AbsolutBlog

Happy Birthday to YOU
Happy Birthday to YYYOOOOOUUU
Happy Birthday to Maddddyyyyy
Haaaaappppyyyy Biiirrrrthday to yyyyyoOOOOOUUUuuuu

ma baby’s 3!

Today we went to Build A Bear Workshop and Maddy built herself a horse named Blazer dressed up like a cowgirl with jean dress coveralls, cowgirl boots and a cowgirl hat. Blazer also had pink bows. Thanks to Lisa and Chris for their contribution to Blazer. The picture is now below. Of corse Maddy has troubles keeping Blazers clothes on, so you see Blazer is naked most often. The problem is endemic for all things Maddy touches of course as entropy has taken over her room, toys and dolls. Nothing can be kept organized with a 3 year old running things.

Also, new pictures are up on the website and we had a record high yesterday of 108…and that is freaking hot.

A fateful Friday in September 2002 changed my life.  My daughter was born September 27th.  That same day Austin City Limits decided to put on a new type of music festival in Austin, Texas.  They took 130 bands from all walks of life, erected 8 stages over 15 acres of the Zilker Park soccer fields on Town Lake, invited 200,000 of their closest friends and partied for 3 days solid.  The first year tickets were $15-$30.  Alisha and I watched from our hospital room as Madison was experiencing her first few hours of birth.

Every year since then (this was our third) we have been at the festival dancing and singing with Madison and the bands.  Ticket prices have shot up to $105 which is still a steal for the caliber of music presented.  Of course this year the weather gods had to weigh in with their thoughts on music.  Rita stayed away by some miracle, but brought 15 mph winds that stirred up dust like I’ve never seen.  I am still finding dirt in places I didn’t know I had.  And somewhere, a thermostat was broken as the daily temperatures hovered around 103…in the shade…which is par for the course in Austin, late September.  I could go on for days, but I will wrap it up with a short list of the bands we saw (some of the best bolded):

Day 1:  Steve Earle and the Dukes, deSol, Mates of State, Robert Earl Keen, Grupo Fantasma, Spoon, Thievery Corporation, The Allman Brothers Band, Blues Traveler, Blue October, and Lyle Lovett and his Large Band.

Day 2: Buddy Guy, Martin Sexton, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Jet, Widespread Panic, Bloc Party, Zap Mama, Oasis.

Day 3: Zycos, Brave Combo, The Biscuit Brothers (kiddie songs for Maddy), The Bravery, Jason Mraz, The Decemberists, Bob Mould Band, Wilco, Dierks Bentley, Coldplay.

You don’t believe that great music was our for the taking?  Here are sound clips of all these and more.

For those of you living in a box or random space station and didn’t know, hurricane Rita is forcing herself upon us.  I don’t care much for this flirtatious hurricane considering this weekend’s planned events.  It’s ACL fest time.  Good times.  Hopefully.  We are hoping for dry weather, or at least wet but not stormy weather.  Who knows.

If you are worried for us, don’t be.  We would be in bad shape here in Austin if the hurricane took a strange left turn and headed for Corpus, then took a direct north path.  As it stands now, Rita seems to like the folks of Houston (Galveston) and the state of Louisiana.  We will probably get some rain and wind, but will be on the (much weaker) west side of the storm.  As you can see from the map below at the noaa.gov website, Texas is big.  Even if Rita dumps on Texas, over half of us won’t see a drop.

Hello All,

A friend of mine from New Jersey asked me today if I knew of ways that her and her friends could help with Katrina efforts here in Austin and in the surrounding areas. In case you have not heard, the Austin Convention Center and the Houston Astrodome are packed. Not to mention that there are several shelters, churches and homes in the surrounding towns and cities that are taking evacuees in. I realized that there was no better place to post information of this calaber than to "blog it", so here goes.

The Austin Area Food Bank (www.austinfoodbank.org, where I found all of this information) is currently taking donations. The following is a list of items that they are in need of. You are able to send items to the address listed below. However, if you aren’t sure you want to send it to the food bank – you are more than welcome to send items to Brad and I and we can drop them off for you at the various drop off locations listed on the website.  We will be out of town from 9/15 – 9/20 but before or after that we’re happy to help.

Financial donations are most needed. You can donate online, call us at 512.282.2111 or mail a check to Capital Area Food Bank, 8201 South congress Ave., Austin TX 78745.

We’re also asking for donations of CASES (not loose) of:

Ready to eat baby formula and baby food
Single Serving Ready to ead food, including:
Pop-top meals like stew, pasta and chili
Cereal/Granola Bars
Fruit Cups and Pudding
Juice Boxes or individual serving boxes
Breakfast cereal in individual serving boxes
Ready to Eat meals (such as lunchables)

Peanut Butter
Canned Meat
Baby Wipes
Sanitary Hand Cleansers
Note: We do not need bottled water or diapers at this time.

For those of you who have other questions regarding the donating of items and making sure it’s going to the victims of Katrina, here is some further information.
How long will the effort last?
It’s estimated that the effort will last for several months.
When and where are the donations going?
1. America’s Second Harvest (www.secondharvest.org) – The Nation’s Food Bank Network (A2H) is directing the distribution of food to food banks in affected areas. Food Bank volunteers are sorting and packaging the items, and shipping them out as requested by A2H. So far, we are shipping several truckloads each day to food bank operations in Baton Rouge, Baker and Alexandria, Louisiana.
2. We also are sending food and water where it is needed by other established relief organizations. We’ve airlifted products to the triage center at the New Orleans airport and to field kitchens in more remote parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.
3. We are providing food to local shelters housing evacuees, including the Austin Convention Center and Palmer Auditorium and numerous churches throughout Central Texas.
4. Some items have been sent to regional food banks in areas such as Beaumont, Houston, Tyler and College Station, whose supply has been depleted by the relief effort.
How will donated money be used?
Overtime for essential staff (Our fantastic staff has been working 14-16 hours a day since Sept. 1)
Transportation, including truck and equipment rental, and diesel fuel
Supplies such as bozes and pallets to package and transport the food
Other activities directly related to relief efforts
For those of you in the Austin area who would like to, here is the information on volunteering.
Volunteers will be needed for the coming weeks and months to sort and package donations. Volunteer shifts are available 7 days a week, mornings, afternoons and evenings for the forseeable future. Volunteer hours are: Monday – Friday 8a – 5p, Thursdays until 9p, Saturdays 9a – 12 noon, or 1p – 4p.
Other special work sessions may be scheduled, click on How to Help on the home page of the bank’s website, or call Katie Klauke at 512.282.2111 x116 or email kklauke@secondharvest.org for details.
They are asking that volunteers be over the age of 18 yearsbecause of the unusually high volume.

Please check the out the websites listed above for further information and to find answers to questions that I may not have covered here. Thank you for taking the time to read this and remember that we all need a little help sometimes and what you do could make the difference in someone’s life.