Larry kept us company throughout dinner. He's not only the establishment's owner, but the builder of the chair. "We didn't set out to break a world record," he explains, "we jus' wanted to build a really big rocking chair." 
The first Sunday in November brought glorious sunny skies and the call of the open road. We headed south west, through Granbury and Stephenville, on to Dublin, TX, home of the oldest Dr Pepper bottling plant in the country. Today the sickenenly sweet soft drink is owned by Snapple, but the proud little Dublin (pop. 1064) shop still makes Dr Pepper according to the original formula, with 100% pure Imperial cane sugar (ick). It also recycles the same, decades-old bottles. The machinery consists of a giant industrial bottle washer and a modest bottle filling and capping machine. Locals buy a crate of 24 and return the empties to get another crate.
At last some beauty in this flat, parched land. The Nature Preserve was a riot of spring wildflowers, cactus, yucca and that famous Texas sky.
At least one of us has a social life. Gwenny's friend Emma had her sixth birthday party at Sweet and Sassy, a salon for little girls. After getting their hair done, the little princesses strutted their stuff on stage, played games and ate cake.
I was so excited when the invitation to Dickies Holiday Party came: cocktails, dinner and dancing at the Fort Worth Club. Unfortunately, it was the same night as Fort Worth Academy's production of the Wizard of Oz...starring the kindergartners as Munchkins. They were pretty darn cute, but I would have rather been at the Dickies party.
On Wednesdays, Gwendolen takes a modern dance class taught by Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth. When I start my new job in January, I'll really miss my weekly hour hanging out with these girls' moms.
Never underestimate a mother's love. I not only took Gwendolen to Casa Manana's production of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (a riotous good time, to be sure) but bought her the plush reindeer she coveted as well. I can't wait until Gwenny develops a taste for opera.
I happily bought a subscription to the Children's Playhouse, thinking Gwenny and wouldn't want to miss a single production. I needn't have been so excited though: Sleeping Beauty was disappointing, set in the late 20th Century and losing its fairy tale magic in the process. I'm sick to death of Disney's prissy princesses, but a good fairy tale deserves better than this. And there is a lot in the original tale that the show's target audience could relate to that this production completely missed. Gwendolen, however, had no complaints.
