191 - Super Sunday

Finished season 2 of Damages.

Finished first Sookie Stackhouse book.

Cooked for the work week ahead.

In bed during the 3rd quarter of the game.

Good night's sleep before starting the work week.

TTFN!

190 - My Roots Are Showing

My blog site address is ManySidesOfMeee, and it's that for a reason - there are many sides of me.  Theatre, music, technology and gadgets, motorcycling and sports to name a few.    Yesterday found Dad and I (and a couple of Dad's friends) heading south to Daytona to watch the ARCA race and the Bud Shootout.  I asked him when we were waiting for the race to start when we first came to a race at Daytona. 1973 Firecracker 400 is what we think was the first race we saw there.  37 years ago ... holy shit!

Following stock car racing and some motorcycle racing has just been a part of my life, all of my life.  When I was young, Dad raced off-road cars.  Mother and I were in the pits to help out.  There was one course he raced, in Tallahassee I think (could be wrong, I was under 9 years old), where my job was to shimmy up the tree and yell down at Mother when Dad was coming into the pits.  I've had the opportunity to attend races in Daytona, Atlanta and Talledaga (18th birthday).  I was there the day Dale Earnhardt was killed; and I was there when Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Daytona 500.

It was great fun to be back at the track, if cold.  There's nothing else like hearing the roar of the engines and feeling the power of their speed as they pass the grandstands.  I had fun working with the digital video camera I got during the Black Friday sales, and talking with the people sitting next to us.

The ARCA race had 6, yes SIX, women drivers, the most famous being Danika Patrick who is the first woman to win an open-wheel race.  The father and daughter sitting next to me had never been to a stock car race - they were open-wheel fans who came to see Danika.  We talked a lot as I 'educated' them on the difference between the two kinds of racing.  Ali Owens, a woman racer from Daytona, looked like she was going to have a very good showing, running 3rd late in the race, but she lost the draft, was shuffled back and then got caught up in a wreck.  Danika drove one hell of a race, IMO.  She was pushed below the double-yellow coming out of Turn 4 and shot through the tri-oval grass (right in front of us).  She hung on and kept that car from flipping or then hitting the wall.  In the late laps, she was able to move up through the field, finishing 6th.

She wanted to see how ARCA went before deciding if she was going to race next Saturday in the Nationwide series.  (ARCA feeds Nationwide, which then feeds the Sprint Cup series, the big racers.)  I haven't seen or heard yet, but really am hoping she does race next Saturday.

We had an hour or so break before the Bud Shootout, the night race.  The Bud Shootout is pretty much like an all-star race.  It's not for points, and features winners from the previous season, previous Shootout winners and previous champions.  Lots of pre-race activities, including the Zac Brown Band, the Budwiser Clydesdales, and pyrotechnics shooting up during driver introductions. 

Unfortunately, I didn't find the Shootout that exciting.  Jr. (my favorite driver) said his car was loose all night, so he couldn't get near the front.  It didn't seem the drivers were able to pass easily, so while there was a lot of 2 by 2 racing, there weren't a lot of lead changes.  Will see how the Duals are on Thursday.  The awesome thing - Mark Martin and Jr. are on the front row for the Daytona 500 next Sunday.  They'll race on Thursday, but they don't have to race for position.

Boogity, boogity, boogity!!!

Some more pics ....

Jimmy Johnson's car.  He has won the last 4 Sprint Cup championships.  This pic was zoomed from our seats at the top of the grandstands down behind the pits where they do the vehicle inspections.

Jr. (in the mostly white uniform) during driver introductions.  Again, my digital video camera with the incredible zoom.

The Budwiser Shootout drivers.

The new lighted flag stand.

189 - Two Scoops of Love

Today was a day for visiting ... both lunch and early evening.  After work, I headed over to the rehab center to spend some time with MRM.  She developed pneumonia while there and hadn't been eating much, so I figured strawberry cheesecake ice cream was in order.  Stopped at Baskin Robins to pick up 2 scoops for her.  Dinner was already finished by the time I arrived, so it was perfect time for dessert.  We chatted and caught up.  She ate 1 scoop then said she'd save the rest for later.  But, as I was getting ready to leave, she decided it was time to finish it.  I took that to be a good sign.  She's working her rehab as hard as she possibly can, but the body has its own time-clock.  Am beseeching the Universe to help her along as quickly as possible.

Lunch was with LCB, ACB and the grandparents.  I hadn't seen ACB in about a month, and let me tell you - they grow fast!  I didn't hear many words that I understood, but from what LCB says, his vocabulary is growing.  He's definately harder to entertain, though.  We were fortunate to have most of the sports end of the Ale House to ourselves.  One of the funniest parts was when a couple with a little girl, probably between 2 and 3, walked by.  ACB watched her come towards him, then whipped around to watch her walk away.  Uh huh!  That boy's lookin' already!

Time to relax on a Friday evening.  Long, busy, FUN day tomorrow.

TTFN!

188 - My Ozone Layer

About a month ago, my Motorola Q went belly up and the company gave me the VX6800 (see blog 175 - Technology).  I thought that I would do well with a phone that had a slide-out keyboard, but was I ever wrong.  After well over 2 years with the Q, I could not acclimate to having to use 2 hands to do anything. Monday night sunk the VX6800.  I was at bowling and the President of the company needed the numbers in an email I'd sent to someone else earlier that day.  No problem; I'd just forward it to him.  Nope.  The VX6800 would not let me sync my Sent folder.  So, while still at bowling, I sent a long email to my boss explaining why that phone would not work for me.  Today, I got my new HTC Ozone. 

The Ozone is basically a Blackberry clone, very similar to the Q.  In just a couple hours, I was navigating around it like I'd had it for weeks.  There's some view functions on the home screen that I actually like better than the Q.  Still have some things to setup - the Q used a Mini disk and the Ozone uses a Micro, so I need to get all of my ringtones off of the Mini to put on the Ozone.  I did have my major ringtones on my computer at work, so calls not in my address book, Mother, Dad and TAC are all identifiyable, as well as emails and text alerts.  Most of my technology is setup with specific sounds - I'm lost without them.

Still need to get a skin, which I found I can get in Tennessee Orange (WOOT!) and a snap-in belt clip, but for the most part, I feel like I'm functioning again.

Attitude?  It's better today too.  Managed to get a decent night's sleep, which did wonders.  Doesn't make the weight of stuff at work any lighter, but at least I have more resilience.

Lady Vols are televised tonight ....  Time to put on my orange sweatshirt and get Diva to give me my end of the couch!
TTFN!

187 - Lunchin' With SAM

Had a nice long lunch with SAM today.  So enjoyable to talk to a young woman who is not only intelligent and articulate, but upbeat and possitive.  We were able to chat about all the things you want to chat about backstage, but never have a long enough stretch to do so. 

It was kinda funny that we both ordered the same thing ... without any discussion before hand.  White pizza.  Al's Pizza makes a good one.  Also told her to try their BLT pizza when she had a chance.

As I've posted, I've been battling a very crappy attitude these past few days, but lunch today was a real pick-me-up.  I wasn't even offended when she said that I sounded like her mom.  It made me smile.  Why?  Because her mom did a wonderful job raising her, so I'll take it as a compliment.

A part of me wishes she weren't moving as I'd really love to see her in other shows and hopefully share a stage with her again, but understand that her life with her love is starting.  However, she'll be coming back home where hopefully there will be another lunch or dinner.

Love ya, kiddo.

TTFN!

186 - Dr. G

“The best doctor in the world is a veterinarian.

He can't ask his patients what is the matter -- he's got to just know.” 

Will Rogers

This morning, Diva had to get her shots.  Unlike Oliver, Diva loves to go to the vet.  Everyone loves on her, and she almost ignores the check up because a tech is sitting on the floor holding her in her lap and scratching her chest and rump.  Diva just eats it all up.

I count myself very fortunate to have Dr. Goricki to take care of Diva and Oliver.  I almost left Greenbriar Animal Clinic before Dr. G started working there because they're so expensive.  But the caring, practical approach she has for my furry kids ... it's worth the extra cost.  I don't think Oliver would have made it this long in his life without her research and care.

To top it off, Dr. G is a theatre lover.  She brought 14 of her family to see Into The Woods.  We have swapped NYC stories and she always wants to know what's going on in community theatre.  Thanks to Diva's appointment this morning, Dr. G may be taking her family to see Oliver.

Tonight, I'll take 2 Benadryl at bedtime for seasonal allergies, and I'll give Diva 2 Benadryl for some skin issues.  And Diva needs to lose a few pounds.  Guess she is my kid!

TTFN!

185 - Multi-Tasking

It was a pretty negative Monday.  Fought a foul mood most of the day; nothing seemed to really break through that.  Had to make a chiro appt, so I didn't get to pre-bowl.  That meant I had a choice to make - not go, which meant my team would then take 10 pins below my average for every game, or go but have another late night.  I decided to go.  That did nothing to help my foul mood.  What typically takes us 2 and a half hours to do, took us over 3 and a half.

So, my positive for Monday .... multi-tasking.  I took my monologue, my book, and notes for tap with me last night.  While sitting there waiting for my next turn to bowl, my feet were doing tap steps.  One of the women on the other team looked at me and said, "What are you doing?"  "Why, tapping; what else?!"  Read through my monologue a few times, and read a bit of my book.  I tried very hard to shake the rotten mood. 

Still trying to shake it ....

TTFN!