January 2008

Austin imposed a moratorium on "McMansions" while we were in the midst of renovating (and super-sizing) Erwin House. In the spring of 2006, our city council unanimously voted in favor of certain restrictions which would limit the size of residential developments in single-family neighborhoods. Although David and I agreed...

Austin uses wind generators to provide clean energy to 55,000 Austin residences. Today, Erwin House became one of them. This is a HUGE deal to me. I've tried three other times over the years to sign up for this program, but I've never been able to get online on time. The seats are gone in seconds. This time, we just...

I love to cook, no lie. I don't feel like I get to enjoy it as much as I used to since I'm working so much lately (and coming home exhausted), but when I can I try to have fun in the kitchen. Over the years, I have slowly been upgrading my arsenal of cooking tools. It started with the array of colorful silicone spatulas...

This four-part series discusses, diary-style, our experience with researching, measuring, purchasing, installing, and using an IKEA kitchen system with IKEA fixtures, Wilsonart Laminate countertops, Frigidaire appliances, and Rejuvenation hardware. Part 1 details the experience we had using IKEA's downloadable kitchen...

Erwin House was broken into yesterday. We were very lucky: only a few items were stolen, no one was home or harmed, and a neighbor witnessed the entire thing and was able to give a detailed report to the police. Our homeowner's insurance will cover the loss and damages. I suppose I spoke too soon. Maybe this year we should...

I miss my house now that I am spending long hours at the new office, and as life at Crestview Doors hits a new groove I find myself ready to focus some energy on the house once again. We have a lot of little projects left to do, and a few big ones. We still haven't finished the concrete block wall under the deck, for example,...