Scarborough Faire in Waxahachie, Texas

After living in Waxahachie for twenty-seven years, I finally spent a few hours at Scarborough Faire, a huge Renaissance festival that is open in April and May each year.  Tim and I headed out early in the day quickly to find ourselves in a caravan of cars and trucks all crawling toward the Medieval Kingdom just south of town.

If we had known that spectators would be dressing in costume we might have done the same. After admiring the colorful outfits of our local citizens, we contemplated returning next year donned in our own version of King Arthur and Guinevere. 

As creative as the locals costumes were, the costumes of the regular renaissance actors were stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Scottish assembly was my favorite! Gentlemen and their ladies represented various clans as they gathered together in a regal procession.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of the characters had clearly gone over to the "dark side".

 

 

 

 

 

 Over the years, during each April and May my family has observed members from this Renaissance troupe out and about in Waxahachie. We knew certain individuals were from the Scarborough Faire group because they wore medieval style clothing as their everyday attire. I assumed this was because they were so passionate about their craft that the reenactment had become a part of their spirit. My thoughts were confirmed when we visited the Renaissance site. I think the actors would reenact the medieval life even if no one came to watch. It seemed to be how they really were...day in and day out.

 

That being said, I enjoyed my time at the festival immensely and plan to return next year......hopefully, in costume, of course!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally.....Black Belt

On August 18, I attained my goal of 1st Degree Black Belt in TaeKwon Do through the International TaeKwonDo Federation. Almost my entire family was present, and those that were unable to come, were there in spirit! Of all the things I've experienced in my life, I have to say that this is one of the most satisfying. I began my TKD journey in August, 2008; you can see it has taken me four years to go from white belt to black belt. Now, I am on a new journey...that of becoming a 2nd Degree Black Belt. The minimum amount of time allowed is 2 years. I have no doubt that someday I will get there.....no matter how long it takes.

One valuable lesson I learned in this quest, is not to worry one little bit of what people think. If a person really wants to accompish something....no matter what it is....perseverence is key. Most of the students in my class are teenagers. Many times I had to ignore how high their kicks were or their adept moves in sparring. I just kept reminding myself that each day I practiced, I was becoming better and closer to my goal.

And......I now belong to the most awesome family of martial artists. I immediately had an overwhelming sense of belonging to a special group of people......It's truly the most wonderful feeling to put on my black belt and step out onto the floor....Kiyap....

 

Woof.....Is That a Belgian Sheep Dog or a Bear??

 

Recently, Tim and I spent a weekend in Dallas. It was one of those rare occasions where the parents get a couple of romantic days alone. Concurrently, the American Kennel Association was in town with a three day dog show event. Well, how could we two dog lovers pass this up? We found ourselves totally captivated by the magic of this event......We were excited to go, but had no idea we would be so entranced and caught up in the event.
Our first day there, I actually found myself sitting next to a brown and white show dog.....a Whippet to be exact. Now, I had never seen a whippet except in photographs.......This animal was quite large, but as thin as one could imagine....the skinniest dog I had ever seen, with a pointy nose and angular face as well. I found myself looking straight into this oddly beautiful animal's eyes, the whole time marveling at his composure and confidence.He totally mastered his space.....he belonged here; this was his kingly realm and I was privileged to be sitting to his immediate right. The experience was so unexpected and unique for me that I won't soon erase the image from my thoughts. Now, the whippet was only one of hundreds of show dogs that had qualified for this regal display. Dogs of every imaginable breed were represented at the three day event. Leashed canines followed their masters/trainers from one end of Dallas Market Hall to the other. Sporting dogs, hounds, toys dogs, non-sporting dogs, terriers, you name it....they were all there, immaculately groomed to look their absolute best......Not only did they look sparkling, they were so well behaved that that their owners appeared to require more disciplining than than their obedient four legged prodigy. I admit I was quite impressed with this air of dog civility, and after only a short while, found myself comfortable in this strange world where the dogs were the center of attention far outdistancing the humans in beauty and grace....

Bridges Can Be Scary!

We have bridges in North Texas, but only the small kind. The only bridge that I have to cross is the Trinity River Bridge that crosses, of course, the Trinity River heading into Dallas. This bridge is your normal, run-of-the-mill bridge.....nothing exciting about it at all. This past weekend, I had what seemed to me to be a bridge intervention by God. Now, I have had nightmares my entire life about steep incline bridges and similarly, high, narrow freeway overpasses. This past Thursday, while attending my niece's wedding, I had a bridge encounter that made me shake, rattle and roll.....literally!
This is the Dames Point Bridge that crosses the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida.

I was totally taken by surprise at the sight of this steep bridge. My rental car was a tiny Fiat which made crossing this giant even more formidable to me. As I began the ascent I began to pray. Then, as I began to hyperventilate as I neared the apex, I began to chant, "Face your fears, face your fears". Once across, I was so relieved.....until I realized I would have to cross the bridge again on my return trip to the airport!!

Have you encountered any steep bridges in your life? I would love to hear about them!!

 Take a look at this bridge. ......Now this is a bridge that will visit your dreams!

It is the 1st Cooper Bridge in Charleston, S.C.

Or, if you are visiting the Tampa/ St. Petersburg, Florida area, you may have to cross the Skyway Bridge.

P90X

Well, a few days ago, I was watching a bit of Dr. Oz. His guest just happened to be Tony Horton of P90X fame. Now, a couple of years ago, my daughter, Suzanne and I started the P90X exercise program. We continued for approximately 30 days and stopped. It was HARD!!
I managed to persevere for that short amount of time, but eventually, I started finding reasons why I couldn't exercise on a particular day. This continued for about a week and then.....no more P90X.

Now....quite unexpectedly, there is good old Tony Horton, talking with me through the television screen. I have to say, Tony looked really good.......older than in his videos, but still a shining example of good health.
I started to think about the P90X program. When I was doing it, it was really good for me. Now, I had already made a semi New Year's resolution to add Yoga to my physical training regime. I'm testing for a first degree Black Belt in TKD in August. I want to amp up my training schedule so that I can knock that test "out of the park". The P90X actually has a great Yoga dvd included in the 12 dvd set. So, I rustled through my dvd collection and there it was......my stack of P90X dvds.....waiting there for me, not actually calling my name, but eager for me to blow the dust off them and start to "Bring It" as Tony says.

I've got two P90X routines now under my belt. While they are hard, I was surprised that in the interval between when I stopped before and today, I've gotten a lot more fit. Kudos to my martial arts teacher and diligent TKD training!!

So.....my New Year's Resolution is this......
To stay on track with P90X for the entire year.....
Black Belt here I come!!

Things I Cannot Live Without

This morning as I was rushing to leave for church, my husband sat in his chair talking with me. We had to laugh because as I was apologizing for leaving a huge mess on my computer desk, clearly the items dear to my heart accounted for the clutter found there:

My computer
Not one, but two, bottles of Diet A&W Root Beer
Lots and lots of make up and skin creams
A large oval make-up mirror
An eight by ten photo of us in Hawaii, taken five years ago on our 30th wedding anniversary
My blue appointment book which literally contains everywhere I need to be and when I need to be there (I panic if I lose this!)
My alarm clock
My cell phone
My Bible
And....a cup of hot water with lemon.
Everything a girl needs to survive her day!!

Homegrown Roses

My love of roses began when we lived in Midland, Texas. The previous owner of our home had planted about a dozen huge red rose bushes which gifted us a bounty of roses each year! Then, when we moved to our home here in Waxahachie, I missed those rose bushes, so I eventually planted a few rose bushes of my own. Today I had the pleasure of cutting some of my homegrown roses for display.

 Recently,I found this vintage (circa 1930 to 1940) flower frog vase in a thrift store for only $3.00! Similar ones are going for $30.00 on Ebay. I think the roses look quite nice in the frog vase.

This was so satisfying!! I do love roses!!

The Original Three

On a Saturday not too long ago I enjoyed dinner with three of my adult children. I tend to think of them as "The Original Three" because they were our first three biological children before we began the adoption journey. Siblings in our family are spread out from age thirty-nine to age fourteen. (Because some of our children came via adoption, two of our children are actually older than "The Original Three".) Consequently, our youngest children only lived with "The Original Three" a year to a few years before this trio flew the nest. Even today, with families and busy lives of their own, they still remain tremendously committed to our big  family! Thank you, God, for "The Original Three"! My heart is full with gratefulness that I have the privilege of being their mom!

Old Texas House......Happy Halloween

The Old Texas House hails from Gonzales, Texas. While visiting there last weekend, I discovered this wonderful old Texas house all ready for trick or treaters!

Tiny Texas Houses!!

Last weekend, I traveled to Austin to visit with three of my adult children....Stephen, Alison May, and Suzanne. Saturday morning, Alison May, Suzanne, and I drove to Luling, Texas. Luling is the home of a company named Tiny Texas Houses, a totally appropriate name because, well, the houses are Tiny. At least, the houses are much tinier than the houses I am familiar with! Check out www.tinytexashouses.com to read about the vision of this company's owner, Brad Kittel. Basically, the idea is that we Americans live with much too much materially, and our lives and environment would be simpler and happier if we lived with much less. Kittel uses salvaged building materials to construct these tiny houses. This is such an interesting concept to me. I have always been interested in lifestyles that are different from "normal". Settling down in a Tiny Texas House would definitely fit the "different" sort of living bill!
Check out these pictures.

Thoughts on the Midlothian TKD Tournament

This past Saturday, my TKD do-jo held its' annual TKD invitational tournament. Other schools from Texas and Oklahoma participated. I have to say that I am disappointed in my performance.  I just recently learned my new pattern,Choong-Moo. Choong-Moo requires me to perform a 360 degree jump turn. Needless to say, it is going to be several months to a year of persevering before I can complete that turn. So....I didn't perform my pattern up to the standard needed for competition. Next time, I won't enter a tournament unless I know I can perform the required pattern consistent with competition standards. This was my first tournament where I didn't place first, second or third, and I was sad. On the other hand, I left the tournament wiser than when I started. Watching the younger black belts with their crisp kicks and punches helps me to aim higher and farther in my pursuit of TaeKwon-Do.

In All Seriousness

Horribly bad things happen to people. There is no way anyone can escape this fate. Of course, mentally we can understand that it is through pain that we emotionally and spiritually grow becoming better people. But, in the moment, that pain can be an awful place to be. Bad things have happened to me...my husband....and unfortunately, my children. It's quite devastating to watch one of your children suffer. For myself, I've spent all of my parenting life hoping and praying that nothing too terrible would happen to any one of my children. But....it has and will, I'm sure, continue to happen. But......I am a spiritual person and know that God loves my children more than I do. As a parent, I have to trust that He is in control and will be there with us though it all.
In large families, difficult life lessons are bigger just from the fact that there are more people having life experiences. My husband says that large families are a microcosum of society. I don't know about that, but sometimes it certainly does seem like that to me.
As a mom, I hardly have time to catch my breath before something else upsetting happens. But, even though the stormy times seem nonstop, I realize on the flipside, the super extraordinarily happy times are nonstop as well.....and bigger just from the fact that we are a large family.
Thank you God for taking care of us......through the good and the bad.

Scrabble......Thou Shalt Nots....

Last night was my husband, Tim's, and my date night. We had a stay-at-home date, and after watching a short documentary on DVD, we spent two extremely long hours playing Scrabble on the computer. Now, as everyone in my family knows, playing board games with Tim can be daunting. It's no exaggeration to say that Tim wins almost all of the time with everyone he plays!......Tim grew up playing board games; he loves the competition and thrill of the win.....Tim is the Lance Armstrong of board game athletes!!


Now, rarely do Tim and I complete a game of Scrabble in less than two hours. Why, you ask....well, because Tim has to "study" every move and be absolutely sure he is making the best move for the most points possible. I used to threaten to place a five minute hour glass next to him to keep him from stretching the agony of my wait time out too long.


In order for me to continue to play with Tim, I have written a list of ten "Playing Scrabble With The Wife" rules that must be adhered to for continued Scrabble happiness...


1. Thou shalt not hum while playing Scrabble.
2.Thou shalt not be a Smartypants!!
3.I repeat....Thous shalt not be a Smartypants!!!!
4.Thou shalt  not, under any circumstances, laugh or be perceived as laughing at your opponent!
5. Thou shalt not bob one's head up and down.....or sideways...while thinking...
6. Thou shalt not look so satisfied when one is winning.
7. Thou shalt not regard any single gain of less than twenty points as unworthy.
8. Thou shalt not fidget while one's opponent is concentrating.
9. Thou shalt not mentally make words out of your opponent's letters.
10. Thou shalt not say upon winning by seventy points, "That was a rousing game, don't you think?"

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Black Stripes

On August 19, three years after beginning as a white belt, I tested and received my black stripes in TKD! I am so appreciative of my son, Taylor, for being my partner. Taylor is a first Dan Black Belt. He has helped me so much, I can't even begin to tell you! Without his support and the support of my family, instructors, and fellow students, I certainly would not have made it this far. Now, I'm on the final part of my journey to first Dan Black Belt. I'm thinking it will take me a year, mainly, because I want to have a really good test. There's a whole lot to improve on both physically and mentally.

Oma's Jiffy Burger

Last week, Taylor and I stopped and had a hamburger at Oma's Jiffy Burger. This diner is a tiny little restaurant just off the town square in Waxahachie. Celebrating 41 years in our Gingerbread Town, the cafe has become a bit of a cultural icon. Located on Water Street, the cafe was originally found on College Avenue. Eventually, the owner sold the business; the new owner moved to the present location, but took many of the diner's fixtures with him. The inside of Oma's Jiffy Burger resembles a classic 1950's malt shop. I love eating here, as does most of Waxahachie. Sometimes it's hard to find a place to sit!! The burgers here are beyond tasty......Do you have an out-of-the way place in your town or city that has become locally famous? 

Sunday in Salado

This past Sunday, I met my daughter, Billie Sue, in Salado, Texas. We went to church together and had lunch. We also hit a couple of antique shops. We discovered this beautiful old white church built in the late 1800's.

After lunch, we found a wonderful antique shop/ book store. Behind the bookstore was a tiny little chapel. The doors were open, so we went inside. This is the stunning sight that beheld our eyes!!

I began to cry.......

Billie Sue and I will attend services in this chapel on our next Sunday in Salado.

Timmism #2

Every Saturday night,Tim and I have a date. Most of the time we just get a bite to eat at a local restaurant and take in a movie at our local "Show Biz Theatre". Except.....last week I wanted a bit more excitement to our dating experience. Hence, we went to "Taste of Europe" restaurant in Arlington. (Check out my previous post.) This Saturday, Tim was not to be outdone by me. With all the suspense and mystery he could create, he informed me he was taking me out for Greek food....at an apparently, highly applauded Greek restaurant in Dallas. A little after 8:00, we drove up the interstate towards Dallas. I was dressed in black slacks, a crisp white French cuff shirt and black jacket, with a large turquoise necklace and handcrafted blue stained glass and silver chandelier earrings. Tim, on the other hand, wore khaki carpenter shorts and a shirt he bought several years ago when we were in Hawaii. Now, I was a bit worried that the restaurant would be closed by the time we arrived, so I called them while en route. The woman who answered the phone cheerfully announced that they were open until 2:00 am.......and, in answer to my question concerning proper attire,(Actually, I was really asking,"Would you let us in the door if Tim wore carpenter shorts and a t-shirt"?) she remarked, "Casual".
After pulling off the road to properly secure his GPS onto the front dashboard, and enter the proper address into said device, we finally arrived at our destination. Well, the place was certainly popular and probably justly deserved the twenty-five positive feedback comments listed on Google. The parking lot was full to overflowing.....the bouncer at the door was quite...bouncer-looking...and the neon sign of a belly dancer moving suggestively all the while with a sword in her mouth certainly caught our attention.

 I started to wonder if the twenty-five positive reviews were all authored by men....Tim asked, "Well, what do you want to do? I certainly understand if you want to go somewhere else." Tim is always so democratic!! I did have to think about it for a minute....Because, I wasn't totally opposed to dining with  belly dancers...In fact, when Tim turned thirty years old, I surprised him when I hired a belly dancer to dance for us at a local restaurant.....Boy, was he surprised. But, I did worry that I was overdressed and wondered about the male/female ratio of patrons present in the restaurant. I opted for another, less exciting, restaurant! I have to hand it to Tim, though!! When he plans a date, he REAllY plans a date!!

Taste of Europe

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Last night, Tim and I had our usual Saturday night date. However, our date was anything but usual. We decided to step out of the box and drove to Arlington, Texas,to eat at the locally famous Taste of Europe restaurant. Taylor's geography teacher had mentioned this restaurant to me. It sounded like fun....so the adventure began.

The restaurant owners immigrated from Russia many years ago. The gift shop stocked primarily Russian item such as Russian nesting eggs, icons, tea service sets, wonderful Russian peasant marionettes, chess sets,iron toy Russian soldiers, Christmas items and Russian military items such as uniforms, coats and hats. Here's a sampling of the wares to be found....

This one Russian nesting doll set was huge!! I didn't even have the nerve to ask the price!

Finally, after checking out all the items in the gift shop, it was time to eat. Tim had the German sausage with sauerkraut and potatoes while I dined on the Hungarian goulash. Dessert was crepes with chocolate and whipped cream! Delicious!

The grocery market consisted of a good variety of items to buy as well as a deli. Several people came in just to buy items from the grocery market and deli.

Before we left, Tim had to try out the one sentence that he knew in Russian. When he was a boy, a friend whose heritage was Russian taught Tim to say, "I am a Russian man" in the Russian language. So...Tim asked the store owner if he could "try" his sentence out. The Russian owner was happy to oblige, and affirmed that Tim had spoken his one sentence perfectly!! Tim was so proud!!