A Pink Christmas Parade

This Saturday Waxahachie held its annual Christmas parade. This year the parade was dubbed A Pink Christmas in honor of breast cancer survivors. Everything was mostly pink.

Normally, I skip the Christmas parade affair probably because it just takes an enormous amount of energy to get double digit family members down to the parade, especially when many of them are disabled.

But, this year Taylor was in the parade representing his school. So, while I went to see Taylor, the experience presented itself with a wonderful opporturnity to showcase a Christmas parade in "small town" America.

Handsome Taylor is the young man on the far right.

I took so many pictures. Here are some of my favorites:

I'm not sure why, but I teared up when the high school marching band went by. They were playing "Oh Come All Ye Faithful".

Veterans of Foreign Wars

                            The Waxahachie Community Theatre Group

               These employees from a local restaurant could really "sang".

This gentleman from the Senior Citizen's Center was one of my favorites! He could pluck those banjo strings!!

These are descendants of men who served the Confederacy in the Civil War.

                  Waxahachie is famous for its old houses.......and old cars!!



A Texas parade means lots and lots and lots of horses!!

These ladies were having such a hard time managing these miniature horses. The horses were so stubborn and uncooperative. I think these ladies in pink got their exercise today!!

Support Our Troops!!

Yes!!! If you think that's a pink horse.....It is a pink horse!!! I'm wavering between being amazed and horrified!!

                      A firetruck painted pink in honor of breast cancer research.

                                 Scenes of Christmas Cheer on the Square!!

                                             Merry Christmas to All!!!

Old Texas Houses of the Week

For the next few weeks, I'm going to post several houses at a time in my "Old Texas Houses" segment. There are so many; it just makes sense to post as many pictures as possible. I love old houses!! Do you??

Old Texas House of the Week

                                            The Pink Lady House!! 

Hanging Out At Bon Ton

This weekend was a time of visiting with two of my daughters that live away from us. One of my daughters, Penny, resides in Chicago. She went away to Chicago's DePaul University thirteen years ago.......and then, after graduating, made Chicago her permanent home.

Penny and I have a "special" store we frequent when she visits. This place is nothing short of WONDERFUL!!! It's made all the more special because it's tucked away in the tinest of Texas towns, Forreston, Texas. Basically, the tiny town consists of three or four vintage buildings, a post office and and a few hundred people. The main store is a facinating vintage clothing store named Bon Ton. Bon Ton is owned by a darling couple, John and Barbara. John and Barbara are former musicians that now tend this "out of this world" vintage fashion icon! They have a wonderful life!

Now, don't think that  shoppers to Bon Ton are a rarity just because the store is in a tiny Texas town. Quite to the contrary, Bon Ton is nationally famous, supplying vintage clothing to movie producers and customers all over the United States!!
Penny and I spent and hour and a half visiting and shopping. We shopped for about forty-five minutes and visited with John and Barbara for about forty-five minutes!! A visit to Bon Ton is so much more than a shopping trip.....it's a step into the past........an interlude in our afternoon to visit with old friends...

John has a table set up to receive visitors that might want to share a bottle of water or cup of coffee. If he has a pastry available, one can have a light breakfast as well. After visiting for more than a half hour with John, Barbara came to "rescue" us!! I say this in jest because a visit with John and Barbara is certainly one of life's pleasures........a refreshing break in the hurry and confusion of Thanksgiving weekend!



Marilyn Monroe Doll



I purchased this stunning 1940's black velvet bolero and skirt from Bon Ton. My dress form loves her new outfit!!



Check out Bon Ton's website: http://www.bontonvintage.com/

And, if you love vintage fashions and are visiting the Dallas/Ft.Worth area, stop by BonTon in Forreston, Texas. You won't be disappointed!!

Thanksgiving 2010

Our Thanksgiving was exceptionally calm this year!! My daughter, Penny, who hasn't been able to come to our Thanksgiving the past couple of years was here this year!! It was so wonderful to have her here!! When Penny is here, we always play board games after our big meal. This year was not to dissapoint.....

My favorite part of Thanksgiving is cooking with my daughters, and looking out over our dining room at all the full seats!!! It's so wonderful to have everyone home!! While I totally forgot to take a picture of everyone seated in the dining room, I did get a few good shots.
Enjoy!!

Please Don't Mess With Texas

Today eight out of ten Texans know what the term "Don't Mess With Texas" means. In 2005, about 71 % knew what the warning meant. If someone is caught "messing" with Texas, it could cost them in fines totaling up to $500.00. "Don't Mess With Texas" means don't litter our highways, streets, and county roads.

In 1987, our family moved here to Gingerbread Town. We found a wonderful home in the country. When we first moved here, our road was beautiful. Our home was surrounded by green farmland. In the spring, the yellow and blue wildflowers overwhelmed the roadside from one end to the other. I imagined I lived in a fairytale. The abundant flowers reminded me of the poppy fields in the Wizard of Oz movie. After living in the West Texas desert for eight years, we were estatic about our little bit of paradise.

On an average, non-rainy day we had only a few people driving up our mostly deserted, dirt road. I don't remember trash on the road to be a problem. The biggest problem we had was the rain turning our dirt road into a hopeless sea of muck. Sometimes, after several inches of rain,the mud would be so bad that we would find ourselves totally cut off from civilization until the swamp dried out.

Now, fast forward to 2010. We are no longer only one of two families living on our isolated road. There are several mobile homes to the east of us. Back to the southwest is a subdivision with approximately fifty beautiful new homes. The drivers that zoom by our house seem ignorant that the speed limit is only thirty miles per hour.

The beautiful wildflowers that once delighted us in the spring have been replaced by beer bottles, fast food containers, soda cans, and blankets of desintigrating newspapers and cardboard. The sight has been making me ill for awhile now. Sunday I decided I would do something about it. Taylor and I drove to the entrance to our road right off the interstate. This area is about one sixteenth of a mile long. I thought we could clean this stretch of road up in about twenty or thirty minutes. NOT......One hour and twenty minutes and seven lawn and leaf plastic trash bags later we were still picking up trash from this same area.

I kept thinking to myself that it was a shame that all the people that now live near us have to live with the mess that probably only a few thoughtless people created. But, when I researched the "Don't Mess With Texas" site, I learned that today seventy-five percent of Americans admit to littering sometime in the past five years. That is so sad to me. I love my state....I love my road......When my friends come to visit, I don't want them to be greeted by a garbage dump. Gee, I don't want to be greeted by a garbage dump.

How do other states deal with the problem of littering? While my research stated that it is not as bad as it used to be, I'm seeing litter everywhere along our highways and county roads. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on this subject!!