So what does one do when it’s time to meet the parents? You travel with the gorgeous girl to Commerce, Texas to hang out with mom and dad. Oh man, I’ve met parents before and it’s not bad, but this is a pretty cool chick and her parent’s approval is crucial.
Catharine drove to Houston Thursday night so that we could get up early Friday morning and begin a little road trip. We got up pretty early, my mom had cooked us a little breakfast, we grabbed some coffee and snacks and headed up 45 north. Although Commerce is northeast of Dallas proper, we decided to swing through Fort Worth to say hi to the Kimball Art Museum and the Modern Art Museum. Because I haven’t seen either them in several years, it was nice to see them again especially with Catharine who has a similar appreciation.
We headed onto our beast of a drive from Fort Worth to Commerce. I ended up passing out since Catharine drove this little leg of the trip. I didn’t sleep through all of it though, got wave hi to downtown Dallas, and saw some of the high-end homes on the east side of Dallas. Arriving at the lovely Stevens home, no one was there yet so Catharine gave me a quick tour and introduced me to Rupert and Maggie their Chihuahuas. Rupert took a few minutes to warm up to me, but he and I were tight by the time we left that weekend. Mark, Catharine’s dad, arrived home first so she introduced us and we talked and he and Catharine caught up a little while we waited for Becky, Catharine’s mom, to get home.
Then the fun began…
We had pizzas and beer, Fat Tire, as per request of Catharine on my behalf, talked, and then sat down to a game of Catch Phrase. I was paired up with Becky so Catharine and her dad took a stand against us. I think we did pretty well considering I haven’t played that game in a long time. I was still pretty nervous, but warming up to everyone nicely I thought. After several rounds of Catch Phrase I was taken to a mysterious place called Braum’s. Catharine had been making fun of me for some time about not ever going to one, or even knowing what it is for that matter. I had peppermint in a cone. It was glorious… for those that are unaware of the quality and frequency of good peppermint ice cream, this was a nice relieving consumption. While we were sitting there, something had led Mark to photography and he and I started discussing the different cameras and film versus digital. I think this is when he might have started to accept that I’m not a horrible person. Maybe I’m an ok guy for his one and only daughter. That closed out the evening for us.
Saturday morning I was woken up by Catharine jumping on the bed next to me. We discussed the evening prior, and my performance as a human. We agreed that I might be winning over the parents, and I was beginning to relax. This morning I was taken to the local coffee place in town where we each got cappuccinos and played checkers. This place had stuff all over the walls. Pictures, coffee cans, and the tables seemed to be collected over years and reused more times than the wood could even keep track of. The kind of place that seemed to keep everything that crossed the door step of the building and made it part of the decor. It was exactly what I was hoping for. I wish there were places like that around where I live, locals actually hang out there, not just explained as being “the place locals go.” We swung by the donut place Catharine used to work at on the way home and got some tasty goods. I had a giant eclair, and we got an apple fritter for Mark. The rest of the day I was kind of driven around Commerce. We went to a small shopping mall to grab a few things, and then headed on to Catharine’s favorite Italian restaurant. She has this obsession with Pesto Creme Tortellini. I have to admit, though it was different than any other tortellini I’d had before, it was still pretty stellar. Mark and I ended up ordering the same thing, ravioli. After a few pieces of tasty garlic bread, our feast finally showed up and it was delicious. The ravioli however was roughly the same temperature as lava and I had to be patient with it.
That evening, Mark showed me around the garage with his 2 Ford Fairlanes. One in need of some body work, and one with the motor ripped out and a replacement waiting on an engine lift. He also took us to his wood shop and his other hobby room with some pretty sweet collections. He’s got enough stuff to entice the Smithsonian with some of the things he has collected. He also dug up some of his old prints from when he was doing a little bit of photography, a few of which had a very cute young Catharine in them. He also had some pictures of a KKK rally in Jasper, Texas a few years ago, crazy stuff. We were watching some home movers show on HGTV or something, and as I was laying there very comfortably on their couch with my arm around Catharine, I fell asleep. It felt good laying there.
The next morning we got up decently early and Becky made us “Eggs in a Wall,” where you cut a hole in a piece of bread and fry an egg in the center. We had bacon and coffee, talked some more, and left by noon. It had turned out to be a pretty awesome weekend even though I was pretty nervous about the introduction to the parents of the girl that I’m starting to care a great deal about. That’s a pretty big deal and I was relieved to know they didn’t hate me. It was a nice home, great people, and snuggly pets. I look forward to next chance we get to go back. We had planned on trying to kind of take pictures together since her dad was a photographer too, but the weather was rough. Hopefully we might get the chance to do that next time. The thought of maybe spending a holiday there brings a bit of a smile to my face, and I hope I get to stick around long enough to experience it.
Thank you Mark and Becky for having me and I’ll see you soon. I promise I’ll take care of Catharine as best I can.
Until next time,
