Best Birthday Ever

Viva Las Vegas!

This is going to be the best birthday ever! My birthday is next Saturday, Nov. 22. I wanted to do a cruise initially, but a lot of friends couldn't take off a whole week of work to go. So, another couple of girls, suggested doing a girls trip to Las Vegas for a weekend. The weekend, just happened to be my birthday weekend. So, needless to say, I'M ALL IN!!! (Pun intended)

So, next Thursday, Nov. 20, 11 girls (Me, Jacquelyn, Ashley, Jody, Jessica, Gabi, Jayme, Autumn, Holly, Denise and Stacie) will board a plane from CLT, an additional 2 (Jackie and Jodie) from Detroit and 13 girls will meet up for what will be the best girls trip EVER! 13 girls in "Sin City" already spells TROUBLE, for sure!

This will be my eighth trip to Las Vegas, but my first time going with friends and not for work or a race. We're staying at a new hotel for me, New York, New York. I do love the casino and the piano bar they have there. Hopefully, we can get all of our rooms together so we can have our own party. I'm so excited though. I couldn't ask for a better group of friends to go with, well maybe if my two best friends had been able to go, but it's going to be full of wild and crazy times!

It's going to be a weekend full of drinking, gambling, shopping, eating, relaxing, sight-seeing, and more drinking! Ha ha...

I can't wait!!! I can guarantee lots of pics and stories from this trip! I just don't know how many will be shared. Because as we know....

"What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas!"

Here's a group shot of some of the girls going from a dinner a few weeks ago.

(L to R: Holly, Denise, Me, Jac, Lauren (not going), Jayme, Autumn, Ashley, Jody) (not pictured: Gabi, Jessica, Stacie, Jodie & Jackie)

Catch Ya Up to Date

So, this blogging thing hasn't taken off for me...LOL. I said the last time I was going to try and do better, but obviously I haven't kept my word...ha ha! Oh well. You get what you get.

Done quite a bit since the last update...but nothing overly exciting. That's coming up next weekend! More details in a bit...

Working at Kohl's is keeping me busy and with the holidays almost upon us, that will just get more busy!

I'm so lucky to have a great group of friends and I have been able to go out quite often and have lots of fun. A lot of dinner dates with my girls at Red Rocks, my favorite restaurant here in Huntersvillle, Joel's grill in Mooresville for sushi, as well as Carrie and I's fave place, OTB.

I've also been to a few Panthers games, woo hoo...we're 7-2 right now, pretty darn awesome even if our quarterback sucks. That's why it's called a team...way to go defense to overcome our offense!

I've been to a few races. I went to Martinsville with Sheri George in October for the truck race. I hadn't been to one since Charlotte in May and boy, did it make me realize how much I missed being there at the track each week.

On Nov. 2, I went to Rockingham for the season finale for the Hooters Pro Cup race. Gabi had tagged along with me and we had a good time. My driver, Drew Herring, had the lead with six laps remaining until a stupid lapped car got in his way and the 2nd place guy went cruising by. It was such the heartbreaker for Drew who really wanted to win a race this season, but had to settle for second. On the flip side, he clinched the 2008 Rookie of the Year title so he had nothing to complain about (other than the stupid lapped car ;))

Following Drew's race, Gabi and I headed home. Gabi took off and I headed to the LMS Dirt Track to meet up with the Showalters and Jody to see my gangsta buddy Kraig race. I also was excited to see Kraig & Dirt's son, Kash, who I hadn't seen in a while. Kraig did a great job and finished 2nd.


That Tuesday night before, Ashley and her boyfriend Josh, had a Halloween party at their place. It was themed, "Pirates of the Bahia Bay," which is their subdivision. Everyone was dressed as a pirate. I am usually not one for dressing up but it sure helped to know what I already had to dress up as so the decision was an easy one. We had a great time playing flip cup and chatting. On Halloween night, Jody had invited me to go to a friend of hers for a Halloween party. So, I dressed up once again in my pirate garb. It was fairly low-key, but Jody and I might have left too early too. I had to be up early to head to Rockingham so we got out of there around midnight.

This past weekend, I headed down to Georgia to see my friend Brelan. She had invited me to her baby shower held on Sunday. I probably wouldn't have driven down there all that way, but it was held at a winery and vineyard and that was too tempting to resist. My friend, Jason Hogan, is how I met Brelan when he and JR raced against each other in the NASCAR Southeast Series. Jason raced Saturday night so Brelan and I met at the track to watch. He didn't fare well, but still finished 8th since there were only 12 cars in the race...ha ha! Afterwards, we went to the Waffle House for a post-race meal. Sunday was Brelan's baby shower and it was a good time. The scenery where she lives is simply breathtaking, especially this time of year with the fall colors. She had probably 20-25 people there and everyone enjoyed the wine, food, and festivities. I got talked into staying afterwards to join some of the girls in the hot tub, then I drove home.







Today is Grace Hamlin's first birthday! I can't believe she is one year old already! Time has flown by. That girl is so cute. Her birthday party is this Sunday so I'll be sure to post some pics of the birthday girl.

More news to follow...

Before I Get Written Off...

So, I figured I would add another entry before everyone writes me off of this blogging thing.

My schedule fluctuates from week to week. I wish I could have a consistent schedule to keep myself on a routine, but since that's not currently possible, I just continue to stay on a crazy track.

I work at Kohl's (Where You Can Expect Great Things, BTW) whenever they schedule me, which for the last two weeks was closing every freaking night. It's like they didn't want me to have a life. Thankfully, that changed for this week and I have a pretty decent schedule.

Through an arrangement with Speed51, I also write the press releases for two drivers, Drew Herring, who races in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, and Craig Goess, Jr., who races in the NASCAR Camping World East Series. They are both in their rookie seasons in their respective series and have adjusted well. Drew is running for the overall rookie title in the Hooters Series and heading into this weekend's race at Iowa Speedway, only trails the leader of the RoY by three points and sits in 10th position in the overall points race too! Craig has had his share of ups and downs this year, with only a couple top-10 finishes, but is adjusting well to the heavier stock cars after coming from the Legends cars. Their seasons are coming to close with Drew having three remaining and Craig only two. Drew has Iowa this weekend then Southern National on Oct. 18, his home track, and Rockingham on Nov. 1. Craig races at Dover this Friday then Stafford, CT next weekend to end his season.

As I say racing seasons are winding down, I can't believe where the time has gone and now summer is almost over! I love summer! It is definitely my favorite season. Hot weather means trips to the beach and boating adventures on LKN. I have been lucky enough to venture to the beach five times this Summer. That's unbelievable, but my tan definitely proves it! ;) OIB is definitely my home away from home. I've continuously made mention that if my home wasn't here, it'd definitely be there! I just hope it made it safely through Hurricane Hanna.

Carrie and I took a week-long vacation at the end of July for her birthday. We went to Savannah, Ga. for four days then the beach the rest of the week. We had never taken a week-long vacation together and we had a blast! It was definitely worth doing again every year and we've already had discussions where our next one will be! While in Savannah, we did the normal touristy stuff by taking the trolley tour and seeing the historical sights. When you think Savannah, you also think Paula Deen, so of course we had lunch at The Lady & Sons. OMG, it was soooooooooo good! Highly recommended!!!

Although I'm sad to see Summer go, the fall time excites me because that means it's time for PANTHERS FOOTBALL!!! Currently, we're 2-0 and that's been without our star player, Steve Smith. We've got some good momentum going and bring back Steve this week, and we're going to be red hot! I was lucky enough to go to the first home game this past Sunday at BofA Stadium vs. the Chicago Bears. I swear there were more Bears fans there than Panthers fans, but we definitely shut them up by coming back in the fourth quarter! I was pretty excited and I hope I'm able to go to a few more this season!

Well, there's a few updates...I'm off to meet Jody at Vinnie's now so I'll catch up later!

I'm a RESOL.

My sister and I, back in the day, came up with some of our own words just by spelling them backwards. Ok, so maybe there's only two of them, but they are still put into action all the time when we chat. RESOL and KROD. Try to figure them out.

So, I must say I'm a RESOL. This blogging stuff is hard work...LOL. I do lots of things that are worthy of reading, I suppose?! But to sit down and put into words is much harder. Especially when I know that only like 5 people read this...LOL.

I made all this hype about Cinco de Mayo and in 2008, it turned out to be quite a dud. Not as much fun as in year's past, but still a good time. Had a couple newbies join the crowd at OTB, then of course, we proceeded to Midtown Sundries to hear Sunny Ledfurd perform, as has been the tradition the last three years. Wish Amy or Carrie had been here, but being in Texas and work duties overruled their attendance.

Amy was able to come visit that weekend though. We had such a good time doing NOTHING, for the most part. She flew in on Friday morning and we went to Cracker Barrell for breakfast. And, what do you know, she's a genius too, just like Jay. Then we went shopping and got our normal pedis. Friday night, we met up with Carrie, Tonia & Ed at OTB (of course) for dinner and drinks. Then Amy and I headed uptown to Buckhead and Whisky River. We had fun dancing, but the best part of the evening was heading to The Westin to sleep in their Heavenly beds. Ahhhh....We slept until 10 a.m., at least I did, I think Amy slept til 11 or so cause we walked out of the room around noon, which was check out. We then headed to Southpark Mall and ate at the Cheesecake Factory and walked around the mall. I was on a mission to find some black sandals and finally found them at the last store, Aldo. Pretty expensive, but of all the stores in the mall, I had found none that even resembled closely to what I was looking for until then so no matter the cost, I had to get them. For the rest of the weekend, we did nothing. Rented some movies at Blockbuster and laid on the couch for two days, other than getting meals...LOL. It was actually quite nice. Monday night, we met up with some friends at Fox & Hound. Amy from Ga. was in town, Brandis and Cesar were there. Nice visit with everyone.

Tuesday morning, Amy left for Dallas. I wish she lived here or I had the means to go visit her more often. She's moving back to Oklahoma in August to go to school. I think she's decided to become a FT student. But she enjoys it and is pursuing what she wants.

Not sure what else is/has gone on. My mom and I went to the beach for Memorial Day weekend. It was soooooooooo nice. We were there for five days and I could've stayed there for another five. Take that back, I could just live there and am seriously thinking about it...LOL. We're going back again tomorrow for a few more days. I have to take every opportunity I can. I just never know when I can and it's so beautiful there that I want to seize every chance.

I interviewed for a PR Position at Ganassi a few weeks ago. I haven't heard back from them, other than they were still interviewing candidates. Soooo..I thought it went well, but you never know what they're looking for or what that one "ahhh" thing is that says, "this is our girl!" So, I just continue to wait and see...but it would be a great opportunity, should it come my way.

Rowdy has won a few more races since the last post, but the Rowdy Busch Fan Club has been slacking on my treats. Wonder what's up with that?! ha ha...Rowdy is going for the triple this weekend...Trucks in Texas tonight, Nationwide in Nashville tomorrow night and Sprint Cup in Pocono on Sunday. This boy loves to Race...He raced at Eldora on Wed. night too. He's a threat to win all three of course and it would definitely be amazing if he could! Oh, I went to his birthday party a couple weeks ago. That was fun. A lot of people, open bar, dancing, good tunes and Kyle...how could it not have been!?

Baby updates: Mandi's birthday was May 16 so they had a cookout at their house the following day. I got to see Grace for about 10 minutes before Mandi put her to bed. She was sick and getting fussy, but she has gotten so big and is sooo cute. Mandi gave me some pictures and I immediately stopped at Kohl's to buy a frame and it's proudly displayed on my mantle.

I visited with Dirt and Kash this past Friday. Kash has gotten so big at only four months. He's a doll baby too and I just loved being able to carry him around for a few hours. I'm hoping Dirt and I can plan to take him on a beach trip soon.

My niece is almost 2 months old already. She was dedicated at church this past Sunday and was so good. She just laid in Jessica's arms and was awake and alert and looked around while the minister said what he had to say. She loves her Aunt Jenn and slept on my shoulder for 30 minutes before her mean Aunt Lindsay took her and she started crying...LOL.

Alright, is that enough for an update? Ha ha...see ya again in another month, probably. LOL.

Rowdy Busch Wins Again

I just love when Rowdy Busch wins a race. I get presents in the mail from the Rowdy Busch HQ, which just happen to be in Monroe, Washington. That's such a coincidence since that's where my friend Becky lives.

Rowdy won Talladega on Sunday and today I receive a package of M & M's and a cute little M & M card.

Those peeps at the Rowdy Busch Headquarters are the sweetest (pun intended!).

Cinco de Mayo

It's one week until one of my favorite holidays!

For some reason, I love Cinco de Mayo. I think it's just because it gives me a good reason to gather with friends and eat Mexican food and drink margaritas! Good enough excuse, right!?

Last year was a blast, especially since it was on a Saturday. I'm sure this year's turnout will be a little less, but hopefully, everyone will come to OTB for a little bit.

If you're around and care to share a cerveza with us, c'mon on down to OTB (On the Border for those that don't know my lingo) at Concord Mills around 6ish until ???

I Got a New Phone!

Woo hoo...Finally!

I've been wanting to get a new phone for a while, but haven't had the $ to do so.
Well, I dropped my phone on the kitchen floor last Sunday and the screen display went kaput. Finally, a good reason to research and get a new phone immediately!

So, after work, I decided on the MotoKrzr. According to Sprint.com, it was free after I send in for the rebate so what the heck?

It has so many new features, all which I never really had before with my Nextel. It has Sprint TV, Radio, GPS, Camera, Internet, etc., etc. I ended up switching my plan to the new Simply Everything Plan too. For just $99/mo. I get unlimited calls and texts, as well as being able to surf and do all that other fun stuff included.

So, what are you waiting for? LOL...Call me or text me! :)

I'm An Aunt!

My sister, Jessica, and husband, Michael, welcomed Elizabeth Grace Harcar into this world on Saturday, April 12 at 3:16 p.m. She weighed in at 7 lbs., 8.5 ozs. and was 20 3/4 inches long. She's absolutely beautiful and already has a full head of hair. Both sets of grandparents, as well as Lindsay and I were present at the hospital awaiting the birth. Saturday was a very long day, but in the end, so worth it!

She's definitely going to be spoiled by her Aunt Jenn!

My Trip to Seattle...A Very Lengthy Detailed Account

So, as usual, it's been a while since the last post and I need to update you on my fabulous trip to Seattle.

First off, I must vent about Kyleingram33...This is the guy I purchased my camera from on ebay. I had it shipped to Becky in Monroe so it would be there by the time I arrived...WRONG! I emailed him when I got there and he said he had been out of town and would ship it that day. Wouldn't you know, it arrived the day after I LEFT! URGH! But anyway, thankfully, Becky has a fabulous camera and allowed me to use it.

So, I left here on Wednesday, March 26 around 7 p.m., an hour later than I was supposed to...go figure! I was able to fly first class and non-stop. That was the bomb.com as Becky would say. Shortly after take-off, we were offered cocktails, so of course I indulged in a couple glasses of chardonnay. Then we were served a delicious meal on real plates with real silverware and even mini salt & pepper shakers...LOL. Then we had apple pie for dessert...That was cool. First class is the only way to go, but who knows how often I'll get to enjoy that! LOL. I then went to nap and we arrived in Seattle around 10ish. We were held in the air for about 20 minutes because of the SNOW that was falling around the area, causing a back up at the airport. Becky said it hadn't snowed there in three months and wouldn't you know the night I fly in, it would be snowing! Go figure!! I made it to baggage claim, where Becky is standing with a sign that says "Hillbilly Deluxe" on it. That clown...Jay, Brett and Becky all thought that was real funny. It took about another 45 minutes to get my luggage then we headed to dinner.

My one request while out there was not to go to any chain restaurants or places we have here, but at 11 p.m. on a Wednesday night, there wasn't much choice. So we went and had some dinner and cocktails at a nearby Applebee's. It was nice to meet Brett, who I had spoken on the phone with once or twice. It was so nice that Jay and Brett came to pick me up at the airport. I can't believe it had been three months since I had seen Jay and Becky, you know when the Panthers beat those Seahawks...LOL.

After dinner, we took Brett and Jay back to their car then headed up to Monroe to Becky's house. I met Melinda, who Becky lives with, and we stayed up chatting for a bit before we crashed for the night. It was probably 5 or 6 a.m. NC time by the time we went to bed so I was pretty tired, to say the least.

We took our time getting up and getting ready on Thursday. My first thing on the agenda was getting a pedicure. I wanted to get one before I left but Becky said she needed one too so I decided to wait then we could go together. So after pedicures and a brow wax, we went to eat Mexican food for lunch. We had gotten a call from Jay after we left each other on Wed. night, asking if we could pick up his best friend Ryon at the University of Washington because he had gotten a ride but still needed a ride to Puyallup (where they all live). So, as Becky usually does, she agreed and we made our way to Seattle. Thursday was a beautiful day so I snapped some pictures since you never know how the weather will be from one day to the next. We picked up Ryon then drove to Puyallup and Jay's house. Jay and his dad were home watching the Washington State vs. Carolina game on TV. I, of course, had to rub it in their face when Carolina whipped WSU, even though Jay doesn't like WSU, but Ryon goes there, so that was pretty funny. Brett came over and we waited on Jay's mom, Susi, to get home from work. We all went to dinner at Sakura, a Japanese restaurant, in Tacoma. Then we all went to Chopstix, a dueling piano bar, in Tacoma to celebrate Brett's birthday. I love piano bars. We had told them it was Brett's birthday so they got him up on the piano. That was quite comical. He got really drunk and decided to act like a monkey once we left. He climbed up this tree and broke the freakin' branch. It was so funny. Jay and I were laughing our asses off, while trying to check on Brett to see if he was okay. There was more drama afterwards, but it turned out to be more comedy than drama...LOL.

Friday, we were slow going again. It was snowing, which I have to admit, is a nice sight to see since we really don't see it that often here. Becky took me to Dick's, which is a hamburger joint there. There's only four locations, so they were pretty busy. You walk up to the window and order what you'd like, but no special orders. Burgers come as listed, I quickly found out. I had a cheeseburger and some french fries. The fries reminded me of In-N-Out's, which are bomb.com, very fresh and yummy!

We then headed into Seattle to drive around the city. We drove by Quest and Safeco fields, where the Seahawks and Mariners play. We parked and walked around, going into a couple of cute gift shops and a toy store. One thing I noticed while doing this trip was all the people walking around with light or no coats on. I was freezing wearing my wool coat and these people are wearing nothing. I guess they're so used to the cool weather that their bodies have adjusted to it and that's considered "normal." We had decided that we were going to stay at the Westin in downtown Seattle for the night since we were going to go to the clubs there so Becky and I went and checked in. Heavenly beds, need I say more? Becky and I departed again, this time by foot, to go shopping and scope out a place for dinner. We had decided on the Taproom Grill, which features more than 160 beers on tap...unbelievable!

We went back to the hotel to change and await the boy's arrival...Seemed Jay had other plans though and they didn't meet us up at Taproom until 11:30 p.m.!!! By this time, Becky and I were beyond pissed, so we decided to go ahead and start taking some shots! The five of us eventually made it to "The Last Supper Club" for the night. In the short amount of time we were there, we all managed to get a bit wasted! I lost count of how many shots we all did...enough, to say the least! Back to the hotel and Ryon and Jay pass right out. Becky kinda does until she gets up to go the bathroom and passes out in there...That was hilarious! Brett decided he needed to order room service and orders a sandwich at 3:15 in the morning! Cost of this BLT....$35 in all! Unbelievable! Westin definitely makes some $$$, seeing as they charged us $32 for parking, not to mention the lovely rate for the room too!

As has been the case, Saturday was slow going for everyone but me! I was up and ready to go by 10:30, yet the clowns wouldn't get up out of bed. I think we finally left at 11:50, seeing as check out was noon! I had read about this restaurant in Pike Place that had been voted the best breakfast, so I wanted to go there, but by the time we all met up and got there, it was now lunch time. It was still pretty good food with a nice view of the water. Afterwards, we all walked around Pike Place Market, checking out the beautiful flowers, fruits and veggies, and of course the infamous fish market. That was so cool. We also went by the first Starbucks which had singers outside performing. On this one street corner we saw Mini-Me himself, Verne Troyer, on his little Rascal. I couldn't get the boys out of the way quick enough for me to snap a shot, but I got the back of his head and you can still tell it's him...LOL. We toured the waterfront then the boys left and headed to Puyallup and Becky and I headed up to Monroe.

Saturday was supposed to be race day, one of the main reasons I was going. Jay was supposed to have raced but his motor wasn't ready. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. The race initially got rained out, but by the time the night was over...it was SNOWING!! Once Becky got the call that the race was cancelled, we jetted over to the track so she could see some friends before they loaded up and headed home. The Sauls had come up and once it was cancelled, they made their way to the Red Robin, yes, a chain, but oh well...so Becky, Budah and I headed over there to meet up with them. Afterwards, we tried to decide what we were doing. Well, needless to say, Becky and I made the trip to Puyallup once again (about an hour) to go out with Brett and Jay at the Swiss in Tacoma. The band was awesome, but we were all so exhausted from the night before and it was a bit crowded, that we decided to leave a couple hours later. Dropped Jay and Brett back home then we drove back to Monroe again...LOL. I actually passed out on this trip. When we got home, lo and behold, there was about three inches of snow on the ground! Puyallup had not even gotten a flake!

Sunday, we got ready and drove to the airport area with Campbell, Melinda's granddaughter. We were supposed to meet up with Jay and his parents for lunch since he was flying to San Diego that afternoon. Well, Jay was delayed in his packing so all they were able to do was swing by for us to say bye and take some farewell pics. We drove back to Monroe to take Campbell home then Becky and I headed to Bellevue to shop. I had watched Oprah one day and saw this store called "The Container Store" on there. Well, we don't have any nearby but there was one in Bellevue, so I was dying to go there. It was so freakin' awesome. It's probably good that we don't have one close or I'd probably be there everyday needing a container of some sort to put something in...it was just too cool! I did buy some jewelry cases but knew I couldn't buy a lot. I wrote down what I thought I would like so I could look it up online and purchase. We then went to this store called the "Paper Source." Probably another good thing we don't have one of these. Paper, pens, cards, creative, cutesy things. I know Becky has since gone two or three more times to make purchases.

Budah met us down there then Becky drove us to Puyallup to meet up with our friend Shelby for dinner at "The Rock." It was a cool pizza, pasta joint. I had some grilled chicken with ravioli. I was still so full from lunch that I hardly ate any of it and ended up bringing it home. We then decided we needed ice cream to complete our evening...LOL. I somehow managed to find room to eat that...go figure! We said our good-byes, drove back up to Bellevue, dropped Budah off then headed back to Monroe...I think I went straight to bed. I was exhausted and my stomach hurt from eating way too damn much!!!

Monday was my last day in Washington. I packed up all my belongings and got ready. We went to the big town of Snohomish, hometown of Kevin Hamlin...woot! LOL. We had lunch at the Snohomish Pie Company. It was a good soup and sandwich. I obviously didn't partake in their specialty, pie, because I don't eat it, but I did have a chocolate chip cookie that was good. We then walked around downtown Sno-Ho...a very cute town with some very cute gift shops. Campbell had come with us again and we now headed to Seattle to find this cupcake place. I've gotten into cupcakes here lately and Becky loves them too. Trophy Cupcakes was too cute. They were actually featured on Martha Stewart's show the following Thursday. We all had a cupcake and was in awe of the place.

Then we went to the Space Needle, the famous landmark of Seattle. The weather wasn't the best, mix of snow, rain and sleet, but it was very cool to ride up to the top and get the views of Seattle. Simply amazing! Did the gift shop thing then headed to Anthony's at Pier 66 to meet up with Budah and his dad for dinner. A very fine dining experience where I had the best of the Northwest's seafood...a samon filet and a piece of halibut. Both were extremely good and the view we had from our table was beautiful.

After dinner, Becky dropped me off at the airport and I made my way back to the Queen City. It was so good to visit with everyone and meet some new friends. I'd definitely like to go back when it's a touch warmer and be able to see more of the outdoors sights. There are talks of all of us meeting at some point but who knows when we'll all get together again....soon I hope! I love my peeps in the WA.

Sorry this was so long but there was lots we did...LOL. Hope you didn't fall asleep reading.

Slacker, but Lots to Report!

I'm a slacker on this blogging thing. It's just a little difficult for me to sit down and write. I think another thing is, that without a camera, I'm unable to display these moments I'm talking about for all to see. But, that is all about to change. I should have a camera, come tomorrow! I bought my same camera, which I lost in January at Buckhead Saloon on a drunken night, go figure, off Ebay the other day. I'm having it shipped to Monroe.....Washington!

I HAD to have a camera to document my trip to Seattle, which takes place tomorrow night through Monday night. I'm pretty excited to see Becky, excuse me...Rebecca, and Jay, and all the peeps I hear about all the time. Jay and Becky have been to visit me in North Carolina twice now, so I figured it was time to pay a visit to Washington, my first ever. I probably didn't pick the best time to visit, as the weather doesn't look very promising, but I don't think you can ever plan on it not raining any time during the year. So, why not? It was the first race of the year for the ASA Northwest Tour and Jay was supposed to race, but now he has no motor so he will be unable to, which really stinks, since that was another reason I was coming, but at least he will be there. That was almost not the case.

I decided a couple weeks ago that I would redeem my frequent flyer miles to fly out there, so after discussions with Becky, I went ahead and booked it. What do you know, that night Jay calls Becky to tell her that his new job will be sending him to San Diego for training and he wouldn't be home. It definitely upset me but went and read the details of my ticket and found out that I wouldn't lose my miles if I just rescheduled it for another time. I felt horrible that Jay wasn't going to be able to race, most of all though. He's been looking forward to this race all winter and working on the car and such. Then a couple days later, his work called him back again saying he would be home after all....YEA! Trip back on! But, Jay now had the dilemma of no motor since he took his to be refreshened then his motor builder had a heart attack and had already disassembled it, but would be unable to repair with his illness. ARGH! So, anyways....Jay's home but no racing, but he says we'll have a hella good time watching the race and drinking beer in the stands...LOL!

I'm not sure what all we have planned for this trip. Even Jay and Becky don't know what there is to do in Seattle. I know I want to see the Space Needle, obviously, and Pike Place Market, but other than that, we're pretty open. We'll have fun no matter what, but I would like to get in as many sights as I can while I'm there. Have any ideas?

I'm sure we'll have to go to the big town of Snohomish, hometown of KMFH! Ha...He told me to go see his alma mater...we'll see about that! I went and saw them a couple weeks ago. I couldn't believe it had been since Jay and Becky were here in December that I had last seen them and Grace! I feel so terrible, but it was good to see them, catch up, play with Grace and see how big she's gotten and have fun. I do have a picture to post from this day since Mandi took it for me. She's so cute and very stylin' in her sunglasses "Aunt" Becky got her.

There's been a couple holidays already. I can't believe St. Patrick's Day and Easter have already passed. Most of you all probably read my bulletin or received my e-mail about this being the earliest Easter we will ever see during our lifetime. Thank goodness, I don't think I liked having it so close to St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick's Day just got forgotten at the stores to make room for Easter goodies. It didn't help that SPD was on a Monday either. My girlfriend Lisa and I went to Midtown Sundries. I didn't even feel like doing anything big and for sure, didn't feel like dealing with the crowds at the normal Irish places. They had an Irish band there and green beer, so that was cool. JR and his new roommate Shane came and met us then we went to Smokin' Guns...woo hoo! You know that place was hopping, NOT! But we stayed there til about 12:30 then came home.

This past Friday night, Carrie, Lisa and I went to see Sunny Ledfurd at Buckwild. As usual, it was a good time. Up until the time I left and got on 485. I got a flat tire...Freakin' A. Seeing as it was 3 a.m., I didn't want to call and wake my parents so Carrie suggested I call Frank since we had just left him and he lives at the Speedway anyway. So, I called him and he came and got me and we worried about it on Saturday morning. Sure enough, the whole freakin' tire was shredded on the inside. Apparently, I had run over a large piece of hard plastic, my dad found. My luck...just how it goes!

Sunday was spent at the Kinser house, as has been tradition for the last three years. I made some cute Easter cupcakes decorated as Easter bunnies, baskets and some with Peeps on them. They turned out super cute.

Oh yes, I'm working again....Kohl's, AGAIN! Hey, it's something, it's money, I'm outta the house, a lot of the same people work there that did when I worked there two years ago and there wasn't much training. It should be good. Just have to remember to try to save some money and not spend it all!!!

I'll post after the trip...should be fun times!!!! And I will have LOTS of pics the next time! :)