Demolition Derby Fun

We had a lot of fun at the demolition derby, only the second time I've ever gone to one. My brothers have been preparing and racing in them for years now, but we were never in town at the right time until this past June.
Needless to say, the kids had a BLAST! And it was quite entertaining for the rest of us, as well. Didn't hurt that our brothers and some of their friends on the same team won several spots in the various heats for this derby:

Best Paint Job: Keith, driving the Support Our Troups 4-cylinder car
3rd Place, 4-cylinder: Keith
2nd Place trucks: Spanky (Kevin)
3rd Place Trucks: David

Charles and Rose

Christopher sitting on top of Spanky's truck

David taking pics of people taking pics of the trucks, at the gas station

Nick, Christopher and Tristian on Spanky's truck

Mom's station wagon. still not personally reconciled with the fact that her car is in the derby, but it's ok. her car, Betsy, has not yet won a derby when I was sure it would on Sat. maybe next time.

one of Country and Spanky's vehicles, a 4-cylinder

the Skool Bus, placed 3rd this time, and was driven by David
this thing has been in 13 or 14 prior derbies and should really be renamed the Energizer Bunny, since it just won't quit! check out the helmets in the passenger "seats", they are all the team names of their derby competitors...ha ha ha!

Keith drove this one, a 4-cylinder, called Support Our Troops. it placed 3rd in that category, and also won Best Paint Job! not visible here, but once at the derby, many of the spectators signed the car, including a group of special Navy enlisted guests. there must be politics in just about everything in life, but the judge was biased to the PacMan car (perhaps because he used to drive for them), and actually tried to narrow the vote down to two other cars and excluding this one. but the crowd yelled the car number and voted this one the best paint job, so he had to concede. all done up, it did come out really nice, this picture is incomplete.

here are some pics of the derby in action. our camera needs an upgrade/replacement, doesn't take action shots well. and, then ran out of battery juice in mid-derby, so there are only a few below:

my brothers, Charles, Keith, in-law Victor, and Darryl
it was good to get to see them all together again
(we missed you, James)

well, if you have never been to a derby, I'd say you might want to give it a whirl! it was a lot of (not so clean) good fun, and no one really got hurt. one of the guys, Spanky, was hit head on unnecessarily by a guy who probably needs an attitude adjustment. the other guy had already won the derby, and had to make one more hard hit after the fact. I think that caused a little extra soreness for Spanky, but all the other guys said they were feeling fine after the derby.

there were several heats, starting with the larger cars, which is where Mom's car was entered. next was the derby for the teens, where a teen can drive but has an adult assisting in the vehicle. none of the vehicles are allowed to make direct hits to the drivers doors, ever, and this heat included the passengers doors. then, the 4-cylinder cars were up after that. I have to say, this was my favorite one. it looked like a bunch of beetles buzzing all around the derby area, going fast, backing up, rushing forward, spinning around! Keith placed 3rd in the one, and the two final cars just wouldn't stop! both of them had back tire trouble, where one of them had the tire axle sticking out on the left, past the car, and the tire eventually finally laid horizontal under the car. we think this helped the car stay in the heat, but we are sure the driver had no idea how bad it was. the other finalist also had tire troubles. both of his back tires were angled out, where the left one was at a 45-degree angle to the left, and the right one was at a 45-degree angle to the right. eventually, I think the rubber on his left tire finally came off entirely. but, that was the least of his troubles. he should have been more concerned that his entire engine was ON FIRE during the final 10 minutes of the heat. even with tire trouble and fire, these two cars kept on buzzing around the pit, and smashing and hitting and refusing to quit. the on-fire car finally quit, taking 2nd place, giving the tire-runner the 1st place. once they both quit moving, the 1st place car ALSO caught on fire, quite a dramatic ending to a race that had everyone in the stands laughing their heads off. the kids were jumping up and down, shouting and pointing. Christopher didn't know what to think, his eyes showing his surprise and excitement, all the while pulling him into the world of derbies for life!

afterwards, we all packed up while the guys loaded up the now more smashed up vehicles onto the various trailers. and, we headed for their usual: I-HOP. I think there were about 45 of us this time that went to IHOP, and since the derby got a late start, several of the kids fell asleep soon after we got there, including Christopher. this upset him in the morning, because he was determined to stay awake this time. good thing we brought his Smiley Face Pancake home with us! perhaps the funniest of this part is that one of my younger cousins, Ashley, showed up in the room across from us with her new fiance and 4 of their friends. once she realized we were all in the room next to her, the expression on her face was priceless. she came over and said, "ok, I just had to tell my friends I had to come over here because 'All of that room over there is full of my relatives!'" I had the opportunity to meet Jermaine about 2 weeks ago, so it was even more fun for me that he could meet massive quantities of relatives all in one sitting. it's just one of the hazards of being from a large family in a small town, everyone knows everyone. it doesn't help his cause that he also comes from a large county family, as well!

as for the derbies...
looking forward to the next ones! June 2010 and September 2010

Reminder, it's just a temporary inconvenience

We go thru the days, and some are easier than others. I just want to be comfortable, for my family to be comfortable, to get a chance to enjoy the little things in life. Of course, we do that anyway, but I'd like it with a few less spiders and creepy crawlies on me at night. So, we live in the woods, so what would we have expected? No, not "literally" in the woods, but the apartment is at the bottom half of a house, that overlooks a reservoir/protected lands, so it's very, very quiet, very green, very nature-friendly. No sounds of traffic, no onslaught of noisy sirens and screaming idiots like we were becoming used to in NJ, and certainly a lot safer than we've known in a long time. You can actually walk around at night with no worries from other humans. Just have to be on the lookout for foxes and other wildlife. In fact, I saw a beautiful fox just the other day, running across the road in front of me. The day before that, I saw a turtle that had just finished crossing over into the shoulder of the road, he was about 6-8 inches across the shell.

With the sliding doors we have in all three of the rooms we are using, the spiders, daddy long legs, leaf bugs, and who knows what else...well, they think they own the dang place! They sneak in and try to crawl up on your legs and arms. There we are sitting and watching a movie or playing scrabble before turning in for the night, and then one of us realizes it's not any of the fringes on any of my clothing articles that is brushing across the legs, it a damn insect. So out comes the inspect repellent. I don't normally go around killing things, but these things need to know that there is not enough room for both them and us in this place. Fortunately, we have not seen any mice or worse yet. And we're not leaving out any bait for them, either, so that shouldn't be a problem!

Aside from that, I anticipate that we will both have jobs in the very, very near future, and we will be able to also get Christopher setup in the comfort of his own room soon, with the bunk bed we have been promising since we left the days of routine in Albuquerque, and a steady routine for the days of the week. The changes in schedules and environments has started to take its toll, and we knew that would probably happen. Our little guys does MUCH better when he has a regular routine.

Which brings us to the end of the ramblings for dealing with inconveniences and insects, and changes in routines. I remind myself each and every day that these current days of transition are MUCH better than the recent months of what turned out to be a very hellish experience, and that the disruptions and changes are only temporary. They will soon blend into a comfortable existence for us, and I'll look back over this ridiculous combination of words and be thankful that I have a good husband and son to help me keep a focus on what's important in life.

Sigh. Which reminds me also, well, I wouldn't mind a little cable tv hooked up. Now, that's another story.... we should have the cable companies (and severe limitations on what services ares available where in these outskirts) and internet services figured out by next week. Sigh, sigh...

The Whistling Milestone

Out little guy has been trying his hardest to learn how to whistle for the past couple of years. Sometimes he works on it a few days in a row, sometimes he goes for awhile between attempts. But now...he's making a whistling sound and there's no stopping him now. In the car on the way to the bus stop, I could hear the whistling, followed by a, "Mommy! Did you hear me?!" So, I did the responsible thing, I reminded him about how he can practice at recess, but not in class, and not during school time. He agreed he would pay attention.

Which reminds me...another milestone! He's also learning to tie his shoes. We've been lazy and have always gotten him the easy velcro style, which he also still has. But, now he's got his own tie up lace shoes. He had one pair last year, and he tried to tie them, but it didn't work out well. So, he's stubborn, which makes learning new skills challenging sometimes. That's about how I caught him sitting on the sofa this morning fully dressed, just trying to get his shoes on. He "tied" his shoes, which means he worked those strings, and worked those strings, until he had them all tied together and twisted around, and tucked into other parts of the shoe and laces. Very ingenious, but not gonna work for 1st grade. So, he agreed to let me show him how to tie them again, and to practice with me later.

All I can say is, wish me luck! I think he inherited some of the obsessiveness and hardheadness from his Papa!

Happy Birthday, Elaina!

...and another niece turns 18 and joins the official world of adulthood!

good luck, Sweetie, you will do fine! you have spunk, drive, intelligence, and creative solutions, not to mention the looks that will also get you many breaks.

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy 09.09.09!

There is so much to say and do and think and feel! We have been through a heck of a year, as have many others, but we choose to shift our focus to only remember the positive. Learn from the difficult, but press on to the positive.

Not enough time to write Right Now, but soon, Baby, Soon!

AND: today is Christopher's first day of 1st Grade! Woo Hoo!

Mrs. Stampers told him, "I get a Nickless every year" so we figure he should be in good hands.

Anyway, to all and everyone, have a great 09/09/09!

Don't you just love the fun dates?

Just Amazing

today, I received confirmation about a long-term relationship in my life that has been tainted with prejudice and racism towards me directly since the beginning, as in, over a time-span of decades! by someone who allegedly "accepted me as is". to show you how naive or ignorant, or both, that I have been, it never even occurred to me that these true and ugly feelings were an issue until about a month ago.

just Amazing! but, also a sense of relief now that it is out in the open. for what relationship can be based on truth when it is tainted with the ugliest of lies and offense? and how better to "let go" and, more importantly, to forgive the offender, than to see it for what it is and then let it go. truly a sense of freedom, for the invisible controlling binds that once held the relationship in a "safe" place are gone forever. "IF" -- and I might add that "if" if a very strong word here -- this relationship ever gets to a place of healing, it will never be the dysfunction that it always was before.

it's interesting, the older I get, and the more true I am to myself and to my family, the more the layers of dysfunction around me show up to challenge themselves to me before they finally either dissolve, shift, or go away. the layers of lies that try to smoother the perfect jewel of truth. I choose truth EVERY time, thank you very much!

in fact, the irony in all of this is that I don't lie. I have no reason to, never did, will not start now. those that make ugly accusations (most recently, referencing the individual above) will always try to manipulate and re-direct conversations, try to place wedges between me and the ones I love, and try to make me to be the "bad guy" when I firmly rest on my former statement: I don't lie. I don't try to hurt anyone, I certainly don't try to make anyone miserable. it is inevitably the act of living a life of falseness, avoidance, denial, illusion or just plain meanness, that creates these difficult encounters.

and now, to be free of yet one more dysfunctional aspect of life!

from www.dictionary.com:

prejudice
prej-u-dice (prej-uh-dis)
--noun
1. any unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
2. any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.
3. unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, esp. of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.
4. such attitudes considered collectively: The war against prejudice is never-ending.
5. damage or injury; detriment; a law that operated to the prejudice of the majority.
--verb
6. to affect with a prejudice, either favorable or unfavorable: His honesty and sincerity prejudiced us in his favor.
--idiom
7. without prejudice, Law. without dismissing, damaging, or otherwise affecting a legal interest or demand
Origin: 1250-1300

rac-ism
proununciation: rey-siz-uhm
-noun
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among various races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
Origin: 1865-70

and now, I will go hug and love the ones in my immediate family unit even more. THAT'S what I get up in the morning to be, a good person to these people first, and then to all others after that. nowhere in this formula is there room for racism and prejudice.

Miss Daisy

Here is Chris with Daisy. More pictures to follow, but I forgot to bring in the camera for the moment.

Christopher gets to play with a mamma dog, Miss Daisy, who has 12 puppies that we are also taking care of for about a week. What fun! He's never had the opportunity to play with 4-wk old puppies before. They still sleep a lot, but when they wake up, look out! They are ready to romp around, growl at everyone, and bark at nothing. They are so cute! Now they are discovering that if they tug on the blanket on the pen sides, the blankets come down.