Charlotte, NC
10:17 PM
And now I’m here, at the kitchen table of Mike and Veronica’s. The Real World is on the TV, they are in the living room watching, and I’m typing. Ashlie, Veronica’s daughter, is in bed. My contacts need to come out and better yet be thrown out for some new ones.
My time here ends tomorrow, but my day today was awesome. My wake up call from Mike came at 7 AM today. Veronica’s dad was coming over to hang sheet rock in the nursery they’re building. 7 AM was early and I didn’t like the call, but I knew once the sheet rock was done we were headed to see the Carolina Panthers play the Oakland Raiders. Can’t beat 15 rows up in the end zone.
So I rolled out of bed and got a lesson in how to hang sheet rock. I will say it takes a lot of math, patience, and the ability to put together a big puzzle. I didn’t do much hammering as Mike and I were the cutters. V’s dad knew his business and took care of it. He told us what to do and I learned a lot. That’s not an easy job. I’m not the bluest collar of guys, but today was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I wouldn’t say to email me to come over and build you a nursery, but I’m further along than I was.
The sheet rock lesson ended and it was time to hit the showers and hit the game. You couldn’t ask for a better day for football: 72 degrees and no clouds. Me being in NY for a while, it felt great to have shorts and sandals on. The Panthers lost a heartbreaker, 27-24. It was still fun as they came back from 10 down in the 4th quarter. They made the Super Bowl last year. They wouldn’t have lost this game last year. They got all the breaks and won all the close ones then.
Again, I’m out of it. Mike has now switched the Ravens-Browns game on.
I will summarize my time in Charlotte as best I can. I saw a ton of people. I didn’t see some others. I really wanted to see Jay, a fellow seeker, but I was too whipped on Saturday night to make it back downtown. There are others I missed, but I did what I could. I learned how to sheet rock and even better, I learned that I’ll be back to Charlotte one way or another.
For now, it’s off to bed and then up and out to Columbia, SC for lunch with my boys from grad school, then off to Charleston, SC pick up my younger cousin Kyle from the airport and to see my new cousin, Maisie. More babies and more family and more friends…