plenty of room to swing a rope February 9, 2008

“plenty of heart and plenty of hope”

remember that line from our state
song?

i was back for four short days

O K L A H O M A

my lovely oklahoma.
i love okc more each time i return

here is brief rundown of my time there:

s u n da y –

pre-sunrise i walked my dog snickers
with my dad to a nearby pond. he does
this every sunday morning.  she barked
at the ducks on the ice-covered water
while the sun gloriously ascended into
the sky offering us a blazing orange
horizon and purpley-pink clouds smeared
across the fading dark blue overhead. 
sweet sweet time with my dad.

i spent lunch, afternoon, and early evening
with carol and steve hammontree like i do
most sundays in ok.  it was so needed.
connecting with them and having carol’s
tasty food connect with me…
i was

one

happy

lady.
steve, you (and my dad) rock the grill
like no one’s business!!!

    

i spent the evening curled up under a blanket
with my mom eating chinese take-out and
crying at a tv show.  later on that evening
dad didn’t stray too far from the discovery
channel for very long…he rarely does.
(he’s my kind of guy!!)

m o n d a y –

lunch with debbie clem. yummy food,
long deep conversation, and a few of
her famous (seriously…they are famous)
cookies and milk.  i am so thankful for
how the Lord has developed my
relationship with debbie. she is wise
counsel and a fun friend.

early evening visit with steve and jana
mcneill was wonderful as usual.  i assumed
my position on a low footstool near steve’s
armchair and fielded lots of questions about
life, heart, future plans, etc.

late evening visit with my girl jill westberry
was easy and delightful and fun… as usual.
my lovely jill, i’ve missed you so!! 
she’s been in a place far far away for a while.
we both had lots to share and i got to meet
an important friend of hers.  it was a kind
gift of the Lord to me!

i made it home in time to be tucked into
bed by mom before she went to bed.

t u e s d a y –

coffee with bryce at coco flow.
it’s a really cool place.  bryce is a
talented photographer.  he took most
of the pics on coco flow’s web site.
i also think he takes pics of people really
well!!  props bryce! 
it was good to see you.

lunch with christy brown.  i love spending
time with christy.  you know those people
who are a sort of plumb line?  when you
spend time with them they put things
into perspective for you. they refresh you
and ignite your heart for the Lord in a way
that not many others do.  that’s what it is
like when i see christy.  i got to meet her
new angel (by new i mean seven months
…remember the pregnant pic of her from
my last visit to ok?). 
(please return later for pics)

then i headed to the golf store with mom.
new golf shoes and golf bag for christmas.
T H A N K S ! ! ! !  
then i stopped by my cousin’s hair place.
he is a fantastic stylist.
blessings with your brand new baby ahrmad
and julie!!  i love you!

i then took myself to get some custard
and had a quick phone date with nancy.

that evening i met my dad and we went
to the gun range. 
dad you rock!!
i love shooting a gun.  i SO could have
been sydney bristow.  i’ve shot a gun and i
have her tall boots she used to kick bad
guys faces in!!  i had a blast, besides the
subzero temperatures of the room we
were in.  my dad is the MAN!!  he can
do it all: shoot a gun, run a company,
build/fix a house, love my mom…

  

  

we had ted’s for dinner. it’s only best
best mexican food this side of the red
river.  i forgot just how good it was.

i was tucked in bed one last time by
my mom.  covers piled on, and kisses
given out….it makes us both so happy.

w e d n e s d a y –

(it all went by so fast. everyone i did not
see, and it was a lot of you,  i humbly
ask your forgiveness and hope to see
you in six months.)

o400 i was up, and soon we were on
our way for the airport so i could
catch my second insanely timed
flight of this trip!!!

it is a personal tradition that my last
meal be from sonic.  so we stopped
by a 24 hour one on the way.  that’s
right, 24 hours!!!  it’s genius!! 
it doesn’t matter the time of day, i
always get the same thing:
junior burger
cheddar peppers
medium vanilla cherry limeade
(this time i added some cheese cake
bites because they are new and a
limited addition to the menu)
yup, i ate all this at 5am in the morning.
i had no troubles…i have a stomach of
steel!!!

i made it safely back to hawaii after
flying back to atlanta and then going to
honolulu from there. the last leg of the
flight was 9hr and 35min.  i really felt
like i should have been in another
country for that amount of time on a
plane.

it was good to immediately strip off
my sweatshirt in the hawaii airport.
i was greeted with a plumeria lei from
julie, a half drank icee, and jared in the
getaway car.

it was good to be back.

warm
green
rainbow filled sky

G O O D

last night in the city February 9, 2008

my flight left at 6am from LGA
so we decided to stay up and
play all night until my flight.

we started the fun in the afternoon.

i said goodbye to kj and the girls
but didn’t get to say goodbye to cory…
i was sad.
and i wanted to have one last lunch
with julia, but she was slammed at
work…
sad again.

around 3pm i went to meet b
and m at the tkts booth.

indian for dinner and
our show of choice for the night…
xanadu
(see previous post for picture).

then we headed back to the apt to meet
up with the rest of the gang for food and
games. zak thinks that a party isn’t a
party without doritos, so we stopped
by fairway for the snack.

after a close game of pictionary, several
rounds of apples to apples, and a fantastic
card game, we bundled up and took
ourselves to the manhattan diner just
down the road where there were a
surprising number of people for so
late in the night.

it is about 2:30am by this time but
we all ate like it was 4pm:
crab cakes, some sort of jalapeno
cheese burger situation, something
with avocado, and a chicken sandwich.

         
the big pic above is ‘indian restaurant’ take 52!
goodbye zak. 
and this is everyone doing their scarves
like i do it…before i put my coat on, of
course.

then we came back, packed me up, and
put me in a taxi at 4am.  i was at the
airport dozing in a chair by 4:35.
i was
O

U

T

a sleep coma.
were there flight attendants?
i don’t know
did they offer me drinks or
breakfast? 
i don’t know
i didn’t even stir when we took off
OR landed.

i woke up feeling drunk and pukey,
and fully incapable of navigating
myself to terminal c. 
which airport was i in, you might ask.
i don’t know!!!  i was asleep!!

then i was seated next to
mr. chatty cathy!!
a retired humanities and english prof
from a college in ada, oklahoma.
he asked question after question. so
even though all of my physical being
wanted to sleep my heart couldn’t cut
off this sweet and interesting man.

so i talked to him.
in my tiredness i probably shared
way more info about myself, my
family, etc. than i should have.
if i was being listened to by a spy
they have all the info they could ever
need to take me down.  (monica would
been shivering down to her core)

i fell into my mom’s welcoming arms and
kisses as soon as i could get my bags
and wave her down. first thing we did
in okc was
SONIC    and
DAD

i could hardly keep my eyes open
enough to drink my sonic drink and
eat my cheddar peppers….
but i pulled through and made it
happen. you see the smile on my
face?  
yeah, that’s right.

i slept away the afternoon and lazed
around the house happy and content
with my dear snickers at my feet.

p.s. i’d like to take this opportunity to
apologize for getting everyone sick
on my trip.  i came with a cold and i
left a cold with a few of you.  i thank
you for taking me in and loving me
anyway.  you are all so good to me!

full and happy February 9, 2008

that was my schedule while i was in
new york.

there was much to do and wonderful friends
to see.

(settle in and get a snack, this post might
be a long one.  for all of you with ADD, i
apoligize…but i will reward you with
pictures along the way.)

fake christmas:

with the cates- the first saturday morning
i was in town we exchanged gifts.
we had a fun time playing the card game i
got the boys.  the darling paper i got from
the cates makes me smile and sparkel when
i use it.  thanks, friends!!

with the girls from work (and associates)-
we started the day by watching the santa
clause and listening to christmas music.
erica and sean came over that evening
for gifts and fun.  the girls filled a stocking
for me and everything!!

that night we met denna (she’s a doc at NYPH,
where i used to work and where the girls
work now) at dip for delicious fondu!! 
at dinner erica, sean, and i dreamed of
all the ways we can use and market his
super cool inventions…he’s getting his
phd in neuroscience.  he’s a brainiac!

we ended the night at the apt. playing
all the games i just received at fake
christmas.
F
U
N

    

  
i have been wanting this game for ages!!
thanks, meg!!  meg is sporting her new
golashes (which she LOVES!!)

breakfasts:
i met marisa for breakfast twice,
both of us spilling and talking as fast
as we could before our time together
ran out.

dinner with the doctors:
myself, meg, brianne and maren met doctors
mabs and cyril for spanish food one night.
mabs and i first became friends when
i offered to draw blood for one of his patients
instead of waiting for the lab tech to come.
“i’m going for the scalp!!”
 i owe a portion of my love for golf to
mabs who took me and meg to the chelsea
peers driving range last summer…my first
time to swing a club.  and i could listen to
cyril’s french accent all day long!! we enjoyed
some seriously delicious food and sangria
while telling stories from our time
together at the hospital. 
we  ended the night with ice cream…
is there any better way to end a night??

         
the genow sisters share a giggle.

stop by at the cates:
life was usual.  i seemed to fall easily and
happily back into my previous new york
routine. dropping in on the cates is a big part
of that.  kari jo just allows me to be at her
side to be a help or a sounding board for
her creative and brilliant ideas. i love
being a quiet body drinking tea and enjoying
the softness of her couch and to reading to
one of her precious children.  and i got in
a good amount of the settlers game. i look
forward to winning one day in the future!

  
ring around the rosey with the cates
darlings and a lisa sandwich.

fellowship group:
i was able to enjoy TWO!!
dinner, fellowship, disussion of God’s
Word, prayer with sisters… it was all
familiar and so very delightful! 

church:
redeemer, i have missed you!
it was wonderful to be back.

shows:
you didn’t think i would return and
not see some shows, did you? 
by no means!!
i saw four shows and two were free!
thanks for the hook-up zak!
we went to a monthly improv show
put on for charity featuring broadway
actors.  funny funny.

this is half of the don’t quit your night job
crew this month. (the improv show)
yep, that’s anthony rap and bebe newarth
on the far end.

this is us after xanadu…
beautiful, yes.

trip to phili:
julie and gibson larget and their
three children now live in phili.
i have known julie since i was in high
school. her and gibson are the perfect
pair.  i LOVE the largents. so i hopped
a train to phili. they came and got me
and i spent the day with them.  it was
great!!  gibson is on staff at a new
growing church, loving his job.  their
kids call me “miss lisa brown.” sometimes
they leave off the miss. many people
in college called me lisabrown…julie
and gib were of that camp, so i am
lisabrown to their children.
“misslisabrown, can you watch my
fashion show?”
“misslisabrown, can you help me tie
myself to the bed with this jump rope?”
to say the least, it was
FUN TIMES at the largent house!

      
grayson, kennedy, and ellie kate are cuties.

closings:
several shows on broadway are
closing.  one show i love is
the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
a friend of mine, derrick baskin, is an
original cast member of the spelling be.
the night of the last show i got to go to
the closing after party.  it was GREAT!
i met the cast, the music director, the
producers, everyone!!!  even the cellist.
everyone was so nice and so…so… normal.
i tried not be a star struck freak, so
i didn’t ask to take any pics with my
favorite cast members.  i have it all
stored away in my mind…great memories.

other highlights:
*connecting w/ julia over coffee
*watching lots of tennis, snuggled
up next to brianne.
*riding the subway, smiling to myself
at how much i enjoyed it.
*tibetan food
*the ribbon store
*fairway-i still love you, even when
you are a crowded circus.

this is me and meg after i finished doing her hair.
ok, brianne helped me a lot.  do you really think
i know how to do meghan’s hair?  no, but i tried and
it looked GOOD when all was said and done!

my time in new york was sweet,
and natural.