Jennifer Joins the Band

I am in Raleigh, NC as I type this today. I am here as part of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tourney. The University of Louisville Women have made it to the Elite 8! If they win tonight, they will be headed to the Final Four, which is more than the Men can say. (They lost yesterday.)
Here's my question:
Do I live in Louisville? Nope.
Did I go to U of L? Nope.
Am I a fan of U of L? Nope.
So what the heck am I doing here?

My sister, Cindy, called me last week and said, "Do you want to go to Raleigh?" She recruited me to come as part of the U of L PEP BAND!!! How crazy is that!?! This poses another question:
Do I play an instrument? Well...I own a clarinet, but haven't really played in 13 years or so!
Doesn't matter. Since most of the band went to Indy to be a part of the Men's tourney, they needed people for this trip! And apparently they weren't too picky. :-)

So here I am. We are staying in a REALLY nice hotel. Embassy Suites. Free breakfast. Free drinks from 5-7 pm EVERY DAY! (Yes. Unlimited drinks...and that does include alcohol...maybe not the best idea for a band trip...) A business center which includes the computer I am now using. This thing is really slow, but it is something to do to keep me awake at the moment.

Anyhow - it is a diverse group of folks on this trip. Some of them are college students and are typically part of the pepband. Some of them are out of college, yet are still typically part of the pepband. One of the fellows is over 65! the "director" of the trip is here with her daughters (in their 20s). The girls can't play instruments, but they hold trumpets in the band! It is kinda funny.
I felt a little old when we were checking in at the airport. If you are under 21, your drivers license is vertical. If you are over 21, it is horizontal. I was certainly in the minority...folks with horizontal licenses! :-)

Am I having fun on this trip? Fun is relative. Am I getting drunk every night while drinking the beer I was able to get because I wasn't carded and then taking advantage of free drinks at the hotel? No. Are some of the "kids" on this trip doing that. Seems to be so.

Am I catching the bus ride to the mall, movies, bar, wherever? Except for the first night when a LARGE group of folks when into town to a nice sports bar to watch the Men's game together. That was fun. Other than that, I haven't taken any of those outings.

Have I walked 6 miles in the rain to see Jesus? Yup.
Did I get totally drenched while walking uphill quite a bit of the way? Yup.
Did I cry at the thought of having to walk 6 miles back in the rain? Yup.
Did I hitch a ride with an unsuspecting parishoner so I wouldn't have to walk 6 miles back in the rain? Yup.
Did I have fun doing this? YUP! :-)
(This event is going to get its own post.)

Yesterday, the weather was SO PRETTY! There was no way I was going to stay inside all day! I found a nice patch of grass (still a little wet from Saturday's rain) and read my book for an hour or so. I called home to talk to Bill and the girls.
I wandered over to a close-by shopping center and found a used bookstore. I used some of my per diem money to buy books. :-)
Yesterday was a lot of fun for me!!!

Today I am so sleepy! I tried to read my book inside, but it just isn't bright enough to keep me awake. I tried to go outside, but it is a little cooler today and wouldn't have been as comfortable.
SO - here I am at the computer. :-) Can't get on facebook from here, so I thought I would blog.

Oh! More people have come to use the computers and I am just wasting time, so I'm going to hop off. Maybe I will come back to this subject soon. :-)