Where have I been?

visited 46 states (92%)
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As I was saying a few days ago, our summer vacations were usually centred around Coca-Cola conventions. Each year, the week-long convention took place in a different city in the U.S. Since Mom was a teacher, we had the summer off, and we could have a summer-long road trip.

We'd plan our road trip around where the convention was, which accounts for why I've been to most of the states. We can't figure out how we missed South Carolina, but neither of us can remember being there, either. Same with Vermont.

One of the more memorable trips was when we went to California (from Missouri) by way of Florida.

Perhaps in the coming days (and when I'm fighting to stay away through a nasty cold), I'll talk about some of the adventures we had.

The Dover Race

Sorry it's been awhile.  My life has been complicated for the past few weeks, but more on that later.  Back to my vacation time with Mom.  When we left off, Mom and I were about to enjoy the Dover race package that I had won, compliments of NAPA.  The proper name was the NAPA Race Day Experience, or NRDE.  We were welcome at the NAPA chalet all day, which was located in Hospitality Village.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We woke up at 4:00 a.m. and left my flat at 4:30 a.m. after a short pit-stop (ha ha) at Sunoco (The Official Fuel of NASCAR) (where my mom ACTUALLY tried to buy the clerk's uniform off his back!!!) for breakfast.  We pulled into the Dover parking lot exactly two hours later.  Breakfast service at the chalet started at 8:00 a.m., so we planned on napping in the car for an hour, which would give us half an hour to wake up and find the chalet.  However...

Right in front of us were these tailgaters who were literally sitting on their tailgate and hitting the Corona.  The fellow on the left insisted on shouting "PUT THE LIME IN THE COCONUT!" every few minutes.  Not, mind you, singing the entire song - no, no; just that one freakin' line.  After a few repetitions of that, I wanted to put my lime in his coconuts, if you know what I mean:

They were literally about five feet in front of our car.  Mom decided she couldn't sleep with them staring at us.  I mean, it isn't as if they were staring at us on purpose.  They were just kind of mindlessly staring ahead (except when something caught their attention to the side, which is when I took the opportunity to take this picture), and that's where we happened to be.  Then, of course, they decided they needed a trash bag out of the back of their truck.  That's when the view REALLY improved:

 While I was busy snapping this picture, Mom was dying laughing at something happening to our left, which I did NOT get a picture of (sadly).  You know those port-a-potty tents?  Those little tents that you can take camping with you that hide port-a-potties?  These people who had camped out in the parking lot hadn't staked theirs down, and it fell over.  Mom laughed so hard I thought she was going to (sorry, I can't help myself here) pee her pants.  She was all, "I hope no one was in there!"  Meanwhile, to the right of the guys in front of us, we watched a guy (who had a grill in the bed of his pick-up truck) pull up about five inches, get out, shake his head, then back up three inches.  Hope that helped, buddy.

We finally made our way to the NAPA chalet, where we received a really nice goody bag.  The bag itself is a nice backpack, and in it is lip balm, a set of earplugs, a mini Sharpie, a decal, a diecast, a hat, a koozie, a poncho, and a coupon for wiper blades.  They gave us breakfast, an offer for a track tour (which Mom and I skipped), and a lunch buffet (burgers, hot dog, potato salad, pasta salad, mac and cheese, coleslaw, brownies, etc.).  We also got to enter a drawing to win Martin Truex, Jr.,'s helmet, and we could submit a question for the Q&A session.  Speaking of the Q&A session - most of the people there were people who are NAPA employees or who are somehow affiliated with NAPA, but you could tell they definitely weren't race fans.  The guys at our table had actually gone online, printed out information about Truex, and were studying for Q&A session.  Mom and I were cracking up.

Martin made his appearance, answered a few questions (no, we didn't have to answer questions about him - shocking, I know), gave away his helmet, and dashed away to the Drivers' Meeting.  I felt bad because a few people booed when they announced he didn't have time to sign autographs, but it was written on the information we received with the schedule of events that no autographs would be given, so I don't know what was wrong with these people.

I will say that the hospitality workers were pretty awesome.  No sooner did you clean your plate than they whisked it away to the trash for you.  As soon as you approached the drink barrel, one would approach from nowhere to ask you what you wanted (God forbid you should actually get your hand cold digging for your own drink!).  If you were headed to a trash can with something, they'd take it from you.  It was actually uncomfortable at times - "No, really - I can throw it away myself, but thanks!"

Martin Truex, Jr.

 Before Martin showed up, we had wandered around to some of the other chalets to see if any of the other drivers were making their appearances.  We caught the tail end of Jeff Gordon's appearance at the DuPont chalet.  If you look VERY carefully, you can see his silhouette smack-dab in the middle here (ignore the grumpy-looking woman in the foreground; I don't know what her issue is):

Jeff Gordon, I promise!

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that after Martin's appearance, I SPRINTED like all hell (not easy to do with a year-long groin injury) to the Interstate Batteries chalet to try to catch the future Mr. Min (aka: The Elusive One), but I was told I missed him by about two minutes.  Drat.

All of these activities pretty much took us to time for driver introductions.  We made our way to our seats, with a quick stop at the restrooms first.  And we had to laugh at the sign on the bathrooms:

Go Fast; Team Tylenol: Feel Better Fast

The race itself was great.  Our seats were amazing, and unlike at Kansas Speedway, when the national anthem ended there wasn't a race to sit down first because the seats are so close together (and bleacher style) that you want to claim your butt-space before your neighbour gets her/his butt down before you do.  This will be a spoiler for those NASCAR fans who are REALLY behind on race news, but I was very pleased when The Guy Who Drives Chad's Car won the race.

The Guy Who Drives Chad's Car doing his burn out.  Chad had given him strict instructions NOT to hurt the chassis.  "Burn all the rubber you want.  DO NOT HURT MY CHASSIS."

 After the race, we got to watch the cars go into the haulers and the haulers pull out.  The way this is done at KSS, you can't see this at all.  I took several pics of different haulers, but I'm only posting the most beauteous one of them all (and I took about six pics of this one):

The most gorgeous hauler I ever did see.

Then we got kicked out of the speedway.  Literally.  The usher guy asked us to leave about four times.  We were busy pointing and laughing at something and weren't done yet.  It was really Ria's fault.  She wouldn't answer her phone.

Mom's Visit

When we were in Charlotte for the May races, I won a NAPA Race Day Experience to a future race. I was sent a list of several races (I think it was about 8-10 races), and after I found out that I wouldn't be attending school this fall, Mom and I decided to attend the Dover race. The plan was that she would fly out here for a bit to visit me and go to Dover, then we would fly back to KCMO together to attend the KSS (Kansas Speedway), and I would spend a few more days back in KC just chilling with the fam.

While Mom was here, it was important to me that she meet some of my friends that she hadn't met before who I had wanted her to meet. It was tricky because our time was limited and she had come armed with a list of things she wanted to see and do, too. This was complicated somewhat because her energy level is compromised by her Sjogren's Syndrome. Plus, as some of you know from my Twitter posts, I had been sick and bed-/couch-bound for about the ten days prior to her visit and wasn't feeling like attacking the city myself.

Nonetheless, we were able to fit in visits to South Street, Jeweller's Row, Fabric Row, Reading Terminal Market (my mom's favourite Philly haunt), and a few restaurants that I wanted to introduce her to.

On the Thursday before the Dover race, we met Ria, Curtis, and their daughter Angie. Forgive me for totally cheating, but I'm going to link you to Ria's blog and you can read about our Thursday over here on her blog. Trust me when I tell you that it's worth the read; we had a great time.

On Friday, we got together with Rachel (aka: Med Student), Kirsten, Peter, and Sue. We went to Mixto for supper (a Cuban restaurant in the gaybourhood), followed by dessert at Scoop de Ville in Centre City.

Rachel and Kirsten

Mom, Peter, and Sue

DrPH News

On Wednesday, I officially got news that my application for the DrPH programme for which I had applied was rejected. I think it was nice of them to let me know a full 34 days before classes were to have started. But the chair of the programme did handwrite a note of the bottom of the form rejection letter that reads "please call me if you'd like to discuss," and a neighbour of mine who's a professor told me this is a VERY encouraging sign.

Thank you to those of you who supported me through the roller-coaster of emotions this summer while I waited.

And now that I know that I won't be attending school, I'll start the job search in earnest. I had been hesitant to do so because I didn't want to start a job only to tell them that I had to leave because I found out that I was beginning school. And then, a few years later, have a bad reputation in the public health community for having shafted XYZ organisation.

So, now that my days are unscheduled for the next however long, I have contacted Michael Waltrip Racing (you may remember that I won a RaceDay Experience when I was in North Carolina) to claim tickets to the Dover race. Mom is going to fly out here, and we will go to that race together. Then we will fly to Kansas City together to attend the Kansas race together (those races are back-to-back weekends.

It's been a banner year: I lost a job, lost Oscar, got rejected from a school, and for those of you especially close to me, you know about The Big Drama going on this week that I won't be blogging about for matters of personal security.

At long last - NASCAR HOF

As promised, here's the blog post on the NASCAR HOF.

When you enter, there's an exhibit of the various cars through the years. If you aren't paying attention, it seems as it the cars are just on a really cool inclining curve. However, for those who stop to - ahem - READ the signs that are posted (MOM, I'm talking to YOU!), you'll note that the incline is marked and represents the grade of different tracks on the circuit. And when the incline reaches 33º, there's a section where you can walk on the "track" - or, rather, attempt to. This isn't a great pic, because it's hard to see the whole "track" and the grade in a one-dimensional pic, but I think you can get the general idea:


On the floors above are exhibit halls. They had some of Dale Earnhardt's personal items, some of the cars, and the trophies. Mom and I got a kick out of the difference between the trophies from back in the day and now. Between exhibit rooms, they had hallways filled with memorabilia you can look at. And interspersed are placards with various drivers and owners who have allegedly made an impact on the sport. I say "allegedly" because at one point, I heard Mom say, "Oh my God," and I said, "What?" She said, "You'll see when you get here." About five seconds later, I said, "Holy crap. They'll let anyone in here."


There's a really great interactive area where you can practice being a jackman; try your hand at play-by-play (I wanted Mom to be Mike Joy to my DW, but she refused. She said she'd sit there and pretend while I did it by myself, but I thought it be lame to just do all the talking.); and there's a HUGE ASS board where you can see the owner's points, driver's points, manufacturer's points and how they can move around from race to race based on bonus points, etc. There were race car simulators where you could race your friends and family. And there's a Lowe's hauler you can walk through. (And unlike when I was at the grounds of Hendrick, I did not kiss the ground that Chad Knaus walked on. I knew this was a replica hauler. So shaddup.) And there's a Lowe's pit box. Where the genius that is Chad Knaus sits and works.

They really maximised all the space. For instance, even the elevator had an exhibit showing the evolution of the NASCAR logo throughout the years. And in the area in front of the stairwell, they had an exhibit showing the evolution of the firesuits throughout the years.

Please click here to take a look at the (over 100) pics I took at the HOF. I've barely touched on all of the things that are there, including the hilarious offer that DW made when a bunch of drivers all anted up when some stuff in one of the garaged mysteriously walked away. There are some really lovely tributes to fallen NASCAR comrades that I captured, and I hope you won't miss those. But I've tried to use this space to capture the entire feel of the HOF, albeit (somewhat) briefly knowing that not all of my readers are NASCAR fans.

In the coming days: a look at some recent knitted finished objects and a tribute to Michael Jackson on the anniversary of his death.

The Red Bull Event (Finally)

Sorry the blog has been quiet. There was a change in travel plans; instead of me flying home on Wednesday as originally planned, Mom and Dale decided to just drive me back to Philly and then go home via the PA Turnpike then good ol' I-70. Although I got home a day earlier than planned, I think the sitting in a van for two days straight (and navigating from the backseat - since Mom's Garmin is STOOPID and Dale is blind in one eye and left his hearing aids in his suitcase because he "didn't want to have them in when we were at the track" although we were actually driving AWAY from the track) left me exhausted.

I still need to blog about the FABULOUS trip to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, so that will be the next blog post. But I keep referring to the truly awful Red Bull Racing Team Fan Appreciation Event (in conversations, in IMs, in Twitters, etc.), so I thought I should actually spill the beans on it.

The event was billed to start at 2:00 p.m. with driver appearances from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. (drivers being Brian Vickers, Casey Mears, Scott Speed, and Cole Whitt). There would be a raffle for Red Bull prizes and memorabilia, a driver Q&A, an autograph session, and we would "learn the art of four tires and fuel."

We got there a little before 2:00 p.m. so we could figure out what was going on. We found out that most of the event was on this courtyard-like level, while the autograph session would be taking place down a double flight of stairs leading to the merchandise hauler (that had been brought in from Souvenir Alley at the track and staffed by the same LOVELY people - sense the sarcasm?). We were told that to get a ticket to the autograph session, you had to buy something from the hauler OR wait until 2:50 p.m. and hope there were tickets leftover and get one then. Now, let me back up to earlier that morning in the motel room: I had told Mom that I was putting my receipt from the Red Bull Team Shop in my track bag for when we went to the Speedway since Scott generally has autograph sessions there on race day, but you have to buy something from the hauler, and I would ask if buying $52.80 worth of stuff at the shop wouldn't count. And I was putting my receipt in the bag that day since I had seen it and it was on my mind, and I was afraid I'd forget on actual race day.

So upon hearing that now I need to buy something from the hauler to get a ticket for THIS autograph session, I'm really glad I had put my receipt in my bag that morning. So Mom and I go downstairs to the hauler, and I start to say to the guy that I'd heard from the woman upstairs that the conditions for getting an autograph were XYZ. He interrupts me and says, "You don't HAVE to buy something. You can get in line at 2:50 and hope there are tickets left." I said, "Okay, but what I want to know is if --" and that's as far as I get because he interrupts me and says, "Do you UNDERSTAND? You don't HAVE to buy anything. You can get a ticket free. OKAY?" I said, "Will you just let me ask my question?" He finally did, and then said, "She didn't give a ticket then?" I said no, but what I really wanted to say was, "Well, gee, Mister, she did, but I wanted an extra one for my imaginary friend, and that's why I'm down here arguing with you about it."

Mom and I go upstairs to check things out for awhile, grab some free Red Bulls for later (I can't drink them, but Mom and Dale can). Then we found out that the Q&A would be on the courtyard level beginning at 3:00 p.m., but the autographs would be at the hauler beginning at 3:15 p.m.... where people with tickets were already lining up. And, you know, the people with tickets were the same people who really wanted to hear the Q&A sessions (there were two sessions - one with just Cole Whitt and then the second one with the other three). And, honestly, they aren't REALLY going to make fans choose between getting autographs or hearing their driver speak, right?

Mom and I in the autograph line and then we start wondering if the line we're in is maybe the line for people who DON'T have tickets yet. So we ask the people in front of us if they have a ticket; nope. But the people behind us DO. So I stay in line while Mom goes to the front to find out what's going on. She comes back to report that the woman in the trailer was astounded that there were TWO types of people in the line, but said that she would be out shortly to organise us into two separate lines.

So I go upstairs where guys are giving out wristbands for alcoholic drinks. I asked for one (admittedly mostly because they had been asking everyone else if they wanted one and I'd passed through SEVERAL times without being asked once). I got carded, which is fine, but I got a side dish of attitude with it, which is NOT fine. Then I got the "Look, I'm just doing my job" line. I flashed my ID, along with "Yeah, I AM 35," got my wristband and walked off.

Now, I find the raffle table. The raffle tickets are a buck each and the proceeds go to the Speedway Children's Charities. Since you HAD to be present to win, I asked what time the drawing was (since I knew we had to leave early-ish because of the World of Outlaws race), and I was told 2:30 and 3:30. I bought two tickets, and only AFTER I bought the tickets did it dawn on me to wonder how I would be present to win at 3:30 if I was in line getting an autograph at 3:15.

So now I'm still trying to figure all of this out, I'm upstairs by myself, Mom is sitting downstairs in line by herself, I'm getting ready to Twitter about what a disorganised mess this all is when a guy in a Red Bull outfit comes up to me and asks, "Do you have a ticket for today's autograph session?" I said, "I do, yes, thank you. And, by the way, can you tell me a little bit about how this event is working?" He explained that as long as you had a ticket, you were guaranteed an autograph and didn't need to be waiting downstairs in line so I COULD hear the Q&A and get an autograph. I told him that he might want to explain that to the people in the merchandise hauler because they didn't seem to understand. I also asked him how I was supposed to be present for a raffle drawing at 3:30 and get an autograph at 3:15, and he admitted that was a good question. And he pointed out the person to whom I should address that question. I told him that, thus far, he had been BY FAR the friendliest, most knowledgeable Red Bull rep at the event, and that I really appreciated his time. He said that, as one of the people who helped organise it, he was sorry to hear that it was really frustrating for the attendees, but that he would be passing along the feedback because it was important to Red Bull that they portray a good image.

I go back downstairs to Mom (Red Bull in hand) who tells me that the hauler guy hadn't separated them into two lines. Instead, he just came out (WAY before 2:50, mind) and handed out tickets to anyone who didn't have them. Then he came back about ten minutes later and collected ALL of them again. And about five minutes after that handed them all out again.
By this time, they draw the first raffle at 2:30 and when they're done, they announce that they'll draw the rest of the prizes at.... 4:30 p.m. WTF???? So I go directly to the raffle table and ask them if I heard correctly. Yes, I had. And this is when I pretty much go postal. And this is when Red Bull Lady says the exact wrong thing to me, which is "Well, if you only bought two tickets, you only lost two dollars." The other raffle table lady points to Milan (the guy from earlier), and I think his Spidey sense was tingling because he was already headed our way and he said, "Is there something I can help with?"

I explained that it wasn't the two dollars. It wasn't the donation to Speedway Children's Charities. It was the principle of the thing. It was yet ANOTHER example of just how disorganised and chaotic their entire event had been. He explained that he didn't know who had told me 3:30 but they were wrong, but he believed that's what I had been told based on me asking him that question earlier. He explained that things were running late now (Casey, Brian, and Scott hadn't started their Q&A) because they were at a television appearance that was running late, but they had been texted that they needed to be here NOW. I said that I understood that a tv thing was out of their control and I certainly didn't hold them accountable for that. But not being able to coordinate a simple autograph session with a Q&A? Or give people accurate information about a raffle drawing? For a three-hour event? Really?
I go downstairs to relay the newest development to Mom only to hear the hauler guy telling the people in line, "The drivers are upstairs RIGHT NOW doing their Q&A and will be signing in just a few minutes." I said, "Excuse me, but they aren't even here right now. They're at a television appearance. They've been texted and told they're running late. As soon as they get here, they'll do the Q&A, and THEN they'll be here."

Mom said that the whole time I'd been upstairs, the guy came down the line about every five minutes doing a headcount. The people in line were alternating theories on whether he was too dumb to remember the original count or whether he was trying to wait for a certain number of people.

FINALLY, the Casey and Brian got there and the Q&A started. Now, see, when they said Q&A, I had thought that the fans would get to ask some questions. Nope, instead some Red Bull guy asked some lame-o questions for about five minutes. And then we all went downstairs to get our autographs.

Oh, and the art of four tires and fuel? Never learned it.

After, Mom and I came upstairs (there was a candied apple place on the courtyard that Mom wanted to hit) and while Mom and I were talking, Milan wandered over with a prize from the raffle for me (a pair of driving gloves!). I have to say that Milan is excellent at his job - trying to de-escalate situations, telling us that he had spoken to his supervisor about our complaints, talking to my mom about how sorry he was, using a calming voice, etc. He explained that it was important to Red Bull that people leave with a good impression of the brand, and that he hoped the good-will gesture would go a long way.

I have to say that I feel good-will toward Milan but not so much toward Red Bull or toward the merchandise hauler staff or toward the Red Bull shop staff (the ones who told the other people in the store with us that Scott has a life and that's why he wasn't in the shop that day).

Anyway, that's the story of why Scott is lucky to still have me as a fan after all of that.

Oh, and we DID make it The Dirt Track. And that race got rained out. So it was a winner of a day.

But the highlight of my day? When Scott gave a thumbs-up when he saw the Scott Speed backpack and Scott Speed BlackBerry carrier my mom made me.

For the rest of the pics from that day (Speed Street, The Worst Event Ever, and The Dirt Track), click here!

Well, that sucked

Yesterday... kind of a bust.

The Red Bull event... kind of sucked. BELIEVE ME when I say I will give the full details on that later. For now, we got in last night at 10:00 p.m. and it's now nearly 6:30 a.m., and we need to get going.

The World of Outlaws race... kind of rained out.

Pics from Thursday are here (the motel's internet wasn't working Thursday night, so I couldn't blog, and there wasn't enough time Friday morning). Unedited, uncaptioned. Pics from NNS practice, NSCS practice, another NNS practice session, and then NSCS quals.

Pics from last night are here. They ARE edited and captioned.

Enjoy!

Shops: Day Three

Let's cut to the chase. My pics from today are here. Edited and captioned.

Today's plan: Roush, Petty, and MWR.
Today's actual route: Roush, Petty, Earnhardt Ganassi with Felix Sabates, and RaceWorld (aka: MWR or Mikey's shop).

We hit Roush first (but not without a not-minor scuffle between Mom and her GPS). I scored another Christmas present (my first Christmas present was some Kyle Busch pajama pants) in the form of a Carl Edwards Aflac jacket. After hitting the gift shop, we hit the museum and talked to some of the Roush employees. We managed to meet one from Lawrence, KS (home of KU - BOO!!!), and we asked her what was going on today. We'd noticed that people were sitting in chairs outside, which puzzled us since Roush's fan appreciation day isn't until tomorrow. It ends up that people were ALREADY lining up and preparing to camp out in the autograph line; the autographing begins at noon tomorrow, and we had arrived around 10:30 a.m. this morning. We decided we wouldn't want to sign things for the people who were sitting in the sun all day today and all morning tomorrow.

Then he hit Petty, which is directly next door to Roush - as in you don't even have to leave the driveway. Roush and Petty share a gift shop, so in the Petty building, you just browse the lobby to grab some pictures and hero cards. The End.

On to EGR, which we hadn't planned on going to (my NASCAR friends will understand why, even though they host my beloved James), but we found out that they were mere minutes from the Roush/Petty campus. On to EGR. The gift shop is... odd. You walk in and James' stuff is on the left and JPM's stuff is on the right. There's a great divide in the middle, and that's it. And, really, there isn't that much stuff. Mom and I were both pretty surprised. Even from the visitor's lookout deck, there wasn't much going on in the shop. It was... odd. And the atmosphere there was just weird. Sterile, almost.

Finally, on to the FanFest at Mikey's shop. If you ever get a chance to go to a FanFest at MWR, GO. Make plans, do not change them, do not reconsider, do not let anyone talk you out of it. Part of it was like a mini-hospitality village - SO many free give-aways. There were moon bounces and air slides for kids, there were animals from local shelters (to be adopted, but also there for kids to adore and pet), a silent auction, and OH MY GOSH - the food and the raffles. But before I get ahead of myself, I was in fact able to print out my email affirming that I won an autograph wristband, and we claimed our prize. We wandered the silent auction, and I went NUTS when I saw that one of the prizes was a guitar autographed by Michael Jackson and his band, including Slash.

I got my autograph hat autographed by Trevor Bayne, David Reutimann, Michael Waltrip, Tim Brown, Ryan Truex, Martin Truex, Jr., and Michael Waltrip. The first session was Trevor and David, and I mentioned to them that I had flown in from Philadelphia to watch them race. David asked me where their cheesesteaks were. I said, "Well, I didn't know how you'd like them. Onions, mushrooms, peppers?" Trevor said, "Onions are good," and David said, "That all sounds good to me!" and I told them that next time I came down, I'd come bearing cheesesteaks.

The food to be bought was Cold Stone Creamery ice cream; cotton candy; and some other random fairground types of food. And for supper: barbecued pork sandwiches or hot dogs that came with macaroni and cheese or coleslaw, a bag or chips, and a beverage - all for five bucks. The best part was when I asked what kind of meat the hot dogs were made of (since I don't eat pork). "I don't know. I think it's standard hot dog meat." So I just opted for mac and cheese. She gave me a HUGE serving of pasta and just charged three bucks for it.

By that time, it was time to move to the stage area for the announcement of the raffle prize winners. There had been four boxes in the RaceWorld lobby: a Race Day experience, an Aaron's prize, a TireMonkey.com prize, and a $100 gift certificate to the RaceWorld shop. Each box said you could enter only once per person and you HAD to be present to win. So Mom and I dutifully filled out four slips, put one in each box, and hoped for the best, although we had no idea what any of the prizes except the gift certificate were.

By the time we got our meals, and found a seat, they had JUST started to call out the winner's names. They started by giving out some stuffed Lucky Dog's, and I was disappointed that I had missed an opportunity to enter a drawing for a free Lucky Dog. Then they started giving out some other random prizes, and Mom and I finally figured out that we HAD entered for these prizes, and they WEREN'T just drawing one person from each of the four aforementioned boxes. So we settled in for awhile.

Some really cool, kick-ass prizes went by, and Mom and I figured it was okay since we'd been pretty lucky so far. I'd won the Driver Intro passes (although we didn't use them), I'd won the autograph passes to Mikey's FanFest tonight, and really - how greedy can one family get? Then they called Mom's name (or some mangled variation of it) for a $100 gift certificate to Mikey's gift shop. It was the last of five such certificates they were giving away; I yelled at Mom, "THAT'S YOU!" (you know, just in case she had forgotten her name). After that, I settled back in because I figured after THAT kick-ass prize, really - just how greedy can one family get? I mean, seriously??? And then they announced the biggest prize of the night: a Race Day experience. Tickets to a future race, a meet-and-greet with Martin Truex, Jr., and some other race day perks that I don't remember (it's kind of a blur). And THEN. THEY. ANNOUNCED. MY. NAME.

I'll admit it. I screamed. And ran like hell to the stage. I got a card from the Director of Fan Relations with instructions to email him, and he'll email me back with a list of the 8-10 races from which I can choose to go to and claim my prize. In that email, he'll also outline all of the perks of the prize. I am SO psyched!!!!!

Then we went to the gift shop because we found out that Mom had to redeem her gift certificate tonight. So... shopping spree time! Here's the haul (the Trevor Bayne shirt was a gift for me; he's the newest member of my Harem):

A Two-For-One Special

Sunday, Mom and Dale went to visit Dale's sister-in-law who usually lives in the KCMO area near Mom and Dale but is currently staying with her son in the Charlotte area due to health issues of both her and her husband (it's a long, convoluted story). So while they went there, I went and spent time with my friend Cristi (you can catch a quick glimpse of part of my visit to her house here.) She treated me to brunch at a wonderful place called "The Flying Biscuit." Although no biscuits actually flew, I did get to eat some of the best grits ever, and I got to try some fried green tomatoes. I also got to play Doodle Jump on her iPhone, which one of my NASCAR drivers is obsessed with, so that was exciting.

From there, we went to her place for my first sock lesson. For those who have been paying attention, you know that I've taken sock classes. And if you've been paying attention for a VERY long time, you know that I've made toe hats, I've made sock cuffs, and I've even turned heels - I've just never managed to do them all in the same project. And Cristi is determined that I knit socks. Actually, so is Brook. And Hunter. And I think a few other people wouldn't mind, either.

So she VERY graciously and generously gave me some yarn from her stash. I am now the very proud and grateful owner of some black and grey sock yarn, and a variegated skein of reds, pinks, purples, and blues. VERY pretty. She measured my foot, and pretty soon, I was casting on for my first whole sock! (And Cristi found out that when I say I'm a tight knitter, I mean it. "Boy, you ARE a tight knitter!" Then, later... "I'd like to fire a bullet through that fabric and see if it makes a dent.") She printed me out a copy of her Candi Wrappers pattern (which I'll just be doing in stockinette stitch for my first sock, but I'm using the pattern for the construction), and gave me some stitch markers (that woman's generosity is never ending).

And, of course, I got to pet Ripple and she held Calvin for a few seconds so I give him a quick skritch. We also watched a fascinating (and quite good) documentary on the Miss Gay America pageant - an annual pageant for gay female impersonators (Cristi: are there any STRAIGHT female impersonators?). After, we looked up whether any of the contestants we'd followed through the movie had won in the subsequent years, and happily one had! And, he's from KCMO! Yay!

Yesterday, we spent the day in Mooresville touring the team shops. Our first stop was RaceWorld USA (aka: home of Michael Waltrip Racing). You might remember me blogging (albeit very briefly) about my trip there last December. I got a t-shirt there, and Mom scored a t-shirt and a magnet. Next up was Red Bull Racing Team. Because they had a clearance rack, I scored three shirts (one was a shirt I already have and paid full-price for last year, but I LOVE it and it was on sale for ten bucks so I got another one). Note, if you ever to Red Bull's facility, the receptionist on the left is rude. A woman came in after us (we'll call her "The Stalker" - you'll see why later), and asked if Scott was in today. Reception on the left said, "Well, you know, since he DOES have a LIFE, he isn't always in here and he's out enjoying himself today." Um, you know, a simple "No, he isn't in the shop today" would have sufficed.

However, Mom did (very nicely, since she has no interest in this AT ALL) inquire about where the Epicentre is in Uptown Charlotte and if it was feasible to get from there Friday afternoon to the World of Outlaws race Friday evening (are y'all tired of hearing of Friday's logistics yet?). One of the shop guys told us it should be doable unless traffic was unusually heavy. And if we thought we could pull it off, we should, because it would DEFINITELY be worth it. Oh, and by the way, if you like Red Bull and you're ever in the Mooresville area, stop by the shop. They have a fridge and you get to help yourself to complimentary Red Bulls. I can't have them because they have caffeine (not as much as I thought, though - only about the equivalent of a cup of coffee). But the fridge is too cute!

Then we headed to Germain Racing to see Todd Bodine. They don't have much going on there. Some pics and trophies in the lobby, and you can see into the shop. But it's kind of uncomfortable because their actual offices are right off the lobby. So as you're trying to take pictures, people are having meetings in their offices or are on phone calls. Plus, Mom hates Todd Bodine and who knows what could come out of her mouth at any given time. :P Next stop, TRG to get some pics for Ria's daughter. It may not look like many pics, but they're as many pics as were available in the tiny lobby.

Then we hit Penske. One of the first guys we saw when we looked through the shop windows was Steve Addington, crew chief for Blue Deuce (aka: Kurt Busch). A guy near me had a picture and a miniature helmet of Addington he wanted autographed, so the cashier asked the security guard to take both out to the shop to him. He signed the picture but wouldn't sign the helmet (and we aren't sure why). I thought about sending my autograph hat out there, but I decided not to because most of the fun of collecting the autographs on my hat is getting to meet the people at the time. And sending a guy out there in my stead would be cheating. So I settled for some blurry pictures instead.

After the Addington angst, we turned around to start shopping, and who do run into but... The Stalker. So I pointed her out to Mom and Mom laughed and said, "Where are you going next, so we can meet you there?" Then some jokes about who was following whom, and we decided that we had made it to both Red Bull and Penske before she did, so she was, indeed, stalking us. Mom and I each decided on a t-shirt (I got a Kurt shirt after FINALLY finding one that didn't have "Miller Lite" on it; she got a Brad one - blech. I didn't let her share bags in case I'd get Brad cooties). Then we went up to the "Fan Walk" of Penske where you can look out over the shop and watch them work on the cars. Behind the Fan Walk area is where they have the banners from each race win.

On our way to supper, I checked my Blackberry to find out that I was one of the winners of Mikey's contest. I won an autograph wristband for his Fan Appreciation Day on Wednesday! His event is open to everyone, but the autograph event is limited to a certain number of people. Anyone can come through the line, but only those with wristbands can get autographs and you can only get two autographs. And I won a wristband! But, as with the driver into fiasco, there's a catch. Oy. It says we have to bring a hard copy print out of the email stating I won to Race World. Um, yeah... we're travelling from out-of-state, I don't happen to have my printer with me, and we don't know anyone in the area to drop by and go "Hey, can you print this for us?" So we're going to hope that me showing up with my BlackBerry and waving the email in their face is good enough. Otherwise, Mikey is gonna have to deal with Mom and I and our un-autographed Mikey memorabilia. Mikey, consider yourself warned.

Shop pics are here. And, no, I do NOT like Brad, but I took those pics for Jen.

CMS Day Three: The All-Star Race

As I Twittered, Mom and I decided not to go to the track for the driver introductions. When we read the instructions for the "Mosh Pit," it said to be sure to bring your Sprint FanView to the driver intro because you would be watching the Showdown from the Nationwide garages. So we went back to the Sprint Experience to ask them for more information. We would have to meet at the Sprint Experience before the Showdown started, be held in the NNS garages during the Showdown, brought on to the track for the All-Star driver intros, the taken off after the intros and around to the grandstands after, and we might miss the very beginning of the All-Star Show.

We were also concerned that there would be a mad mob rush to the stage (I mean, it was called "Mosh Pit" for a reason). And with Mom's Sjogren's Syndrome and my torn hip cartilage, we were worried about our ability to beat a crowd. And if we couldn't beat a crowd, we'd be sunk. Because I'm 4'6" and Mom is 5'4". And if we were mired in the back of the crowd, we might as well be in out seats, which were actually pretty decent. Why miss the Showdown and the first part of the All-Star race to get pics of the backs of people's heads?

The most amazing part of the night was that weather.com had us at a 30% chance of isolated thunderstorms from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. and it NEVER RAINED.

Okay, now let me back up. We started the day getting Robby Gordon's autograph. When Mom stepped up to his souvenir hauler, the step-stool was a few inches away from the hauler, and she managed to somehow get her foot in those few inches and stumbled. Robby said, "Are you gonna fall into me, here?" When Mom said that she fell because of the step-stool, Robby immediately asked the two men in line behind me please move the steps as soon as Mom got off of them. I heart Robby.

Speaking of the two men behind us in line... I've always tried to impress on people who aren't NASCAR fans that NASCAR events aren't just sports events - they're social events. You people watch, you meet people, you socialise with people who like your drivers, you trash-talk with people who like drivers who are rivals with your drivers... even though you know you will never meet them again. It's just one big party, which happens to have a race at the end. Anyway, these guys in line behind us at Robby's autograph line were IN. THE. KNOW. about various fan appreciation events going on this week. In fact, they are responsible for one of the most agonising decisions I have ever had to make.

I've been campaigning all week to go to the Red Bull Racing Team Fan Appreciation event this Friday from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m., which Mom keeps telling me might be difficult since we have the World of Outlaws race Friday at 6:00 p.m. But the two men in line told us about the Kyle Busch fan appreciation event. You have to get there at 11:00 a.m. to get a wristband to be eligible to get an autograph. But he won't be signing until 1:00 p.m. Which means that getting to the Red Bull event will be difficult. Blech.

The thing is, Scott appears pretty much every race weekend at every track. But Kyle is really hard to get to. But they're expecting a LOT of people, so to be GUARANTEED a wristband, we'd have to get there REALLY early. And then stay until at least 1:00 p.m. But if we get Scott, it might be tight getting to the World of Outlaws race. Blech again.

My pics from last night are here. Again, massive spoilers if you haven't seen last night's race yet. Again, unedited and uncaptioned. And in case you missed the memo on who my favourite drivers are, just check out the pics.

The Truck Race (mostly)

We left the motel at 8:30 a.m. and headed for the track. We got back at 2:00 a.m. So if I blogged about the entire day, it'd be an even longer post than usual. So I'll TRY to stick to the highlights (I said TRY).

First, the most pressing question on everyone's mind seems to be, "What did the designer mean by SSK?" It is, "Slip one stitch to the right needle as if to knit. Slip that stitch back to the left needle. Knit the next two stitches through the back loop." That'll teach me not to read directions first, assumptions being what they are.

So, the highlights of the day. Well, if you know anything about my mom and I and I our track record at NASCAR (no pun intended - really), you KNEW it was going to rain. And, boy, did it ever. We managed to see the trucks final practice, the practice for the showdown cars, then left for the All-Stars practice, but came back in time for the showdown qualifying. Until the rain started. First it was a light sprinkle. Then a drizzle. Then a steady rain. Then a DELUGE. Then Mom and I regaled the folks around us with the tales of last year and her tales of the tornado and the hail that she's experienced at recent truck races. Then we wondered why no one wanted to sit with us. Which is when we got bored and started taking pics like this:

Another highlight, as a Sprint customer, I always make sure to visit "The Sprint Experience" to get my "free" goodies. I put free in quotation marks since I pay every month for my goodies. But boy did my loyalty pay off this year! I won two passes to Driver Intros at the All-Star race tonight!!!!! I had a choice between garage passes, driver intro passes, or victory lane passes, and I could take one guest (sorry, Dale). I didn't know what to do so I decided to consult with my guest, and then panicked when I couldn't find her. Found her, and then we decided. AND we found out that my prize also came with Sprint FanView for the entire weekend (okay, that part only makes sense to people who have been to the track before; sorry - and the alarm for Mom and Dale is going off as I type which means we're leaving soon so I don't time to explain).

Highlight #2 (for the Idol Knitters): We're sitting in the parking lot eating lunch (between practice and quals). I tell Mom (in no uncertain terms): I AM NOT ROOTING FOR BRETT BUTLER TONIGHT.

Mom: But I thought you decided three weeks ago he was your new favourite truck driver?
Me: I AM NOT ROOTING FOR HIM. You can't make me.
Mom: OH. Because every time you root for someone, they wreck out?
Me: That's right. So I'm NOT rooting for him.
Dale: Well, he'd probably say, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
Mom: What the hell are you talking about?
Dale: Because Rhett Butler was the main guy in "Gone With the Wind."
Mom: We're talking about the TRUCK DRIVER BRETT Butler.
Dale: Oh.
Mom: God, we're dysfunctional.
Me: And you people wonder why I blog you.

Highlight #3: Meeting these guys: This is Scott (on the left) and his friend Rick. They're from Hendersonville, NC (and I do believe I've heard of that place!). They sat right in front of us the entire day. Scott is a Kasey Kahne fan, and Rick is a Tony Stewart fan. I'm not sure if yesterday was Rick's 54th birthday or if this was just his birthday week, but he was celebrating his birthday with his friends Scott and Jeff (not pictured because Jeff is not talkative). Scott, Rick, and Jeff all hate Kyle Busch. Rick likes Ron Hornaday but also likes Todd Bodine. So we had a LOT of good-natured trash talking going on all evening long. It was SO much fun, especially at the end with Hornaday, Bodine, and Busch all doing well. I won't spoil since the race ended in the wee hours and you may not have seen it yet, but we were all screaming and yelling. My voice is still froggy, and I don't regret a minute of it.

Highlight #4: During a particularly long caution: The announcer starts talking about the track walk to benefit charity on Friday morning. After the walk, you can get free hot dogs and hamburgers cooked on a quarter mile-long grill (yes, you read that correctly). I start telling Scott and Rick all about how Mom was SWEARING the night before that she'd read about it somewhere and we thought she was nuts. So I turn to her and ask if she wants to do it, but she says it will make for a long day since we have the World of Outlaws race Friday night. "And," I point out, "We have Scott Speed Fan Appreciation Day Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m."

Mom: I NEVER said we would definitely go to that. I said we MIGHT.
Me: YOU SAID WE WOULD. I got the flyer for it! You put it in your bag!
Mom: Putting it in my bag does not mean I'm going!
Me: We're going to Scott Speed Appreciation Day!!! We appreciate Scott Speed!!
Mom: No. YOU appreciate Scott Speed. And if you make me go to that, then YOU have to go roller skating with Joey Logano. [Note: That's Joey's fan appreciation event - roller skating.]
Me: I am NOT roller skating with that man.
Mom: That's because you forgot how to roller skate!
Me: No, I didn't! Besides, I would PAY to see YOU roller skate!

At this point, I lean up to Rick. "Enjoying your birthday?" "Oh hell yeah! I love me a good family fight!" I told him, "I told her that when you pick a 10-year-old kid as your favourite driver, OF COURSE you have to go to roller skating rinks to see them."

And just for good measure, a pic of my mom gazing adoringly at Joey:

If you want to see all of my pics from yesterday, they are here. But be warned: they are not edited, they are not captioned, they may not make sense to you, and there ARE spoilers (of various kinds) from last night's/this morning's race.

Christmas Day

Because of the blizzard, Christmas Day was put off until the day after Christmas. My grandma was not impressed with this ("in 88 years, I've never had to put off Christmas," to which my mom replied something like "well, then, you're getting a new experience this year, aren't you?"). But my mom and I vetoed grandma, explaining that an 88-year-old woman had no business being out in unsalted, mostly unplowed streets, in single-digit weather. The food we'd prepped the day before would keep one more day.

On actual Christmas Day, Mom and I shovelled the drive anyway, figuring we'd save us some work the next day when Grandma and her partner John actually came over (Mom always moves her car out of the driveway so Grandma and John can park in the drive). Then on Saturday, we had to shovel again (although not nearly as much, which was the point), but since they'd plowed we also decided to shovel part of the street so Grandma and John would be able to turn the corner and zip right into our drive (we're full-service shovellers!).

Once inside, this is what the living room was like. The Christmas tree was decorated, despite Mom's threat to leave it in the attic this year. I think she believed me when I told her "no tree, no presents." One of the dog's, Sasha, made herself at home on one of Dale's (Mom's husband) presents.



















I got a lot of NASCAR haul: a Robby Gordon shirt that I had picked out at Kansas Speedway, Grandma made me a set of Kyle Busch pillowcases (they say Kyle's name and have "18"s dancing across the end in various sizes and M&M's colours), Mom made me a pair or sweatpants with Scott Speed's, Kyle Busch's, and Carl Edward's names embroidered on them, and I got a few Kyle Busch t-shirts Mom picked up (two at Cargo Largo and one at M&M World in Las Vegas).

And, of course, I got a lot of Michael Jackson haul, too. Grandma had saved pretty much every KC Star (the local newspaper) that had MJ on the front page. I got the soundtrack to "This Is It," the 12-month wall calendar, the 25th anniversary "Thriller" CD, and the DVD to HIStory, Part I (I have it on VHS, but not DVD, which Mom noticed when she was here earlier this month).

And I was really happy with what I was able to give, too. The big knitted gifts I gave this year were to the women of the family: Mom got the Shalom cardigan I blogged about earlier, my grandma got a ruffled scarf, my sister Laura got a beaded hat, and my niece got a bag that I did as a test knit (I will be blogging about each of those projects later). But trust me, the men did pretty well, too. I hadn't really planned on knitting for only the women, it just kind of shook out that way!

There were many other gifts (both given and received), but the best of all was the good ol' fashioned sitting around gabbing, both as we opened gifts and while we stuffed our faces. Sharing stories as we caught up on family gossip throughout the year (wait - Harold got married again? when did he get divorced???). The funniest part was when Grandma found out that Mom hadn't told me about Karen.

Mom: She has no idea who Karen is.
Me: I do, too!
Mom: You do not.
John: Do you know where she lives?
Me: Illinois.
John: Does she have any kids?
Me: Yes. Three.
Grandma: See? She knows more than you think she does.
John: And where does she work?
Me: Um... uh....
Mom: SEE? She DOESN'T know who she is!
Laura: Well, I don't know where Min works, but I know who she is!

Welcome to my family, folks.

Blizzard in Missouri!

So I escaped a major snowfall in Philadelphia, only to fly into a blizzard in Missouri, the first since the early 1980s. I knew that the KCMO area was expecting snow, but I had no idea it was a major snow storm!

The airlines were still trying to catch up from cancelled flights from our snow storm, so they were offering $500 flight vouchers for anyone willing to "be flexible with their travel arrangements." I called Mom to ask her if I was such a person because we're planning a trip in May which will require me to fly again. She said that ordinarily she would jump at the chance, but since KC was expecting a HUGE snow storm the next day and they had JUST shut down Chicago, I was to get my butt on that plane immediately. As luck would have it, I was among the last of the flights to arrive at MCI before the blizzard hit.

This is what our front yard/driveway looked like, and this is what Mom looks like when she's preparing to go shovel snow. Mind, the snow pics are a bit deceiving because we live at an intersection at the top of a hill. Since it was so windy, most of the snow drifted down the hill, away from us. But, trust me when I tell you that Mom and I still spent a LOT of time shovelling... two days in a row.

Shalom Cardigan

First, an update on me: Here's why the blogging has been sparse lately. I've been dealing with a moderate level of dysthymia lately. It's nothing too serious, and I've back on track with seeing my therapist, who I'd been blowing off with terrific success. Mostly it's just life's little stresses, but they decided to all come at me at once. And, okay, some of them aren't so little.

As I was telling Nancy (my therapist), when it's one huge stressor that I'm handling, I can do that like nobody's business. I know how to compartmentalise that so I can go to work, still socialise, etc. But when it's a bunch of smaller things all at once, it really and truly confounded me. I've been so busy juggling them all that I didn't know how (or have time to figure out how to!) to manage those stressors.

And the reason I haven't blogged yet about the trip to Victory Junction Camp with my mom is because that week was absolutely the best, most carefree week that I've had in the past two months. It was like walking past the store that has their door open and AC blasting on the hottest summer day, and I just haven't been able to get in the right mindframe to give it the blog post it deserves.

NOW, on to the Shalom Cardigan.

*************

After four years of knitting, I decided to FINALLY knit something for me. Enter the Shalom Cardigan (link for Ravelry users only). But I liked the modifications that Ravelry user ishi has done: She added sleeves, the waist shaping was gone, and two more buttons were added. So, once again, Brook to the rescue. She helped me figured out some maths when I needed to redo the pattern to my measurements. Had I been sticking to the regular pattern, I could have figured out the maths myself, but figuring out the maths at the same time as I was taking into consideration a pattern mod was making my head explode.

However, once it was completed and I tried it on it had the unfortunate effect of making me look several months pregnant. But I thought it might just fit my mom. The biggest hurdle (no pun intended) would be her bust since her bust line is larger than mine. But if she would be comfortable wearing it without buttoning it, it might work. So when she visited me the first week in December she tried it on (sans sleeves, since I'd halted progress in disgust when I'd realised it was no longer for me). It was a perfect fit. I wouldn't even had to frog the garter stitch hem to make the body longer!

She asked me to make the sleeves as long as I could with the remaining half skein of yarn. Brook helped me out with that, recommending that I knit one sleeve from the outside of the yarn ball and the other sleeve from the center pull. That worked well, and I ended up having MUCH longer sleeves than I anticipated!

The finished product on Christmas Day (well, fake Christmas Day due to the blizzard):

VJC Trip Recap

Note: This is all just a quick recap. More details with pics to follow in days to come.

Thursday: Picked Mom up from airport. Loop, then Spool. Trader Joe's for road trip snackie snacks. Supper with Sarah, Peter, Sue, Margaret, Brook. Fibre Night. Home.

Friday: Started loading car at 8:00 a.m.. Target for snackie snacks (and five pounds of potatoes for 50 cents!). Hit Charlotte around 6:30 p.m. Hit IKEA - Mom's first IKEA experience, so we supped there, too.

Saturday: Lowe's Motor Speedway (raining, of course). Tour of infield. Met some Richard Petty Driving Experience mechanics. Got to hit the Speedway at 80 mph. Found out if RPDE was there the next day, I'd have gotten a SWEET birthday present five weeks early. :( Went to RaceWorldUSA where MWR is housed where you can watch the cars, engines, etc., being worked on. Met Cristi for lunch and yarn/fabric crawl.

Sunday: Met Cristi again for lunch and yarn crawl. Headed to Greensboro.

Monday: Victory Junction Camp tour/afghan drop. Went to RCR for a stealth visit and an interesting non-run-in with security despite our best efforts (yes, you read that correctly). Met my friends Dave and Carolyn in Fairfax for supper. Decided to overnight in King of Prussia instead of making it back home.

Tuesday: Hit KoP mall where Mom finally found a chocolate-caramel-covered apple. Went to Brook's house where we picked up Brook and Alex and hit The Pop Shop for lunch. Dropped off Brook and Alex, then home where Mom and I cried about what a great time we had and how we'd miss each other. Watching us, you'd never guess it would only be FIFTEEN days until we see each other again for the holidays.

Race Weekend Vacation: The Non-NASCAR Edition

I don't want to bore you non-NASCAR fans with the race details of the vacation, so I tried to confine the NASCAR stuff to the NASCAR board on Rav. Here, I will try to present some anecdotes from the trip, some of which DID happen at the track.

On Friday, Mom had a very minor car accident. She managed to back into a guy at the McDonald's drive-thru. Now just think about that sentence for a minute. LOL. We went to get breakfast on the way to the track, but she didn't realise that she had passed the speaker because the speaker was before you got to menu (this makes sense to me, but not to Mom, apparently). So she put it in reverse and backed up LITERALLY no more than two feet. And we're not talking backing up going 40 MPH, folks. We're talking going slower than parking lot speed. Sure enough, BUMP! She hit the guy behind us. Meanwhile, the woman wants our order. So she placed our order and then went to talk to the guy. There was, as you can imagine, absolutely no damage to either vehicle, and we think the guy knew we was a tad too close anyway.

We had ordered two egg and cheese biscuits and a sausage biscuit. This gets put in as a sausage biscuit and two sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits with no sausage. Okay, fine, whatever. We go to the first window to pay but they suddenly have no record of the cheese. So they make Mom pay an extra 80 cents (40 cents per sandwich) for the cheese. We go to second window and get the food - no cheese on the egg biscuits. She tells us she'll put cheese on, but it'll be 80 cents plus tax. Mom's all "Lady, how much does cheese cost??? We already paid the first lady for the cheese!"

On Saturday and Sunday, we decided to go to Burger King for breakfast instead. I told Mom I liked their breakfast sandwiches better anyway. She told me she never thought I'd admit out loud that Tony was right about anything. (Okay, sorry, non-NASCAR people; there's a NASCAR reference that makes no sense to you.)

During the Saturday race, the drunken woman behind us spilled her beer. Of course, she didn't have the courtesy to tell us that she had spilled her beer all over the blanket we were sitting on (not because our butts need to be pampered that much, but because those metal benches were COLD that day) and that it was now on our bags under our seats. When I discovered it, I told Mom. Mom felt the blanket, figured out it was wet, and rolled it up so she could still use her half, leaving me to sit on the metal bench. Then I stood up to feel my butt to see if it was wet. Drunken woman behind us tapped me on the shoulder. "Your bottom isn't wet. It just feels cold." WTF??? How would you know? And would you care to explain why our blanket smells of beer? So for the rest of the weekend, that was a running joke. In the airport, I noticed I had something on my jacket. I asked Mom what she thought it was. She looked at it and went, "Don't worry about it; it just feels cold."

On Monday, Mom and I went thrift store shopping so I could get some new work clothes. A lot of the stores offer senior discounts, for which my mom is eligible. I got three pair of work pants and about 20 sweaters/blouses for $57, including one Christopher & Banks sweater! Part of the haul is a black and red fleece pullover, which my mom is going to embroider and make into a Scott Speed fleece for me. She and I designed it together Monday night, but we ran out of time to get 'er done.

As we were getting ready to leave one thrift store, Mom spotted a sweater that she just KNEW was a Christopher & Banks sweater behind the counter. She asked the cashier if she could she it. It was brand new and still had the original tags (marked $55) on it. She saw that it was marked $24.95 and balked. She and I both hate paying that much at a thrift store. We really don't care if it's something that's brand new and expensive; you're still buying it at a THRIFT STORE!!! The guy said, "If you buy it, you're not bringing it back on me, are you?" Mom promised him she wouldn't, and she just had a feeling that she was going to get a deal on the sweater. He rang it up at $6.95. Score!

When we got to Mom's bowling league on Monday afternoon, she went to take her bowling bag out of the back of the Windstar. Now, it's a heavy bag because she has two bowling balls in there. Somehow, as it was halfway out, it tipped but she couldn't get her thumb out of it. So she sliced her thumb open. I told her right then she needed stitches. Did she listen to me? No. I told her later when she got done bowling and it was still bleeding profusely that she needed stitches. Did she listen to me then? Nope. When she woke up Tuesday morning and it was still SPURTING blood, she decided that after she dropped me off at the airport, she'd go to the doctor's office. She now has five stitches because she nicked an artery, AND she was told she should have come in right away. Sometimes the daughter DOES know best. But she's all excited because when the doctor told her to come in any time on the 16th or after to get the stitches taken out, she said, "You know, I have a seam ripper at home," and he said, "If you can stomach it, go ahead and do it."

I found out over Monday's supper at Dixon's "Famous" Chili that my grandma doesn't know how to put gas in her car. I told her that her Christmas present from me would be that I would teach her. She informed me that she does not want that present for Christmas or any other occasion because John (her partner) does that for her. I asked her what her plan was if something happens to John. Mom laughed and said, "You're looking at her." I guess if something happens to both Mom and John at the same time, I'll have to fly to KCMO every few weeks to put gas in Grandma's car.

A note on Dixon's "Famous" Chili, the oldest family-owned restaurant in KCMO. It used to just be "Dixon's Chili" until President Truman went there while he was still in office and the press all went with him. It was one of Harry's favourite restaurants and continued to be so while and after he was in office. If you're ever in town, stop by. Not everyone likes their chili, but it's good. The default is all meat and no liquid in it, but you can add beans and you can get it "soupy." The condiments they have on the table are chili powder, vinegar, and a bottle of vinegar with chili peppers. I always get the all-you-can-eat tacos because I LOVE their tacos. They just use their chili meat and load it up with cheese. YUM!

The Race That Wasn't: Part I

Friday: I worked slightly more than half a day, then went home to pack. I’d been amassing a Pile o’ Stuff to pack this weekend, but had yet to do important things like, say, retrieve my luggage from basement storage. Things packed, I then settled in to wait for my ride to the airport. The flight itself was uneventful, although there was a scare while I was waiting to board when I went to pull out my laptop, only to discover that I’d left it at security. I ran back and got it from a TSA agent who was only slightly appalled that I was so grateful I (a) started crying as soon as I saw it, and (b) offered her a tip for noticing it was left on the belt and safely storing it for me. This would be the first of several crying jags during this three-day mini-vacation. [cue scary foreshadowing music]

I arrived at the airport a bit early, although we took off exactly on time and had no delays in the air. How is this possible you ask? Because the Philadelphia airport is SO notorious for its late departures that some airlines are now scheduling waiting-on-tarmac time INTO their flight time. Since my flight had no waiting-on-tarmac time, we got to the destination about 25 minutes early.

It was nice to see Sara, who was kind enough to make the 90 minute trip to the airport (yes, there are closer airports, but this one was cheaper BY FAR to fly into than the closer ones). We went straight from the airport to a sushi restaurant, where good sushi was enjoyed. While I was tempted by the notion of sake infused with pineapple and ginger, I resisted since it was served warm, rather than cold.

When we got to her place, I declared myself exhausted (it was past midnight at this point, and I had woken up at 5:30 a.m. for work). So to relax before going to bed, I worked on some calculus problems. Go derivatives!!!!

Saturday: I slept in (until 7:30 a.m.). We went to two different LYSes. One of them, I bought nothing but roving (some for a gift for Brook; although if she doesn’t want, I’ll be FORCED to keep it for myself - ha!). I bought three skeins of yarn at the other one, after delivering a mini-lecture on how H1N1 flu virus is NOT a deadly evil.

Then back to the airport to pick up my mom. There was some confusion when she was told to meet us at baggage claim, and was waiting for us at the bag check station, but when I spotted a woman wandering around in Michael Waltrip blue and yellow, I broke into a run and damn near tackled the poor woman! I hadn’t seen my mom since Christmas break, and it was SOOOO good to see her - especially for something as exciting at the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway!!!! Whooo!

Then to a grocery store for tailgating stuffs, except Mom decided to not take a bunch of stuff, and she would buy us food at the track. With her Sjogren’s, it’s sometimes easier for her to just pay for the convenience than to do a lot of walking and expend a lot of energy. And, although we’ve never been to an LMS race, we have done SEVERAL years at Kansas Speedway, and we knew a lot of walking would be involved. And, if you’re me, sometimes some running and sometimes some jumping up and down (my inner four-year-old tends to come out at the mention of harem members - it’s endearing. No, really, it is.)

Next, we arrived at Sara’s place to settle in for the evening - supper, watching the Nationwide race, and programming the scanners. Mom was bitterly disappointed when Mike Bliss won the rain-shortened NNS race. [cue more scary foreshadowing music] “I don’t want Mike Bliss to win because then I’ll have to listen to his squeaky voice during the interview.”

We debate about what time to go to the race. Mom and I are used to waking up somewhere in the neighbourhood of 4:30-5:00 a.m. and leaving no later than 5:30 a.m. for race day. Sara didn’t want to get up that early, and since she was the one hosting us and driving, we deferred to her and decided to shoot for an 8:00 a.m. leaving, with leaving no later than 8:30 a.m.

Will post about Sunday later when I'm not supposed to be finishing supper and going to bed.