Not By a Mile

This morning I attempted "running".  I've been ignoring my exercising routine for the past few weeks because I haven't managed my time well.  After reading my sister's Facebook postings on new running shoes and hearing from several people that they have renewed their running regiments, I told myself that I could also start anew.

Yesterday, Susan and I were at DSW and I tried on Saucony running shoes for the first time.  My sister just bought a new pair, and I wanted to see how this brand would feel on me.  I was surprised on how comfortable they were for my wider feet.  I just started wearing Asics and I said they same thing about them once upon a time.  I still love my Asics for working out, but Saucony feels more sturdy and cushioned in the heel.  I told my wife that I'm buying these shoes as motivation to start running.

My new Saucony Men's ProGrid Ride 2

For my first run, in an extremely long hiatus, my goal was to run a complete mile.  I came up a quarter mile short.  I'd like to blame the hot weather at a balmy Texas 75 degrees, but I can't.  I'd like to blame that the new shoes weren't properly broken in, but I can't.  I'd like to blame my back for doing 4 hours of yard work the previous day, but I can't.  

...I'm just out of shape.  One step at a time, right?

Restaurant Review: La Cocina

This morning I had an appointment at the house for a health examination.  I recently signed up for life insurance, and I had the medical tests performed at my house.  I peed in a cup.  I had some blood drawn.  The examiner took some physical measurements.  I was not too happy about my weight (the scale at home is generous).  However, I was pleased that my blood pressure turned out to be normal, which my home monitor was indicating the past few days.

I worked from home the rest of the morning, and asked if Susan wanted to have lunch around the area before I headed out to the office.  I asked her what she was in the mood for and she replied, "Mexican.  Or Italian.  I just want my cheese fix."

I jumped on Urbanspoon.com and did a search on most popular Mexican restaurants in Round Rock.  No. 2 on the list was La Cocina.  One of the reviews read it was a hidden gem.  Another said it was great for Mexican AND Italian food.  Did I read that correctly?

Sure enough they serve both Mexican AND Italian dishes at La Cocina.  So we fulfilled Susan's cheese cravings by ordering the Italian Enchilada, a riccota filled tortilla topped with spicy marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese, for an appetizer.  I munched on complimentary chips and salsa, and nearly took out the entire bowl of salsa by myself.  For our entrees, Susan ordered the Enchilada Suizas and I ordered the Guisado de Puerco plate.  The food came out well timed.  The service was great.  The portions were huge.  And everything tasted spectacular.  We may have gotten lucky because it was a Tuesday, but I am not going to complain.  The Guisado de Puerco was fantastic; the pork was tender and the sauce it was stewed it had the right amount of flavor without being spicy.  Good to know we have another quality restaurant within a five minute drive of our house.

Restaurant Review: Kneaded Pleasures

My officemate and I walked down to the cafeteria and immediately walked right out because the options were limited.  Bob suggested we go out for lunch instead, and I agreed as long as he chose the place.  He drove us to Kneaded Pleasures, which was a 10 minute drive from our workplace.

I have seen this Austin restaurant before, but I thought it was a joke erotic bakery.  The name is so misleading.  I was very mistaken.  Not only do they serve sandwiches, but it is oddly sandwiched between a post office and a packaging service with open walls.  The place was packed, so I took that as a good sign the food was going to be good.

Kneaded Pleasures serves a variety of menu options: sandwiches, salads, pastries and gelato.  Bob recommended the Roast Beef sandwich, but I opted for the Grilled Chicken sandwich.  Why?  Because it was sitting dead center of their menu.  Served on whole wheat with lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese and chipolte mayonnaise.  The chipolte mayonnaise had serious kick.  It wasn't sweat spicy, but my mouth was instantly numb (and has been for 4 hours).  Definitely tasty but they could back off the chipolte and the Grilled Chicken sandwich would be just as good.

I will definitely try this place again.  Maybe take the safe bet with the Roast Beef sandwich.  Or make sure I get some gelato to cool myself down.

Super Bowl? More Like Super Platter

Congrats to the New Orleans Saints!

I would also like to congratulate my stomach for enduring so much food at the Super Bowl party Susan and I attended.  There was SO MUCH food.  Here is the list of everything I ate:

• Pepperjack cheese & crackers
• 7-layer bean dip
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Strawberries
• Yellow tomato pizza
• Pear & goat cheese pizza
• Chicken sausage deep dish pizza
• Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen
• Corzo Tequila
• Smoked sausage
• Smoked turkey
• Beef brisket
• Coleslaw
• Potato salad
• Meatballs
• Mini eclairs
• Girl Scout Samoa Cookies
• Jalepeno Poppers

I snacked on all of theses things at least once during the game...and of course some things multiple times.  What a game.  Now pass me the Tums, Drew Brees.

Cold, Hot, Cold, and Finally Hot Again

On the coldest winter night to hit the Central Texas area, outside temperature dropping into the lower teens, our heater conked out in the wee hours of the morning.  I woke up because I felt cold air blowing directly on top of me.  Right then, I knew our heater was busted as it has had problems in previous years with similar symptoms.  I did not want to diagnose the problem in the dark so reading 65 degrees on the thermostat, I turned it off so it would not blow out more cold air through the vents.  I then shut the door to our room and turned on the portable heater to our room.

I woke up to the dogs snuggled up next to the heater.  I opened the door outside of our bedroom and the wave of cold air hit me like Babe Ruth teamed up with Jack Frost.  The thermostat read 60 degrees.  I put on a bunch of clothes and headed up into the attic to see if I could fix the heater.  Well the problem was unlike previous years, where the sensor was not clean in telling the heater it was hot enough to start blowing out the heated air.  This problem was that the burners would not even ignite.  I called the repairman that I have had fix my heater in the past, an older Vietnamese gentleman.  It is too funny when I talk to the guy on the phone because of the language barrier.  The less we understand each other, the louder our voices get.

Two hours later, he stopped by and fixed the following part...

The igniter was cracked from age and use, and much like a light bulb filament, it just burned out.  Home ownership is just fantastic.  With this cold spell sticking around for the next few days, the family and I are just happy to have heat again!

Ping Goes the Garage Door

Normally it takes 3 hours driving one way from Plano to Round Rock. But this past Sunday, coming home from our Thanksgiving weekend trip, we spent 5 grueling hours on I-35S. 1 hour of that was spend on a 10 mile stretch.  After we unloaded the car with our luggage, Susan pressed the garage door button to close the garage door behind me. About an hour later, I took the dogs out through the front door so they could relieve themselves. When I turned the corner, I found it odd that the garage door was still open. When I went to close the garage door this time around, I heard a loud PING, but had my back turned to the door so I didn't investigate further because the door fully closed.

The next morning as I was about to head out for work, I pressed the door opener and the door would not lift. Straight above the door I saw that one of the springs was broken. Ugh. I swear, after all long trips, something breaks at the house. I manually unlocked the garage door and lifted the heavy panels so I could pull out our cars.

The same day I was able to get a repair company to come out and fix it. I watched the technician remove and replace two spring coils with blazing speed and ease. With the assistance of his wife handing him tools, he repaired the garage door in 20 minutes. It would have easily taken me 4 hours to figure out what I was doing, and it would have cost me several dollars finding the right tools. Even though it cost nearly $200, it was well worth me not losing a finger attempting the repair.

From now on, I'll remember to spray WD-40 on the coils each year as the old coils became brittle due to them not being greased or maintained. Lesson learned.

Added Uplights

Susan suggested that we add some pizazz to the house, so we added some uplighting to our home. We now definitely make our house known on the block. What's not pictured is the lovely new flowers in our garden, which consist of mums and margaritas (the plants, not the drinks).