Baum's Away: Sunday

This was our second trip to Lockhart. The first time we went we left late Sunday afternoon with a group of friends, when we arrived the only BBQ joint open was Black's. Now don’t get me wrong it was good. But it was no Smitty’s. This place is heralded as the best of the best. There is no sauce, there are no sides, and there is no silverware! No. We’re talking smoked meat, on butcher block paper, and a few napkins. After you walk up past the burning fire on the ground and order, you step in to a 1924 deli and pick up a few fixin’s. The tables are long and full. The meat falls off the bones in to your mouth and as you close your eyes you think, "wow, I didn’t know heaven was in Texas."

As we were leaving I got the pleasure to meet the owner he gave us a little tour and told us the history. Next time your in town…we’ll take you down to Smitty’s.

After we had seconds, we went over to the Lockhart City Hall for some pictures (I figure I have some taken with my old camera but this new one’s a ‘bute, so here are a few more.)

And this trip we made it in time to tour the Lockhart Jail (now History Museum). Bet this was a pretty scary place to spend the night a long time ago…

After a full afternoon we went down to the Austin American Statesman Bat Observatory Park. Here is Town Lake and the Skyline.

From March to November this is the home to 2.5 million bats!

Baum's Away: Saturday

We went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – it is not far from our house and the grounds are amazing. January is free month, probably because nothing is in bloom. But the plantings were still lovely and we enjoyed walking through the unbooming gardens.

Baum's Away: Friday

While the Baum’s were in Austin we went to a lot of new places. First on the list was the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum. I always say, when nature is this beautiful everyone’s a good photographer.

Barton Spring in Austin you can swim in January!

For Jax

Step one: Print this up and hang it in all your bathrooms.
Step two: kick the pimp in the ass.

Step three: Smile

Home Buying One-Oh-My-Goodness-Four

Well, we had our first bout of future homeowner disappointment. We put a bid on this one Wednesday and the owners were unwilling to bend whatsoever...it wasn’t the right home for us. Now on to the next one.

Baum's Away!

Barbara and Dana (Ian's folks) are on their way today for their first trip to Texas. We have been getting ready all week to show them a good time! Barbara said that Massachusetts is super chilly right now, so I have my fingers crossed that it stays 60 and sunny here.

Home Buying One-Oh-My-Goodness-Three

Yesterday, on our day “off” we had an amazingly hectic real estate day. First we met with two lenders (starting at 8AM). Then we went out and pounded the pavement with Carrie (our agent). We looked at 4 inside and out. None were for us, but here is my take one them:

Cute, but small. Would need some major work, but you can live in it until the work is done. Only one bathroom. The first time I met Ian’s folks his mom told me that the secret to every good relationship is “separate bathrooms.” I have remembered that to this day. And I think she is really on to something. This only had one. And it needed to be redone, so you don’t have a back up while redoing it. Not good.

We loved this one, and it would be perfect for us (3BD/2BA, awesome yard, excellent layout, huge kitchen…), but it went under contract, so they were only taking back ups. This one defiantly met the 85% Rule – meaning that it had 85% of what we wanted. So if we wanted it, we would have had to go in to a bidding war yesterday, and it was already 10K over what we wanted to pay. (Yikes!) So we walked away.

Number three, is in hands down the best location. I absolutely love this neighborhood. But it is 35K more than we want to pay. And it only has one bathroom. Not to mention needs to have some work done before we could move in. But, man, I love the neighborhood.

Yikes. No. Practically ran out of this one. There is a reason it is $30K under what we want to pay. Wow.

Back to the drawing board. We are waiting to find the one that meets the Baum-85% rule – and isn’t already under contact.

Geo Map Overlay, say what?

The comment I made about my regular reader in London (who I hoped was my good friend Sam) sparked questions. How do I know? I use a free service called Google Analytics that tells me all sorts of data about who comes to my blog. It is the same service I use to monitor all of our sites for work. It’s free and if you have a site you should consider trying it out.

Here is one of the neatest pieces of data it provides me.
(Click on the map to make it bigger.)

All that said, my favorite way to learn more about the people coming is for them to leave me a comment. (*Hint-Hint*)

Dear Sam, Where are you?

I have a regular reader in London. Is it you? I have called, I have written, I have sent postcards, I have even called Tony (I think the cell phone number I have for him is not him - the person called me back really late at night and didn't talk - creepy).

I miss you dearly and I want to know where the heck you are. Please tell me you have not fallen off the face of the earth, that everything is ok, that you are in Africa or London…just tell me something.

Love from TX,
Morgan, Ian and Sarge

TX Snowman

Caption this snowman - just leave me a comment and let me know what you think he's thinking...

Our first TX snow!

They have seriously shut the city down for days! There has to be a joke out there about the Minnesotan and the Massachusettan (is that a word – I don’t think so) in TX during a snow storm.Sarge doesn't like the icy grass.

Home Buying One-Oh-My-Goodness-Two

We are going to look at these three this week. I really love this one’s location.

This one also has an amazing location and a great back yard (shown) but the house itself is pretty small.

And this one has a lot of the things we want in it.

What time is it?

Time for a new camera!

Thanks to Too, this year for Christmas I was blessed with a brand new camera. Now, if you ever thought to yourself “Morgan takes really crappy pictures” I feel your pain and I would like to place the majority of the blame on my Kodak Easy Share (don’t laugh) 2.0MP that I got for free the Christmas of 2003 (It came with my Dell computer – again from Mom and Too).

Now I am the proud owner of a Canon Power Shot 7.1MP and it is a mighty fine camera! Wow. The photos are amazingly clear and crisp. The colors are spectacular. So why, you ask, if I have had it since Christmas, did I not take it to Memphis? And why haven’t you seen any of the fruits from this new camera? Well, when you get a fancy new camera with all the bells and whistles, you also have to take some quality time to figure out how to work the bugger. Thanks to the debilitating snow storm in Austin, today is the day. I have been snapping a few photos here and there – take a look at what this baby can do:

Sarge's first Christmas.Picking up everyone for our first New Year in Austin. Jax and French...Then Erica (unfortunatly Micah had to work).
The New Year Party at the Driskil.

Amazing short of the old tin ceiling.

Party girl...
Post party Mr. and Ms. Quad.
Sarge was sad I was going to Memphis with out him.
Oh, I wanted to take him along!
Stay tuned for many more to come!