The 10 day forecast on weather.com for our area shows 91 degree  high on October 7th.  I am starting to get ancy…I want it cooler..I want to feel a change in the seasons.  I am so ready for those brisk, invigorating mornings. 

So once again I missed much of ACL Fest.  We traded my 3-day pass for a one-day hoping that I could at least go some of Sunday.  Originally we were going to take Quinn and leave Tyler with grandparents.  But then we heard Piper, Tyler’s best buddy, was going.  Well at that point, we felt like crappy parents..like we were robbing him of some great experience.  So we changed our tune and took the kids.  To keep it simple we decided that I would come later with the kid and catch the last two shows:  Wilco and Ghostland Observatory.  It worked out really well. 

 I was cranky when we first got there.  It was hot, there were like 35,000 people crowded around the stages.  I was hungry and had two little kids.  Then we all had to wade through this sea of people to get to the food area and then get back to the stage.  But finally we found a good spot and slowly I relaxed and really enjoyed myself.  Chris’ favorite band played and he and Tyler jumped around like they were in a little mosh pit having a great time.  While I think Tyler did enjoy himself, when I asked him the next morning what he thought of the festival he said, “it was too loud.”  We did bring ear plugs for him, but stood far enough away from the stages that we felt he was okay. Quinn was a bit cranky and crashed during the second band. I think she enjoyed it more when she was in the sling, safe and right next to Mommy.

All in all, it was a lot of fun and I look forward to taking him to hear more music. 

I have found my new autumn zen spot….eventhough it is a 25 minute haul from the house.  It is north of Georgetown and is called Berry Springs Park and Preserve.  It is fairly new and quite nice.  I think I was taken back by the huge open greenspace and wonderful pecan trees.  It is off a country road and there are not houses, no buildings, no highways…out in the open.  

And I will tell you, if you the open space is going fast.  From South Austin all the way through to Georgetown on I-35..there is NO green at all. It is all built up.  It was so refreshing to drive to Port A last weekend and to see that south of San Antonio there is nothing..just open land.   Ok, end tangent.

Granted the main path is paved concrete, but somehow all the open green overpowers that detail.  I plan to return many times with the kids.  I found it so incredibly inviting!  Also, there were two friendly donkeys who were very sweet.  There is a neat playground there, although honestly, the trees and grass were the draw for me.  So many places to play hide and seek, run, throw balls, pretend.  I wanted to stay all day and can’t wait until the cooler weather hits, because we just might stay all day!

Here are some choice Tyler statements that I remember.  There are so many these days..so many things that blow me away and/or crack me up… 

- “Why?”

 - “I am not telling you.”

 - “I can’t hear you.”

 - Tyler: “I am curious.”  (in response to me asking why he put the credit card in the car CD player)

   Me:  “Tyler, we can’t be curious about the CD player.  It might stop playing music if we put things in there” (the card came out, thank goodness)

   Tyler: “But I am curious about everything.”

 - Me (at a gas station store, candy aisle): “Tyler you can look at that stuff, but we can’t play with it.”

   Tyler: “I am interested in these things.”

 - “Mommy that stop sign was pointing at you and you didn’t stop.”

 - “Mommy, you are a very bad driver.  You didn’t stop a two stop signs…everyday”

I tried to argue my way out of this one.  Finally I asked if he would he would help me practice.  So now I am subjected to, “Mommy..stop!”  “Mommy..go!”

 - Tyler:  “On top of bus..that is funny!”

    Me:  “What is funny Tyler?”

   Tyler:  “There was a pipe on top of that bus!”

 - “I didn’t realize that was there..”  (he used ‘realize’..are you kidding me?!?)

 - “I don’t want Quinny to get smushed!!  I am going to stand in front of her.”

This was so incredibly touching.  We were at the condo at the beach last weekend.  Quinn was walking into the automatic doors as they were closing and almost closed on her.  Tyler had REAL tears in his eyes and was really upset when he said the following.  After that he stood in front of Quinn’s walker  and kept turning around to see that she was behind him.  If she scooted over, he would shuffle his feet in that direction to stay in front of her.  They really are brother and sister..it was so sweet!

 - Now they are going to enter the garage from this direction.  (This isn’t as much about his words as his comprehension.  The fact that he understands what is going on in the addition down the street and that the neighbors are going to enter their garage from a different direction.  The project is no where near complete, but they have put up the new garage wall and opened the new side.  Never, ever underestimate a toddler….they soak it all in.  I have seen something said to Tyler and he mentions nothing of it or doesn’t repeat the word and then weeks later our of nowhere..bam, there it is.  

It has been an insane couple of weeks and I have either been busy or tired. Doing well, just so much going on. I will post pictures and updates soon…

Changes in the Hood

I attended a neighborhood meeting this evening its purpose to decide whether or not we will financially support the adjoining neighborhood’s lawsuit against the Wal-Mart going in to the old mall by my house. There were many passionate folks on either side of the issue. The younger generation of residents seem to mostly oppose the WalMart while the older folks are in favor. And as you can never generalize, there are a mixture of folks from both groups that fall on the other side. One younger man said that his family had the means and would leave the neighborhood should the WalMart come into being. That statement got me thinking about a home.

On the intial news of this development, which was almost a year ago, I was outraged and thinking about relocating as well. These days, while my passions can still be stirred, I am less reactionary. Even now though, I could ponder the places to which I would want to move.

The reality hit me as I was rocking Quinn tonight that there is no perfect place. When we moved hear, I was elated that it was an existing neighborhood and so nothing could change - what was here, was here. Well, change is constant Alyssa if you hadn’t gotten that memo. Look at Downtown Austin - every empty lot will contain a condo high-rise before long. There are neighborhoods in Austin where every single existing house/structure that existed will be torn down and replaced with a new house/structure. Everything changes and nothing is perfect. Perfection is such a waste of time anyway (I should know being a closet perfectionist). My energy is best spent doing the little, special things that make this house a cozy, welcoming home for myself and my family.

A Wake-Up Call

I am such a different person. I even had a wake-up call about the duplexes on my streert. I am starting to become more and more concerned about the lack of affordable housing in this town. More and more reasonable to low rent buildings are being torn down to be replaced by condos. Where are these people to go? Folks have a right to live in Austin proper - it shouldn’t only be for those who can afford it. And here is the part where I got slapped in the face…there are these duplexes at the end of our street that I think are Section-8 housing. I am not the biggest fan of them and secretly always hoped that they would maybe get a facelift or be a little nicer. I realized that I was being discriminatory. Hard-working people live there and yeah, the buildings and area may not be pretty, but they are probably pretty reasonable and offer some decent space. Now I actually embrace that property and feel protective of it. I think of the people who bust their butt - writers, artists, the kind guy who served me coffee the other day, the woman cleaning the store, the guy taking care of the park.    People have to do these jobs and they don’t get paid much to do them. This city could at least ensure some affordable housing remains so folks can actually live IN Austin and pay their bills and put food on the table. This town isn’t cheap..

Affordable housing does not fit into the capitalist model - it has to be financially supported and legislated. We need to begin thinking about these things now. This is a very real problem and it will only get worse. Here is a great article discussing the tools that can be used to accomplish this. I was wondering about housing everytime I was down at the UT campus. Everytime I am down there - this is a new apartment building on the Drag. I kept asking Chris, “So where do all the non-rich college kids get to live? Or have we priced that segment of the population out of college all together?” Here is the article that really opened my eyes.

I know that San Fransisco has had this problem for years. The “paid by the hour” folks had nowhere to live but way out of the city limits, so the city had trouble finding people willing to commute that time, distance and money for $8/hr. Those folks could just go live and work in the burbs. Don’t know what the status is there - but during the Internet Bubble I remember hearing lots about it. It would be interesting to see if and how the problem is being tackled.

In the End…

I am so thankful for my home and that I have the good fortune to live where I do. Instead of expending energy worrying about what will become, I am going to focus on making my house a home. I can financially support the effort to oppose and improve the planned development, but I am not going to live in fear and make plans to uproot my life based on its outcome. Nothing is perfect. There isn’t much beauty in perfection anyway.

I am also learning to question more about myself and my preconceived notions and realizing that subconsciously I AM judging people and I need to stop doing that.

The light came on yesterday.  She took a few strolls in between Chris and I and was super psyched to find out that she could move those legs on her own.  And of course, once her body and mind were all in sync on the walking thing she is trying it out all over the place.  So fun to see her have a thought and then think “maybe I will just walk over there!”   And she is 15 months tomorrow, so on the exact same trajectory as her brother was with regard to the walking thing.  Here is a video of her a day or two before she walked.  You can see her standing and just about to take those steps!

(Your computer will have to download the video and that may take a minute.  Eventually thought, your video viewing software should kick in and you will see the vid)