Saturday Outing

I don't have any new pictures to post, but I can certainly find an old one to post. Here is one of my only child, my 4-legged dependent. Cricket picked me at an animal shelter. I was there to find a mouser since we had a slight rodent problem. I was looking at a cat in one of the top cages when I felt something pulling my shirt. I looked down and saw a calico paw sticking out clawing my clothes. I just couldn't resist. That was 11.5 years ago. She had been abandoned in an apartment for a few days before the maintenance man found her. When I first took her home she would sleep with one paw on me or my ex so she would know when we moved and she has always followed me around like a puppy -- she still does. This picture has been Photoshopped. I made it look like a painting. I call it Painted Cat.

Yesterday, roommate and I went out for the day with a friend of hers from church. We started out at Central Market. After a trip through the market, where I bought some fresh fruit -- YUM -- we ate at the deli. I had a Chicken Quesadilla and fresh fruit salad, it was very good. The three of us sat and talked for what seemed like forever. It was very nice not to be rushed for time. After that, we went to Montgomery Street Antique Mall -- we got there 7 minutes until closing. Maybe we should have hurried, at least a little, at Central Market.

Being right behind the botanic gardens, we decided to drive through -- it was a bit hot since it's July in Texas. While driving we saw a sign for a fragrance garden. Of all the times I've been there and the sights I've seen at the gardens, I did not know there was a fragrance garden. We parked and walked through. It is a very small, filled with lots of basil, thyme, rosemary, plumeria, etc. It was fantastic. It's located behind the restaurant.

Upon leaving there, we drove through Trinity Park since I had never been over there before. I didn't realize how large the park is. It went on and on forever. Although it was hot out, there were a lot of people there. Cyclists resting on a bench, a man reading a book, a family birthday party, what looked like a pervert waiting to expose himself to the next person who looked his way. All kinds of people. We drove under the bridge and saw water canals with fountains and lots of ducks and some homeless people.

We were very near the Import Store, my little corner of heaven. So I convinced roommate to drive to the Import Store, they were havin' a Big Ugly Sale. You all know me, that is my kind of sale. Of course, they were closed. So we drove downtown to see what was going on.

I can't remember the street, but we saw a store called Earth Bones and right next to it was a Thomas Kincade Gallery next to that was Risky's Barbecue and across the street was La Madeleine's. So we found a parking spot and went window shopping. Earth Bones was a great little shop. They had a little bit of everything -- clothing, home decor, purses, jewelry, novelty tees, gag gifts. I was very tempted to buy the instant adoring boyfriend dvd. You just pop it in and he comes on the tv screen telling you how great, beautiful and smart you are and how lucky he is to have you. I decided to save my money and wait for the three dimensional kind. He may not tell me all the things the dvd guy says but he will be easier to snuggle with.

We ventured next door to the Thomas Kincaid gallery. I just love his work. I finally realized why he is called the "Painter of Light". On every wall were rheostats to adjust the light. You turn down the light and the painting changes. There was a painting of Salt Lake City from a distance. When the lights went down it was like the sun was setting. It was so beautiful. Roommate went around the gallery adjusting all the lights. I spent my time talking with a gallery worker named Laura who turned out to be Thomas's sister-in-law. She told me all about Thomas growing up, how he began painting, about his wife Nanette, why N shows up in so many of his paintings, etc. There is going to be a movie coming out in December about Thomas's teenage years, how he met a Hollywood director who became his mentor. I had a very nice visit with Mrs. Kincaid. The gallery in downtown Fort Worth is one of 3 owned by Thomas's company, the others are independently owned.

From there we went across the street to La Madeleine's and drank coffee and had dessert. We sat there and talked for a long time. It was so nice to have intelligent, meaningful conversation. I have that sometimes with roommate but her grand kids are around so often that our conversation usually involves Veggie Tales. The people I work with don't have time for deep conversation, so its usually very superficial and silly.

At some point roommate said, "It's almost nine o'clock ladies, I think we need to be getting home." So we gathered ourselves and left, making it home around 10 -- since we had to stop in Arlington and drop off her friend. Roommate said it had been a long time since she was out that late on a Saturday night -- then she said how sad was that? I sometimes feel old but dang, I don't ever want to think that staying out past 9 on a Saturday night is late.

It reminds me of several years ago, I was dating this guy who took me out for my birthday. He had me home by 9 on my 25th birthday. I never saw the guy again. As far as birthdays go, I haven't had too many terrific ones. The last TWO years, my ex forgot my birthdays. We will see what the future holds for the next one. I may take a trip for my next birthday. I mentioned before that roommate and I are thinking of going to Galveston. We may take a detour through Port Lavaca -- which is where my Aunt Allie lives.