Okay, so here is the first of seven straight blogs as I promised. I have a lot of lot time to make up for.
When I went home to California, it took me about 16 ½ hours – without airline delays -- to get from the doorstep of my condo to the doorstep of my Grandpa’s house in Fortuna. It was a long trip and it reminds me why I don’t go back there very often. At least on the way home, my Grandpa and his wife, Lonnie, were kind enough to drive me five hours south to the Sacramento airport so I wouldn’t have to rent a car and drive alone. I didn’t want to put them to all that trouble; but my Grandpa insisted and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He dropped everything and drove me five hours. Then we stayed in the Motel 6 and he got up at 4 a.m. to drop me off at the airport. It reminds me of how he used to drive me to and from gymnastics practice nearly everyday when I was growing up. He also used to drive our truck and trailer to races day or night. I have an awesome Grandpa!
On my first day home, I went to lunch with my kindergarten teacher, Paula McHenry. I’m thankful that she has kept in contact with me. I’m also thankful to have had her as my first teacher. Because of her, my education got started off on the right foot. The world needs more teachers like her.
I was glad to spend time with my family while I was home. My sister, Kim, came up from Southern California where she attending Cal State Long Beach. Kim, my dad, my other sister, Jessica, and my two brothers did our traditional Christmas shopping trip two days before Dec. 25. We are super speed shoppers. We even made time for lunch. I took a photo of my two sisters in Applebee’s. This photo was right before an argument erupted between all of us. I still don’t know what it was about, but it almost ended our shopping trip. We managed to patch things up.
My twin brothers, Kevin and Austin, couldn’t shop with us much because they had to leave for basketball practice. They even had practice on Christmas Eve. I guess it paid off because they did really well in their game that I got to catch before I left. They are both part of the starting five and I was a proud sister watching them play. I won’t be able to go to any of there other games this season, but I’m sure they will do really well. I took a picture after the game. Kevin is on the left, Kim is in the middle, and Austin is on the right.
Something else they do really well is play Monopoly. After dinner on Christmas Day, we decided to start a family game of Monopoly. I played with my brothers, Jessica, my stepmom, Chris, and my dad. They are all pretty competitive so I think the game would have lasted for days. You can tell by the expression from my brother, Kevin, the intensity level of the game. One of the rules before the game started was that we couldn’t fight or argue. Well no one abided by that rule but we played and played and played. The clock clicked 3:30 a.m., no one could hold their eyes open, and we finally called it quits. I think they were afraid I was going to win. I had hotels on Boardwalk, Park Place and that entire block, including all the green property. It was just a matter of time before they all went down. The next day we bought the newest version of Monopoly for our rematch.
Maybe when I go back next year for Christmas we can play again. Maybe when I go back next year, I will have better presents for all them. I got my two sisters some nice necklaces, but I think everyone else’s present was kind of lame. I just got my brothers some t-shirts. Sorry guys. I’m not very good at shopping for people. Since I travel so much, I have the perfect opportunity to shop all year long and buy unique gifts from all over the country. I’m going to make more of an effort to do that this year. Although I have to admit it is difficult to find items that are authentic to the places we travel. Oftentimes the only stores I see are Target and Wal Mart, and I can buy those same items from anywhere.
Anyway, I’m rambling which you can expect a lot of for the next six days. I have been back at the Kalitta Motorsports shop for a few days now. Thankfully, everyone else is back and it’s a normal workday today. I’m ready to get back into race mode. We have a lot to do before we leave for testing in just over two weeks. I’ll talk to you about that tomorrow.