Happier Holidays

Day: 134
High Temp: 29F (in St. Louis)

Don't Mess With Lindsey has been on an extended hiatus as Tom and I have been home in St. Louis to celebrate the holidays with our families. It has been an eventful week so far, with the chance to enjoy the company of many friends and family members who we rarely see. Homer took his first 12 hours car ride (not his favorite thing in the world) and he has also been enjoying that white stuff that tends to fall from the sky this time of year in the Midwest.

We have, indeed, had a small amount of snow here in St. Louis, including a dusting on Christmas morning. This allowed Tom to experience his first-ever white Christmas. He now can appreciate what all the hype is about. It is actually snowing again right now, with about an inch or two expected. It makes sitting inside very cozy.

Tom and I gave and received well this year, with many really neat homemade presents exchanged. Among my favorite we gave were mixed CD's inspired by the new music we have come to love since arriving in Austin, hand embroidered tea towels (visit Austin artist Jenny Hart's website here for some of the cool patterns I used) and homemade compost bins. We also made two types of jam (cranberry maple butter and cranberry orange marmalade.) The people who love us were also ridiculously generous and creative in their gift giving this season.

And my whole family received an early Christmas surprise when brother Andy and his wife Megan went for their first ultrasound last Wednesday morning. I knew something was up when instead of heading to work as she should have, my mom came back home with Andy and Megan following the appointment. We all crowded around the ultrasound print outs, and were all really excited to see the following shocking image:


















For those without a trained eye, there are indeed two little heads in this picture. We have twins on the way! They are fraternal (you can see the border between their individual placentas) which means they will not be identical. Here are a few more highlights from the visit!

Twin A: profile shot

















Twin B: front facing

Sudden Realization

Day: 122
High Temp: 49F

Today, I woke up around 9am. Not terribly late, but pretty much the norm for me in my recent, unemployed state. When I looked a the clock, I had a sudden realization: Three weeks from now, when I am officially at my new job, I will have already been at work for an hour. Yikes! I guess this is goodbye to 9 hours of sleep each night. I am sure I will be fine... right?

Merry Christmas To ME!!!

Day: 121
High Temp: 65F
Job Status: Employed!!!

You read that correctly. Employed. It only took 125 days...the longest 125 days of my life. And if you take into account that I was unemployed my last two weeks in Chicago in preparation for our big move, I have been out of work for 4 and a half months. Everyone kept telling me to enjoy the time while I had it, and I tried my best, but now I know that the next three weeks, and the upcoming holidays, are going to be the best ever.

The job is in the Development Department at the University of Texas School of Nursing. It is a 3 person department, and I am really excited. The department not only raises funds for the academic nursing programs at UT, but also for the two wellness centers that are affiliated with the school of nursing. Those clinics provide medical care to low-income and uninsured families and children. The job itself offers me the chance to use many of the skills I have from the performing arts sector, but will also allow me to gain experience in higher education and social services fundraising.

I am set to begin on January 4th. It really is the best Christmas present I could receive. Money has been very tight for Tom and I, and this new opportunity will represent the real start of my life here in Austin. I am letting out a huge sigh of relief, and preparing to celebrate!

Beeven Bietz

Day: 116
High Temp: 50F
Job Status: Unemployed (and not receiving unemployment)

With the advent of Google Alerts, bloggers need to be careful about what they say, and who they say it about. I think this is a good thing. Anonymity is certainly still easy enough to preserve on a blog, but the fact that the person you are trashing might get an email alerting them to the fact that you have written something does hopefully make the blog owner more responsible for what he or she says. It is probably not such an issue if you want to blog about an A-list celebrity. Those people are written about so much that I doubt they/their managers/their agents really care what is being said about them. I mean, can you imagine if Brittney Spears set up a google alert for her name? A constant stream of inanity, to be sure.

So what does that have to do with Austin, or my subject line Beeven Bietz? Well, this posting is supposed to be about a certain American playwright that I have had the pleasure of meeting and socializing with. However, my own inability to give an enthusiastic and heartfelt compliment has made it awkward to write this blog for fear said playwright has a google alert set for his own name, and will therefore be alerted to my blog. Therefore, I have given this incredibly charming and well-respected artist a ridiculous, slightly distorted name: Beeven Bietz.

Many of my blog readers probably already know who I am talking about. For those that don't, here are a few more clues to help you with the google search. Beeven is a professor here at UT Austin, he spends his time between Austin and Seattle, and has been produced by my beloved TimeLine Theatre in Chicago. I have a google alert set up for "TimeLine Theatre" and will now likely get an alert about my own blog...

Anyhow, Beeven wrote a play that I love. It is, in fact, one of my favorite plays EVER. I think it is really freaking cool that he is Tom's mentor and professor. I think it is really freaking cool that I have met him, and I also think it is really freaking cool that last Friday night, I sat in his back yard, drinking wine and chatting with him and other UT theatre people around his fire pit. It's all so cool. But it feels so uncool to say it!

I am a mess!

Beeven and his wife are both playwrights. They live in a gorgeous old house a few blocks north of campus, and have converted the little coach house in back into a stunning writer's cottage. Being incredibly gracious hosts, Beeven and Allison insisted that everyone please feel free to explore the little cottage, and see where he (they) make(s) the magic happen.

When I entered, I immediately noticed the bookcase in the little foyer area. It is topped with photos of family, and friends, and other trinkets that have sentimental value to our hosts. Situated among the photos and trinkets is an old LP version of Eugene Ionesco's "The Chairs". It is an audio recording of the play that in many ways shaped and inspired the Bietz play much beloved by yours truly.

There is something magical about connecting to the things or places that have inspired art that you admire. I am sure many theatre lovers feel it when walking the streets of Stratford, England, or it may be a familiar feeling to sports fans who have had the chance to hold the bat, or touch the glove of a favorite player. That is what I felt standing in that little cottage, a little bit of unexpected theatrical magic. It was so cool. And it definitely could not have happened anywhere but Austin, Texas.

Is Austin Ready For This?

Day: 110
High Temp: 50F
Job Status: Unemployed

I was just noticing that lately it seems like the High Temp and the Day counter have switched places. We are now safely over the 100 mark in terms of days spent living in Austin, and now the mercury is creeping slowly down towards that freezing mark. Indeed, today (December 3!) Tom and I finally turned on our heater.

When we left for Tahoe a little over a week ago, we left a city still experiencing an average high temp in the mid-70s. It was chilly at night, but sunny and comfortable during the day. Now, there is a distinct coldness that has settled upon us, and while most of the trees still refuse to turn and loose their leaves. We haven't hit below the freezing mark yet, but I couldn't help noticing tomorrow's weather forecast: High of 36F with a 70%chance of snow showers! Is Austin ready for this?

I mean, I certainly am. If 27 winters in the Midwest taught me anything, it is how to deal when expecting an inch of mixed precipitation. In fact, I am now the owner of an SUV, so driving in the snow should be safer than ever. But, it is not me I am worried about, its all these southern yahoos (no offense yahoos, but admit it, you don't have a reputation for handling well in the snow!)

I have a meeting, a lunch date and a party to attend, all tomorrow. This means I have to go out and brave the masses. Honestly, this is more daunting than black Friday at a suburban mall! The hourly breakdown from weather.com shows a forecast of possible snow from 9am through 6pm.

Now, nothing can get me more in the spirit of the holidays than a good early-December snowfall, but I fear that this snowfall will come at the price of the sanity of the masses. So hear me now Texans: please do me a favor and stay home tomorrow! Let me enjoy this uncommon expression of the season in peace and relative safety.