Well, I'm in Tucson, AZ which is actually a higher latitude than where you are. I suspect other Houston-area pool owners will chime in but the advice will likely be this - we don't close pools this far south. Pools down here just stay open all year long. When the winter comes, you can certainly cover it with a bubble cover, but there is no need to winterize, drain, tightly cover, etc. Just make sure your pool equipment has some kind of freeze protection circuit so that when overnight temperaryres go below freezing, the water circulates. If you don't have something to do that automatically, then you'll just have to remember to do it yourself. As far as chemistry goes, once the water temp drops below 60F, algae growth rates are practically non-existent and so chlorine demand goes way down. You'll find you can for very long stretches without having to add any chlorine at all.
That's about it.....so much easier to own a pool when you don't have to wrap it up for winter....