She's heeeeere!

Mimi arrives at DFW Cargo Terminal on Friday, November 14, 2014, at 7:30 p.m. 

 We are quite happy now!

 Inseparable!

Life is good!

Mimi's departure in Shanghai

 Mimi is in the car traveling to Shanghai.

 She loves to look out the windows while in a car.

 The driver had to stop for a pit stop, so Mimi decided to get out and stretch her legs.

 Back in the car now.

Her super huge carrier didn't leave much room for comfortable sitting.

She might not have napped in the car had she known she'd be sleeping so long on the flight.

Out of the car, into the cargo terminal.

And … apparently she is not too happy about it.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change," she surely uttered at this point in time.

Door closed, cable ties secured, and just to be sure, netting goes over the carrier.

I like the triple security measures.

Mimi calms down and takes it like a real trooper.

Mistletoe and Magic

I didn't plan to be home for the holidays, but since I am, I plan to soak in all the holiday spirit I possibly can. I took my mom to a local annual event called "Mistletoe and Magic," where local booths are set up to sell clothing, gifts, furniture and food.

We didn't buy a thing, but we enjoyed strolling around. My mom was quite taken with this therapy dog. My mom is a huge dog lover.

Soon we were crowded out of the dog area (by other dog lovers).

Here's my mom!

The guy in the kilt is apparently the dog's master. I think the kilt went with the theme of the event, because the man spoke like an east Texan, not a Scot.

When the other folks left, we went back for another visit with the doggy. 

My mom wanted to take it home. Is two dogs in the house not enough? (Mimi wasn't home yet, but was to arrive the next day.)

Here's my mom in front of one of the beautiful Christmas trees. She can walk, but long bouts of walking cause back pain so I pushed her through the event. (She broke her back two years ago, and pain still persists. But she still gets out!)

We asked a stranger to take our photo together in front of the tree. I knew I should have asked her to make more than one photo…to make sure we had our eyes open. But we just got one photo together.

Here's another tree scene. I like how the deer head is covered in cream-colored canvas.

 Deer garland.

It was a mighty cold and dreary day. A cute little coffee cart was set up in the parking lot.

On the way back home, we drove through some old neighborhoods to see the changing colors of the leaves. It was a nice little outing!

Prayers for a good journey for Mimi

Mimi the dog child is currently enroute to the airport in Shanghai. Her flight leaves a few minutes before midnight Central/Texas time this evening. I hope she won't be frightened as she travels alone, completely unaware of what's going on and why. Won't she be surprised when she hears my voice at DFW tomorrow?!

Coming soon ....

While in Houston

I have been to Houston four times since September. On the first trip, my brother J and I had one day with nothing to do in between appointments, so we decided to go see our old family stomping grounds nearby. I may claim to be a west Texas gal, but my roots are actually in the Houston area.
                        

My Grandmother Wilson used to live in this end apartment.

 

Way back in the late 50s or early 60s, my family lived in the light blue house. The brown house belonged to my uncle and his family, and they lived there for their entire lives, or at least the rest of their lives after I was born.

My dad and uncle served as volunteer firemen. I remember during Hurricane Carla we all hunkered down at the fire department to wait out the storm.

Here is the First Baptist Church. My parents got married there in 1955.

On this corner, which is now a vacant lot, my grandmother used to live in a white wooden house with a porch. It's just a block from the church.

This furniture store used to be a corner soda fountain pharmacy, and it is where my parents first met.

This is the gas station across the street from where they met at the soda fountain pharmacy.

Herfort Diamond Factory is where my dad bought my mom's wedding and engagement rings.

This underpass is the city limits between two cities. We used to travel under this a lot.

This is the hospital where I was born. Both my brothers were born here too. It has been remodeled and renamed since we lived there. It's right next to the underpass. I think we moved away from this area when I was 3 or 4 years old, but we always went back to visit relatives, so I am familiar with it because of that.

We dropped by unannounced to visit my cousin Richard who is 70 years old. Richard is funny and awesome.

 It was a pleasant day (and we arrived unannounced), so I suggested we visit on the front porch.

Here is J with a LONE RANGER guitar that my dad, uncle and even Richard played with when they were children.

I got a photo of the three of us ... the angle is distorted, but at least we can prove we were all together on that day! Glad we got a chance to visit, drive around and take some photos on this day.