There's more to the story...

So...if the weekend wasn't busy enough...Mike was asked to represent his race track as one of eight drivers promoting the LAUNCH of a brand new ride at Water World called the Turbo Racer.



Close-up of the eight drivers and the check presentation...

These are the eight drivers that represented the track - they all race different divisions so this was a fabulous way to allow these drivers the opportunity to race together in one event. Well, in looking at the group picture - you might notice that Mike is the biggest guy to race down the water slide so he had gravity on his side. Scotty was the second largest guy and well...he placed second. The water park donated $1,000. to Mike's chosen charity - The Children's Hospital Burn Center, and Scotty chose the Missing Children's Task Force and his charity was given $500. They catered the event and provided us with as many free passes to the park as we needed to bring family members and friends. The drivers spent some time signing autographs and then we enjoyed the remainder of the day enjoying all of the rides. This event received news coverage from four of our major news channels. Our boys were so proud of their dad for taking first place and Nick even asked if he could race for charity events. I'm looking forward to spending the next few days unwinding from all of the day long activities and getting caught up on laundry!! I still need to finish cleaning my room - I appreciate the various advice on how to get it accomplished!! Until next time...

"...what's up?" - - - CONTINUED...

Let's get back to the last couple of days - shall we??

Above is a slide show of our day at the track - Sunday, July 22nd. We had a horribly HOT day at the track and it wasn't without problems. First, A.J. was swept up before the green flag flew to signal the start of his first heat race and had to have a rod repaired and get himself back out on the track before the re-start! That's the best way to stress out a little guy - especially A.J. After that little tangle his car wasn't the same and he struggled the remainder of the day. There's always next week for him. Let's move on a talk about Nick's BAD DAY. It started out fabulous... it was his very first official race in his new Jr. Stock car. He raced so well that he took first place in the heat race and went on to the A-Main event - YEY!! Then in the A-Main...the judges made a REALLY BAD call and said that Nick caused another driver to spin... That little guy had already starting spinning around when Nick was coming around the corner and Nick just happened to be going by as he was spinning and then he was charged with "racing room" and sent to the rear of the re-start. UGH!! Then, Nick did in fact, get tangled up with the same driver - this time it was an accident but a valid call. When a driver gets 2 calls in one race, he's disqualified - so you got it - he got a DQ after finishing first. He was so disappointed but showed great sportsmanship and congratulated the winner and apologized to the other driver that he ran into. Still, he was a wreck - emotionally. He wanted to win that race soooooo bad as it was his first time in the car and had wanted to show that he could do it. All of this drama and it was over 100 degrees out - HOT!!

BUSY...BUSY...BUSY...

So, if anyone's been lurking on the blog to stay tuned to the days of our lives - here's the latest from the past several days...

Friday, July 20th - we loaded up the Quarter Midget trailer and headed out to the track so that Nick could practice driving his brand new car!! WHOA!! That new Jr. Stock is FAST! A.J.'s isn't finished yet but it is painted and he's a kid after my heart - IT'S VERY BRIGHT GREEN!! I'll post it when it's complete. But for now, back to the itenerary... so we get to the track and pull the cars out of the trailer and Mike makes a few adjustments. He then tells the boys to suit up so they can get out on the track - and...that's...when...we...discover...that...the...firesuits...are...at...HOME!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!

We had to go from trailer to trailer and beg to borrow suits for the boys to practice. UGH!! It's even worse that Nick and A.J. both were in tank tops and shorts. Thankfully, the Westhoff's had a spare fire proof jacket. The Hass's had a set of pants. And the lovely little Sid Ross (dynamite girl racer!!) loaned us a pair of jeans and a fire proof jacket, as well!! A.J. wore the first borrowed set of items and that saved his day. But the best part - Nick was lucky enough to get to wear Sid's rhinestone studded jeans and fire proof jacket - AND OF COURSE I GOT PHOTOS!! He was sooooo embarrassed that he's walk around hiding the "bling" on the back pockets!! Hee-Hee!! I have the BEST black mail photos!!

Despite the fact that my son can now say that he got into Sid's pants...YIKES!! - he drove the new car like a champ!!

YUM!!

I just gotta tell ya'!! The bread was a HUGE HIT!! My kids loved it, my dad and his wife loved it, Mike's mom said it was the most MOIST bread she's had in a while!! Mike loved it and, believe it or not...I'm polishing off the last little piece right now as I'm typing about it!! You girls don't know a good thing!!

I like zucchini in my spaghetti sauce, sauteed as a side dish, and I'm planning on making chocolate chip zucchini cookies tonight when the weather isn't so darn HOT!!

I'll let you know how they turn out...

Testing, testing...one, two, three...

I'd like to find out that if I post enough, whether it be ramblings or something of interest...can I send the slide show with music to page two?? Then, will that feature still scare some of my visitors?? For example - I know that Kathy surfs from work and doesn't always want to get "discovered" that that is what she's doing and she's also mentioned that she gets confused in trying to read my ramblings with music playing, too...shoot, we need to get you some gum and see if you fall apart altogether!! (I love you) I hope that you're still stopping by with zucchini - I need to try out this recipe...

Lemon Zucchini Bread

Adding lemon to traditional zucchini bread is a great way to bring out the vegetable's unique flavor.
Prep Time: 15m
Cook Time: 45m
Ready in: 1h
Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
3/4 cup white sugar (I might try brown, here)
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons lemon zest (what about the juice?? I may have to throw that in here)

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan.
In a bowl, beat together the zucchini, sugar, egg, and oil. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder; stir in the cinnamon and lemon zest. Stir the flour mixture into the zucchini mixture just until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from heat, and cool about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely

So...doesn't that just make your mouth water?? I need a slab of warm bread and a great big glass of milk!! YUM!! O.K. then...back to the messy room - I'm seeing progress!!

Man...can somebody help me????

I'm looking for an online resource or a local store that sells motivation at a great price! I HAVE to get my craftroom completely cleaned!! It's making me crazy!! I tried the "spend an hour a day" that lasted a DAY! I tried..."I'm not leaving this room until it's done!" approach...I left the room for a beer and to check on what Mike was doing in the garage and never re-entered the room that day!! I was too happy to watch him re-organize his garage!! And now - I'm happy just tinkering away at the blog - in a completely different room...and ignoring the fact that I NEED TO GET IT DONE!! I'm starting to feel a twinge of motivation by sitting here typing about it - you know the little pangs of guilt are creeping up on me but I just wish that I had an idea of what I hope it to look like finished. We suffered a bad rain/wind storm not too long ago and it caused a leak to travel along the ceiling and of course it's at a joint so there's this annoying strip of drywall tape that's sorta pulled itself away from the ceiling and it's just so annoying. There's some water damage along the top of the window sill - there are curtains in front of that but again - I KNOW IT'S THERE...I can clean the place but repairs are needed and the little pristeen craft room of mine that I used to know and love sits - just like a forgotten toy - abandoned in the corner...I prefer to travel away from my home to create when once I LOVED to HOLE away for hours and play. It was MY playroom...sigh!! That's it - I'm logging out and I'm going to go and spend some time in there...it needs me! I'll post some real life progress later - I PROMISE!! Have a great day!!

I Got Tagged....

I got tagged yesterday by Erin - See post from May 9, 2007 at

http://inkysmiles.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2007-07-02T20%3A42%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7

I have bugged poor Erin all day via email as to where to find the details about this "Tagged" thing and low and behold - I feel like a really big NERMAL!! I finally found it - so after all that - - if I don't play along I'd look even GOOFIER than usual...

Here Are The Rules:

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Ok, here are some random facts/habits about me:

1. I truly thought I'd NEVER have children, I felt that I wouldn't do a decent job and this guy, Michael convinced me otherwise - and now I have two boys!!
2. I once drove a BMW - I lost control on a patch of ice and totalled it - but I had it for about a year. I ended up completely O.K. - I have a small scar on my elbow...the car, well, it probably went to the crusher. It had severe damage on three of it's four sides (the driver side being the least damaged.)
3. I shared a cigar with my mom on her 50th birthday - we lit them using the candles on her cake. I think cigars are gross - but I can say I did it.
4. I have remained friends with a girl (Kathy Mitts) that I used to play barbies with...we knew each other in grade school. I have another friend, Lynette, that was my good bud in Jr. High school. I guess you could say that these ladies haven't been able to shake me!! OR, I must be a "lifelong type of a friend".
5. I once toured London with a guy I dated in my twenties...My whole box of memorabilia was lost in a move but I'll get back there someday to revisit places I enjoyed back then.
6. My grandfather researched our heritage and actually put a big book together about our family. It turns out that we are decendants of Lord Stanley and he had an affair with a slave girl and then was cut off of his family's fortune because of it. This explains why I have a bubble butt, in my opinion.
7. I CRAVED the Big Montana sandwiches from Arby's when I was pregnant with my son A.J. and I could eat a whole one BY MYSELF, no problem. After I had A.J. I couldn't finish one - the darn thing is REALLY HUGE!! I still think that Arby's is my favorite fast food place.
8. I have a great fear that my kids will one day out smart me...it won't matter if its them "tricking" me or just learning something that I don't know...the whole idea kinda bugs me. My dad was once tested - I.Q. - and he was told that he is a genius (officially). Well, I was given some of the same types of tests as I was growing up and was told that I have some smarts, too. I kinda hope that the little guys are smart but they're not allowed to "outsmart" me. I know it's crazy - but as some of you already know - I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and can't help it!! Hee-Hee!!

I have NOT tagged anyone for the following reasons:

YOU ALL HAVE BEEN TAGGED BY ERIN AND WOULD PROBABLY KILL ME IF I DID IT AGAIN - am I right?? Feel free, however to post a little something unique about yourselves if you feel like sharing...

Thanks for stopping by!!

~ Susan

O.K. So, now that I've been to this little site...

Erin @ http://www.inkysmiles.blogspot.com/ has this link to a place called BLOGTHINGS...there's a cute little quiz that tells you what kind of Ice Cream you are and the questions are really unrelated but I ended up being my most favorite flavor on the planet so I decided to look around on this site and this other little QUIZ caught my attention - "Are You Like Your Mom?" Anyone who knows me will tell you that I DREAD being compared to the woman I once called MOM - now I just ignore her - SAD BUT TRUE!! She truly BUGS the heck outta me!! Anyway...I got the results I was hoping for! See how it turns out for you...

If anything...the little picture is kinda humorous and I find myself picturing my mom's face in place of the lovely lady pictured below!!

You and Your Mom Are Completely Different

At times, it seems like you and your mom aren't even related. You often wonder how two people from the same family can be so different. As the saying goes... you can pick your friends, but not your relatives.

Are You Like Your Mom?

Erin - WOW!! I can't believe that my MOST FAVORITE flavor came up!

...you know what this means - I must've answered those questions "truthfully" and with some "thought"!! Mint Chocolate Chip is my absolute FAVORITE!! YUM!! Great...now I'm craving ice cream!!

You Are A Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Girl

Creative. Expressive. Unique.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatflavoricecreamgirlareyouquiz

What flavor ice cream girl are you?

Thanks for the cute link!! I had a little problem in posting a direct link here so if curiousity gets you...copy the link in your browser and give it a whirl...hopefully, you find it cute like I did!!

New PHOTO!! Yep! That's my buddy - Petey!! He just had his vaccinations and he had a reaction - not a good day!! Well, the swelling is finally going down!! Did you know that FAT dogs PUFF up like a marshmallow in a microwave when they respond NEGATIVELY to RABIES vaccinations?? I had NO IDEA!! Well, YEP... If you have a dog that's allergic to his meds this is the craziness that you deal with. At least my boy's face now matches his body!! I've been told that he looks OVERWEIGHT - YIKES!!! Who wants to hear that??
Certainly, not ME!!! UGH!!!

Well, here's my little guy - puffy - but NOT OVERWEIGHT!!

I'm LOSING!!

I have too many friends getting Blog Happy and I can't keep up!! There are so many FEATURES out there!! Can you tell? I'm so trying to stay in the "LOOP" persay, if the latest and greatest features!! *MUSIC - check...*SLIDESHOWS - check...*RECENT ARTWORK - errrr, ummm - check...

So, I'm trying... REALLY, REALLY trying to keep up, K?

Now, here's a BIGGIE...I gotta sign out - go and comb my hair - and ask Michael to snap a photo... I need to post an updated shot... HANG TIGHT!! I'll be back!!

~ Susan

I'm getting good at this!!

Can you believe this new feature I found?? WOW!!

Enjoy!!

So, I said I'd post SOME ARTWORK - in fact...I PROMISED...

Well, I created a card... I've showed it to a few friends and I received some positives. Why not share it here? I have a group of FABULOUS friends ALL OVER that I swap with and this is what I created for them...shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - don't tell them that I've posted it here, O.K.??

I just gotta share one more shot of the races - sorry, I REALLY had a great time!!

It's not EXTREMELY obvious but this is Ashley Force on our local track - WOW!! Yet, another true celebrity - I KNOW that this girl and I both appreciate the same driver from several years back - - the reason I LOVE racing - - Shirley Muldowney.

So - for my next trick... I GOTTA learn how to share MUSIC on this blog!! I KNOW it can be done...

There are so many of you that scrapbook - I want to share MY latest favorite music to scrap to. Maybe, it's because when I visualize a mythical Muse creature...this is what I would imagine her voice to sound like?? Sound crazy??

I know I mentioned earlier I'd explain an issue we're having today - - here it is...

I have two boys - very close in age. They are seven and eight (15 months apart). Nick is older and a serious "social butterfly" and A.J., well, he's not a shy kid by any means but he EXPECTS to be accepted without putting that foot forward. Nick was asked to spend the night at his friend's house and A.J. wasn't really sure why the invite didn't include him...I know this will be an issue I deal with more than just this weekend. It kills me - but the logical part of my brain tells me that this is totally normal. I don't favor one kid over the other but I KNOW that each of them deserves a break from each other. REALLY. So far, we've enoyed a FABULOUS evening alone with just A.J. - I know that he's enjoying it, too. And I don't worry about Nick, he's at his good friend's house. At the time of separation, though, DRAMA!! Wyatt's mom felt horrible and all I could say is, "they need this little break...Please, understand". UGH!! So, on that note I've gotta go play UNO or Sorry or whatever A.J. picks!! Have a great night!!

Please don't get all spoiled that I've posted twice in one day - I'll try harder to keep my blog current, deal??

~ Susan

OKAY, OKAY...I hear ya!!

So, in light of recent requests - I'm posting some new stuff on my blog!! WOW!! I had no idea that so many people visited my little spot on the web!! Hee-Hee...you guys need something to DO!


As many of you know...we're into racing!! I should back up a little and say that "we" consists of myself, my hubby Michael, and the two lights of my life (HA!!) Nick and A.J. So, last night we went to Bandimere Speedway for the 28th annual Mile High Nationals...best way I can think of to spend a Friday the 13th!! We met and aquired autographs from Tony Pedgregon. Nice guy!! Nick got him to sign his hat and A.J. had his shirt signed. We also met Robert Hight - he is first in his division and not mention John Force's son-in-law!! Both of these guys took the time to allow me to pose them with my kids while there was a mob scene waiting behind us for their turn in that short window alloted for their "meet and greet".

Here's the boys and Tony Pedregon -

...and Robert Hight

I can't tell you how anxious I am to scrapbook these photos I took yesterday!! We had soooo much fun!! They finished last night's show with a terrific fireworks display - to describe it wouldn't do it justice. They set off these EXPLOSIONS...one every four to five feet and they went off consecutively down the length of the track - BOOM, BOOM, BOOM - they were these big huge fire balls and you could feel the heat from them where we were sitting (roughly twenty rows up from "front row". They lit off the large showers of sparks and the colorful bursting ones, too. Again, we were so close to all of this that there was debris from these fireworks right in our faces - very scary, but a rush all the same!! I just looked at the photos I took of the fireworks but I only had a few that came out - I was awestruck in watching the show instead of snapping photos. Nick had a good laugh. We thought the fireworks were finished and more of the fire ball explosions went off - I was so taken by surprise that I nearly peed myself!!

So, on to other things... I SWEAR I'll post some of my latest stuff before the end of today... (July 14th, 2007) I have a little guy who's needing some attention... I'll explain later, K?

Have a great day!!

XOXOXO ~ Susan

P.S. Thanks for the gentle nudge to keep my blog going...you guys are my inspiration!!