Valentine’s Day is only 4 Sundays away.  Have you picked out a special spot in Austin to spend it with your special someone?  Here are some suggestions from one of my title partners, Texas American Title.  And have a great Valentine’s Day!

PS – Don’t forget to check Restaurant.com for discounts!

Coldest Temperatures in Years Expected

Winter Home Protection Tips

• Bursting pipes occur when frozen water causes a pressure buildup between the ice blockage and the closed faucet. Pipes in attics, crawl spaces and outside walls are particularly vulnerable to extreme cold. To keep water in your pipes from freezing:
• Fit exposed pipes with insulation sleeves or wrapping to slow heat transfer.
• Seal cracks and holes in outside walls and foundations near water pipes with caulking.
• Keep cabinet doors open to allow warm air to circulate around pipes.
• Keep a slow trickle of water flowing through faucets connected to pipes that run through an unheated or unprotected space.

Source: Institute for Business and Home Safety. IBHS is a national nonprofit initiative of the insurance industry to reduce deaths, injuries, property damage, economic losses and human suffering caused by natural disasters.

Cold Front Brings Temps in Teens by Thurs Night

Source KXAN.com  - Published : Tuesday, 05 Jan 2010, 11:18 PM CST
Jim Spencer

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The coldest air of the winter season is now flowing from Canada into the northern Rockies, and will quickly plunge into Texas Wednesday evening. The arctic cold front is expected to arrive in Central Texas during the early morning hours Thursday.

Temperatures will drop quickly below freezing, and in some local areas, may not warm above 32 degrees again until Saturday.

At Camp Mabry, temperatures colder than 23 degrees have not been recorded since February 5, 1996, however, readings in the low 20s will be possible in Austin Friday and Saturday mornings.

The last time the temperature at Austin Bergstrom International Airport dropped below 18 degrees was nearly eight years ago, on March 5, 2002. The forecast low at ABIA Saturday morning is 16 degrees.

Gusty north winds behind the front will produce wind chill readings of 10-20 degrees during the day Thursday. By evening, wind chill readings of zero to 10 degrees above zero will be possible in the Hill Country.

Early Friday and Saturday mornings, temperatures as cold as 18-22 degrees are expected in and near Austin, with readings in the teens in the Hill Country and other rural areas. Temperatures as cold as the single digits will be possible in the coldest valleys in the Hill Country early Saturday.

The National Weather Service is advising area residents to make preparations for the coming cold wave. A hard freeze can cause damage to exposed water pipes and kill sensitive vegetation. Pets and livestock will be stressed by this arctic outbreak, and should be provided protection.

All Stacked up ~ Where Austin Ranked in 2009
Austin Monthly published an article in their current issue that I wanted to share with you about where Austin ranked in the news over the past year.  What an amazing city we live in!

No. 1 – US city for job growth (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

No. 1 – Big city to find a job (Forbes)

No. 1 – Bargain City (Forbes)

No. 1 – Place to get a swim workout (Men’s Health)

No. 1 – Fastest growing metro area in the U.S. {tied with Raleigh} (U.S. Census Bureau)

No. 1 – Budget travel destination in the U.S. (Budget Travel Magazine)

No. 2 – Healthiest housing market (Builder Magazine)

No. 2 – Strongest metro economy in the nation (BusinessWeek)

No. 2 – Mid-size city to attend college (American Institute for Economic Research)

No. 3 – Top-performing North American airport: Austin-Bergstrom (Airports Council International)

No. 3 – Strongest metro economy (Brookings Institution)

No. 5 – Most educated city (U.S. Census Bureau)

No. 5 – City where young people will flock in the recovering economy (Wall Street Journal)

No. 6 – Best walking city (American Podiatric Medical Association)

No. 7 – Top tech center in America (American Cities Business Journal)

No. 8 – Best city in the country to live, work and play (Kiplinger)

No. 8 – Best place for business (Forbes)

No. 8 – City to launch a small business (Fortune)

No. 8 – Best place to live in the U. S. (MSNBC.COM)

No. 9 – Fittest city (American College of Sports Medicine’s American Fitness Index)

No. 10 – City for moviemakers (Moviemaker Magazine)

No. 11 – Best city for singles (Forbes)

No. 12 – Smartest city in the nation (The Daily Beast)

No. 14 – Coolest North American City (MSN Travel)

No. 15 – Art destination in the country (Americanstyle Magazine)

No. 17 – Fittest City (Men’s Fitness)

No. 18 – Best business school: UT’s McCombs Business School (U.S. News & World Report)

No. 19 – Most dangerous metropolitan city for pedestrians (Transportation for America)

Don’t get busted with a DWT (Driving While Texting). A texting while driving ban is now in effect in Austin. Reports are showing that driving while texting is at least as dangerous as driving while drunk/intoxicated. The ban includes texting, tweeting, emailing, and internet surfing as well. If you get caught, it could cost you $500.

This legislation comes after months of debating at City Hall and a study on Cesar Chavez Street where 10 drivers in a 15-minute period were seen typing on smart pones.  18 states plus the District of Columbia already have a ban in place, Austin is the first city in Texas to adopt a ban.

Exceptions to the ban include when at a stoplight, using a phone’s navigation system, and in the event of an emergency.

Be safe!

Sometime between late Christmas Eve and mid-day Boxing Day, our garden was pillaged for souvenirs.  The garden is well known in Austin’s gardening circles… it is the creation of KLRU’s “Central Texas Gardener” host, Tom Spencer, as well as the site of his former home.  Items that were taken were garden-related, likely taken by someone with knowledge of the garden, while other items were left undisturbed.

If you know of anyone who has recently acquired these items, a reward is being offered for information leading to the safe return of the stolen goods.  Please call 512/771-1776 or email aria@kilpatrick.org.

And thank you to Renee Studabaker (@reneesroots) of the Statesman’s Renee’s Roots blog for the post to get the word out about this crime.  You can also find out more at Tom’s website.

Can you earn the reward by helping to locate the stolen items?
Some of the missing items are pictured below…

Stolen bench... do you know someone who recently aquired a set of these?

Stolen mirror garden globe.

The stolen blue-glazed terra-cotta garden mobile once hung at the edge of the corvered porch.

Two heavy metal planters were stolen in addition to the mirror globe.

A closer view of the patio mobile.

More on the garden:

Fox 7 picked up the story, of course the home is not Hyde Park as they said, but I appreciate their help in getting the word out.