Getaway Weekends, Sick Kitty

Getaway weekends are so nice. Last weekend Steve and I took his mom to the airport in Tulsa and instead of turning right back around like we normally do, we reserved a room at the Doubletree downtown and turned it into a weekend getaway. We went to the Tulsa Zoo for a few hours after dropping his mom off at the airport, to Bennigan’s for lunch/dinner before checking into the hotel (Dave, I did indulge and have a Monte Cristo sandwich, but paired it with a side salad instead of fries), and saw the Tulsa Talons lose an arena football game that evening. We slept in on Sunday (I just love those hotel drapes that block the light out) and went to lunch at Kilkenny’s, an irish pub in the historic Cherry Street district of Tulsa. Before returning home, we visited the Philbrook art museum in Tulsa. I’m not really that into art, but enjoyed it quite a bit. The house (or mansion) that it’s in is gorgeous as are the grounds with its landscaped gardens. I will return in the future when it’s cooler and just sit and read outside for hours. If you are in the area, it’s definitely worth a visit. It’s rated one of the top 50 art museums in the country and I had no idea it was even here until I started looking for things to do in Tulsa. We really had a great trip! I thoroughly enjoyed getting away with my hubby!

I’ll be taking another trip this coming weekend as well. I will drive to the small metropolis of Stratford, Oklahoma to visit my friend, Winter. I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with her and seeing where she is living and working now. We have tickets to go to the Beth Moore Living Proof Live conference in Oklahoma City on Friday night and Saturday morning. I’m really excited about that. My small group has done a few different Beth Moore bible studies in the past couple of years and it will be really great to see her again in person (I attended a Living Proof Live event in Kansas City last year). I checked out a couple of Max Lucado audio books from the OCC library to listen to on the way there and back so it should be a good weekend of spiritual renewal for me.

Steve will stay home with our baby, who we discovered had fleas on Monday. We force fed him a pill last night that was supposed to kill the fleas within 20 minutes. You could tell that those fleas were scurrying around the way Chunk was scratching. I felt so bad for him. We gave him a dosage of Advantage this morning and will continue to treat him for fleas on a monthly basis now that we’ve learned that this indoor cat is not exempt from getting fleas. He seems to be feeling much better this morning, but I think he’s still a bit scared of us. Every time he’d scratch, we’d rush over to him to try to remove the flea ourselves so that we could kill it before it jumped off the cat and into our carpet/bedding. I think he thought we were the ones inflicting pain on him. Bless his little heart. If I ache like this for my sick kitty, I can’t imagine what it will be like to have a sick child some day. My boss says “You’re going to be such a good mom” whenever I talk about my cat like this. My mom, on the other hand, exclaims “It’s just a cat!” like I’m some crazy cat lady (she hasn’t really embraced her first grandcat). Other friends and relatives would tell you that our cat is spoiled rotten! I honestly believe that having a cat has been good practice for when we become parents some day. I just worry about the day he is “replaced” with a real baby. We’ll deal with it when that day comes. For now, we’ll just enjoy our sweet little baby, Chunker, fleas and all!

Oh, to be young again!

My friend, Winter, and I went to Celebration City yesterday afternoon. We rode several "high thrill" rides and I got sick to my stomach more than once. We were talking to the nervous little girls that sat in front of us on one of the rides and one of them exclaimed "I'm only nine and a half!". As the ride was nearing to an end, this same 9 1/2 year old turned around and said to me, "It's okay. It will be over any minute." I'm not sure what I screamed to ilicit that response, but I was very ready for that ride to be over and this nine year old felt the need to comfort me. Oh, to be young again!

Bless the Broken Road

I’ve heard this song many times, but the lyrics really spoke to my heart as I listened to it on the way to work this morning. Some of you are aware of the fact that I started therapy in February for suspected binge eating disorder. Christian counseling helped me see that I still had a lot of unresolved issues from my past, which led me to the point of finally accepting God’s wonderful gift of grace. As a result, I have discovered the joy of a close relationship with God. It hasn’t been easy, though. I’ve been working through some very difficult issues and have confronted a lot of things that are painful to deal with. I have recognized that I am an emotional mess and that I am in desperate need of help. There are days that I feel clinically depressed, but I’ve also sensed God’s presence in my life like never before. Even though I still struggle on a daily basis, I am so thankful that God used my relationship with food to get my attention and bring me to the place I need to be in my relationship with Him, straight into His loving arms. I feel God working and transforming me from the inside out. However distressing it may be, it’s worth it in the end because God is turning me into the person that He created me to be. I pray that you will be blessed with the words to this song as I have been.

Bless the Broken Road by Selah

I set out on a narrow way
Many years ago
Hopin’ I would find true love
Along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
I wiped my brow
Kept pushin’ through
I couldn’t see how every sign
Pointed straight to you

And every long lost dream
Led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart
They were just northern stars
Pointing me on my way
Into your lovin’ arms
This much I know is true
God bless the broken road
That led me straight to you.

I think about the years I spent
Just passin’ through
I’d like to take the time I lost
And give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You’ve been there you understand
It’s all part of His grander plan
That is coming true.

And every long lost dream
Led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart
They were just northern stars
Pointing me on my way
Into your lovin’ arms
This much I know is true
God bless the broken road
That led me straight to you.

Now I’m just rollin’ home
Into your lovin’ arms
This much I know is true
God bless the broken road
That led me straight to you.

Yes, God bless the broken road
That led me straight to you.