We had a nice flight and I had the funniest voicemail from my Special Friend when we landed. He was pretending to cry and begging me not to go to Texas. It was a full 2 minute message of nothing but outrageous wailing and sobs; it reminded me of a goofy Saturday night live skit. I laughed so hard, he cracks me up.
We picked up our rental car and used my navigation system to get to my friend’s house where we stayed. Technically she’s my ex-ex-ex-boyfriend’s sister, but that’s a long story.
Her house was so nice, and she had housekeepers cleaning when we arrived. I was like geez, friend, you didn’t tell me you were rich!
We went apartment hunting on Friday during the day. My sister thinks she is moving to Texas with my niece (I’m in denial.) On Friday night, I went out with my friend, and my sis went out with a guy she met on Facebook. I told her he could be the Facebook Killer, you know, just like the Craigslist Killer movie on Lifetime? Good thing he wasn’t, he was just a nice normal guy.
On Saturday, my blog friend, Tex NY Queen gave us a whole list of stuff to do in her hometown. We ate at Empire Café, saw the beautiful meditation statues and went shopping. I ate way too much on Saturday, and topped it all off with a pina colada at a local Mexican restaurant.
Sunday was my big day. I didn’t come for the apartments, the food or the shopping. I came to go to Lakewood Church, where Joel Osteen is the pastor. Oh my GOD! I was so excited I squealed as we drove past the front. My sister was convinced I would pass out and faint when I saw him, and had the video camera in hand. I was so nervous and excited, that I had to go the bathroom. My mom told me I would probably be a little speck in the stadium seating sanctuary that holds over 16,000 people, so I didn’t expect to be close. I don’t know what my sister told the greeter, but she ushered us right to the front and center. She unhooked the velvet rope, and told us to sit in the middle of the 4th row! The 4th row?! “What did you tell her when I was in the bathroom?!” I asked. She just smiled. I started to feel that faint/tears feeling come over me. But I didn’t. Especially since we were almost an hour early and service hadn’t begun yet.
He delivered an awesome sermon as usual, discussing the importance of having a vision for your life. However, towards the end of service, I started to get antsy. Church in real life was a lot longer than the quick sermon on TV, and I feared we would miss our flight. As if he saw me and my sister squirming, Joel pleaded, “just give me 5 more minutes.” We definitely couldn’t get up and leave after that. We stayed until the end, and tried to maneuver through the crowd. But, we ended up running through the airport again. But, this time we weren’t so lucky. The ramp was pulling away from the plane as we approached our departure gate. We missed our flight home! Luckily we were able to fly stand by, and get a seat on what turned out to be an otherwise completely full plane. All in all it was a great weekend. My sister survived the potential Facebook killer, we reconnected with old friends, and I got to meet one of my idols. I’m sure the scale will reflect all the hamburgers, Mexican food, and my signature peach cobbler that I baked as a parting gift for my friend. But, I ready to accept it, and get back on track.
Hey Carli! So glad you got to visit my neck of the Pineywoods! Sure you don’t want to move down this way? Anything you gain from eating the good burgers, tex-mex and cobblers will easily melt off of you if you are ‘fortunate’ enough to be here during the 100+ degree summer. Lol.
Hey DD, I didn’t realize I was down by you. I wish I would’ve known. We could’ve had walked together.