Happy Birthday to me

Every year i feel differently about my birthday.  Sometimes I just want to forget it's happening.  Some years I want to celebrate and have fun.  This year I just wanted to celebrate with my family and have a fun night.  When I saw that SnowGlobe was opening up at 785 Brewing company a few days before my birthday, I knew we had to go.  Christmas is one of my most favorite holidays since having Andrew and I love these Christmas pop ups.  I've been trying not to play Christmas music and go wild, but the urge is taking over!  

We had so much fun at Snowglobe!  Yes, it looked like Christmas threw up in there, but it was magical and wonderful, and we loved it.  Seeing Andrew have a big smile on his face all night made my day the best.   Back up. Started the day out with roses delivered to my work by one of my good friends Ali that came from my hubby.  We had a big joke at work because the card wasn't signed and we laughed and said it was an admirer.  

One of my coworkers bought me some awesome gifts including a lab themed coloring book, a glass that was all about beer, and a beautiful bracelet.   She knows me well!

Tony had me a gift and some chocolate at home and funny thing, I came down wearing the sweatshirt he had just bought me that I still hadn't opened!  Luckily Tony bought it locally, so I was able to quickly return it and get another equally as cute shirt.  

Back to Snowglobe.  Andrew got a really good kid's drink called the Grinch.  It was 5 bucks a pop but again, seeing a giant smile on his face made it ALL worth it!  That's the fun and the rub with these Christmas pop ups.  They are so much fun but boy are they expensive.  Again, totally worth it to see the smile on my kid's face.  Best birthday present EVER! 

Tony had the peppermint shot and I had three amazing beers including a Chai beer, a spiced ESB, and a dark amber Mexican lager.  

I have always loved their food and while they had some themed food, I stuck to what I knew, the Alabama white sauce chicken wings.  I can't wait to go back as they have three areas of the restaurant that all has different menus.  We found out about the different rooms when they passed by with a smore's plate and we couldn't order one because we weren't in the gingerbread house LOL!  I hope we get to go back and try the gingerbread house as the menu looked really, really good and different.  

This week wasn't just about my birthday, it was also about Andrew's first Junior High PIN!  Andrew has been such a different kid this year in wrestling and while we still have a long way to go, I am loving what I am seeing.  He still isn't wrestling varsity yet, but that is okay.  I think next year will be his year!  Our team had 3 duals all in one night, and we won all three very convincingly.  We have a very complete and competitive team from top to bottom.  It is SO fun to watch them and cheer them on.  We've been together since they were all 4 and 5 and it's fun to see them continue on their journey from kid's club to school.  I am praying for an NCKL title this year, as we have been so close in previous years!  I love that Roger got numerous pictures including one of us grinning from ear to ear.  

I'm just so happy that my kiddo who has worked hard for years in sports and his activities is finally seeing his hard work pay off.  I've been telling him it's coming, and I believed it and now he is believing it.  It's a cool thing to see.  

I did manage 3 runs this week and it felt really good, even if they were all back-to-back.  Doing lower milage allows me to do that though.  I did manage one run with both of them and while the pretty much acted stupid and pulled me the entire time, I was glad to get boom out.  Come snow and ice time, I won't be able to take ollie for sure since she pulls.  We need to get as much running now as we can.  I did do a video on my blog page on FB talking about my favorite things so you can hit those black Friday sales.  

Have a great week y'all!

Go Ginger Racer GO!

No work out classes and only two runs this week, but one long run with both dogs.  I did have a better frame of mind but still have lots of questions like how and why.  I also feel like I have entered a season of rest.   It's weird to go from someone who never sat still to someone who loves the stillness.  I've been really loving a cup of coffee, a warm fuzzy blanket, and sweatpants lately.  I guess we all have seasons of life that we cling to at certain times.  I'm clinging hard to family, slowing down, and no guilt, even if it means a little weight gain. 

 

We had another dual this week and Andrew went 0-2. I am fine with it because he tried to take shots on both kids and while it almost worked out both times, he was too slow, and the other kid capitalized.  Again, don't care about the W or the L as long as he is trying, and I'm seeing lots of try.  I'm excited to see some success this year even if it's small.  I know i sound like a broken record but I am all about trying your hardest, whatever that might look like.

We had our end of year banquet for our track club over in Lawrence.  Last year we tried having it at a hotel so that families could just stay the night, and their kids could have fun swimming and dancing the night away.  It's a considerable cost to the club BUT this is about the kids, so their fun is what is most important.    I am so lucky that our neighbor could take care of the dogs for one night and morning so we could get away.  Just as a short synopsis, we run 15 races, take the best 10 and use that for final points tallies.  The kids get giant cool trophies for points and if they flip, they get flip awards.  We usually have bags to hand out that have candy and goodies, raffles for cool gas tanks, and shirts/sweatshirts.  The food is always good and the Dj plays fun dance to songs.  Andrew had locked into a 2nd place for Heavy Honda and a third place for Heavy 160 by 13 points to his good buddy and teammate Noah.  

The most special part of the whole night was the award Andrew received next.  The club had a period of time to nominate both a volunteer that they thought should win an award as well as the most improved driver.  The most improved driver award is named after Jerry Renchler, our beloved board member we lost last year suddenly.  If you've read any of my blogs you know what he meant to me.  If you haven't read them briefly, he was a mentor and a wonderful friend.  I could always count on him to be there for me and my family.  He was one of the first ones to come visit Tony in the hospital with his wife along with Lindsey and Kerry.  He loved our club and helped build our current track.  He worked tirelessly to make our club a safe and fun place for our kids to drive at.  When he passed unexpectedly, we knew as a board we wanted to do something for he and his family that would last a lifetime.  Brian our president came up with a great way to honor him by having a plaque in the tower with each recipient's name on it as well as letting them have a trophy to take home.  

Since I am on the board, I knew weeks ago he was nominated and that the board unanimously voted him as most improved.  I recused myself since he was my child, and I didn't want anyone to claim favoritism.  I had to keep a big secret and boy was it hard!  Andrew had somehow seen the plaque out and saw his name, but didn't' see the title of the award.  He was so surprised when his name got called and his buddy Shake and Bake got to hand him the award!  I didn't want to seem obvious about him getting the award, so I didn't get any pictures of him from the front :( I am hoping someone did, but no one has come forth yet with them.  

We had a ton of fun dancing the night away and watching football with some yummy beers.  They had all boulevard beers on tap including one of my favorites, nutcracker ale.  I never felt drunk but had some great conversations with lots of people that was truly genuine.  I love that for the most part, most of the people in the club have set their differences aside for the kids and are embracing a great family atmosphere.    

I will end on this thought.  We've had an amazing year of growth.  I hope it continues next year because let's all be honest, podiums are fun and trophies are fun!  We currently have four cars that if he can fit, we can drive.  We will probably just do 3 for cost sake.  We are going to have quite the heavy 160 class next year as we have several moving up to heavy.  We also will add some to heavy Honda and are going to bring back the unrestricted animal class.  We are hoping and praying the clash happens again as we really enjoyed traveling to the various tracks in our region.  We have heard there might be a series with Tulsa and now that Andrew loves that track as well, we are there for that!  NASCAR youth is going to have a race at our track as well so we will dip our toes into the national circuit so wish us luck.  Onward ginger racer!

Have a great week y'all!

Tulsa!

To quote Jelly Rolly, "I'm not okay."  I will grieve, I will pick myself up, and I will fight the good fight.  My new favorite saying is, "I'm not surprised, just disappointed." 

We had an uber busy week of wrestling and racing.  I did get three runs (yeah me) but no work out classes.  With wrestling being on both Tuesdays and Thursdays, I may have to take some time off. I hate that, I love the gains I have found taking classes.  I can't wait till life slows down and I can get back to working out with weights in a class format.  If anyone wants to start a weights class in Wamego or a cross fit class, I would be down ;)

Little red had two duals and a tourny for Wamego Middle school.  He is loving the dual format even though he got beat out for his position.  I love that it is fair, you either win or you don't and that is who gets the spot.  Andrew got to wrestle for exhibition and got to go against a giant 8th grader and almost lasted a whole minute with a great fight put in.  He also had a tourny in Manhattan and went 0-2, but again, he fought hard and actually tried to get a shot in again on a HUGE kid.  I am amazed at how old the older kids look.  Even my mom was like, oh you have high school kids wrestling too?!  Puberty is a big thing in middle school, and it hits all of them at different times.  I am hoping we get a growth spurt with the way he is eating, very soon.   One of the coaches talked about fake it to you make it, walk out with a chip on your shoulder and just go for it and he FINALLY after 8 years listened, went out with a big grin on his face and tried his hardest.  Keep going ginger racer!

The boys also went to Tulsa to race one of their points races.  Andrew had a little success when he was in junior Honda and junior animal years ago, but also some not great times (Saw a fist fight in the parking lot, watched people scream bloody murder at each other, had weird creepy guys drive through the parking lot and ask questions to drivers who are all kids).  Much of our club decided to go down and while I was stuck at home thanks to the dogs, our families that were there did live feeds and kept us informed of what was going on.  I don't want this season to end, but I do.  It's so bittersweet. It's been our best season of our 6-year career, and I really don't want this feeling to end.  We will have probably 2 different cars next year due to him growing, so who knows how it will go.  I am still praying he will fit in at least one of his cars he races this year, but we shall see.  It will really depend on how much he grows this season.  I would also LOVE to get him into a dirt car over the winter so we can start building his confidence in that.  We will have to transition at some point as he outgrows quarter midgets.  

Since the boys went down on race day leaving here around 5 am, they didn't get much practice time.  

Andrew went out and drove his heart out.  He got two third places in the heats which allowed him to have a wonderful starting position, and he ended up with a second in heavy 160 and a 3rd in heavy Honda after a BIG wreck.  I really thought he was done as the car was toast and he was hurt, but he sucked it up and the dads got the car back on the track for him to make two passes that were amazing to get that podium.  I am SO very proud of this kiddo and the grit he has found this year.   

While I am super sad, I didn't get to go, I am bursting at the seams at how ALL of the TKQMA drivers did in Tulsa.  We had many podium winners including Ash, Jaxson, Brinnley and Oliver.  Plus, we had several great performances from kids that came back from wrecks that should have ended their nights.  

Have a great week y'all!  I'm going to stay on cloud nine for a little bit with my kiddo before coming back to reality.  

Rain rain, go away!

It's been a busy week with no running and not a ton of working out. I had one really good work out class on Tuesday that left me sore all week, but no running.  The dogs are beginning to hate me.  

Life is super busy right now with racing and now wrestling and I am one tired momma.  My motivation to sleep is at an all-time high and my motivation to run is at an all-time low.  Just being brutally honest here.  Tony and I are both going to be traveling for work these next few months and running may just have to take a backseat.   We have wrestling on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  I thought we just wrestled in duals once a week, but looks like we go to tournaments too.  Oh well.  

Halloween.  Sigh. Holidays in the middle of the week are bleh.  Andrew went trick or treating with his buddy Cole like he did last year.  They had a great haul going to some super nice neighborhoods in Wamego.  He had fun and of course was wide awake till almost midnight thanks to the sugar.  We stayed at home and handed out candy to a record 107 trick or treaters!  The older I get, the more I love seeing the little ones in their costumes.  We had a giant blow up ghostbusters car that played the theme song over and over again and to see those kids have dance parties to the music was precious.  We decided we need to go bigger next year and get more since the kids loved them so much.  We have the perfect corner lot to display those for all to see.  

Ollie stayed on the porch with us and handed out candy and did a wonderful job.  TO be so psycho at times, she has some really great qualities as well.  She is very gentle and kind with kids and also a wonderful reader of dog body language.  She befriended and older dog at the track that HATES all other dogs and now they are in love.

)

My work mates understood the assignment.  We all had variations of costumes that allowed us to still do science but have fun.  Of course we had to have a picture with Louisa.  Work even had bingo for the day with prizes which is always a fun thing for our company to do.  

I will end on racing.  We had a big weekend of the pumpkin race and the 100 lap shoot out with all kinds of fun things to go with it including trick or treating, chili cook off, and trailer decorating.  Mother nature decided to change all of our plans and rain all weekend.  We saw that there was to be a small opening on Sunday, so we changed the format to just racing the two 100 lap races and the rookie races.  This provides a huge challenge because if you guess your set up wrong, you are screwed because you don't have a heat race to tell you information to get your car right.  We didn't get any practice, so we just sent it and we guessed wrong.  While he got fourth and passed lots of cars and lapped several kids, we had hoped for a podium, and he was disappointed in his finish.  I told him he did great for what we gave him so he should be proud.  He's had such an amazing season, and I want to end it on a high.  Here are a few pictures that the photographer got.  LOVE THEM!

This picture is everything to me.  A year ago, we were in the hospital having brain surgery.  And I say we but i mean this man.  A year later, you can't even tell.  Just a blip on the radar.  He is thriving and improving and taking control of his health. I am so proud of him!

Have a great week y'all!