Here's what I've been doing lately...

I know I say I work in the BEST STAMP AND SCRAPBOOK STORE IN WESTERN NY (heck, the only stamp and scrapbook store in western NY it seems), well anyway, there is very rarely any ocular proof of this statement so I thought I'd post a mini-album I put together last weekend for Norman's cousin's daughter's bridal shower. I used a Basic Grey black chipboard shapes album and the new Basic Grey Line, .

First I have to apologize for the blurriness of the photos. Not sure what was going on there but I hope you can still get an idea what the pages looked like.

Each page was a different shape. I left a space for a picture to be put in a mat and some journaling.

Two pages were 1/2 hearts. This is the backside of one half. Here is the heart opened.

Cutting out the scallops on this page was fun - not!

As you can see, I used coordinated rub-ons and chipboard shapes along with flowers, coordinated brads and gemstones. A little ribbon finishes the tag pages.

This was the final page. It had three windows cut out of it. I just folded the paper around the frames fitted in a strip of the mat paper and then covered the backside with another sheet.

I'll take a picture, hopefully a better one, of a frame I made using Karen Lockhart stamp designs for the holidays. I brought it to work for display. I also have a little Owl mini book I made showcasing all of Alexa's Halloween costumes - very cute.

Meet the Mets, meet the Mets...

I knew that song by heart and sang it during at the beginning and end of every game as a kid. I know I talked about the Yankees - but they were and are my 'adult' team. As a kid, I was a Met fan, a fan of the hapless, clutzy, find a new way to lose each game -- Mets. They built Shea Stadium to coincide with the World's Fair of 1963 at Flushing Meadows.

As a 10 year old this was a really cool time! We went to games often and once, while the fair was still running, we had dinner at the restaurant at the fair and then walked over to the stadium to watch the game. I even think we once ate at the Diamond Club, a restaurant in the stadium that overlooked the field. That was way cool!

It was so much easier to drive into Queens from farther out on Long Island where I grew up than to trek to the South Bronx which, at the time, didn't have the best of reputations. Plus, the Mets were fun to watch even when they lost, which was often. The Yankees on the other hand were painful to watch lose.

That all changed with the 1969 season. I was in high school and the Mets were actually in contention for the pennant! I smuggled into school a small transistor radio (boy, am I dating myself!) and listened to the game between classes sometimes leaving the radio on because the Mets were up and I had to hear how the inning ended. Some of my teachers were even sympathetic to the cause, but most made me turn the radio off. Several of us had the radio on after school during Bisonette practice, much to the annoyance of our coach - frankly, we didn't care! Those days the playoff games were held in the afternoon and it was before the wild card was brought into play. But the kicker came when my Dad managed to get two tickets to the 1969 World Series. My mom was going to take the train in and take my 'little brother' Brion. I was shocked, I was horrified. I was devoted to the Mets, I deserved to go! What did my brother know - nada, nothing. Just because he was a boy he deserved to go! I lobbied, I pleaded, I begged, I whined, PULLLEEEZZZEE let me go!! I can take the train! (I had with my girlfriends). It was easy! Just get on in Massapequa Park (my hometown) change at Jamaica for the Flushing line and get off right outside the stadium!! PULLLEEEZZZEEEEE!!

Well it worked! My parents let me take Brion and we went on the train together to the World Series! I gotta tell you, the game is one big blur. I think Seaver pitched and I know they won that game but the rest I have no clue. It was the ride home that stands out in my mind. We got back on the train to go to Jamaica but instead of changing trains to take the Babylon line, we stayed on the train and ended up in Hempstead or Hicksville, not where we should have been. I screwed up big time. Not good after convincing my parents I could get to and back from the stadium with my eyes closed! I managed to get directions to the bus station and got us on a bus that was going to Massapequa. We got off in Massapequa (not Massapequa Park) because I was afraid the bus wouldn't stop at our town and I knew I could bluff my way through an excuse as to why I got off there instead of my home station.

Years later, when Norm and I were living on Long Island while he was pursuing his doctorate, we would go to Met games with friends. It was a relatively cheap evening. We'd bring dinner, tailgate and we'd go to nights they had fireworks. We'd bring cards or Yahtzee with us because it took us forever to get out of the parking lot. We'd sit there for an hour or so after the game and wait for the jam to subside.

Flash forward to 1986. I was working at Quest in New Jersey and we had two cool salesmen, Dan and Tom. Dan had one of the company TV's set up in his office and we'd watch the games in the afternoon, finding excuses to walk back and forth from his office. Then we'd camp out after work ended because these games were nail biters. I can't tell you how many times the Mets were down to their last out, or their last strike! Still, they came back. I didn't want to leave work and drive the 30 minutes back to PA for fear of what I would miss! We did that for two or three days.

Today. I don't follow the Mets anymore but I managed to catch the last game ceremony on one of the NY sports networks because they too have built a new ball park right next to the old one. No more 'Shea' now it's going to be Citi Field or something. They were introducing the 'Old Timers' but these guys weren't old to me. These men would walk out onto the field and I sat there saying to myself "I know you...OMG! Bud Harrelson!, Ed Kranepool, Ron Swoboda, Jesse Orosoco, Gary Carter, Cleon Jones, Tommy Agee, Jerry Grote, Jerry Koosman, Lee Mazzilli and 'Tom Terrific' - Tom Seaver. There were other names, some there, some not - Nolan Ryan, Gil Hodges, Casey Stengel, Yogi Berra, Willie Mays and Tug McGraw...

The Mets were my youth. I grew as they did. They were fun to watch, even when they lost. They provided me with my love for baseball today and have given me wonderful memories. Shea was no palace. It definitely didn't have the mystique that Yankee Stadium has. But it was the home of my baseball roots and I will miss it.

The Real 'Old Blue Eyes"

I know Sinatra is known as Old Blue Eyes. But Paul Newman was MY Old Blue Eyes. I came within six feet of him - TWICE!!! Both times were at racing events. Back when the Indy style race car was governed under one body called CART - I was a big fan. I even managed to cajole my husband (who at the time didn't care for racing) to go with me to the annual race held at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Basically they created a course through the roads and parking lots of Giants Stadium and what was the Brendan Byrne Arena (where the Nets play). Well, Norm put up with this for the first year. (He wasn't too thrilled when I got us there at 9:30 in the morning for a 4:00 p.m. race.)

The following year Norm couldn't go for some reason, so I asked my brother, Brion if he wanted to drive over from Long Island and go. He said sure, we agreed to meet in front of Giant Stadium at the main ticket entrance. As usual, I was there early and I wandered around the area where they park the haulers to see if I could catch a driver or two for an autograph and just see the cars. I walked over to the ticket entrance where CART had a trailer for officials and stuff and just as I was going to cross the street I noticed a Volvo station wagon parked in front with a blonde woman sitting in the front seat knitting. I did a double take and realized it was Joanne Woodward. I started getting giddily (I know, not a word - deal) excited. I wanted to go over and say hello - or something, but I was tongue tied and pretty much frozen to the spot. After a few minutes the door to the trailer opened and a man came out with one of those sloped racing caps on. You know, the kind men wear when driving a convertible, and I did another double take because he had a beard and I almost didn't recognize him. It was Paul Newman. You couldn't have blasted me out of my spot. In my head I was screaming and jumping up and down, waving my hands, calling out "Paaauuuulll". In reality, I just stood there and gave them both their privacy. I watched him get in the car, say something to his wife and drive out of my life, ahhhh...

I was still a basket case and couldn't wait for my brother to show up so I could become a babbling idiot to him - "Do you know who I just saw?? Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, Paul Newman - PAUL NEWMAN!!!!"

My brother must have been the charm because the next time I saw Paul and Joanne Newman was at the Nazareth CART race. Again, I was with Brion and one of his friends. We were walking through the garage area and a convertible was trying to navigate through the crowds. Again, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. I was much cooler this time and just gaped as they drove by, trying not to look like a total idiot.

I had seen several of his movies on TV when NBC had 'Saturday Night at the Movies' back in the late sixties, and seventies. I remember going to the movies and seeing 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' and 'The Sting' one of my favorites. I saw him with Jackie Gleason in the 'Hustler' and 'Cool Hand Luke' another one of my favorites. Lately, he was the voice of the old car in 'Cars'. But those blue eyes, oh, those blue eyes - piercing, warm, funny, seductive, charming, roguish, intelligent, soulful, and just plain gorgeous.

He was a good American, a good actor and a great human being. He bucked the Hollywood norm and lived a honest, meaningful life. He didn't just show up and give a sound bite. He put his actions and his money and power to meaningful and good use, giving back to society. Newman's Own, started on a lark - a bet between two friends has given over $175 million dollars to charity and the 'Hole in the Wall' camps, established for children with serious illnesses are two of the most public examples of his generosity.

He was a good man and will be missed by many for many reasons, but I personally will miss those wonderful blue eyes.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

Last night Norman and I said goodbye to a old and dear friend. We didn't see her as often as we used to these last fifteen years or so and that made me a little sad last night. We try to made it down to New York City to see her at least once a year but this final year I'm sorry to say we missed saying goodbye in person.

My husband was born a Yankee fan. His dad and cousins growing up in Rochester and then later in Connecticut served as the foundation of not only his love of the Yankees but of baseball. Nothing brings Norm more pleasure than announcing to us how many days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Norm was there the day they honored Mickey Mantle and placed his plaque out in Monument Park. (I remember listening to that pre-game show on the radio.)

I should have been a born Yankee fan as my dad grew up in the south Bronx, just off the Grand Concourse and sold peanuts at Yankee stadium as a boy. Harry M. Stevens - the concession company that sold us mountains of peanuts, cotton candy, soda and hot dogs - there is nothing better on this earth than a hot dog at a ball park - my dad remembered working for him.

However, I grew up a Met fan. My dad may have worked at Yankee stadium, but he wasn't a big fan of the game, my mom was :-) My dad used to get tickets for the new team that played in Flushing - the Mets. I'll tell you more about them in another post because they are also saying hello to a new home next year.

But this is more about goodbyes. I used to tease people that I had a mixed marriage. I was a Met fan married to a Yankee fan and in New York, you are either one or the other. I had very little knowledge of the Yankee's when I met Norm. What I did know were distant memories of my childhood. When I was somewhere between 6 and 9 years old my dad took me to a Yankee game. We had great seats, right along the third base line, right in the first row! A friend of my dad's even gave me an autographed ball. I think Mantle played that day but he didn't do well. What I remember the most is that after the game, they let the fans walk out on to the field and cross over the outfield and walk out under the bleachers. I thought that was really cool. My only other early memory was seeing the New York Giants play in very cold weather in Yankee Stadium. Again, my mother was the Giants fan and my dad was just the ticket broker.

Fast forward to the early and mid 70's. Here I am married to this Yankee fan who says "Who?" whenever I ask what the Met score is! We managed to live in harmony through the 70's. We even went to one of the playoff games in the Reggie Jackson, Tommy John era. Norman and one of his grad school classmates drove into the Bronx just to buy tickets and a group of us trekked into the city on a cool and blustery Friday night and had 'nose bleed' seats. Last night they talked about the stadium rocking when a crowd of 60,000 get excited. Well, I can testify to that! We shook!

I had a bit of a Met's heyday in the 80's but I was coming over to the 'dark side' after 10 years married to a Yankee fan. You can get the Yankees on the radio almost anywhere in the US. "The New York Yankee Radio Network" - it's called, so for the next ten years or so, it was all Yankees all the time. The Mets became more of a fond distant memory and a lot of them migrated over to the Yankees, Tom Seaver, Doc Gooden, David Cone and many more. I began thinking of them as Yankees not Mets. Then in the late 80's early 90's we were living in New Jersey and for Norm's birthday I got him Saturday, season tickets - 13 games. We would pack a lunch or hit the deli and drive across New Jersey on Route 80, across the GWB (George Washington Bridge) down the Major Deagan and into the parking lot under the Degan and the Metro North line. We'd cross the bridge with the flutist playing the F-Troop theme (among others) with his case lying open with a buck or two of change in it.

We'd come down the stairs to the big metal bat, cross into the stadium and walk up the ramp to the greenest, most beautiful stretch of grass you'd ever want to see. The interlocking NY right behind home plate, the arched facade in the outfield and beautiful blue sky overhead.We'd attended a number of 'Old Timers' games over the years and very early in our lives they would always introduce Mrs. Lou Gehrig and Mrs. Babe Ruth. I rarely ever got a good luck at these ladies because they didn't come down to the field. They sat up in the owner's box and received the ovation their husbands would have. Last night, God bless her, Julia Ruth Stevens, Babe Ruth's 92 year old daughter threw out the ceremonial first pitch!Norm and I celebrated two very important events at Yankee Stadium. We were at a game in the summer of 1991 and after we got to our seats I got up to go the stadium store. I had something to buy. I came back and handed Norman the bag and a card. He opened the bag and found a little Yankee's onesie. He looked a little puzzled then opened the card that had a lion on the front and the sentiment inside said "Shhhh! you don't want to wake the baby!" I had chosen Yankee stadium to tell Norm that we were pregnant.

Fast forward six years. We had arrived back from China barely a month earlier, 40 days to be precise and we were back at Yankee Stadium with Alexa and my brother and sister-in-law and nephew. I managed to get this welcome request in...

It was a surprise more for Norman than Alexa. As you can see she was a little young at the time to know exactly what was going on!In the top shot she's being held by Maggie with Norman right in front and in the shot directly above she's sitting on favorite uncle Brion's lap wondering what cousin Joe and aunt Maggie have. She wasn't hugely impressed! We did manage to take Alexa to several more games over the years and even though she won't admit now, she did have a favorite player in the mid 90's - Paul O'Neill! She even flirted with an interest in Jason Giambi, but she'd deny it vehemently now.

So last night we sat there and watched the Old Guard, Yogi, Whitey, Larsen, the middle guard, Reggie, Willie Randolph, Chambliss, Nettles, Winfield, Mattingly, O'Neill, Williams and young guard, Pettite, Posada, Mariano and Jeter say goodbye to the House that Ruth built and that we have all come to think of as our home away from home. I wasn't sad until Jeter gave his thank you to the fans. I teared up a little during that. Norman, he cried through the whole thing. The pre-game honors and the post game celebration. Like Jeter said, we will carry our memories across the street next year and the fans will still do the roll call, ask for a curtain call and buy another hot dog and toast to the memories of old and the beginning of new ones.

I'm in a rut...

I think I've been down this road before (that's why it is beginning to have a groove down the middle). I'm in a rut. Well not exactly a rut, it's more like massive indecisiveness. I have all these great ideas at night (after 12:00) of what I'm going to do the next day and the next day comes and ...nothing...I have a massive clean-up to do in the house and my scrap room in particular. I've got to call Dell about getting Alexa hooked up to the Internet because she spends her homework time on my computer! I've got laundry piling up that needs to be done, I need to take a shower and get ready for class - colored pencils, tonight and I'm still contemplating -- taking a nap ZZZZZZ!!!

I had one semi boost of energy one evening and started going through the mountain of magazines that I've accumulated and flagging the pages of layouts and cards and projects I like. We got the cutest cards and stamps in for Halloween from Memory Box and I went on line to find out how they did them because they are so cute and reminded me of Edward Gorey in their simplicity. So now I've got 4 stamps to make Halloween cards and Thanksgiving cards. Oh, did I mention that I don't send Halloween or Thanksgiving cards (I haven't sent Christmas cards out in two years) and I DON'T STAMP!!

I know it's not a requirement but a treat, but I desperately need to get a pedicure. My fingernails are in terrible shape and a manicure wouldn't hurt but my Anglo Saxon guilt complex is saying I shouldn't do any of those things until I at least do the laundry so that my poor indigent daughter has clothes to wear to school...I don't have any new photos for you but as we are still waiting on hearing about a puppy I thought I'd share my 'niece' Montana. Isn't she a sweetie!!

Well, Priss gets home in an hour so I better at least do her underwear. Gymnastics tonight so the joint will be jumping after five. Time to get up and dig that groove a little deeper.

OMG!!!

OH! MY! GOODNESS!!! What a summer, what a first week of September. Are you like me and totally overwhelmed and feel like you've lived a whole year in just the last two or three weeks? It's been a whirlwind at our house and my head is buzzing like the last lightning bugs of summer.

Where to begin?? Alexa is back to school - Oh, happy days! I know, I'm a mean mom. In my defense --- I have no defense, I'm so happy to not have to deal with the daily "Mom, I'm bored, can I have a friend over, go to the pool, have a sleep-over, go to Darien Lake, go shopping for school clothes, take a class at the store, come to work with you..." it went on and on and on...

So here's the first day of school...

Norm is such a softie. He stayed home to see Alexa off on the bus for her first day of 6th grade.

Here is my yearly new shoe photo. As you can see it's missing the shoes...well, you get new flip flops at least. If you asked Alexa, the most important part of the photo is the pedi she talked me into the night before.

We really liked this photo of her with her new Abercrombie tote getting ready to get on the bus. I'd like to say I did the happy dance and got a ton of stuff accomplished once she was on her way, but I decided to do something much more enjoyable --- I went back to bed!

We had a bit more of a peaceful time shopping for school supplies. However, (I always have a but!) WHAT A LIST!! I thought last year was bad, I could open my own Office Depot for what I had to get for this child. We moved to this house and town because of the quality of it's school district. Little did we know we needed to take out a home lone to afford the yearly school supplies! Here is a small sampling...

You will note we have everything from swimsuits to safety goggles, pencils to post-its (all 24 required packs!) Antibacterial wipes to over 20, count'em OVER 20 pocket folder in specified colors. Three, not one, not two but THREE locks and three or was it four jumbo cloth book covers at $4.99 apiece! What happened to cut up groceries bags - oh, yeah I fogot - "Is plastic OK?"

ARRRGGGGGG!!!!!!

Lastly, my parting shot is of this gorgeous looking specimen of male youth...Alexa had to take another bag of stuff to school. You had to know she used one of her multitudinous (my word, deal with it) Abercrombie shopping bags. Thus begins the 6th grade!!

I'll be back, really!

It's been a bit of a whirlwind two weeks or so since my last post. We did another road trip, this time to Connecticut to visit my father-in-law and his wife, then I had to make a quick trip to Long Island two days ago to attend the funeral of my sister-in-law's mother. Today may be another catch-up day as I have kits to make up for the class I missed, Alexa is chomping at the bit to go school shopping and she's conned her dad into taking her...(don't even want to deal with that one!)

The countdown for the start of school is on - only a torturous 11 days to go! I'm getting my dancing shoes out and polished. Mind you, I'm going to be more than broke before it's over, but what's a mom to do!

So, I'll be back with more details, hopefully pictures and hair pulling commentary (mine of course) soon. Wish me luck! (and Norman too as he's going with her today)

Vacation - Part IV

The endless summer...and I haven't even been to beach and let's not even consider me on a surfboard. Anyway...the last portion of our vacation was our annual trip back to Keuka Lake and Keuka College for Chinese Culture Weekend. As I've mentioned before, our Rochester Families with Children from China (FCC) organizes and runs a fabulous weekend of fun, camaraderie, Chinese daughters and sons (we have a great deal more than we used to!) and Chinese arts, crafts, culture and history.

Alexa has been lukewarm on this event for the past two or so years but this year she was anxious to go and to see her friend Rebecca. This is the only time all year the girls can get together in person as Rebecca lives a good three hours away.

We've had a few challenges the last two or three years in that our first group of children are starting the pre-teen and teen years. Finding activities for them to do without abandoning what we do for the younger ones has been a challenge. This year we had a DJ driven "Sock Hop" on Friday night. I'm told it was a big success - but we missed it as we came after work and didn't arrive until close to 9:00 p.m.

Another big part of the weekend is what we call the Culture Trail. We use the first and second floor of Hegeman Hall (classroom and offices) and set up stations according to a theme. This year I believe we did the Silk Road (a retread for the older girls, but new for the younger ones). The older girls had "Free Time" during this part of the weekend or many of them are CITs - Counselors in Training. Alexa was not interested in being a CIT last year when the program was formed but she expressed an interest this year to do it next year. Our parents do a wonderful job! Here is a prop designed to be a Chinese fishing boat. At each station the kids get a little history/fact background and do a little craft or activity. They get a sticker that they've completed the stop and go to the next. At the end of trail they get a bigger gift. They year they got a nice red canvas tote and a really cute stuffed panda bear! The Bradley-Donnelly family live near Keuka in Penn Yan and they have a large barn on their property and they are kind enough to not only store our props but they make many of them. This boat was just awesome!

We also had the mountains (above) the plains and a walk across the great wall!

As we live so far away, we only do this one event with FCC. However, I've taken it upon myself to do a scrapbook page each year for the past four to five years. This year I had a new design team member - Alexa! She designed the page you see and helped tremendously in getting all the letters cut, bagged and the kits assembled because I had to work on Friday. We put together 85 kits!

One of the themes of the weekend was Famous Chinese Americans. Alexa designed a 'Facts About Me/Just Imagine..." page. Each of the circles with the picture on it is attached to the page with a brad. Just swivel the picture circle aside and you will see facts about the person underneath. We used Yo-Yo Ma, Michelle Kwan, I.M. Pei and Amy Tan. The kids could put a picture of themselves on the mat provided and then fill in the questions on the bottom with facts about them, favorite food, favorite sport, favorite person, etc. and what I want to be when I grow up.

Because I had to work, I 'contracted' out the job of finishing the kit ingredients and packing for the weekend to Alexa! She had a specific list of things to do and a pre-set, agreed upon price for accomplishing this list with a bonus clause for work above and beyond what was contracted. Needless to say, with the money incentive -- she got the bonus!

The page went over very, very well. I gave complete props to Alexa for her design and to Dove of the East, a paper company that specializes in culturally themed scrapbook papers for giving me the papers at a wholesale price. Here are some of our girls and families working on their pages.

As you can see, we not only have Moms helping out but we have Dads helping out too! That is what I love the most about this group. Our Dads are just as hands on with our girls and boys as Moms are! The page may seem a little simple but my challenge this year was to make a page that could be a complete 'take away'. The page had to be simple enough for totally non-scrapbookers to do with minimal tools (glue sticks and kids scissors) to something that could be taken away by the older kids and done at home again, with only minimal supplies. I enclosed an instruction sheet in each kit with a picture of the final page as a reference. I think next year I'll probably have the same kind of challenge. I'm already thinking about what I can do!
Here are all our girls and boys on the steps inside the newly renovated Ball Hall. (Alexa is in the top row all the way on left with the turquoise top). We ask the kids to dress in Chinese clothes if they have them and want to. Alexa usually balks at this but this year she was willing but we didn't have anything that fit her anymore. Norm will have a shopping list the next time he goes to China! We usually use the horseshoe sitting area in the back of Ball but the weather was not our friend this year. We had to squeeze ourselves in a very little area. We had a total of 51 families registered with 89 kids! WOW!!

This marks the end of the Muir Family Summer 2008 Vacation Tour. Do I get a T-shirt with the tour dates and locations on the back? School starts in approximately 3 weeks. Next, school shopping!! Can't wait...

Vacation - Part III

I'm getting to old for this! I thought we were going to have a quiet, boring, "There's nothing to do Mom!" summer. We haven't stopped since school let out. Vacation part II was a couples only affair. Norm and I went to Indianapolis to see NASCAR's Brickyard 400. We had been to the Indianapolis Speedway before, 15 years ago to see the Indianapolis 500. You and 250,000 of your closest friends - major league fun!

This year Norm's boss sold us his tickets (he goes every year) and we flew into Louisville, KY on the Friday before the race. We lived in Kentucky for three years before moving back to NY and I really enjoyed it there. We got to lounge around on Friday and Saturday and then drove up to Indy on Sunday. We used my new favorite bit of technology, the Garmin.

We used it in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana. I just love this thing! Normally I'm a map girl but this little toy is so much fun to use and didn't steer us wrong once. In Kentucky we went to the Louisville Slugger museum and Norm ordered his own personalized, signature bat

This isn't it, a little small don't you think? The real one will be coming in the mail in a few weeks. Norm is standing at the base of a bat that is outside the factory and as tall as the building.

Just down the street there were these delightful red penguins atop a downtown hotel. The chandelier was outside the hotel also.

We headed up to Indy on Sunday. We intended to get some sandwiches and drinks and fill a couple of ziplock freezer bags with ice from the hotel so we wouldn't have to fight the crowds during the race. We forgot that Kentucky has different blue laws than NY does. Businesses don't open until 11:00 a.m. or noon. So we ended up with nothing. Not a problem except that we parked about a mile away from the raceway in a church parking lot and walked to the speedway. Once there we found that we had another mile and half walk around the outside of the speedway to the short chute between turns three and four to get to our seats. I'll try and give you an idea of the crowds...

People for a mile and more from the Speedway sell space on their lawns, driveways, whatever to people coming in for the race. Yards are decorated. They sell water bottles, ear plugs they have grills going and banners and flags of their favorite drivers flying. It's like a parade walking to the Speedway.

Once inside and as you approach the gates there are vendors everywhere. From the semi-truck size driver based souvenirs, to the official Speedway gift shop kiosks and the food vendors.As you walk around the Speedway, there are these big banners hanging from the stands. They show famous milestones of the Speedway. This next one is for all you oldsters who remember Andy Granitelli. He owned the car the year Mario Andretti won the 500. His suit is covered with the sponsor's logo, STP.

Once inside we found our seat, which continued our tradition of sitting in nosebleed land - we were the top row, the third and fourth seats from the end of the row. This was - good because we could see more than anyone else. Bad, because they were impossible to get out of if you wanted to get something. Good, because it was 85+ degrees and we had a wire fence to our back with a breeze!

We had a large screen in front of us so we could see the front stretch and the cars when they were in turn one and two. At the end of the national anthem they released the balloons from the start finish line. I tried to zoom this shot but I hope it still gives you an idea of how far away that was from us - a good mile.

Here the cars are coming around during one of the pace laps and in the next photo the race has begun.I wanted to get a photo of my man, Smoke - Tony Stewart, but let me tell you, it was hard at the speed these guys go around. I was able to get this shot because THIS WAS THE WORST RACE I'VE EVER SEEN OR BEEN TO!

Now, don't get me wrong, I loved going to the race, but the race itself was awful! Apparently, the tires they had for the cars would only go about 8-10 laps(20-30 miles) and then need replacing. This was a 400 mile race! Finally, we heard through the people with earphones and radios that Goodyear was bringing the tires it had set aside for the Pocono race the following week because they were going to run out of tires and were trying to get a longer lasting tire in hopes of actually having a real race!

It was a race of yellow flags and caution laps interrupted with the occasional green flag racing! Jimmy Johnson won and our man Tony finished well behind in 23rd.

Well, that's about it for chapter III. One more chapter to go - Chinese Culture Camp!