Saturday, October 30, 2010
Things My Kids Say
Monday, October 25, 2010
Martinsville Speedway
So I attended my very first NASCAR event on Sunday. The weather was great and I had the opportunity to spend the day with Grand Jack.
I was amazed at the track, the people, and the sound of the cars. TV does no justice to show just how fast those cars really go.
The day started out as usual. We did leave the house by 9am. But after having to go to my office to get a soft sided cooler, then to the Cook's house to borrow a camera, and in typical Thomas fashion, Jack and I had to come back to the house because....I forgot the tickets. So we hit I-81 by 9:40.
Good drive up. Made there by 11:30. Got all of our gear together. Headphones, sunglasses, and coolers. Headed toward the track and made it 30 yards and guess what....forgot the tickets in the car. Can you see where this day is going? Made it into the chaos and the first place we went was to the vendors trailers. As I do not have a favorite driver (actually I guess it is Dale, Jr. but he doesn't drive for Budweiser anymore) we toured all of the trailers. Jack, the racing veteran, suggested I invest in a seat cushion. He told me to get the noise cancelling headphones with built in AM/FM radio the week before. GREAT INVESTMENT. So back to the vendors. I settled on a Dale Earnhardt #3 seat cushion and purchased a Wrangler hat that features Dale Sr. and Jr. Time for the race.
Got to our seats. Then I made a trip to the concession stand for a famous Martinsville Speedway hot dog. I can now say I had one. It turned out to be one of those weird, dark red hot dogs. So add in a bag of salted peanuts in the shell, nachos, and 3 hot dogs (for Jack too) and it was "green, green, green, green,"
LOUD is all I can say. I had to ask Jack, "Do you look at all the cars or do you pick one?" It is hard to watch all of them. 110 laps in and next thing I know Jack is nudging me to wake up. Yes, I fell asleep at a loud race. I do it when I watch it on tv as well. Watch the beginning, fall asleep, and wake up for the finish.
I had a great time watching the fans. They are definitely passionate about their drivers. It is a short track, so when their driver came by they stand up and scream then sit down. Then 30 seconds later they do it again. This goes for 500 laps. When Jr. took the lead the stand began to rumble with excitement. He lead for a good while. His fans would stand and scream and wave down the track. When he lost the lead they stood up and showed their support to the new leader with middle fingers.
Denny Hamlin, Richmond native, won the race. Jack told me he "owns that track." Race over and we got to see all the intoxicated fans scream at their boyfriends for not walking back with them. Others yelling because their driver lost. Fun stuff.
Got to give credit to the Martinsville and State Police. They had the traffic moving beautifully and we were back on to Rt 220 within 30 minutes. Long ride home but in the end well worth the trip. It was the first time Jack and I have done something together. We had a great time. Worn out today but definitely something I would do again.
Oh yeah. I won these tickets from Kroger by using my Kroger card. So to all who read this post, check out your receipt. You never know what you might win.
Earnhardt rules and pink hotdogs suck!!
-Thomas
I was amazed at the track, the people, and the sound of the cars. TV does no justice to show just how fast those cars really go.
The day started out as usual. We did leave the house by 9am. But after having to go to my office to get a soft sided cooler, then to the Cook's house to borrow a camera, and in typical Thomas fashion, Jack and I had to come back to the house because....I forgot the tickets. So we hit I-81 by 9:40.
Good drive up. Made there by 11:30. Got all of our gear together. Headphones, sunglasses, and coolers. Headed toward the track and made it 30 yards and guess what....forgot the tickets in the car. Can you see where this day is going? Made it into the chaos and the first place we went was to the vendors trailers. As I do not have a favorite driver (actually I guess it is Dale, Jr. but he doesn't drive for Budweiser anymore) we toured all of the trailers. Jack, the racing veteran, suggested I invest in a seat cushion. He told me to get the noise cancelling headphones with built in AM/FM radio the week before. GREAT INVESTMENT. So back to the vendors. I settled on a Dale Earnhardt #3 seat cushion and purchased a Wrangler hat that features Dale Sr. and Jr. Time for the race.
Got to our seats. Then I made a trip to the concession stand for a famous Martinsville Speedway hot dog. I can now say I had one. It turned out to be one of those weird, dark red hot dogs. So add in a bag of salted peanuts in the shell, nachos, and 3 hot dogs (for Jack too) and it was "green, green, green, green,"
LOUD is all I can say. I had to ask Jack, "Do you look at all the cars or do you pick one?" It is hard to watch all of them. 110 laps in and next thing I know Jack is nudging me to wake up. Yes, I fell asleep at a loud race. I do it when I watch it on tv as well. Watch the beginning, fall asleep, and wake up for the finish.
I had a great time watching the fans. They are definitely passionate about their drivers. It is a short track, so when their driver came by they stand up and scream then sit down. Then 30 seconds later they do it again. This goes for 500 laps. When Jr. took the lead the stand began to rumble with excitement. He lead for a good while. His fans would stand and scream and wave down the track. When he lost the lead they stood up and showed their support to the new leader with middle fingers.
Denny Hamlin, Richmond native, won the race. Jack told me he "owns that track." Race over and we got to see all the intoxicated fans scream at their boyfriends for not walking back with them. Others yelling because their driver lost. Fun stuff.
Got to give credit to the Martinsville and State Police. They had the traffic moving beautifully and we were back on to Rt 220 within 30 minutes. Long ride home but in the end well worth the trip. It was the first time Jack and I have done something together. We had a great time. Worn out today but definitely something I would do again.
Oh yeah. I won these tickets from Kroger by using my Kroger card. So to all who read this post, check out your receipt. You never know what you might win.
Earnhardt rules and pink hotdogs suck!!
-Thomas
Canning vegetables
So yesterday I decided to try my hand at canning tomatoes. We had a successful garden this year (even through the drought) and had tomatoes and peppers well into October. Therefore, now that the temperature has dropped, I decided to try to save some of that summer goodness.
Canning vegetables reminds me of my childhood. My mother and my grandmother canned vegetables including tomatoes, pickles, chow chow, etc., but I had never done it on my own. I got some pointers from my mom and my Aunt Hilda and just decided to go for it!
My dozen tomatoes resulted in two jars and I must say I was very proud of myself. I hope to pass this newly found skill on to Kate and Isabelle. And now that I have some confidence in it, I can certainly let them help me next time.
I actually have sixteen green tomatoes that I picked yesterday that I've decided to let ripen in my window sill and then I'll let the girls help me can those. I know I can use these to make chow chow, but I just don't know if I'm ready for that.
-Sheryl
Canning vegetables reminds me of my childhood. My mother and my grandmother canned vegetables including tomatoes, pickles, chow chow, etc., but I had never done it on my own. I got some pointers from my mom and my Aunt Hilda and just decided to go for it!
I actually have sixteen green tomatoes that I picked yesterday that I've decided to let ripen in my window sill and then I'll let the girls help me can those. I know I can use these to make chow chow, but I just don't know if I'm ready for that.
-Sheryl
Why are we blogging?
Thomas and I have been thinking about blogging for some time now. Primarily because we would like to record our lives, more specifically, our kid's lives. Thomas posts on Facebook quite often about "Things My Kids Say" and we constantly post photos of Kate and Isabelle, but we wanted a place on the web that is dedicated to the ups and downs of parenthood in the Wagner household. Our plan is to share this blog with our friends and family....and to have a little fun while we are at it.
So, wish us luck and enjoy!
-Sheryl & Thomas
In spite of the six thousand manuals on child raising in the bookstores, child raising is still a dark continent and no one really knows anything. You just need a lot of love and luck - and, of course, courage.
-- Bill Cosby
So, wish us luck and enjoy!
-Sheryl & Thomas
In spite of the six thousand manuals on child raising in the bookstores, child raising is still a dark continent and no one really knows anything. You just need a lot of love and luck - and, of course, courage.
-- Bill Cosby
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