Fuzzy Pink Slippers

See these slippers? They are almost exactly like the ones we saw on the feet of a female teen that got off the school bus while we waited at a stop sign recently.

Is this a fad to wear these to school these days in certain parts of the country? Or is this section I live in the only part of the country that is loony-tunes? And it wasn't the school district I live in because for all the school taxes we pay every year, I would hope those kids have a little more smarts. Oh, but I can't say that anymore either. My school district was recently in the news (and still is) about sending porn via cell phones and they are now all over the country.

I might add that the girl was average: slim, long light brown hair, dressed average, pretty but not beautiful, if you know what I mean. And she did not limp. She kept up the pace of her fellow students and from our viewpoint, there was nothing wrong with her feet or any part thereof.

And if she wore them in error forgetting they were there when she left the house, she sure didn't look embarassed about it. No one pointed at her and laughed either. In other words, it looked to me like this was the proper thing to do and certainly not out of the ordinary in her estimation.

So I ask again...is this a fad or was she just being weird?

Yeah Rick, We Love Him Too

Here are some recent quotes from Rick Hendrick, Dale Jr's new boss:

“Junior so far, you would think coming in here, from what I had heard about him being late and not wanting to be a part of things, he’s the first one with his hand up. He’s gone with me to dealerships and things and he loves it. I hope it doesn’t wear off. He wants to do good, and we want to see him do good."

“He’s one of the neatest guys — and I’ve said this before — you can see why he’s so popular once you get to know him. He's got a good heart, and he’s a good person.”

“He’s real sensitive to how people feel, and that’s a really good trait for anyone to have. I’m very impressed with that. Most people would say, ‘I’m the most popular driver; I can do this or I can do that.’ It’s not that way at all. He respects all those guys and they respect him. It’s working out better than I ever thought it would. There are no regrets.”

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

I recently read somewhere that Rick was a little apprehensive about signing Junior because of some things he'd heard about him. Like sleeping late, being late for appointments, etc. Now that Rick has seen first hand that Junior isn't like that anymore, is one of the reasons he said 'no regrets'.

Well, somewhere between then and now our Junior has reached another stage of growing up. The first time was after his daddy died and he carried not only DEI on his shoulders, but most of the world too. The second time was when he realized he had to get out from under a very delusional owner's thumb.

He's on his way to proving he is his own man...finally!

Second Best Seat In The House

As we get older, there are fewer things that make us really happy. I mean, so happy you could just jump for eternal joy. Recently (like Tuesday) my happiness level rose to almost an all-time high. You see, my husband finally installed our new john/toilet/crapper/hopper/throne/water closet/lavatory...depending on what part of the world you reside in. I may have missed a few.

Last summer the old one started giving us trouble. Not enough to consider a replacement yet, but enough to be somewhat bothersome every once in awhile.

Meanwhile, my husband started going to an auction once a week. I was glad to get him out of the house and from under my feet. That is for the cats to do. That auction is a place where almost everything under the sun comes up for bids sooner or later.

One week he came home to tell me he'd purchased a commode. I asked if it was a new one. (Wouldn't you?) Thank God he said yes and that both the tank and bowl were in their original boxes. They both found a resting place in our garage. With my Mustang.

As the weeks went on, the old one got crankier and crankier and so did I. Eventually it only flushed fully maybe once every five times. Those other times we helped it along with water from a bucket. Which I had to keep by its side all the time. Classy.

Now, we're not country bumpkins. I have lived in the big city, and most of my life I have never been without a good working commode. Did I mention my husband is a worse procrastinator than I am? I think I did just recently.

About two weeks ago that commode finally said Enough! I quit! And quit it did. We were down to the bucket brigade every blessed time we flushed. At that point I mentioned to my husband I felt like Abraham Lincoln was still the president. See, you cannot nag him or he will drag his feet even longer, so I have to drop subtle hints.

Finally this past Sunday (during that first crappy football game where the Patriots won), he told me the commode would be installed on Monday, no excuses. And he lived up to his word. But not without some drama. I'll just let your imagination take over here and just say I'm so happy I could s**t!


(Sorry, these aren't ours. I would never own a white one.)

And in case you are wondering which is the best seat in the house? That would be my recliner.

Rest In Peace

Heath Ledger ~ 1979-2008



One of my all-time favorite movies is A Knight's Tale.

It hit the theaters in 2001. I don't remember if it was that same year or 2002 that I purchased it from my satellite company as an all-day ticket, meaning I could watch it all day if I cared to. I was home on a sick day. I must have watched that picture at least six times one right after the other. I never got tired of it. I absolutely love it to this day and could probably say that it is indeed my all-time favorite movie.

When I heard Heath was found dead in his New York apartment, I couldn't believe it. He had so much to live for at the age of 28. Until the autopsy is performed, no one knows exactly what happened. I so hope it wasn't suicide and that it was an accident.

My prayers go out to his family.

Being Philosophical With Time On My Hands

As I sat in the waiting room contemplating my long wait (4-1/2 hours) while my husband was having his annual stress test, I had ample time to think about a lot of things.

Foremost and above all, the one thing on my mind almost 100% of the time is Dale Jr. I worry about him as a mother does her only son. (I only have one daughter.) Dale Jr, to me, seems to be the type that needs to be "mothered." And I mean that in a nice way, not a perverted way. The fact that he already has a mother doesn't bother me ~ I can share.

Last year my biggest worriment was whether he'd make it to the end of any given race. Mostly, he did not. I don't think that is something I have to worry about this year. However, I am prone to worrying somewhat, so it's obvious I have to find something new to occupy the worry portion of my brain, if there is such a thing.

And so, while sitting in that waiting room, I tried to think of something new to worry about where Dale Jr is concerned. Try as I might, I couldn't come up with anything ~ and that's a good thing because:

He's in good hands

He's got a good boss, good teammates, and good equipment

He's got a strong family base that stands behind him 100% no matter what decisions he makes

He's blessed with a smart and wonderful sister who guides him most of the way

And the most important thing in my mind that he has is:

JR NATION

We fans love him like a son, friend, nephew, brother etc. He means so much to us that we sometimes feel he's actually a part of our families. It's hard to explain why. It just is. And other drivers' fans never have been able to understand that. I doubt they ever will.

All I can say is, you have to be a Dale Jr fan to fully understand it. And once you do, there's no going back. Once you've become a Dale Jr fan (and I mean a fully-committed-I'll-never-leave-him-he'll-always-be-my-driver-fan), then and only then will you really, really understand what I am trying to say.

It's a phenomenon I have yet to decipher myself, and I don't think I want to. So for those of you who are reading this and aren't a fan of his, all I ask of you is to try it, you might like it. And like I said, once you're hooked, there's no going back. Just relax and enjoy the ride. I am.

Yes, I'm Still Pissed

Me? Procrastinate? Surely You Jest

Sometimes I wish I'd never heard that word procrastination. It haunts me every day of my life. Yes, I am one of those and most of the time I am not very proud of it. I have shoved so many things onto the back burner that the stove tipped over a long time ago. And to make matters worse, I'm married to one who is far worse than I can ever be as far as procrastinating goes.

So when you put the two of us together, we're a mess. We do manage to get things done, but not at a decent pace. What some people get done in a timely manner takes us so much longer. But in my case, if the chore or plan I make is something I enjoy doing, trust me ~ it will get done quicker than normal. It's those ugly, nasty things I don't like doing that I would just as soon forget as to do them.

And those would be what you might ask? Well for one, making phone calls irritates the crap out of me. I put them off simply because I don't like making them. No matter who I have to call or why ~ I just hate making phone calls. I can sit on the thought of making a phone call for days before I will actually pick up the phone and dial. And if I get a busy signal? Oh good Lord, that can take another couple of days before I dial again. I'm not talking emergencies here, just your normal calls other than personal ones.

Another major area I procrastinate about is income taxes. If I have ever done them earlier than one week prior to the deadline, I am not aware of it. I do them myself. I hate the chore. Maybe if we were getting refunds it wouldn't be so bad, but we always end up paying. I think this year will be different though, so I am kind of looking forward to doing them. Wow, did I just say that?

Another problem area with me is our accumulation of stuff that we no longer use. I gathered a bunch of it together while I was working yet and we did donate that to charity. A whole pickup truck full of boxes. I had more to go at the time that didn't fit into the bed of the truck, but Christmas was upon us and I needed room to put the tree where some of the filled boxes were. So those boxes went back into the spare room...and they are still there almost three years later. Why? Don't ask me because I don't know why. Maybe the word starts with a "p"?

Or maybe because I went into a funk about my job back then. Not anymore though ~ that heathen actually did me a favor. However, he did not cure me of my putting things off and for that I shall never forgive him. And I can now add that to the long list of all the other things I hold against him. (That would be the boss from hell at my last job.)

So there you have it...reasons for the way I am and why. But apparently I'm not alone:

WOW...

The Colts lost.

The Cowboys lost.


I'm speechless...

I Love Broken Records

...especially when it has to do with warmth. I wasn't really made to be in, around, or near cold weather. And to me, anything 60 or below is cold. But, I was born and raised in the northeast and it's probably where I will stay. I have also pondered greatly over my lifetime why my parents ever had the audacity to have me in this part of the country. Why couldn't they have had me in the south somewhere, or maybe Texas even, or Hawaii for that matter? But Pennsylvania? Ugh.

Sorry, I got off the beaten track there. Getting back to the records: on Monday we broke a record by 2 degrees and we enjoyed 63 degree weather. It was supposed to get warmer on Tuesday. The record for that day was 67 but we only got as high as 65. This warmer weather really spoils me. Who wants to go back to 10 degrees and below? With winds and nasty dampness thrown in?

I will settle for one good snow storm, because we haven't had any of those since I no longer have to drive a great distance in them any more. And when I say one good snow storm, I'm not talking about a few inches, or say around 10-12 inches either. No...I am talking about twice that amount ~ like 20 plus inches. Now THAT would be a good snow storm. And then it can all go away and Spring would magically show up with record warmths once again.

Dreamer, ain't I?

He Couldn't Stay Away

Half the NASCAR teams started testing Monday at Daytona. Junior isn't scheduled to test until next Monday. However, that didn't keep him away from the track and being with his new teammates. Here he is enjoying a laugh with Jeff.



It is so good to see Junior relaxed and having no monkey (TE) on his back this year. He was interviewed for SPEED TV even though he didn't get into his car. He also visited his old 8 team and was photographed (many times) chatting with Tony Gibson. I hear Tony was thrilled that he stopped by. He should be.

Junior made a comment about the fact that it is so different being in Daytona this year as compared to last year, saying that he is no longer working at a place where he was the boss's son. He also alluded to the fact that he is not weighed down with any major decisions this year.

And something that made me feel a little better is the fact that Jimmie Johnson said by Junior being there Monday meant a lot to him and his teammates. He said it showed a lot of effort on Junior's part that he is solely committed to driving above and beyond the call of duty. Well I should hope so. And thank you, Jimmie, for finally letting me know that you are glad Junior is on your team.

Now, go get 'em boys!

(I Have No Title)

I recently read a bunch of quotes from Dale Jr.'s sister, Kelley Elledge, where she was talking about both Dale, Jr. and Tony Eury, Jr., comparing last year to this year, and the following really has me stoked for the season to get started more so than ever:

“I can’t imagine that they can’t get into Hendrick equipment and do 50 percent better than they did. Knowing what they did with what they were working with and what they’re going to work with now and how it’s all falling together, I expect several wins – three or four at least. I wouldn’t be crazy enough to say he’s going to win the championship. But he might.”

Kelley would make a wonderful candidate for President of the United States. I am not a registered voter, but if she ran for the office, I would be first in line to vote. Hell, I'd even campaign for her...

Bear With Me Folks

I am having a hard time writing since we started the new year. It might take me awhile to get back into the swing of things. I have bits and pieces of posts floating around in my gray matter, some I have written down, others are just there. Hopefully, I can pull them out and make some sense of most of them.

Meanwhile, just hang in there and I am sure I will be boring y'all to death soon enough.

Thank God testing starts this upcoming Monday. We will finally be able to see something on four wheels flying around the tracks. Dale Jr. will not be testing until the 14th, but I think I can wait that long. After all, look what I just got through since racing stopped back in November. Geez, that seems so long ago, doesn't it?

And soon the Budweiser Shootout will be here and after that we can all settle in to the wonderful sport of auto racing. Bring it on, baby!

Resolutions, Anyone?

If I still smoked I think that my only major resolution would be to quit. Actually I quit in August of '99.

Both my husband and I used to smoke, but like one of our past presidents, I never really inhaled. And the reason I took up smoking was so I would know how to inhale because someone had once given me two doobies. Which I never smoked anyway. I didn't want to mess up my brain more than it already was.

I only smoked approximately ten years or so and I always smoked long, skinny cigarettes. And they were always filters. And some were minty. My favorites were Virginia Slims Superslims. I used to save the UPC codes and got a lot of freebies. Maybe that's why I kept smoking them.

My husband on the other hand, only smoked Camels. I think he said he started when he was around 12 years old. I tried one once and damn near fell off the doghouse of his truck where I was perched while he slept in the bunk. I never tried them again. I'm no dummy and I learn quick.

In August of '99 my husband had a heart attack. They ruled out just about everything possible as to its cause and the only explanation they could offer was that it was due to his smoking habit. He was in the hospital 8 days. Eight very long days. I took advantage of those eight days by smoking as much as I could. I saved one cigarette though for the day I would be picking him up and bringing him home. That was my last cigarette. Honest. I certainly didn't want to smoke in front of him when he no longer was allowed to do so. Plus he was scared to do so.

And so, to this day neither of us can tolerate smelling second-hand smoke. I am so glad that the majority of the restaurants in our area are smoke-free. It's a nasty, smelly and very expensive habit. One that I am certainly glad I gave up cold turkey.

Hello 2008 ~ I Thought You'd Never Get Here