Rob's parents visit

They rolled into town in the evening on Tuesday, March 29. We had them staying in the apartment next door to us, which was convenient. That night, we had dinner at Mama Lena's in downtown Waxhaw. Rob was in class each day but I was free so I hung out with them most of the time.

Wednesday - Rob was off in the morning so we go a chance to chit chat over breakfast and walk the grounds before lunch. We all had lunch in the cafeteria with the rest of the JAARS crew. When Rob went back to class in the afternoon, we visited the gift shop and the housing office, were we got directions to the airport for the following Monday (they had agreed to drop me off for my flight to Chicago). Later, we went into Waxhaw and visited an antique shop and the bead store. Dennis was "very patient" in the bead store. We picked Rob up back at the JAARS center and headed for the gym in Monroe. Dennis did the PACE workout with me and June did the bicycles. When we were fully exhausted, we went to Chick-fil-a; a regular thing for Rob and I but a new thing for Dennis and June.

Thursday - Dennis and June and I left early in the morn to drive to Savannah, GA and back. Lola, Dennis' cousin, is moving to Florida where her husband-to-be lives so we were bringing down some of her belongings for her. It was a long trip but it was good to see Lola and her new beau. We had true southern food at the Holiday Inn buffet just outside of Savannah and were surrounded by what looked like military police. I couldn't decide whether to feel safer or not. We had dinner at the Outback steakhouse in Columbia, SC on the way back.

Friday - We had a pretty laidback day. Dennis and I went to class in the morning to hear my friend Kim give a presentation on "the recordist character". After lunch, I wasn't feeling so great so I spent the better part of the afternoon in bed. I stayed home while Rob and his folks went to Bojangles in Waxhaw for dinner.

Saturday - The big day! Rob and I were doing a jazz gig at the Crossroads coffeehouse in the evening so we didn't want to get too worn out. We had a practice in the morning with Ken and Karl while Dennis and June relaxed back at the apartment. Three of the four of us in the band weren't feeling quite up to par so we were debating whether to go ahead with the gig or not but, in the end, passion prevailed. We went to the Andrew Jackson museum and the 8 Legs Gallery with the folks in the afternoon before coming home to get ready to perform. It was a good show. Rob played upright bass and I percussed and sang. I did Autumn Leaves, Summertime and The Girl From Ipanema. People were amused by my lyric source; the coffeehouse has wireless internet access so I downloaded lyrics to my PDA. I even got and sang Autumn Leaves in French, which was a surprise (hopefully pleasant) for my bandmates. Our performance was well-received. We all went home giddy and exhausted.

Sunday - We went to Spirit of Joy church in Matthews. June particularly enjoyed the service. I think she'd be an attender, if she lived here. In the afternoon, we cleaned up the apartment as they were moving to another spot on campus for their final evening, one where they wouldn't have to clean up in the morning as we were headed for the airport way early on Monday. We just kind of hung out for the rest of the day, ending off with dinner at Mama Lena's in the evening. We called it an early night as Rob was sniffly and others among us were feeling slightly run down from the week's excitement.

Monday - Off to the airport at 6:30AM. More to come later ...