learn what kind of travel they prefer. 

In the end, eight days in Mexico driving 100km in every direction was one of the best weeks of the year.  We closed on the house from the bar, the kids flexed their Spanish and opened their eyes to all the adventure outside the states and Hannah was happy we are all together as usual.  

But for me, I got to chill out for a bit, get some perspective and claim back some of my precious time. 

Heaven and Hell - Moving, Death and Travel

It took a month to prep the house to list, and 1.5 days to sell.  All of the hard work we put into prepping the house paid off and we sold for an excellent price.  

The following month we finished the unfinished repairs so the new owner could walk in and start enjoying the place immediately.  Projects like the attic access in the garage and improved insulation in the attic finally wrapped up.  We also moved out belongings into storage as we knew there would be several weeks of "limbo" while we purchased a house. 

We were in a bit of a time crunch because we would be taking a long planned vacation in Mexico the week we closed, so we had to get everything sorted a week early.  And then out of nowhere, while dropping off plants at Mark and Kim's on the east side, a text came through that my step-brother Nathan had passed away the night before.  

My initial reaction was numbness.  I had just buried my older brother in Michigan two weeks before and I was drained...there was no emotion left to react.  Sunday was so busy and distracted that I still couldn't feel anything other than confusion and a little anger.  

It wasn't until Monday when I sat in my office in total silence that I pulled a pad out and wrote about Nathan for two hours.  

In my life, there are two archetypes of close friends.  I don't have a good name for the first, but they are ambitious, brutally honest, smart and can seem to be uncaring of your feelings.  To the average person they might seem narcissistic, but they care enough about you to stick by your idiot ideas and give you painfully honest feedback.  

The second is the Lionheart.  We all had at least one friend like this in school...the friend that doesn't care if you are a little weird and fistfight for you even when you are wrong.  As adults Lionhearts will call you out of the blue for no reason, they fiercely protect family (and family norms and tradition), they are the ones who help you move and they would literally do anything for someone they love.  

Nathan was a Lionheart.  He was my first call when coming to Detroit because he always looked out for us.  He took care of my kids when they visited on their own and even sent presents at Christmastime.  He also gave me those calls out of the blue, sometimes to see what was up, sometimes to ask for work advice.  He was a good friend and even though we have a family spread across the country, it was obvious to him that it was the only family we have and he invested his time and energy into it.  

There was no discussion about "if" we could make it to Detroit to say goodbye to Nathan...the question was "how" we would make it.

And that led to one of the hardest weeks of the year.  Constant pressure from work, literally jamming every last belonging into a storage unit, booking travel up north then down south to Mexico.  I was in my work clothes capping pipes before walking out the door of my favorite home for the last time and never stopped to look back.  

We made it to Detroit, we said goodbye to Nathan (a beautiful and comforting service) and somehow...someway, made a 7am flight to Cancun. 

Get Busy Livin' or Get Busy Dyin'

 I'm an accountant by trade and my wife an artist.  Oddly if you look at our DiSC profiles I'm an iD (influence/dominance) and she is an SC (Steadiness/Conscientiousness).  Both personalities don't match the career, but it's what we chose and with a bit of reframing over time it's worked out fabulously.

One point we've never really been aligned on is finances.  We are both (mainly her) pretty frugal and more money has come in than has gone out, so it's never been a pain point.  But we are getting up there and our dreams aren't getting smaller so we started following Dave Ramsey.  It started as an ironic purchase of a book we would likely never use, and turned into a tectonic shift. 

Absolutely worth the read

Over two years we poured all extra resources into paying off debt.  This isn't easy, but there are quick wins that keep your eye on the prize.  

First were silly credit cards (we never let this get out of hand, but always had a bit of credit spread about on consumer cards).  This was sorted in a matter of months with some tight budgeting.

Next were the bigger loans, which for us was a Toyota Tacoma and windows for the house.  These took over a year to pay down.  When we finally tackled these there was no overwhelming sense of ownership that I thought would come.  We maybe had a beer to celebrate in the front yard...but we probably would have found something to celebrate anyway.  

What we did realize was how much extra cash came in after those payments ended.  Every subscription, every card payment, every car note had a material impact on our bank account and our savings kept growing.  Cobbling together an emergency fund when the pandemic hit took mere months. 

Growing our savings became addictive, and in a matter of years we had all debt paid off...with the minor exception of our house. 

This all started before COVID and became more important through the Pandemic.  In times of uncertainty you take stock and prepare for the worst.  Financially we were right where in a great place, but realistically I didn't own my truck or house and couldn't last more than a few months if my income dried up.  

The pandemic continued, politics went off the rails and as the uncertainty grew, we realized we needed to do something about our mortgage. 

Three Parts of a Person

 I had a dream last night that there were three parts of a person, represented as people:

Personality - This is how you are unconditionally.  In a vacuum, without influence, this is your true nature.

Experience - In the dream this person was often disregarded.  Useful and meaningful, but often conflicts with the Personality and the Salesman.

Salesman - I should say that a better name was given to the "Salesman",  but I forget what it was. Regardless, his essence is a salesman responsible for making you personality and experience relatable and likable.  He bent your personality to highlight it's qualities and stifled its less agreeable tendencies.  As for Mr. Experience, he was completely disrespected and only pulled out to dance for specific situations. 

I was in control of these characters in the dream and I saw that the Salesman was an asshole.  I realized that I gave him the power to drive and in the dream, felt sorry for the others.  I especially felt bad for experience because he looked like a prisoner. 

I woke up and wrote this down.  All three characters are necessary, but how often do we "sell out" to the salesman?

I thought at first it should be a democracy, but the Salesman would talk everybody into following his ideas.  Experience usually has a negative connotation (who ever learned lasting advice from GOOD choices?!) and Personality...well sometimes they cannot be trusted. 

No votes...there needs to be a boss...reluctantly that is me (otherwise the Salesman will convince me to appease everybody).  

I'll lift experience out of his hole and try my hardest to listen.  The others have been told he's equally important so I don't expect they'll be friends.

I'll listen to the Salesman because he never stops speaking.  My Personality says I should listen to him but he's led me wrong in the past an even betrayed Personality from time to time...so I'm skeptical of both of them.  Nonetheless, he's in tune with things so "trust but verify."

I'll focus on personality because he is truly me and is the only character that can bend and change over life.  Experience radically changed my Personality to the good, and sometimes to the bad.  But Personality at its core is a strange cocktail of chemicals in your brain, so Experience can only do so much. In the end though Personality is you, Experience and the Salesman are outsiders. 

Love Personality, listen to Experience, use the Salesman. 

This is what got me out of bed this morning.

Finding Peace in Effort

When I look for ways to improve myself, I look for a single change in habit or routine that improves multiple areas of my life.  My best example is the ongoing struggle with alcohol consumption. By cutting out this one habit it would improve energy, health, finances, etc.  I say "ongoing" because there are social and mental benefits to having a drink so I've never successfully quit drinking. 

During the pandemic we were facing the cancellation of our annual visit up north to Michigan and I was burning out at work. I wanted to still take a week off but could not bare the idea of sitting at home.  'Rona ultimately was the deciding factor of the cancellation, but family drama in Michigan and a rough patch at home took all the wind out of my sails and I had no energy to push on.

Focusing in on the rough patch, this was due to the prolonged work from home situation in a 1,500 sq ft house with three kids and my wife and I both working a side gig.  To fix this I needed space.  I had time, I needed a distraction and I had to get out from behind my computer. 

So I bought plans to build a backyard office and set to work.  There are two tales here that I'll summarize in two paragraphs below. 

Anxiety of Overcommitment

I underestimated the time, materials and money it takes to build a small 10'x10' office in the yard. The plan to build a space to ease my work from home and provide refuge has added to my ever-growing list of overcommitments.  I have one more thing to badger me as I hit snooze...one more thing to avoid in the evening with beer and Netflix.  I'm too far into the project to turn back, but each day I spend building is time away from the family and it's creating more of an issue than sharing a small house to raise a family and work.  My only recourse is to angrily power through and get this off my plate so I can focus on more meaningful things.  Peace in Effort

Finding Peace in Effort

I underestimated the time, materials and money it takes to build a small 10'x10' office in the yard.  It started with prepping the ground, then building the floor/base, then framing the walls, then building the trusses, then raising the frame, then raising the trusses, roofing, doors/windows, siding and deck.  I list all of these items because, for a first timer, each takes research and trial and error.  What I thought I could accomplish in a week, is now on week 4.  However, I reset my timing expectation and thought each section through allowing myself to customize as I see fit.  I have a grand vision and each night I get a step closer to realizing that vision.  I've learned an immense amount of information about construction...all the nuance is understood and I'm proud of each step.

I chose the latter path and by redefining my expectation of time, the project has been able to breathe, allowing for modifications and enhancements.  I'm truly proud of the vision I have for this space and slowly moving towards realizing it.  I can't wait for move-in day. 

2019 River Marathon

I'm here in Victoria for the 2019 River Marathon.  This'll be my 5th consecutive year racing this race.

2015 - Dan Oko and I took 4th Novice and later missed the Safari due to postponements.
2016 - Kim and I took 2nd Novice and I raced later that year with Dan and got 4th Novice in the Safari.
2017 - I raced C1 and I think I got 4th C1.  Lost 3rd place by 3 seconds.
2018 - Max and I hauled butt and had a blast.  Sadly 75yr old Roy Tyron was on our tail the whole time in an aluminum.  hahaha

This is my team year and it's been a wild ride.  We are led by Holly Orr.  I think my favorite description of her is a "silent assassin".  Mostly because it sounds cool, but also because she is focused and relentless.  The hardest working teammate I've ever had.

Luke won 1st Novice with Alex last year.  They are both a blast to be around.  Luke keeps the boat laughing and is great to hang out with.  He's the guy who shows up with sausage, lights the fire and feeds everybody.

Alex is the most calm and kind person I've met in a long time.  He's the ballast in the boat when things get heated.

Mark Schatz is Holly and my longtime friend.  An excellent paddler but there is a lot of bad blood between him and the paddling community after a few rocky years of relentless trolling online.  It's been the most contentious part of the team so far.

We drove in through a killer storm.  Kim, the kids (including baby bubblegum) are here with Ma and Pa Olden.  They met earlier for dinner at the pump house.  We are staying in the same hotel we stay in every year.

Max is in the hotel across the parking lot and we had a really great window love session.

Tomorrow is a big day.  We will see how we stack up with the other boats.  It's going to be a great year!

HTX Bicycle Tour Day #2

I slept on an air mattress that had a hole in it so by the time morning came I felt like I was sleeping in a hammock.  I first heard Henry scream around 6am and the kids first came to find me around 6:30.  Luckily Amelia still gives me 5 minutes when I ask for it so I got a bit of extra rest...but when Henry came in it was time to get moving!

We repacked all the panniers and I carried the bikes downstairs.  It's amazing how much you need to take care of a couple kids.  Strategically packing it into limited space makes you fully aware.  After putting our poor host's apartment back the way we found it, he came by and we talked for a while before saying our goodbyes and heading out again.  Transient life.

It felt good to be back on the street again.  We set Henry on the sidewalk while we attached the trailer and hitched the panniers.  I think seeing him sitting there was my favorite moments of the whole weekend.

We had breakfast at Coco Crepes just a block away and started outside but the weather started to turn so we made our way out of the rain.  There were only 2 person tables so we had to tag team it.  I took breakfast with Amelia and Kim fed Henry at a table next to the dessert counter.  Once I finished half our crepe I swapped with Kim and took over feeding the kraken.  It was a nice breakfast…everything was running smoothly this morning.

When done we went out into the rain, loaded the kids and headed into downtown.  Downtown in the morning is always interesting to me.  There is an overwhelming amount of evidence of people but nobody for miles!  We made it to the Metrorail station at Liberty and took shelter from the rain while waiting on the train.

As it drew near we lined up and made a game plan for loading.  I had a bike and a trailer to fit in there and Kim took her bike and Amelia.  Amelia got into the marching formation and when we went for it, I swear we got into the train in under 4 seconds.  It was flawless.

We took the North/South train all the way up to the Lindale Park stop and rode a couple blocks to Liz and DK’s.  It felt so easy this morning!

The rest of the afternoon we lounged around Graceland, watched McFarland USA and ate Pizza/chips/guacamole.  It was really nice, especially since we haven’t spent the afternoon there in quite some time.

Around 4pm DK gave us a ride home.  All four of us were dozing off at one time or another!  The crazy weekend finally caught up with us!

Once home I’m not even sure if we had dinner.  We just passed out. 

All up I wish we could have taken a bus home to finish out the weekend unsupported, but maybe the lesson here is sometimes you have to ask for help.  It was appreciated. 

HTX Bicycle Tour Day #1

After a late night of solving the world's ills with the neighbors over too many beers on the back porch, Kim shook me at 6am telling me to get up.  It took me a few minutes but I got up and started packing knowing it would be twice as hard once Henry woke up.

We packed the panniers, 2 for each bike, then loaded the trailer with kid supplies.  Blankies, toys, books and a lot of cold water.  It was about 80 degrees but would likely be 95 degrees by the time we hit our destination.

Kiddos were excited to go.

With the bikes packed and ready to go we handed packed in Amelia and Henry and set off down Mason Creek at 7:30am.

The Neighborhoods (4.5 miles)
The first section of trails was familiar as it's the route I take to work.  It's a section of trails that line the bayous that run through the neighborhoods.  They snake their way north east until you hit Kingsland road which has a sidewalk you can take straight into George Bush Park.

George Bush Park (3.5 miles)
George Bush Park is a 7800 acre resivoir that is meant to capture flood waters from the Buffalo Bayou.  It is mostly dry with trails running throughout, but after a heavy rain the entire park fills with water for weeks.  A 30ft levee was built on the North, South and East sides of the park to catch the floodwaters and on the outside of the levee is a popular trail.

While it's nice to have so much bike trail, it's boring and there's no shade.  It isn't very long but it feels extremely long!

Terry Hershey Park (6.5 miles)
Terry Hershey Park is roughly 500 acres of green space that runs along the Buffalo Bayou between Hwy 6 and Beltway 8.  In high school I spent a lot of time riding the mountain bike trails on the south bank and loitering around the giant dirt ramps called the Anthills.

After college we spent some time paddling the bayou and now, finally, we are riding the running/biking trail on the north bank.

Looking back at the day, this is absolutely the most beautiful stretch of the ride.  The trail twists and turns and rolls up and down the banks of the bayou.  For Houston, any bit of elevation change is welcome.

Along the way we stopped to let the kids out to run around and make sure they get some water.  Amelia ran like crazy and Henry did what he does best...ate a whole bag of dried fruit and crackers.

Picnic in Terry Hershey park.

Before we knew it we were at Beltway 8 and making our way into more urban landscape.


Beltway 8 to Memorial Park (9.5 miles)
From the peaceful rolling trails in Terry Hershey to the feeder of Beltway 8, we weren't too psyched about this section but had to get through.  Memorial drive snakes through some really lovely neighborhoods with huge houses but the trails are crap and the drivers are fast and unpredictable.

We took it slow, had a couple drink breaks but for the most part it was unremarkable.  It wasn't until we go to the San Felipe crossing of Buffalo Bayou that we got our excitement back.  The Buffalo Bayou Regatta begins here and we have a lot of good memories of it.  Next year Kim and I will be taking first place in the mixed tandem category!

Turns out the city limit is right at the start of the Buffalo Bayou Regatta.

After the bayou we cut into Tanglewood and made our way down to the Galleria.  I love riding through here.  For years I lived and worked in the Galleria and really love that time of my life.  Even though it was a bit out of the way we spun by my old office at BHP Billiton.  9 years with them...lot's of memories.

Memorial to Midtown (6 miles)
We cut through uptown park, then up the bike path along 610 to Memorial park.  Our speed was picking up due to the excitement.  For me I was on my old bike commuting route and I had forgotten what a beautiful ride it is.  We made our way through the park and into Rice Military and stopped at a gas station.

At this point we had 4 32oz bottles of water and were dying.  It was 11am and the heat was beating down on us.  Kim bought an ice cold gallon of water and we nearly drained the thing.  Henry had been sleeping for an hour but he got up to enjoy the cold water.  We were bushed and didn't have much left in us, but had to press on.

We continued up the bike path along Memorial along the Buffalo Bayou.  It's not until writing this that I realize we followed it's banks almost the entire time.  We used the pedestrian bridge at Montrose Blvd. to cross the bayou, followed Allen Parkway to Taft, then up W. Webster to Midtown.

We passed right by my buddy Madhav's place on the way in and kind of feel stupid for not asking to crash in his guest room.  Next time.

Once in Midtown we met Brendan our host from AirBNB.  He's a sports reporter and looks the part.  He was really nice, showed us the place then handed over the keys and was off to Minute Maid Park to interview the train conductor (a train runs along the west wall when the Astros hit a home run or win the game).

I hauled the bikes up a flight of stairs and we crashed out on the floor soaking up the AC.  With all our might, 5 minutes later, we were back out into the heat looking for food.  We tried an old favorite, Christian's Tailgate, but it was closed for remodeling.  On to Little Woodrows and were turned away due to their no kids policy (that's a first) and ended up on Spec's Liquor.  Before you judge the downtown Specs could be classified as a grocery store with a decent deli in the back.  We could tell we were in the land of young professionals and popped collars from the lack people smiling at Henry.  That and being turned away from Woodrow's for having kids!

Bellies full we went back to the loft to put Henry down for a needed nap.  Didn't happen.  After a couple hours of trying we decided to get back out.  We called Liz and DK, who were already in Downtown and met up at Discovery Green.  The kids play and had an awesome time.

We walked to Phoenicia and it was packed with Cowboys from the Garth Brooks concert and people headed to the Pride Parade.  You couldn't get a stranger mix of people.  We had a great dinner, as always and said our goodbyes.  We loaded up the bikes once again and headed back to Midtown.

Dinner in front of Phoenicia.

Before bed I took Amelia to the pool and while the sun went down we swam around.  It was like the entire day washed off my body and I felt so good after swimming.  Amelia, in her words, had fun Fun FUN!!!

The final adventure of the day was getting a 2 kids to sleep in the same bed in a loft apartment.  I must have put Henry back in bed 20 times.  Eventually they crashed and while watching a movie so did I.

It felt like we put 3 days into 1.

Stay-cation Planning

As we approach another weekend where I should have run the Texas Water Safari, I’ve got an itch to get out and do something adventurous.  One bucket list item we’ve had for a while is a multi-day cycling trip.  I’ve been talking to Chris Lee about a ride from Katy to downtown, so why not add the kids? And spend the night?

The ultimate stay-cation is born.

Houston has changed across the board over the last 15-20yrs.  One way that hits close to home with me is in green space and bike trails.  Growing up on the border of the Woodlands we had the luxury of bike trails that could get you anywhere and parks everywhere.  After college I rode to work in Uptown Houston;  it was in the streets and a fringe activity that drew a lot of funny looks. 

 

West Houston and Katy Cycling Routes

But over the years I’ve seen the buffalo bayou parks get renovated and rebuilt and bike paths/lanes put in all over the city.  If you put the bicycle filter on google maps it’s impressive.  So impressive that I now live 40 miles out in Katy, TX and I can still get downtown on a bike path 99% of the way.  Time to take advantage of this.

We searched for some hotel deals downtown but couldn’t find anything under $120, so I switched to AirBNB.com and found a loft for $90 right in the guts of Midtown.  The bonus, and selling point, is the complex has an awesome pool.  So if the kids are hating us we can always just chill at the pool.

The general plan is to head out as soon as Hank wakes up.  We’ll stop along the way and chuck some donuts in the trailer before pushing through George Bush Park, then the  Terry Hershey greenbelt.  This is about the 1.5hr mark so we’ll take a break at the nearest playground.  After this we ride sidewalks along memorial, to San Felipe and into Memorial Park getting us on dedicated cycling paths again.

Memorial will take us to Eleanor Tinsley Park and right into the dedicated bike lane that connects north and south downtown.  The terminus of the bike lane is Discovery Green where we’ll let some very restless children run free at the splash pad and park.  This’ll be around lunch time, so we’ll probably pedal over to Midtown for a bit to eat and grab the key to the apartment. 

From there I hope to (pending the mood of the kiddos) walk to the metro rail and head into the museum district.  I figure we can spend the afternoon at the Museum of Natural Science, roll down the hill at Miller Outdoor Theater and ride the mini-train.  Since we are so close to Lindale Park, Liz/DK/Jordan will hopefully join us.

We could possibly stay for the Symphony at Miller Outdoor Theater, but it’s not likely  since the kiddos will be bushed.  We can head back early to the loft, put the kids down and watch a movie with the volume low.

Sunday morning we can walk to get some coffee, maybe head back downtown for some breakfast tacos, then head home.  I imagine we’ll find a pool to go swim in J

Alright, for those wondering what we’ll pack for an overnight cycling trip, here is the short list.

Food  (aka Safari supplies!)

Gatorade

PB and J

Bread

Clif bars

Gu

Kid snacks

Tools

Pump

Patch kit

Phillips

15MM

10MM x2

Multi-tool

Misc

Phone/phone charger

Cash $40

Blanket

Umbrella stroller or baby bjorn

Bike lock and cables

David (riding with LS blue shirt, spandex, khaki short and cycling shoes)

Jeans (skinny for less weight)

Flip flops

Undies

Casual dress shirt

Toothbrush/floss/toothpaste

Deodorant

Vitamin E

Sunscreen

Bathing Suit

Book: 

Kim (riding in running shirt, spandex, camo short and tennis shoes)

Khaki shorts

t-shirt

Undies

Flip flops

Toothbrush/floss/toothpaste

Bathing Suit

Book:  Rosemary’s Baby

Amelia

Toothbrush/floss/toothpaste

Bathing Suit

Undies x3

Shorts

T-shirts x2

Books

Doll

Henry

Bathing Suit

2 swim diapers

6 diapers

Wipes

4 pacifiers

Sippy cup

Truck

Onesie x3

Pantsx2

Shoes

Hat

Throwing in the Towel

Well Dan never said quit, but I found out he already booked a 3 week family vacation to Cape Code on July 5th so we would have to take time away from that to race.  He's very committed to this race, but for the sake of his marriage I don't think he's coming.

For me I looked at the the new timing and it's really bad for work.  I delegated as much as possible and would have to work through the holiday weekend prior to the race and it was still very tight.  So tight my vacation request was rejected for the first time in 10yrs (with good reason).  I still tried my damnedest to work an angle but there is no way around it.

I talked with Kim for a while last night trying to separate the fatigue from organizing this race from the monetary investment and the dream of finishing it.  We tried to distill it down to the raw reality which is:

-  I'm going to burn some bridges at work if I go.

-  I'll be going alone. 

-  I'll be going in a boat I haven't trained in.

If there is a storm system in the next 2 weeks it will keep the river in flood stage.  The directors cannot maintain insurance if in flood stage so the race will be cancelled.

I feel like I'm 100 feet from the peak of Everest and a storm is coming.  I know the smart decision is to turn back, but I've already come all this way...

I spoke to Dan and we decided to call it quits for the 2015.  I'll still head out to San Marcos and volunteer if possible.  I called Chris Paddack our mentor to break the news and he told me there is a lot to learn watching the elite guys...always positive, always giving advice. 

I thanked him and told him I'd see him on the shore.