dj whitebread

Friday, December 18, 2009

Getting ready to head out

Tomorrow morning we head to Baton Rouge for Christmas. I will actually be staying in Louisiana for two weeks with Carrie coming back to Austin for some time between Christmas and New Years. It will be fun to be home. South Louisiana is a special place.

We should be able to knock out the remainder of our book on "tape" tomorrow. We have the last few hours of the Bourne Identity left. I actually have the second one as well on my iPhone, so maybe we'll start it too.

Leaving for an extended time always makes me miss Pierre. He's a very social cat, and it always makes me sad to leave him by himself. If he wasn't a fugitive from the law we would have gotten another cat by now, but oh well. A few days of extra rubs and he seems to be back to normal.

Tonight we are heading to Jasper's for supper. I am excited, it looks good!

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4:23 PM |

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Our last day in BR

Well, we're heading back to Austin tomorrow. We've done that drive so many times... ugh.

The bike ride this morning didn't quite turn out how I expected, but I really shouldn't have been surprised. I'm way slow, and that was shown very clearly today. On the upside, I did ride almost 30 miles and got to spend some nice quiet time out on river road by myself.

After Carrie and I both took naps (she had gone run at the LSU lakes), we headed to Carrie's sister's house for supper with Carrie's family. We had a fun time. I lost in Twister. I almost had my left foot on red... it was so close.

We stopped by for a quick visit with my grandparents and then went by the Kleinpeter's to see Tom, Jeanie, and their baby Margot. So cute!!

After the baby went to sleep we headed to George's southside to meet up with a whole host of people. All in all, lots of visiting and lots of fun. Our only regret is that we didn't get to hook up with the Courvilles, but we hope to do that soon back in Texas.

It was a great trip home. We did lots of stuff, but we also had time to just relax. It's interesting having my parents here. Definitely a different experience, but a good one. It will be nice to get back to Austin, our clean condo, and Pierre!

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11:54 PM |

Friday, December 26, 2008

A Little Running the Day After Christmas

Carrie and I went for a run today. Nothing hard or even that long. My legs were not happy. I had to do lots of stretching during the run to keep my legs from hurting. Running does not seem to go well with my legs. I don't know. I probably need new shoes. I always find that when I've been riding more consistently my legs feel better when running. I think I have a weak lower back... the cycling does help strengthen that.

Tomorrow I'm going to go for a ride with a group in Baton Rouge with my cousin. I'm curious to see how fast this group goes.

We had a great dinner tonight with a few of my aunts and uncles. It was nice to see them; we hadn't gotten to see them before today.

It's been a nice week in Baton Rouge, but it really has gone by quickly. That always seems to be the case.

Good night!

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11:48 PM |

Monday, December 22, 2008

Cutting it Close

I'm cutting it a little close with today's post, but I'm getting it done nonetheless.

We moved over to my parents' new place today. It's a cool house. It's a different floor plan, but it is very neat. Having the little lake out the back is a nice touch.

We went to dinner with David and Amy tonight. We had a great time at the Chimes. Good food, good beer, and great and wonderful conversation with awesome people.

Christmas draws nearer... yo. It just really snuck up on me this year.

Well, I think I'm heading to bed. Goodnight!

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11:48 PM |

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Back on the road

We're preparing to get back on the road to go to Carrie's family Christmas parties in the general Beaumont area. I do not have to drive, however. I am thankful of this. I plan on bringing my laptop with me and trying to do some work.

I would like to take this part of my post to question Baton Rouge traffic. It took us almost 30 minutes to go from highway 415 outside of Port Allen to the I-10/I-110 split. In total, it took us over an hour to get from 415 to Siegen Lane. So, we averaged 10 miles an hour as we traversed Baton Rouge. That is absurd. It would have taken us longer had we not taken I-12 and then cut back as I-10 past the split was a literal parking lot. That is just unacceptable.

We grabbed some food at Albasha last night. We both agreed it was milder on the garlic side than Serop's or Tino's in Austin. The gyro was moist and delicious, and the meal really hit the spot. We were both a tad bit hungry.

Well, I need to go finish getting ready and pack a bag for tonight. Have a good Saturday!

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8:50 AM |

Friday, December 19, 2008

Almost out of here

We are finishing preparations for heading to Baton Rouge. We still haven't packed up the car yet, and I still haven't figured out exactly how we're going to arrange everything with the bike and all, but we'll figure it out.

I can't believe the snow that Michigan is getting right now. That is pretty impressive. The entire state is white on the map. Good luck to Mary and Richard getting home.

We still seem to have some fog hanging around Austin. It is supposed to burn off, though, so hopefully it won't be too bad as we head east.

Well, okay, back to the packing. Later!

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8:47 AM |

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Last day in Austin before Christmas

First off, for Richard.

I got the sticker on the car this morning. Thank goodness. I was sort of concerned that 100 miles wasn't going to be sufficient, and then I would be quite annoyed. However, it seemed good. It was nice to get that taken care of. When we get back I need to get the truck up-to-date.

Had good meetings at work today. Lots of stuff to be done upon returning, but it should be fun. And I need to get my job applications out the door.

We are hoping to get out of town early tomorrow so that we can have plenty of time to make it to Chuck E. Cheese's for our nephew's birthday party. That should be exciting.

It is going to be nice to be home for over a week. We can actually relax a little and don't have to be moving every second.

I hope everybody has a good Friday!

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9:44 PM |

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Siiiike

That would be what the weather is saying right now. After last week's gorgeous weather, we are back into the 90s. First day of Fall? Not here! Bleh. It's almost October, I just wish it would feel like it.

We went up to Dallas this weekend. For all of the djwhitebread readers who don't know, my parents are moving away from Dallas and going back to Baton Rouge. It is kind of strange for me as I was still somewhat young (19) when they moved away, so I've become an adult with them living in Dallas. When I think of Baton Rouge I don't really think of them being there. Anyway, it will be a new adventure like everything in life; we just see where things go and try to enjoy what we have. :)

We had a great meal at The Grape. We talked about how when my parents took us and Richard and Mary there and Richard ordered a drink for dessert. ;) That restaurant has been sort of a staple of life in Dallas, so it was cool to go back one more time.

We gave my parents a webcam for their collective birthday. It's cool to talk over skype. There is something more real about seeing somebody's face while you're talking to them, even if it is over the internet. So if you have a web camera, and I know you, let me and Carrie know!

Work is going well. This is the first time in my life that I actually am enjoying having more than one thing to focus on. I think the dissertation process sort of burned me out on just looking at one thing for a while. It's nice to think about different things. The trick is making the context switches efficient... if you can pull that off you're golden.

Tonight I'm once again headed to the dirt derby. If you live in or around Austin, own a mountain or CX bike, and are in the least bit competitive (even against yourself!) you need to be out here tonight.

I guess that's all I have at the moment. I need to be more consistent with the blogging. I've been going on a weekly basis lately, but I hope to step that up some. The more you write, the easier it is to write. Strange. Happy Tuesday!

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8:49 AM |

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

A day late

We had a great trip home. I got to ride with David, see David, Amy, Charlotte, and Ryan, and eat some boiled crawfish (thanks Alexanders!) on Thursday.

Friday I saw my grandparents and had lunch at Jay's Barbecue. Tastes exactly the same. I then headed down to New Orleans, picked up Carrie at the airport, and we met up with the LaBordes. We spent a wonderful, relaxed evening at the Lara's and got to see baby Bayona.

Saturday was a delicious lunch at Bayona (the restaurant) and Diego and Anna's medical school graduation. It was interesting to be back on Tulane's campus. The new University Center is really nice. The weird thing is that it's not that different of a floor plan. It was messing with my head some. I spent so much of my time at Tulane in the basement of that building working on the newspaper that it's odd to see the building look so different, but yet very similar.

After graduation we chilled out for a little bit and then hopped around several different bars relaxing and talking with the Laras and other assorted friends of theirs. It was a good time.

Sunday we headed to Baton Rouge, had a nice lunch with Carrie's parents and our nephew Travis and then (after I took a little nap) got on the road and headed back to Austin. The trip was uneventful, which is the way we like them.

I'm looking forward to a few uneventful weeks in Austin before we head to New Jersey for Meg and Harry's wedding. Memorial day weekend and a visit from my parents will be nice. I'm also looking forward to consistent bike riding once again.

I'm excited about the work left to finish everything. I turned in my first form for graduation yesterday... it's one of many. I'm going to start the scheduling dance today. Let the final trek begin...

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12:03 PM |

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

To Catch Up

Last Thursday when I posted seems like eons ago.

We did officially pull the paper. I was okay with that... the results just weren't happening. Friday I ended up not getting a chance to swim or bike, so I went into the triathlon on Saturday not having swam since last summer.

However, before that, we went to the ballet on Friday night. We got to enjoy the new Long Center for the Performing Arts as this was the ballet's first performance there. Very nice place, it is going to make a wonderful home for the arts in Austin. The symphony performed the music live, which was a nice touch. Don Quixote featured a large amount of point work, and it was pretty amazing to watch the women stay up on their toes like that for so long. The lead female dancer of the performance put on an amazing show of dancing; it was truly impressive.

Saturday morning was the triathlon. Basically, it went as well as could be expected for not exercising for two weeks and doing absolutely no running or swimming training. I felt really good on the bike, I could have pushed harder, but I was nervous about the run. I was also probably using way too big of a gear the entire ride. I forget that you really want to push an easier gear at a much higher cadence to keep the legs fresh for the run. The run was the most absurd two miles I've ever done. I felt like an old man just shuffling along. My body just did not want to run at that point. Oh, and the swim. Yeah... let's move on. We both finished and got it done, so it was nice to get that done and on the books. I definitely want to do several more this summer... I really want to do a triathlon where I actually swim the entire distance.

Harry's bachelor was party on Saturday night. The highlight was probably our time at the shooting range. I rented a .45 caliber Glock... that was fun to shoot. Overall we had a great time, though the giant meal of heavy, Salt Lick barbecue was a little much in retrospect. Sunday we ended the weekend with a showing of Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Crude, ridiculous, and very silly... but I laughed the entire time.

I'm leaving for Baton Rouge early on Thursday morning so that I can make it there in time to do the Tuesday/Thursday training race out on river road. I really would like to get on the bike today or tomorrow to try and get some work in the legs so that it isn't a total shock come Thursday. I would at least like to postpone the inevitable drop for a little while.

The Giro is in full swing. So far it's been a good tour, though it's always sad to see so many guys break their collarbones so early. However, my fantasy team member Mark Cavendish took a crazy sprint today to bring me some quality points. He has made it clear that he may not stay in the Giro through the mountains to contest the later sprint stages. Hmmm, here's hoping he feels good and decides to stay in.

So the paper deadline has come and gone. It is sinking in that the next deadline in front of me is that of my dissertation. Finally, it has all come down to this. It's kind of crazy... to think this thing you've been thinking about for so long has finally arrived. There is a lot of work to be done, though, so I really need to stay pretty focused from here on out.

I hope everybody has a good week.

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2:44 PM |

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Report

The wedding last weekend was a ton of fun. Everything was beautiful, and seeing so many friends in one place was really amazing. Carrie and I actually didn't eat until almost too late at the reception because there were just so many people to talk to. But honestly, that is problem that I will gladly take.

Went for a bike ride this morning. This should come as no surprise, but I am so far gone from any sense of fitness it is not even funny. Just have to get on the bike more, that is really all there is to it. This coming year is my last year to race collegiate, so I really want to make it count.

We leave for Hawaii on Friday. Crazy. It should be a lot of fun, even though I have to go work through some of it. We are getting a few days before the conference to see everything, and we have some time before we fly out on Wednesday as well. While I'm not looking forward to the long flight (we fly from Houston to Honolulu) I am looking forward to the beach and getting to check out the Pacific up close and personal.

Of course, as I mentioned, Hawaii is just about fun. I am working on my presentation... the practice talk I gave on Thursday was painful but fruitful, so I think the slides are already immensely better than before, but there is still a long way to go.

We plan on redoing our counter tops when we get back from Hawaii. Well, we're not redoing them. We are having them redone, I should say. We will be going with laminate as the price of that stuff is just amazing compared to the other options. And today's laminate looks amazingly good.

Go read the post on Erin's blog about why corn ethanol is a sham that the corn lobby (yes, there really is a corn lobby) is trying to shove down our throat. Corn farmers and processors have way too much power in this country.

I also want to congratulate my cousin David and his wife Amy on the birth of Charlotte! Also, in the baby world, I want to send out congratulations to our friends Anna and Jeff on the birth of their son, Champ! Both beautiful, healthy babies.

Happy Sunday, everybody. Have a good week.

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4:47 PM |

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Interesting

So my little paper got in to that conference. They didn't give us any reviews, hmm. But, it got it, which means that I guess I'm going to Hawaii in August. Should be exciting. The final version is due on May 28th though, so I have lots of work ahead of me once I return from Cheaha.

So I'm finishing up preparations to head out this evening to spend a few days in BR before heading to Alabama for Cheaha. We haven't been home since Christmas, so it will be nice to see everybody.

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2:06 PM |




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