The other half

I come from modest beginnings. I grew up in a town of 700 people. My childhood was filled with love and friends, but eating out usually consisted of KFC (known back then as the politically-incorrect Kentucky Fried Chicken) on Sundays and Western Sizzlin on special occasions. We stayed in motels where you could park outside your door and enjoy a vibrating bed if you had enough quarters.

I'm lucky enough now to have a job that requires a lot of time in nice restaurants and moderately nice hotels. But this weekend proved to me, once again, that I was meant to be treated well.

Kelly and I arrived in Tulsa around 7 Friday night and were given the key to our room on the gold-status floor (Kelly travels a lot with her job)... a floor that you had to insert your room key in the elevator to gain access to. Our room had a sweeping view of one of Tulsa's nicest neighborhoods. Our beds were plush. Our morning meal was served in an exclusive lounge on our exclusive floor, where a nice lady brought me juice when I was thirsty and kleenex when I sneezed. I could definitely get used to being pampered.

After Sorne and Amanda joined us at the hotel Friday night, we drove to Cheesecake Factory for dinner, where I enjoyed a delicious ahi tuna salad, followed by decadent lemon raspberry cheesecake. And, since we were celebrating Sorne's birthday, our waitress was nice enough to bring her dessert (apple crisp) to the table with a special message and a song.



Sorne and me



Amanda and Kelly



After dinner we headed to the theatre, where we stood in line with hundreds of other women, many of them overdressed in really tacky clothes, to see the 10:30 p.m. showing of "Sex and the City." I must say, as a huge fan of the TV show, I was not at all disappointed. It was 160 minutes that I didn't want to end. I know the reviews have been mixed, but I thought it was fabulous. And Sorne, who's never seen a single episode, loved it, too.

So we got back to the hotel around 2 a.m., when Amanda stopped at the front desk to ask for her doubletree chocolate chip cookie. We rehashed the movie and Kelly's love life until around 3, when we finally all went to sleep.

After breakfast and showers, we all headed to the mall for some serious shopping (and a 10-minute massage for Kelly and me), after which we ate a late lunch at Macaroni Grill. It was my favorite meal of pasta and heavy cream, and given that I'd eaten raw veggies and fruit all week, I paid for it all the way home and all night last night. There weren't enough Tums in the world.

I was in bed around 8 last night, and after waking up with a stomachache at 2 a.m. and a hail storm at 5 a.m., I finally crawled out of bed at 8 this morning and got ready for church. I took a 2-hour nap this afternoon, then went to the theatre here in town by myself (something I've never done) to watch a movie twice in 48 hours (another thing I've never done).

What a great weekend! I feel really lucky to have such great friends. Friends who appreciate fine dining, good entertainment, great shopping, and fantastic conversation.

Happy birthday, Sorne!