So this passed Friday night was the Storytellers up at the GVC in Gadsden. It was fantastic. Not a huge crowd, but very attentive. There were three singer/songwriters that were there to perform on Friday…Laura (my sis-in-law), Cherie (pronounced Shuh-rEE), and myself. We all played our tunes one at a time. They told me that I would start off since I was seasoned at public performance. Of course, I haven’t really played like this in a couple of years.
After the Telling of Stories gig, Lovely, Little Bear, and I grabbed a bite with my parents, Glammie and Munk. We just sat for a while, just talkin’ and catching up a little. It was great!!! Usually when we get together with my parents it is over food and we pretty much talk a few minutes before we eat and (with the baby here now) fairly soon after we eat, we leave. Not a lot of depth. But this weekend was different. They talked about their loft in Attalla, AL, and how things were going with that. We talked about how Little Bear is growing so fast and other things that are going on with us. We just had a great time reconnecting. Well, after we decided to hit the road, Lovely and I just decided to see if we could afford to stay in town for the weekend since my dad was preaching at GVC on Sunday. We went to one place….$159.00. “Hmm…not too bad. Oh, wait! That’s per night?!!! Crap, no!” Another place…$189.00 per night. A Super 8 motel with no continental breakfast, no pool or Jacuzzi, or anything…and crappy parking. $159.00 per night!?!?!? I finally broke down and asked why everything was so expensive from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. “Talladega weekend, dude! Didn’t you know that?” So I called my brother to see if he knew a place to stay that wouldn’t be outrageous. His response? Dude, just come hang at our place. We got couches. We have a packNplay for the little’en. Just come on.
So around 11:30 p.m. we pull up in front of their hacienda. Unloaded and all, we chat for a minute or two and then off to beddy-bye-land…until 5:30 a.m. Little Bear was on her weekday schedule.
So we, Lovely, Little Bear, and I just chatted downstairs as not to wake our gracious hosts from their slumber. Good news…they have a six-month old, so they were up about an hour later. We ate some hella-good food and got ready for the day.
We didn’t have a plan for the day, but my Pop said he was going to be working on the Attalla building. So we zipped out to the Wally World to pick up a few things for Little Bear (diapers and such) and went over to see the new-old place. Its gonna be a sweet place. Later that night, Kris and LBC zip out to a get together and we offer to watch little BAC. Free babysitters? Word! Munk and Gammie brought flesh of pigs for us to dine on. A good time was had watching the little’ens.
Sunday a.m. Little Bear is up at the BUTT_CRACK at about 5:30 (when I normally wake up for work). She was having nothing doin’ of going back to bed. So…we’re up. After I get a little of the groggy off, I zip out to get biscuits for the house since they’ve so gracious as to let us heat up their couches for a couple of nights. I take little Bear with me as a Popi/Daughter trip. We get back and are headed up the front steps. I stumbled up the stairs and fell…with little Bear in my arms. Luckily, my elbow caught most of the fall. Little Bear just barely bumped her noggin. Not a scratch or bruising or lump. I felt horrible. I medicated by eating.
Church on Sunday was quite awesome. I forget how much I like the GVC. It is less polished that the DTC. It seems to make it a little more intimate and accepting…I guess. Anyway. Bruce lead the worship with some stellar 1990s Vineyard tunes that made my heart just melt, and my dad, Munk, spoke on Sunday morning. He spoke on freedom from the bondage of Satan. This was something that I didn’t really agree with theologically, but he brought a passion that I haven’t seen him have in a while and I praised God for that.
Afterwards, we grabbed a bite with my parents and just talked about life. It was good. We laughed a lot and watched little Bear be as cute as she is. There didn’t really seem to be any distractions like there usually are…it was great.
All in all it was a great weekend. I’d do it all over again…just not on race weekend.
Prodigal Thinker 