Mystery Landlord Strikes Again

Back in August, the townhome portion of our apartment complex (read our house) got sold to who knows what investor. The customer service has been spotty, since then, and I've heard rumors of downright rudeness to the Spanish-speaking tenants. We had assumed that they were running people out so they could gut the place, fix it up, and sell them as condos, as many places in South Austin have gone. Imagine my surprise when I walked out the door, the day after Christmas, and saw them painting the neighboring building. Figures that the day after we immortalize this place on canvas they'd change the color on us. Plus, while I have to say that I like the color, I don't like it here. It's too dark, and we've already got heat absorption issues with the vast expanse of asphalt out front.

Bad Numbers

Joseph's sick. I guess. He's not sick in the usual ways, he just has a nasty fever. When he got up from his nap (~2 or 3pm) he was at 100.2 and, after some nice cold milk and a refusal to eat chicken and noodles, fell asleep on Daddy's shoulder. I checked him again when he got up the second time and he was at 101.6, so I went for the Tylenol and cold watered down juice. He's a little sluggish, but still up to his usual tricks. I'm hoping it's just teeth, and not something worse.

Update: He's fine, today, back down in the normal range.

Kites

Richard and Chrissie were in town for Christmas, so we met them at the park for a picnic, duck feeding and kite flying. Jonathan's dragon kite flew like a dream, soaring into the air with the slightest toss. It was so easy to handle that we let Elena do it all by herself. Joseph liked to run free through the grass, finding other people's soccer balls and kicking them. He's got some serious dribbling skills for a 1 1/2 year old.






Bonus video of the dragon kite. It flaps!

Christmas at Home

Back home, we had to set out some reindeer food there, too. Elena enjoyed sprinkling it on the sidewalk and bushes, Joseph wanted to taste it.


We put out cookies and a carrot, and Elena poured some milk.


Christmas morning, the cookies were gone, the milk drunk, and the carrot nothing more than a gnawed end.


We made a special gift for each of the kids. This is Elena's doll. She said it was Elena, but I'm sure she'll acquire a proper name soon.


This is Joseph's map. It's still not quite done, but most of it's there. Thanks for the pictures, they'll help a lot.

Christmas Eve with Cousins

My family gets together on Christmas Eve every year for soups, snacks, and a few presents.


Mike's kids got a trampoline, and Michael decided to model the bow that was on the box.


Elena got invited to help put out reindeer food. Dutifully, she dropped a handful at the feet of each of the reindeer in the front yard.


Joseph was more interested in Uncle Rick's dog, Baxter.


Paige got a giant CandyLand as one of her first presents, and vanished for the rest of the night. I think she likes it. For this round, it was Elena, Tanner, Michael, Paige and Christopher playing.

Early Christmas with Cousins

Jonathan's family does presents a few days early, since his sister and her family drive to El Paso. Aunt Christina got a gingerbread house kit for the cousins to decorate, and the girls, at least, had a fun time with it.


Behold the glory of their creation.


All eight of the cousins.


Joseph and his new tools. He immediately hopped into one of the chairs and took the screwdriver to his new soccer ball.


Elena always plays with Keely's Polly Pockets when she goes to visit, and now she has some of her own--Cinderella style.

Eye on Our Figures

We're all looking for ways to get through all the parties without putting on the pounds. I found a website with fifteen common foods that use more calories than they contain:

• Celery
• Oranges
• Strawberries
• Tangerines
• Grapefruit
• Carrots
• Apricots
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Watermelon
• Cauliflower
• Apples
• Hot Chili Peppers
• Zucchini

Something to remember, though: all are better for you raw than cooked, and that ranch dip on the veggies piles on a lot of fat. Enjoy the party platters, and munch to your heart's delight!

Christmas Favorites

Favorite Christmas song: I've always liked lullabyes or the children's songs from church (When Joseph Went to Bethlehem, Stars Were Gleaming), though it's hard to beat some of the medieval quasi-pagan carols out there--nothing like frozen cabbages, boars' heads or starving, snowbound sheep to get you in the Christmas spirit.

Favorite Christmas treat: mincemeat cake!

What does your Christmas tree look like: (taking Marin's easy way out...)You can see most of the big ornaments, but there's a couple dozen snowflakes and bells nestled in there, too.

When do you start shopping for presents, on black Friday or the day before Christmas? Shopping on Christmas Eve is forbidden, in this household--get it done by the 23rd, or wait 'til the 26th--but Black Friday's a bit too hectic so I'm a middle-of-the-month person.

Favorite Christmas tradition: the Christmas pageant before presents--alas! it is no more.

Best holiday memory: Orange rolls at 5am, or possibly Charlotte scaring the snot out of me when I went for my annual 3am stocking browse.

Fake or real tree: Fake--it doesn't have the smell but it won't melt or shed (I saw a really cool one with fluffy needles, pine cones, and a frosting of snow, thus the melt) .

Favorite Christmas movie: The Santa Clause, Charlie Brown

What do you want for Christmas this year? ... ...knitting stuff? macaroni necklaces from the kids? Jonathan to get his shopping done before the 23rd? I don't know...

Favorite Christmas story: Luke 2, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas in Texas

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

tags to all my sisters-in-law: what was Christmas like in your neck of the woods?

Insult to Injury

I know I can get preachy to the point of whininess, especially when it comes to the seeming inability to overcome the excesses of American life, but I'm nothing to Detroit. The New York Times wrote an article, last week, reporting on the wailing set up by American car manufacturers because congress wants to raise their fleets' mean mpg from 27.5 (22.2 for trucks) to 35. They're going along with it, now that they can't see a way out of it, but I can see their beady eyes focusing on flex-fuel to get out of it. And worse, Bush plans to veto the bill anyway (mostly because of the gas tax hike). We still pay way less for gas than Europe, though.

What would I do? Well personally, if given all the resources I needed, I'd get a car with the best gas economy I could find, and wire it to also run on solar. I'd also put one of those strips on every cell phone on the planet, and in the corner of south-facing windows, but that's for another day.

Gotta Get Me One of Them

I love my Echo. It's small, nimble, and incredibly fuel efficient. But I have two kids, and plan on having more some time in the relatively near future. The Echo is too narrow to fit three car seats across, though. There are a few ways to get around some of the space problems--narrower car seats, moving Elena up to a backless booster--but they're still just stop-gap solutions, so we've been doing some window shopping for cars.

We have some very specific characteristics we were looking for. First, it had to fit at least six people. Second, we really wanted good fuel economy--even the handful of hybrids available either get half the mileage of our Echo or still only have five seats. Could we possibly find a car we like?

Yes. It's the Toyota Avanza. It's inexpensive ($13-17k), compact (5.5 ft tall and 13.5 ft long--3ft shorter than the Ford Taurus X, their 7-seater crossover) and still seats 7 adults. Plus it gets (near as we can tell) ~40 mpg, and it's been described in several reviews as nimble and safe. Here it is in all it's glory:



Cool, no? I love it. The problem? They don't sell them in the States. It was designed from the ground up for south Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philipines), and has expanded to more markets, including South Africa and Mexico.

Why not here, though? Any family with more than three children is forced to drive a) a large minivan with bad gas mileage, b) a large SUV (don't even pretend that your SUV is small--it isn't) with bad gas mileage, or c) two cars. What about all our lip-service to global warming and the environment? I've seen hybrid vehicles that only got 3 mpg better than their conventional counterparts. Why are we not allowed a better option? Are Americans so obssessed with "Bigger is Better" that they won't buy such a practical and sporty little vehicle?

Well, I would. I'm thinking about driving to Mexico to get one, it's that good.

So, all of you out there, pass it on to your friends. There is a better car for large families out there, it doesn't cost an arm or a leg, and it'll save you hundreds of dollars a year in gas. We deserve better, we should demand better, and do it with what companies hear best--our wallet. Ask your Toyota dealer why you can't get an Avanza and maybe we can change the market forces to meet our needs, not their greeds.