Hi everyone from Pomona, Calif., where the temperatures are mild and the days are filled with lots of sunshine and warm breezes. NOT! We are currently huddled in the trailer, the temperature is hovering right around the 50-degree mark and Mother Nature is doing her best to overcome the rain deficit for the year. I heard on the weather station this morning that by tomorrow this area may have the water tables completely replenished. Now, I know that is great news for the people in this area but if you are into NHRA drag racing this is not good news at all.

Yesterday, Bob Frey had just made the announcement for Pro Stock to head to the lanes when the first drops of water began to fall from the sky and it hasn't let up since. We keep hoping that for once the weatherman is wrong with his predictions but it hasn't looked like that so far. Oh well, I guess we will just sit here and wait to see what will happen.

Jim is up in the lounge, making calls to try to find parts to fix our broken generator as well as find parts to fix our broken engine cooler. How do these things work when you pull the rig in the shop and then not work when you get them back to the track? To say the least, it has definitely been a very interesting week - let me start from the beginning.

In Jim's last blog he was just getting ready to leave for our Vegas test session. Other than having his first tire blow out (thankfully nothing was hurt) and having to detour 500 miles out of the way to avoid all of the ice and snow that pounded the middle of the country, things went pretty well. I flew out on Thursday evening and Jim and I spent all weekend working on the car. Richard had shipped us two engines so we had lots of time to get the engine in our GXP and get things ready for our Monday test session. Our crew flew in on Sunday, and everyone was excited to finally get our season started.

The weather in Vegas was sunny and mild and absolutely perfect for testing. Our plan was to get 6 or 7 runs in on Monday and then change engines and make a few more hits on Tuesday. Well, you know the saying about "best laid plans". Nothing seemed to go right and by the end of the first day we had only made four runs and only two were to the finish line and not with the results that we were looking for. Ok, time to regroup. We stayed late into the evening, changed engines and got the car ready so that we would be able to be on the track by 9:00 am the next morning.

 This is where things got interesting. It was 7:30 in the morning and Jon and I had just unloaded the trailer and put the back door up. All of a sudden our generator on the trailer started making some really awful noises, it started smoking and Jon came running to shut it off. Not a good thing. Long story short, it was a dead player. But luckily for us, Jimbo is resourceful and by 10:00 he had rented a generator, had it delivered, rewired the cable, hooked it up and we were in business. Now it was time to warm up the engine and get down to making some runs, then get loaded up and drive to Pomona. Sounded like a good idea to me.

Well, once again, things didn't go exactly as planned; we hurt another engine, didn't get any runs and had to leave Vegas to get to Pomona. Jim really wasn't too worried about the racecar, but the engine situation could be a problem. I'm telling you when it rains it pours!

Speaking of pouring, it has been raining sideways outside for the past hour and NHRA has finally called it a day. We will all have to come back tomorrow and pray for a break in the weather and some sunny skies. So on that note, I think I will close this blog.

Oh, but before I close, I have a funny story to tell you about my airplane trip out here. You know how it is when you get on the plane, find your aisle seat and watch the people boarding wondering who would be sitting next to you. Well, I was reading my book when a Mom, her daughter and 1-year-old grandson sat beside me. Usually, I just continue reading my book and don't pay much attention to who sits beside me, but this time was different. In no time we were discussing everything from children to grandchildren and having a great time. I soon learned that my new friend Liz Edmunds had just had her new cookbook The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner published and she had a copy for me to look at.

Now, believe it or not Jim and I love to cook, as do all of my kids and I absolutely loved her new book. Every recipe in the book was very simple to follow and each one had a story behind it. I really enjoyed listening to Liz and her daughter tell the stories of the making of her book and how they actually had a food theme for every day of the week. In addition I learned that all of the pictures in the book were of her children, grandchildren and close friends. They were wonderful people with a great story to tell and I couldn't wait to go on line (www.thefoodnanny.com) and order my new copy. I'm hoping it will be at home when I get there.

So, the next time you are sitting on an airplane anticipating a boring 5 hour flight, just remember that you never know who you might be sitting next to and what interesting things they may have to share with you. If you love to cook and get a chance, check out Liz's book - I know you will love it!

Well, time to wring out the water and load up. We will check in with you next week!