So as many of you know, I come from a family of fast drivers, my husband being the fastest of the bunch. So, when a group of people from work approached me and invited me to go K1 racing with them, I couldn't resist - especially the competition component.
The only snafu in my plan was that I was on a conference call the ENTIRE experience. I still wanted to go, but unfortunately could not drive while chatting - now that would be dangerous and I just can't condone danger on the road. :)
For those of you who are unfamiliar with K1 racing, it is basically high performance Italian Go-karts. The facility that we went to boasts 100,000 sq ft with over 3000 feet for racing. Their website boasts:
K1 Karts:
Our K1 karts are electric, fully computerized for best safety. Our K1 Karts have more horsepower and torque than a gas kart without the smell of fumes.
The Track:
Professionally designed with an asphalt surface to maintain the same feeling and performance as an outdoor track.
So, a bunch of us from work decided to go. Seeing that I was on a conference call, I was the purse holder, the phone holder, the photographer and whatever else came my way. I did have to duck out to a quiet room (the bathroom - I just prayed someone didn't flush) when I needed to speak at the meeting that I was on, but I still had a lot of fun.
Everyone did very well, and Shannon even overcame her fear of the unknown. She hopped right into the seat, put the helmet on and sped away. I can't remember what the rankings were, but I am confident that someone will let me know.
Here are a few pictures of the crew:
Scott, Jim, Shannon and Theresa prepare to fulfill their need for speed
Thien and Jim practice their moves...watch out Scott...Thien looks like he's going to be a fast driver...you may need to move out of his way :)
Shannon and Me (I'm still on the conference call, but always have time for a quick picture)
Shannon showing her snarky side, while the others strategize
The boys: Thien, Jim, Scott and Andy
Can you possibly imagine what we all do for a living...notice the overwhelming presence of cell phones?
The gang: Andy, Thien, Shannon, Scott, Theresa, and Jim
Thien and Theresa
Scott - yes, THE Scott from the previous post...you know the one who REFUSES to get out of your way if you are in the fast lane going above 80mph...take a GOOD look.
Scott: Probably defending himself. Looks sweet enough, but it's always the nice ones isn't it? :)
The Race: And now it's time for action.
Racers depart...satisfied that their need for speed was filled. What a way to blow off a little steam!
About Me
- Mel
- California, United States
- I'm the wife of a firefighter, a mother of two wonderful kids and a full time employee with a crazy busy life. But hey, at least I'm not bored :)
You know that saying about a true friend? It goes something like if you were ever in jail a true friend will be the one sitting next to you in jail. Well, I think that I just found two true friends. As you all know, I got a ticket about a week ago, Josh also got a ticket and now the third member of our 3 musketeer's club (Heather) just informed me yesterday that she too got a ticket. Now all of us will be a captive audience for some police officer at traffic school.
A little history on Josh and Heather, we have been lunch buddies and friends for quite a while. We all worked together in the past and have become fast friends. So much so that we tend to do things together that we should NOT like get tickets. :)
Well, hey at least I will have some friends to keep me company (and awake) during traffic school. As for Josh and Heather, we really don't have to do EVERYTHING together guys, or we can change our luck and do something like...I don't know...win the lottery. :)
Auntie Wendy, Cousin Micah and Grammie Sue all came up today for a visit with Caiden, Dave and I. Unfortunately, Caiden is feeling under the weather (bad fever and apparently the flu - according to the doctor). He did very well considering. He even let Auntie Wendy, Cousin Micah and Grammie Sue in his Fire House - Very High honors.
Here are a few pictures of them playing in the firehouse. Notice how big it is...very roomy.
Caiden also showed his woodworking skills, while maintaining his professional firefighter role the whole time. He even lowered his voice and spoke in his manly voice when he spoke, and strutted around. I wonder who he learned that from. Of course it could not be me, because as we all know from the first post...I am NOT a firefighter in Caiden's eyes. 
The funny part is that Caiden likes to pretend that he is either talking to Dave or Papa Jim on the radio when he pretends to be a firefighter. I guess those are the only people he can talk to as they are the only firefighters. He "pretended" to speak to papa on the radio, but refused to speak to him on the phone in real life. He was too busy fighting fires with Papa in "firefighter Caiden" land to take a moment to let reality intervene. :)
For Caiden's birthday, his Aunt's Wendy and Pam (and families) bought him a Fire House Tent. As everyone pretty much knows, Caiden is OBSESSED (understatement of the year) with becoming a firefighter just like his daddy and Papa (Jim). He has very strict rules about becoming a firefighter and kindly reminds me that I am NOT a firefighter like himself, Papa and daddy. Of course being the feminist that I am, I probed my 3-year-old to see if he was saying this because I had somehow failed as a mother and he had some sexist preconceived notions of what a firefighter was. Thankfully, I was just overthinking the whole situation (I mean he IS 3)and I was not a firefighter in his eyes because I don't work at the fire house, not because I am a woman. 
Anyway, Caiden LOVES his new Fire house tent. There are rules upon entry:
The rules I have figured out thus far are:
1. You MUST be invited by Firefighter Caiden Bonney
2. A fire helmet MUST be in the Fire House at all times
3. You must not wear shoes in the Fire house
4. Dogs are NOT allowed in the fire house
5. You must not peer in the windows of the fire house without expressed permission
He likes to sleep in the Fire House, so Dave and I got the firefighter blanket that we had purchased for him at Christmas, and decided it was a go. Bad move on our part as the Fire House is located in the Play room...the play room has toys, the toys get used, Caiden gets very little sleep and in turn I get very little sleep.
The fire house is very cute and quite large.
Caiden just got his school pictures taken right around the time that he turned three...which was helpful for me because they serve two purposes: School Pictures, and 3-year-old-pictures.
They are really cute and he did a great job of smiling. Of course I bought EVERY picture they offered me. I am such a sucker! :) 
The twins came home on Saturday! I have been over there a number of times to see them already, however Caiden's first time seeing them was on Saturday. He had a great time. We went with Katie and Christy to see the twins. Caiden kept commenting on their small feet and hands. He was so good with them. 
We helped Dave and Steph fill out the baby books, and Katie even went and got her stamp book (she is a notary) so that they could get the imprints of their feet and hands...so cute. 
We went back on Monday with a few little gifts (see the onesies picture) and with Susan. Caiden was so excited. He said that he was going to give them big hugs and kisses. 
As you can see from one of the pictures, it looked like Kyle remembered me with fondness...there was even a hint of a smile. Hmm, I am a favorite already! :)
Caiden really enjoyed seeing Gigi. She is staying with Steph all week to help out until relief comes in the form of my Godmother, Karen who arrives on Friday. Reinforcements is apparently necessary when you come home with premature twins. 
So, I have always felt that it is my personal mission to keep David a bit grounded. For those of you who know him, he can be a bit...how do I say it...well, his ego can get a bit inflated and sometimes out of check. He's got enough confidence for the both of us. :) Which most of time is a good thing, however every now and then I have been known to give him a reality check
However, I think he just gave ME the reality check. He was recently informed that he will be a recipient for the 2007 Lifesaving Award, one of the three awards that are given annually to exceptional performances by a firefighter. David is one of 4 people on his crew that will be receiving this high honor for a Trench rescue that they were involved in. I remember him telling me about his trench rescue experience, but I didn't think that it would result in an award. I just thought it was just another day at the office for him. I always love hearing about his stories...his day seems so much more exciting than mine. :P
Anyway, there will be an awards ceremony and dinner in May that he will need to attend. I'm excited...Did I really marry a hero? I just wanted to write a little blurb here to publicly say that I am proud of him. He has put a lot of effort, energy and passion into his job, and it has really paid off. Congratulations Dave! I am SO proud of you!!!!!!
So I went to lunch with some people from work, and this guy and I got into a "discussion" about people who drive in the fast lane and don't move out of the way when an obviously faster driver comes upon them. He asked me not to slant this, but wanted to know YOUR point of view so I will do my best.
The Scenario:
Scott is in the red car driving 80 mph in the fast lane of the freeway (no this is not a math question, honestly if you thought that do you even KNOW me at all). The speed limit is 65 mph. Scott is clearly speeding.
Melissa is in the green car driving 95 mph in the fast lane of the freeway. The speed limit is 65 mph. Melissa drives up onto Scott's car...
Should Scott:
A) Brake really hard and flip Melissa off?
B) Move out of the fast lane to allow Melissa to drive past
C) Hold onto the steering wheel, eyes peeled to the road and hold steadfast at 80 mph?
Since I was instructed not to bias you, I will refrain from any other comments. If you want to know MY opinion, just look at my earlier posting about the driver in front of me on Ortega (picture included in that posting). :)
Romper Room at a Career Fair, who'd have thought, but that is EXACTLY what Michael Chapman and I found when we attended a Career Fair on behalf of our recruiter.
A recruiter at work asked Michael and I to attend a career fair in her place as she was unable to make it. We thought, "sure...that'd be fun", plus we got a lot of people from the last career fair and I still had to hire 2 people. To be honest the whole thing was pretty funny.
Michael had an extraordinary lack of judgment and actually let me drive his car to the career fair, as he needed to take a phone call and take notes (although I did not see a lot of note taking going on, strange...). Oddly enough, I successfully completed the task of driving us to our destination without an accident and/or a ticket. *Wipes brow theatrically*
The more entertaining part of the adventure came when we actually GOT to the career fair. First, I have to say it was out in the boonies. I mean it. It was actually by a BARN!!
We should have first sensed something was amiss when we were told to "follow the signs" by the guard in the guard shack, however the signs led us to an empty parking lot with one police car. We asked the police officer for directions (my logic: if you make friends they are LESS likely to actually give you a ticket for something). He sent us back to the guard shack that sent us back to "follow the signs". A vicious circle that had me laughing for sure. I mean, I of ALL people NEED to follow the signs, or I will NEVER get there with my sense of direction, or lack thereof.
We decided to be rebels and this time NOT follow the signs and we eventually found our destination...a barn. That's right...a barn. The career fair was in the equestrian center. Animals were not far away. We had a good chuckle then promptly loaded up the "trash cans" of goodies that we brought to set up and moseyed on into the barn.
We started to set up the "props" for our booth, which was hysterical in itself.(Just look at Michael's expression on the picture below. It says it all). We could not figure it out for the life of us. Now here we are...two members of management, both with Master's Degrees and years of experience and we were dumbfounded when it came to the stinkin' props. I was laughing so hard, and Michael continued to get frustrated and punchy. We actually had an audience of the other vendors staring at us...to be honest I think some were even pointing and laughing. We finally figured out the contraptions that the company supplied us with and were able to set them up. The next challenge was trying to figure out how to make it fit in the tiny booth that we were given...let's just say that it Michael and I were the final two contestants on a design reality show...we both would have lost. Finally, one of the career organizers felt so bad for us she came over and rescued us and instructed us how to layout the booth. 
Tired from laughing, Michael and I prepared for the Career fair to begin, when what do my wandering eyes see, but a little old lady coming right at me! The lady from the booth next to me came over to tell Michael that he needed to smile. She continued to lecture him that no one would come over to our booth if he did not smile.
It was then that she uttered the words I had longed to hear..." I used to do a show called Romper room...". That was all I needed to hear. I was star struck. "I LOVE Romper Room", I hear myself saying. Can I have a picture with you?" After that Mary Ann and I became fast friends. She proudly and graciously took a picture with each of us, gave us a signed autograph picture and even displayed her magic mirror that she had used on the show. She even sang Michael and I the song she used on the show...which now that I hear it (talks about cleaning your plate and such) brings back traumatic childhood memories of me sitting at my kitchen table with a plate of cold food in front of me because I refused to eat anymore food. My parents were big on the whole clean your plate thing. 
Mary Ann and I were pals...until she tried to get me in a bit of trouble. When one of the presenters was apparently unclear in his communication, she called me over and asked me if I could hear what was said. I had just come from the bathroom and to be frank wasn't paying attention anyway, so I said that I hadn't heard it. She then dragged me over to the main Career Fair Organizer and said, "This is Melissa with such and such company, and she couldn't hear the presentation either. It was COMPLETELY INAUDIBLE. If you want people to pay attention than you must be clear when you speak. Now try it again" (Oh Lord, I thought...now what do I do...my newfound friend is getting me in trouble here).
If you are still a bit confused let me help clarify...."and I see Michael, and Melissa, and David and all of you boys and girls out there". To put this in context, Romper Room was a show aimed at preschoolers that ran between 1954 to well into the 80's. It was a live show that was erased every night to make room for the next day's show. There was a magic mirror in which Mary Ann looks out at the kids (through the television) and calls out their names. Sigh...the good old days. :)
Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and my newfound celebrity friend and I bonded. Hmmm....never a dull moment...even when you are at a career fair.