Are we having fun yet?

This will be another get your drink and snack post.... see you back in a minute....

Let me see . . . I have to catch up here. I am a little dizzy from all that is going on lately.
Mom said it perfectly yesterday when I was showing signs of wear and tear . . . "A body wasn't made to be in so many different time zones".
Since May 24th I have been to Las Vegas, Columbus, Burbank, Detroit and Phoenix. In that order - you think I would have planned it better. Along with jet setting across the country these past 5 weeks I have been transitioning into my new job, training my replacement, preparing my home to put on the market, enjoying time with my sister and brother-in-law, to an Indy race, hosting a mini HS reunion and doing my day job. It has certainly been a whirlwind and I am ready for some calm.

So... HS reunion was June 15th. Wes invited a few people over for an early lunch that Sunday. Junie, Mary, Melissa and Jocelyn showed up for some food and I am sure some laughs when the yearbooks were dusted off (I had to leave for Detroit before the yearbook fun). Mary, Junie, Melissa and I met for brunch the 14th at Craft in Dallas. OMG! Yummy yummy food. Then we went shopping at Northpark. It was a relaxing afternoon. I hope this becomes something we can do more often . . . although I will have to get a gym membership and a second job - it will be well worth it!

Central HS revisited.
Junie, Mary, Kelly, Wes
Jocelyn & Melissa
Photo courtesy of the brilliant L!

Kelly & Mary at Craft for Brunch

Junie, Mary & Melissa at Craft for Dinner
I missed this and the trip they got to take through the kitchen...

Junie and Mary were two of my best friends in my younger years. Junie and I met in 8th grade. I had just moved to San Angelo, TX from Crete, Greece and Junie was one of the first people I met. We spent Summers in the pool for fun and then in HS school all year in the pool for competition. Mary and I met in high school and spent our time shopping and dreaming of our futures. The last time I saw Mary was in San Antonio and I was pregnant with L.

I am not sure how this happens, but we lost touch over the years We were fortunate to find each other again on the world wide web... getting together again was a brilliant idea at a perfect time . Getting to spend time with Junie and Mary, it felt was as if we had not been out of touch for so many years. I look forward to keeping the connections this go round.

I trained for my new role with Cher in Detroit the 16th and 17th - I learned more in 2 days with Cher than I could have imagined. She is an amazing teacher and incredible partner. When I returned to DFW Jason and I worked on meeting prep for our big meeting in Phoenix and I moved most of my stuff to the new office.

Keri and Eric came up for the weekend of the 20th-22nd. It is always fun and relaxing to have them around. We didn't do too much - it was perfect. I needed a "chill" weekend. We did eat a lot of food though, we always do when family is in town. Sunday I grilled a "big lunch" - dad even came over! There was a Ranger's game on - so we didn't hear much from dad, but he did eat his share of the food. We had a house full with Keri & Eric, mom & dad, L's friend S, my friend Brandall - as usual I cooked too much and we ate too much. Oh - I made peach ice cream with some peaches from dad's trees...it was scrumptious. I will need more peaches and perhaps a large freezer so I can make more next time!

Saturday with my beautiful Keri.

Um...what the butt?
Eric - good photography on your part. ;)

I discover quickly what a camera and
a hat can do to otherwise normal people...

Sissy... you funny.

Olive Garden and mind games

Monday the 23rd I left for Phoenix for our big West Zone Meeting. We stayed at the Mondrian in Scottsdale. Nice resort, a little fancy for me. The fact that I didn't get to lay out by the pool during any of the 112 degree days was a little sad, but I will get over it. The meeting was a complete success thanks to the hard work of all involved. It was great to see all of my peers and to get to interact with my new boss.

My room at the Mondrian. This is not a B&W photo...

Kelly, Angie & Sylvia at Cowboy Ciao.

Jay & Kelly after dinner.

The gang at Cowboy Ciao - Good food & great company!
Sylvia, Kelly, Mimi, Angie, Maria
Jay & Susy
(Thank you Susy for the photos!)

Angie & Susy looking fabulous after 4 days of hard work!

The beautiful Mimi

Proof that Jason works harder than I do!

The day we left Phoenix there was a huge grass fire just outside the airport. When the plane took off you couldn't see the fire, but as we ascended you could smell and taste the smoke and then we were in complete smoke blackout for a few minutes as the pilots got us up above the smoke. Thank goodness for instruments that work and pilots that know what they are doing.

Fire in Phoenix

That brings me to today . . . a perfect lazy stormy day. A good day to catch up on the blog and clear some of this clutter in my mind. I can not imagine things will continue to be so hectic. I hope for a little quiet before the storm of moving. Putting the house on the market right now is a scary proposition... it will either sell fast or sit for a while. I hope for the best and can use your thoughts and prayers as I get through the next few months. I will keep you as posted as I can on happenings around here.
Hope you are having a safe and fun Summer so far.

Indy race at TMS

Grab your Natural Light and Beef Jerky.... I fear I have made this longer than necessary (Although, if you don't mind - I will grab my Shiner and some lightly salted mixed nuts).

Saturday I went to my first ever live motor sport race - the Bombardier Learjet 550 at Texas Motor Speedway. Awesome stuff! I got to go with my friend Brandall. We have known each other since I was 16 and we lived in San Angelo. It was nice to get to go with someone that has a great understanding of the sport and the patience to help me understand. I am not sure if I needed more explaining during the race or during the Robbie Knievel stunt, but Brandall put up with me nicely. I enjoyed the experience immensely.

It was amazing. Every moment was new to me. EVEN the hot dog eating contest and Robbie Knievel jumping 20 something Hummers.... It was all part of the experience. Hard for me to decide what my favorite part was. The race was incredible, nothing like it. The people watching . . . OH! The people watching was something else entirely.

Ok - I will try to gather thoughts here...

If you have never been to TMS- it is a gigantic beast of a venue. Imagine it full of an incredible mix of Indy car & NASCAR fans that have been drinking since yesterday. Yeah, see why I can't decide what was more fun?

We got there somewhat early and found our seats. The pre-race entertainment was interesting to say the least. There was a hot dog eating contest that was unreal. I had not eaten dinner at this point (lucky Brandall) and was certainly not hungry after watching part and then suffering through listening to the rest of the contest. The thing is, these guys were not just eating hot dogs. They were required to eat 10 hot dog which also had BBQ beef and jalapenos piled on them. The contestants were visually shaking by the time they had stuffed three dogs down and then to watch them try to stuff 10 in there.... eeew. Only know of one guy that had to use a bucket... see, it was kinda gross. The winner won a trip to another race . . . where I presume he would be dubbed the champion and get to do it all over again. Wow, really?
It was actually more appealing than the girl that sang the pre-race song. That is a whole other story.

Then Mr. Knievel started his little jump tease.... otherwise known as a death defying jump over 21 Hummers, it was supposed to be 24, but there were high winds. I believe it took 45 minutes of showboating to get the man to risk his life for a somewhat unenthusiastic crowd. After he called "us" Dallas . . . the crowd was not as Texas Friendly as one would have hoped.
Still, an amazing feat. Brandall was kind enough to take a photo so I could have something to blog about and mom could have something to scrapbook with.

Feel the heat!
An amazing feat for Mr. Knievel against the wind!

So then we get to the good stuff. The race was about to begin, the crowd had filled in nicely.
I wanted so badly to hear a voice boom "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!". I hear "Indy car racers, start your engines." and want to boo! No time to complain though, the race was on!

It is impossible to describe the feeling, the sound, the thoughts that run through your mind when you watch these guys take off, then when they come around the track again at full speed and you break your neck trying to keep up with them. My heart was pounding!
I had watched NASCAR on TV - those guys go about 170 MPH. To see these guys zoom around the track at 214+ MPH (when not under a yellow caution flag) was incredible.

Brandall described it perfectly, he said it was terminal velocity. That it is. When asked my thoughts, I said something to the effect of "Holy Shit!". I know, always the eloquent one.

Here are some photos from the first laps - the downforce on the cars is so great, they were scraping the track and sending sparks flying going into turns 2 and 4.

Sparks fly at Turn 2

More at Turn 4

We picked who we thought would win before the race. I had to go with #3 Helio Castroneves. I had heard of him before, but had become more interested in him when he was on Dancing with the Stars. That man is funny, he can dance and it does not hurt that he is easy to look at. On top of all that, he is quite good at his sport. He is the only Indy race driver to finish top 5 in the seven races held this year. Brandall on the other hand actually picked the winner, #9 Scott Dixon. No bets were placed, so we are still friends.

Quite an experience, I would go again. What I am actually looking forward to is a chance to go to a Formula One race. To see that live, to experience that firsthand - I imagine I wouldn't have words to describe it (lucky you...).

Windblown and happy at TMS.

All in all, for something I thought I might miss due to other crazy life things going on, I had a blast. I had a great time catching up with Brandall and hanging out with 83,000 or so people.

I will update you soon on other things. . . I still need to catch my breath from these past two weeks and regain my hearing from this weekend!

Las Vegas Girls Weekend 5/24 to 5/26

How is it that 3 whirlwind days with your best friends can make you feel like you had a month long vacation?

I don't know how I would make it through life without these two beautiful women to keep me strong. We have known each other since high school and although our paths have taken us in many directions our hearts are all tied together. Susan and Gin are the voice of reason, peace and calm in my life. AND they knew me in my college years, so I must keep them very close....

Susan & Gin

Gin lives in Vegas with her husband Thomas and their beautiful children M & M. Susan lives in Hawaii with her husband Greg and their beautiful children A & K. We needed a girls weekend and thanks to Gin's location, Greg's gift of a trip to the mainland, and Helen and Wes taking on kid duty - we were able to have a three day girls weekend in Vegas.

Day 1

Susan and Gin pick me up at the airport bright and early. We headed over to the Venetian to have breakfast and wandered around the casino for a bit before we headed over to the Venetian Spa for some pampering. We were pampered and relaxed and got ready for our night on the town. We went to House of Blues at Mandalay Bay for dinner. The food was good, the service was very friendly and the company was stellar. We went up to the Foundation Room to hang out, drink mojitos and people watch. Not only can you see a lot of people here you can see A LOT of the people. Still amazed at how little the girls wear in this town.

I think Gin thought Susan and I were crazy. All of us would be talking, Gin would leave to do something and every time she came back Susan and I would be crying. I think this happened 5 times before Gin decided we could not be left alone.

Spa-tacular morning

It is always a beautiful day in Vegas.

I love these girls!

Day 2

God bless Thomas. He made coffee and he even ran out to get creamer for us. We had a leisurely breakfast and got everyone ready to go out for a day of sightseeing. We went to Mt. Charleston, ate lunch at The Lodge and drove down to Red Rock Canyon.

Beauty all around at Mt. Charleston. It was SNOWING!

More beauty at Mt. Charleston

Strike a pose at Red Rock Canyon.
As M said - "you are a tiger" . . . rawr

Sexy and sassy!
OK maybe silly.

After our busy day Gin worked her magic in the kitchen to feed us. I love to watch Gin in the kitchen and how Tom and Susan work beside her almost without speaking, to watch how in sync they all are and how our meal came together with everyone helping in their own way. It was magical. The food was incredible as always and I was in a happy blissful place sitting down to eat at Gin and Thomas' dinner table this night.

Gin got tickets to see La Reve at the Wynn. I can not describe the show, I can direct you to Google the show. I can not in words explain the beauty, athleticism and pure strength that I witnessed in watching the show.

Pre show fun

Day 3

I don't want to go home!
We wake up early and get ready to go shopping. We ate lunch at Brio and wandered around Town Center. A beautiful upscale outdoor shopping center. The weather was perfect for it. Wish we had more time. Gin and Susan took me to the airport and I was off to home.
The kids stayed up until I got home and let me smother them with hugs and kisses before they went up to bed.

I look forward to another Girls Weekend in the future. This was just what I needed at just the perfect time and I know Gin and Susan feel the same.


Thank you Gin and Thomas for your hospitality. I had an amazing weekend and hope I can return the favor in the near future.

Gin, M and Thomas at Red Rock Canyon.
Beautiful M was sleeping soundly in the car.