Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Home Again

Our girls weekend was a wonderful one. We had such a great time. We arrived back home Saturday evening around 8:30 or so. We had driven all the way from about 30 miles north of the Texas/Oklahoma border. I drove the entire distance because I love to drive. My niece doesn’t enjoy driving at all and my sister didn’t care one way or the other. She also has a brand new car and I really enjoyed driving it. I think I know what kind of car I want to get next time we change. That will probably be a long, long time in the future, if ever! Would you believe the very first time I ever drove it, was during rush hour traffic through Dallas? I can’t believe she trusted me to do that! Then that night we drove back north again through Fort Worth rush-hour traffic, again with me at the wheel. We’re still here so I must’ve done all right! It was a long day and the last 2 1/2 or so hours were the longest. We ran into quite a strong rainstorm between Kansas City and Omaha.  All‘s well that ends well though, and we had an absolutely lovely time. Our stop that was the furthest south was in Waco, Texas. Home to the Magnolia Silos. It was almost too much to take in. I took this first photo as we drove by. That is the bakery on the corner. We had the best cupcakes from there. We bought them and took them back to our hotel and had them for a snack before bed. Yum!!!

Before we left Waco we had a late lunch at the Magnolia table restaurant. It is an absolutely beautiful building and the lunch was very good too. Actually, we all had breakfast for lunch.

The decor is stunning. The floor tile work is very intricate. I can only imagine the hours it took to lay that floor.

Another view.
This was the floor just inside of the main door. Amazing craftsmanship!

This old and no longer used Lutheran church was moved from the other side of Waco just in the past year. It was taken apart, piece by piece, and then reassembled on this site. The attention to detail is just stunning.

The inside. Look at those gorgeous chandeliers. So beautiful in their simplicity.

And the windows! Can you believe that they all survived the move unbroken?

Here is my sister Melanie with me when we very first arrived at the Silos.

And a closer photo along with my niece Chaela. We had such a wonderful time together.

Inside “Ferney’s”. This is Joanna’s sisters shop. Such beautiful plants. They all have name tags on them and have just the cutest names, like Jimmy and Lucy or Bob! Somehow, all the names fit the plants perfectly.

Since Melanie and Chaela were here a few years ago, they have added these shops alongside of the green. There are three on each side and they are all specialty shops. There’s a writers store and a lotion/perfume shop among several others.

There are several different food trucks around the site also. They were very busy at lunchtime. I didn’t even notice the security guards when I took the photo. Isn’t it a shame that we have to have people protecting us like this even at fun venues?

There is also a small baseball diamond on the site. There are balls, bats and gloves available for anybody to go in and pitch, if you want to hit a few balls. The concession stand that you see in the rear provides food from Magnolia Table to visitors. There are spots all over with entertainment for children. Lots of green space for them to run and bins of balls and other play things all around. It is truly a family gathering place.

I could go on and on with photos of our weekend. We were only gone four days but we packed a lot into them including driving to and from Texas! We laughed so much and had such a wonderful time. We hope to make it an annual event going somewhere with mothers and daughters. Hopefully next time Mandy will be able to join us.

I’m sorry it has taken me several days to get this last group of pictures out, but our days have been jampacked for about the last two weeks. On Monday we moved Mom into an independent living apartment. Dennis and I did a lot of work on the move before I left, and while I was gone family members jumped in and helped Dennis move her furniture on Saturday. I spent the day at the apartment on Sunday with Mandy unpacking everything and making the bed so it would be already for her. Monday I drove her to her apartment for the first time. We have spent a lot of time with her there since eating at least one meal a day with her in the dining room. It is a beautiful place and I would move there in a heartbeat! The food is very, very good. Their chef is from a local country club. Now we have begun the hard work of going through 47 years of accumulation. Dennis took 3 full pick up truck loads to the thrift store just yesterday while I was cleaning out the kitchen cabinets. The grandkids have gotten what they want and the rest is going. I have lots of furniture on Facebook marketplace and we hope to get the house on the market in the next week or so before it slows down for the winter.

It’s a huge change for her but I just hung up the phone from talking to her this morning and she said her second night was much better and she felt much more at home. Dennis and I bought her a new comforter set because she’s had the other one for 40+ years. She said she feels like a princess in her bed! I think it does help having her familiar things around her and we tried to set the apartment up as much like the house was as possible. She seemed very happy and content this morning. It is very near Mandy‘s house so quite a ways from us but we will be going out every day for a while until we know if she’s settled in. 

Her sister-in-law, Aunt Joyce has lived there for 14 months and absolutely loves it. In fact she says she’s angry at herself for refusing to move in earlier. She says she missed out on so much by staying at home alone.  Mom has eaten all of her meals with Aunt Joyce in the dining room since she arrived. Aunt Joyce is a firecracker! She is involved in practically every activity that goes on. If anybody can get mom more active, she can.

In some ways this will make our life easier with not having the upkeep of two houses and worrying about her when we travel, but in other ways it is complicated our lives even further. Number one is the ridiculous expense of these places and the other is the distance from our home. It was very easy just to run next-door and check on her rather than driving across town, but we weren’t going to move her just anywhere. It had to be a nice place in a safe area. Her balcony overlooks a little park like area behind the building and just yesterday she saw two deer in that park area. That was enough to convince her that she loves it! She does love watching deer!

I’ll be back soon. Take care and I’m sorry for the long post today.

Blessings and love,
Betsy



19 comments:

  1. Sure hope your Mother In Law likes the apartment! That is a big job clearing out and selling her house...I hope it all goes smoothly! What a fun trip you had!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely photos! It looks like you had a great time.
    My next door neighbor just had to put her husband in a care home and is struggling with the same issues. Now she has to drive 45 minutes to see him everyday. She also had just spent a fortune getting their house redone so they could accommodate him only to have him, less that a year later, have to be moved to a care home with all those bills. There are no easy answers as we get older-which is a shame.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Betsy, I'm glad you had a good time on your trip with your sister and niece. Your smiles match. πŸ˜ƒ safe drive you did too. I'm glad mom likes the place she's living at now even though it's a bit more travel to go see her. I'm thinking of sewing more on a Quilt I started for my granddaughter soon. Sewing machine jas a problem so I can't sew so need to call a store to see if they can get it fixed. Or maybe Phil can help me with it. God bless, Becky

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well done job with arranging your Mom in a suitable independent living appartment!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds like a really fun trip!
    I moved my dad to assisted living about 10 years ago. It did my my life a little easier, but not as much as I hoped. I was able to move back into my own house to sleep. He had become very confused. If he was having health issues, he would call me. I would have to use my husband's phone to call the desk. I ended up going over (it was in the next town) almost every day. He would call me as soon as he woke up. If I wasn't there for meals, he wouldn't eat. It was a very nice facility and had lots of activities he would have enjoyed. Unfortunately, after a few months, his health really took a turn for the worse and he was transferred to their adjoining nursing home. I hope it all works out well for Mom, Dennis and you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Young lady, you have to stop worrying about "long posts" and "too many photos." Ha! I, for one, absolutely love lonnnnnnnng posts. It's fun to see what you are doing and how your life is going. I'd wondered if Dennis' mom would be going into a facility of some sort. We hate to make those decisions, but, well. Yes, they certainly are expensive. The only ones I can even consider for Jerry are those that accept Medicare/Medicaid, which knocks off a lot of the better places from the list, plus that makes it a very slow process. So glad you girls had such a great time on your trip. That's pretty neat what the Gaines have done with the area and building. Good people, they are. Lotsa hugs and blessings, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm glad your trip was so enjoyable. It's great that your MIL likes her new place and having her SIL there I'm sure helps make the transition easier.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks so much for the great stories and pictures of your trip. Wow....you are such a good driver....I must admit that as I get older I drive less and less and really don't much enjoy it anymore.;...and I NEVER enjoyed driving through big cities during rush hour! You are amazing Betsy! I didn't know you were thinking about moving Dennis' mom but it sounds like a great place and that she is adapting to it quickly. So glad she has somebody there to eat meals with and get shown around a bit. All the best to you and welcome back home!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks like you had such a nice trip Betsy, and I'm glad to hear that your MIL is settling in at her new apartment.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Betsy, your trip looks like it was wonderful! I would love to visit Magnolia someday. May God bless you & your family!πŸ™❤

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love long posts. I can tell you had a wonderful time. You need to kidnap me next time you go on a trip!😍

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. I didn't realize there was so much there at Magnolia. Looks like a beautiful (and fun) place.

    Glad Dennis' mom likes her new place. Having some family there already helps to make her feel at home, I'm sure.

    ReplyDelete
  13. So glad you had a great trip with your sister and niece! Fascinating photos! Hard decisions with your MIL but glad she is embracing the changes. Hugs.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow, it sounds like you had a great trip! I would love to see the Magnolia complex in Waco someday. I've watched the shows on their program while they were doing each of those different expansions/buildings, etc. I love the church. What a neat place to visit. Oh, I do hope your mother will be happy in her new "home". It's great that her sister in law is already there and can introduce her around and get her involved. I know those places are very expensive, but it includes everything she needs I would think. Does it also have a nursing facility for when that time comes? I know some do and some don't. Oh, I wish we were closer to be able to buy some of her furnishings for Dixie Cottage. We are always on the lookout for good used furniture to refinish/repurpose. But I guess you are a bit too far from Florida. I'm sure there will be some thankful folks out there to get it. Take care and relax a bit now that you are home.

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a wonderful trip! I live vicariously through your travels! LOL! Is that Magnolia that couple that decorates? Glad you had a great time and that your MIL is settling in alright.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Betsy, I just was praying for you, interrupting my prayer time cos thought needed an Update… and my… hasn’t a lot been happening… I’m surprised but understand re mums move over to Mandy’s it makes me wonder if you and Dennis will also think if moving yet again there as the reason you moved where you did was to be with mum.
    It’s a big decision.
    One house sale at a time - will pray for you in that.
    I loved Texas was there overnight and the people are so great in fact lived both it and Florida too where my friend lived.

    Be assured of my love and prayers for you both in it all, our Heavenly Father is ahead of us in it all, always with us, before us and behind. Covering you all in prayer. Will be late yet again so better get back there.
    Hope to have a Wonderful Words of life post out tomorrow, God willing. Just more proof reading, they take a good while.

    I think you’ll love the verse and the hymn too I found a beauty.
    God is sooo good to us.

    Thanks for Sharing, God bless and keep you safe, and all those you love, hugs Shaz in Oz.x

    {Wonderful Words of Life - Shaz in Oz}
    {Calligraphy Cards - Shaz in Oz}


    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm glad you're mom is settling in and feeling at home in her new place. It's great that your Aunt Joyce is there, too! Your girls trip sounds like so much fun. From what you shared and the photos, it seems like Chip and Joanna Gaines have done a lot for Waco by having their business there. Driving through Dallas and Ft Worth in rush hour is no small feat! The church is so pretty. The interior reminds me somewhat of the church in the movie The Patriot. It looks very old. xo

    ReplyDelete
  18. Are you ok Betsy? Just checking up on you! Hope all is well and you're just busy!

    ReplyDelete