May Update

Between murders, layoffs, prolonged construction, oppressive spring heat, Airbnb drama, summer camps, John’s baseball travel and more, it seems like things have been a bit hectic around here of late.

Yep, there was a murder in the immediate neighborhood. At 3:54am on the 20th, a neighbor in his 40s walking his elderly dog in the middle of the night stumbled upon the burglary of his own pickup in his driveway, and was shot dead in the middle of the street. The gunman was from San Antonio, just driving around looking for cars to break into. No one among our neighborhood friends knew the guy, but he was apparently a family man leaving behind a 7yo. CBS Austin was at our house the next day collecting video footage from me that picked up the gunshots.

It would have been very unusual for me to be out walking around at that time, but with the insomnia issues I’ve had this spring, it also wouldn’t have been fully out of the question. Just days ago I had pondered going for a walk around the block at that hour to try to channel my surging energy, but thought that anyone spotted walking at that time of night would be considered suspicious, and thought better of it. This is the closest I’ve been involved with a murder since our college landlord was killed in a bar fight in 2004.

Here’s a quick recap of everything else.

• Kitchen and bathroom renovations are due to be finished any day. I’ll be sure to post some before & after pics.
• I’m awaiting to see how our Airbnb drama unfolds. We are being held liable for apparently breaking a bunch of already-broken stuff from our recent 17-day stay during construction. I am fighting these stupid claims.
• John made an All-Star team for baseball and last night was our first tournament game. We’ll be playing in “select” tournaments all over Austin most every weekend through the end of June. John did an amazing job as the center fielder for the Balcones 65s last night, a position he’s never really played. I was of course roped into helping out as an assistant coach.
• I ran a 5k and Edie ran a 1k for her preschool’s last day on Thursday. It was unbelievably hot and muggy even at 7:30am, the absolute worst running conditions. I would run a block, walk a block. I finished near the end of the pack from the 20 or so parents. Edie unofficially got 4th place in hers!
• This came on the heels of an entire night awake, again! The adrenaline was pumping too hard after Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, with the Timberwolves losing. I had no success coming back down after that. At 3am I gave up and started my workday and got a lot accomplished. But I ran that race on zero sleep and finally crashed in the afternoon.
• Edie goes right back to Four Seasons next week for summer camp, but just for one month. After that, our family is done forever at Four Seasons, where at least one kid has gone every day since 2017. John goes to a sports camp in the daytime and select baseball practice at night. He’ll be wiped!
• The family is taking a very budget-friendly weekend trip to Pittsburgh in two weeks to see the Twins play the Pirates. Allegiant has $100 round-trip direct flights from Austin to Pittsburgh. None of us have ever been there. I’ve only been to Pennsylvania twice, barely skirting the edge of Lake Erie in 2005 and riding through Philadelphia on a train in 2007. So this will be my first real trip there.
• Our July schedule is finalized, with the family leaving for Minneapolis in the minivan July 3. We’ll be in Minnesota for over a week for Lauren’s dad’s memorial gathering. Then we’ll head to South Dakota for a week. John plans to stay on the farm for a week or two alone. Lauren and Edie will fly back to Austin, and I’ll do the drive back alone, making stops to see friends and pop in the office on the way.