St. Edward's Park (and University)

My friend Amber introduced me to this park just a year ago. It was the last on my list of new parks in Austin to show mom this year.

It was such a nice day for this hike. Since I've only been here once, I felt a thrill having to explore the trails on our own. It felt like a real adventure when we encountered a long snake on the trail! When we reached the first hill, we set our blanked down and had some snacks enjoying the scenic view. After conquering another large hill, we came down to the creek. We packed our dinner with us so we found a nice secluded area by the water and ate there. On the way back, we spotted some horse footsteps and followed them to the water. There were two of them, and the owners brought them there to play in the water. Literally. They were splashing around like little kids. :)

Next we went for some Amy's ice cream in the Arboretum and then drove down to St. Edward's University for my rehearsal. We will have two concerts, on March 6th and 10th.

Hamilton Pool and Mandola Winery

The Saturday morning weather was not at all promising. It was drizzling and cold. We planned to go to the Hamilton Pool park today, but until Zoran actually set in the driver seat, I wasn't sure if we'll go. So glad we did. We started later than planned and got extra delayed because of an I35 shutdown, so when we got to the park around 1, it was already warmer and started to clear up.

First we walked down to the pool area, which was open for swimming. :) And actually there were few 'brave' swimmers/tanners. We haven't had too much rain lately, so the waterfall was more like a water drip. Part of the trail under it was closed due to damage. We rested and goofed around a bit, and then continued on toward the Pedernales river.

The hike was only maybe 20 minutes, but the trail is in a canyon which was warm and humid. Having layered clothing was a smart idea.

The river was just a bit cold, but walking in it felt good. I wouldn't go swimming in it just yet.

We worked up a little bit of an appetite and drove down to the Mandola winery in Driftwood. There were two weddings there that day, and Emilia was picking up some ideas for their wedding. We really enjoyed the food and atmosphere there. We got back to Austin after 7 PM. I have no idea how I thought we could make it to San Antonio that same afternoon! Another day.

Evening at the Oasis

We've been meaning to go to the Oasis while mom is still here, but it was never "on the way". Finally I decided it will happen this Friday.

I thought just mom and I will go for some drinks and snacks and the sunset. But Zoran dropped by for an afternoon coffee with mom at the house, and she invited him to come as well. Of course, then he invited Emilia, so it was a longer affair with dinner. Mom and I went separately, and the traffic at that hour on a Friday was just horrendous; it took us 45 minutes to get there because of stop-and-go on 360. I probably should have planned it for a weekend. I could barely recognize the place when we got there.

The complex now looks like a mini-town. Fields of paved parking lots and a huge multi-level garage. They also have shuttles. Several new buildings sit between the road and the old restaurant, so the main entrance is hidden behind them. The line to get your name on the waiting list was long, but moving along.

We had just enough time to get drinks to see the sunset. Zoran and Emilia joined us a bit later and we moved inside because without sun it was getting cold very quickly. We had fun, and were one of the last guests to leave.

10 Years of Service

This year marks 10 years since I started working at National Instruments. 10 years! Wow.

I actually started on Jan. 22nd, but that date this year actually brought havoc for the next couple of weeks, so I didn't really think about the anniversary.

First, in the craziness of switching accounts for direct deposit of paychecks, I was surprised when I received one additional paper check that was sizable amount but still less than what I usually receive. It took me few minutes of reviewing it to realize that it was a service award. Nice! I totally didn't expect that.

Our company takes us out for these occasions for lunch in a group with the CEO and VP of Human Resources. Since there are not that many of us who started the same week who are still here after 10 years, they group 2-3 weeks worth of start dates into one lunch outing. So this week 14 of were treated lunch at Iron Cactus in the Arboretum.They presented us there is a plaque and a $100 dinner certificate. Nice.

Tax Time

Taxes are done!

This year I used Free File Fillable Forms for the first time. I never heard of it before. I knew there was a free electronic filing option, and that for some reason, that I could not remember, I didn't qualify for it. I thought that I don't qualify because I file itemized deductions, or some additional schedules or forms. So, I thought to check again, and it was actually the income that disqualified me from using Free File.

On the other hand, anyone can use online Fillable Forms regardless of income. And it doesn't matter which all forms need to be submitted. And you can e-file for free!

This year I needed to file 1040, schedule A, B, D, M and form 5695. It took couple of days to figure out capital gains on schedule D, as I don't usually file this form. (I made a mistake 5 years ago of not filing it for some options I sold, and got audited 1.5 years later with penalty and interest!). I am also amortizing points from refinancing my house loan, so that was another math I couldn't quite figure out. Once I crunched all those numbers on paper, I double checked my calculations in Turbo Tax and the difference in refund was just $1, in favor of my math!

Using the Fillable Forms was a breeze. I just wish they had the option of importing W2 (like Turbo Tax). Instead, I had to fill in all the fields manually.

Quarry Lake Mischief and Gardening

I wanted to visit the Quarry Lake Park for some time. Since today was not quite a day for longer hikes (it was drizzling on and off), we decided on this location for today.

There is a fence all around it, with a coded gate. A sign next to it said it's a private property reserved to members of the Pure Austin Fitness, which is right next to it. I went inside and found out that only their members can get access to the gate, and I could maybe try through Estates On Quarry Lake Apartments on the other side of the lake. Being mischiefs that we are, we pulled in to gate, luckily someone was just coming out through the other side, so we snuck in. We walked behind the buildings down to the fence, and it was not fully closed, so we found a way to the trail. I even later got a code from a little girl walking her dog, just in case we needed to open the gate with the code on the way out.


I love these little adventures of ours! :)

It took us only twenty minutes to go around the lake, but we were already hungry. We had a late lunch at the Roaring Fork restaurant, which has a nice screened patio overlooking the lake. We got back just in time for mom's English class at the Wells Branch library.

Another item on today's agenda was to get some plants for the in-front of the house, and get closer to choosing a tree for the front yard. Early in the morning we picked up some 20 ornamental red kale and 18 yellow dragon-snaps at the Newtown Nursery, and I planted maybe a third of those in the evening. We also stopped at three other places to look at tree options. I am looking for something that is evergreen, but has leaves, not needles like pines, grows to medium height and width, is draught tolerant, and generally low maintenance. All those equalled to Mexican White Oak. The prices very greatly between container/tree sizes and nurseries. The least expensive one was Whittlesey Landscape Supplies on I35.

Mayfield Park Hike

The weather is just awe-some! Perfect for outdoor activities.

This weekend we decided to check out a new park, Mayfield Park, off of 35th st., close to Austin Museum of Art. There are few trails around the preserve, some all the way down to Lake Austin. We had our coffee and picnic there.

When we were down hiking, we visited their beautiful cottage garden, with ponds and peacocks!

I am so glad we discovered this new Austin gem!

Family Time

Last weekend we enjoyed some family time with Zoran and Emilia.

We first went to late lunch to Tony & Luigi's Italian Restaurant in Round Rock. It is actually owned by a family from Bosnia, but since not many people are familiar with what Bosnian food is, they opened this Italian and Mediterranean food place. Faruk, the owner, moved his family from Los Angeles, where he worked as a plumber, to Round Rock a three years ago thinking the restaurant business will allow him to work less. He was wrong. He didn't have a day off since they opened, and now they plan to move back to Bosnia in a few years.
Obviously, we had a nice chat with him while we were there. Oh, and the food was really good - we went for some local dishes, and Emilia went vegetarian.

Afterwards, we went for a walk in the Red Bud Park. I which this park was bigger, it has a nice setting, being on an island, but we had just enough time before dark to do one loop.

We finished the evening with coffee at the Mozart's. We can never go wrong with coffee there!

Snow Day in Austin

In Austin we get a snow-day once every few years. And it's an off-day even if it's just a little snowy precipitation. And this time we got a "lot" of it - in Austin standards.

It started snowing just before midnight, but it was more sleet than snow. By morning, we had a nice couple of inches of snow on the ground. My company announced a delayed opening until 9, but since I rarely ever go to work before 9, it didn't mean much to me. But still, roads in my neighbourhood were covered in icy snow, and since it was still below freezing I decided to delay my regular travel time to work, as well. The first thing out of bed I did was to put on winter clothes and go outside to play. :) Of course. I mean, it's not like the snow would last for more than one day, even few hours. No time to waste. Building a snowman was a must.

We got way more snow than the last time we had snow in Austin, and because it was still bellow freezing, it didn't melt all the way until the next day. It was a bit icy, so the snowballs wouldn't pick up more snow just by rolling them - which is traditionally how a snowman is produced. I made a regular snowball and then had to just pile more snow on top of it and pack it down to build the snowman. Even then, it would stick more to my gloves than on the snowman. It took more time, but it was time spent playing in the snow! Mom helped as well, and it turned out to be one very happy, good looking snowman. And me - one very happy girl. :)

I did end up going to work after 11, and most people just worked remotely from home. The snowman survived more than 24 hours.

Frozen Pipes

They say if you don't like the weather in Austin, just wait 10 minutes and it will change. It's true. And boy was it true the last few days.

After spring-like weather on Monday, an arctic blast came through Austin on Tuesday at 3.12 am. The wind woke me up at that time. It was like category 1 hurricane. It knocked down some branches, my neighbour's fence, and was throwing at the windows the dirt/sand that it picked up. It was so loud. The temperature plummeted 30 degrees in 30 minutes. The winter was in Austin.

It was the coldest day of the year. The temperature didn't really go above freezing during the day, so on Wednesday morning we were under rolling blackouts - 30 min scheduled power outages in different parts of the town. That meant that I was again awaken in the middle of the night by the alarm system beeping when the power came back on. Wednesday was another record coldest day.

My friend Norma called me during the day to let me know I should check on the outside pipes. She works for a plumbing company, and was warned that the styrofoam covers for the outside pipes we both have are not insulating enough in temperatures bellow freezing for more than few hours. She went home during lunch to check on their pipes, and two of them were frozen.

I went home a bit early, so I can deal with those pipes before it gets dark. 4 out of 4 outside pipes were frozen on my house. No water was coming out when I took those covers off. I took a blow dryer and started warming them up, and I had mom put towels soaked in hot water on the other pipes. I had no idea how long it might take, so I was very happy when the first faucet thawed after some 15 minutes. It actually got me by surprise so I got water all over bottom part of my pants. It froze on me within minutes. The other two took about the same. I then just wrapped them in some rags and left them dripping.

The fourth faucet, coming out of the unheated garage, was not thawing. My next door neighbour came out, and when he saw what I was doing started doing the same with his frozen pipes. When he was done he came over to help with his super strong heat gun for melting paint. We would heat the faucet to where it was too hot to touch, but could barely get few drops of water out. And we were freezing, too. We went inside 3-4 times to warm up and allow the heat to transfer through the metal to the inside part of the pipe that was apparently still frozen. We even started heating the sheet-rock from inside the garage, because we were sure no ice could still be in the super hot outside part of the pipe. After almost 3 hours, we finally got it all thawed. I left the pipes drip for the next couple of days until the temperatures finally went above freezing.

Frozen pipes is not something we have to worry about in Texas very often. We don't get temperatures bellow freezing for more than a few hours. Or we are not supposed to, anyway. From posts of facebook, it seems that a lot of people had trouble with leaking or burst pipes with this arctic blast. My other neighbour had a huge blob of ice that same evening under one of his (covered) outside faucets. I am so thankful Norma warned me to check on the pipes before it was too late, and that my neighbour came to help with his special tool.