Like so many others, my wife Sherry loves watching HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” with Chip and Joanna Gaines. And, I have to admit…I have caught a few episodes and it’s easy to see how likable of a couple they are. I can particularly relate to Chip and his affinity for “Demo Day.” So, with Sherry being on Spring Break this week, I promised her a day trip to the Gaines’ Magnolia Market.
So we left Abilene bright and early for our trek to Waco. Once we pulled up to the iconic silos that are their calling card, I quickly saw that my gender was definitely in the minority. I then became concerned that my “Man Card” could be revoked! I was amazed how long the line was just to gain admittance to this “den of estrogen!”
And wouldn’t you know it, as soon as we finally made our way through the entrance Sherry put her hands on a marble side table that was a “must have!” I could already see that this was going to be an expensive little trip. As she gathered up other “nick knacks,” and we headed for the checkout line, women from all over started commenting on “what a beautiful table we had found.” So, I have to admit that this made me hold my head a little higher as I began our four block trek to the car with marble table in hand! From there, we hit a few other nearby home decor stores. After it was all said and done, the financial hit left a mark…but not as bad as it certainly could have been!
Afterwards, Sherry did allow me to take a side trip to Buc-ee’s on our way to visit with our niece in Killeen, whose husband is in the Army and is currently on deployment. Come to find out, Sherry’s brother and sister-in-law from Boerne were there, too! So, after a nice visit with them we headed home and stopped at Underwood’s in Brownwood for supper. By the time we arrived back in Abilene, we were tired from a long day of travel but Sherry was happy and commented several times on what a great day it had been.
Any concerns I had about losing my “Man Card” earlier in the day were replaced with “Brownie Points” with Sherry…which I can never have too many of!