Holidays

Okay, it's the middle of week four and I am down three and a half pounds.  That's not a lot, but to me every pound, even every half-pound is a victory and something to be celebrated, or at the very least acknowledged.

Last weekend was the Independence Day holiday weekend and I had three full days off.  That doesn't sound like a big deal to most working people, but I work two jobs so even having a full weekend is great. So, when it's three days in a row I'm excited.

It turned out to be a very boring weekend, quiet but boring.  My intrepid roommate had agreed to dog sit for some people at Church. It was nice of her, but since we share my car (long story), and since I didn't really want to make the 20-minute-drive each way with her, I was stuck at home a lot.

Being bored is one of my eating triggers. I guess it gives me something to do, to think about.  So having a ton of time and a full fridge was a bit dangerous.  I tried to keep busy. I cleaned the house and attempted to organize my bedroom.  It would take me a week to get it neat and tidy, but at least I made a start.  I also spent tons of time on the internet and did some embroidery.

Thankfully it was pretty hot out, so I didn't feel like doing a lot of cooking or baking. I stuck to eating good food and fruit and when I snacked it wasn't anything with a ton of sugar or fat.

At least on the first day.

Day two I made some brownies. And, you'll be happy to know that five days later there is still half a pan left.

My point of all of the is to say "hurray" for me.  I didn't go nuts and eat everything in sight even though I was bored and a bit depressed.  I think I even have the roommate on board a bit more. She said yesterday that my "changing my food lifestyle" is getting to her too.  She tends to pack my lunch for me. I know, I'm an adult, but I take longer to get ready in the morning and she likes having someone to nurture. In the past I would just eat what she gave me and be grateful for the food and for her effort. In the past few weeks I've started speaking up more about her more fattening choices and it's worked.  Today lunch was a spinach salad with a bit of tortilla strips and cheese.

And so in the middle of week three maybe things are truly changing for the best.

Week 2 and two pounds lighter.

I weighed myself yesterday and I'm two pounds lighter than I was last week. Yay!

I've been thinking a lot about how this is yet another "new beginning" in my life. Even this blog has seen several beginnings the fizzled after a week or two.  I don't know why.  The desires are still there.  Maybe it's life that gets in the way.

Being this heavy has put a damper a lot of the ways I enjoy myself. Going to concerts and going out to take pictures isn't as fun when you're obese. I used to be able to stand in general admission lines for hours and then stand during a concert for hours more and never felt sore or tired or in any pain. I don't know if I'll be able to do that this summer.  And I have tickets to several concerts that are general admission. YIKES!

The first concert is a month and two days from now. If I stay at this exercise/weight loss rate I'll have lost 12-14 pounds by then. While that would be great, I don't know if it will increase my stamina and lessen the pain. I'm tempted to try to sell the ticket but then that's admitting defeat already, right?  We'll see how thing go.

Another block to living my goals seems to be time and energy, both waiting of it and not having enough of it. Being obese makes things more difficult. Even the effort of walking up a flight of stairs, or getting off the couch seem too much sometimes.  Add to that the fact that I didn't know I was suffering from a B12 deficiency, and I think my energy was taking a real beating.  The regular B12 shots are helping with the desire, now I just need to find the time to move and do the things I love.

Having to work two jobs also saps my energy. When I get home from either I just want to sit and do nothing. And if I DO have energy to do something there are so many things like housekeeping, organizing, laundry, keeping in touch with family and friends, watching TV, etc that I must do or would rather do that working out comes last.

So, I'm forcing myself to go out at lunch and walk. I get an hour and if I don't have errands to run I almost always have 30 minutes left with nothing to do. So I'm going to walk.  It's not that bad, really. I put in my earbuds and listen to some music. If I make it four or five times around the building I know that's 20 minutes.

It's a start.

Holy crap.... someone I work with just send me some fruit from Edible Arrangements.

The problem is ... it's from a "Mike" but there are several I work with and both are very nice guys. Hmmmm

It's a great surprise and a nice topper to the day.

Working towards a littler me

I stepped on the scale on Monday morning expecting to have stayed around the weight I've been for a year or so only to find I've gained 11 pounds!  Needless to say I was rather shocked, saddened and then very angry with myself.

I've fought the battle of the bulge, or maybe I should say I have fought fighting the battle of the bulge, for years. I know I'm fat. I don't need a doctor or anyone else to tell me. All I have to do is look in the mirror, or walk up a flight of steps and the reality of the situation hits me like a ton of bricks (no pun intended).

And so, when I hit the 200 mark and yet was told by my doctor I have no diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, joint problems or any other problem associates with obesity, I lumbered on knowing I have a problem with my weight but shoving that idea into the furthest recesses of my mind. I had other things to deal with and being fat wasn't really near the top of the list.

That was until a couple months ago. All of a sudden I started having more aches and pains than usual. Okay, so I'm over 50 now and that's expected. But when the pain hit my knee it stopped me (literally) in my tracks. I was really worried that I would need surgery and so I headed to the doctor, this time expecting to hear something horrible. Instead the news was pretty normal. The muscle above my knee is weak and that is causing the pain. I need to get more active and lose weight.

I started doing the exercise the doctor showed me and my knee has improved. Great, now don't really have to exercise and lose weight, my knee is better, at least that's what the part of my brain that is in denial and wants to eat anything and everything wants had to say.  Then came Monday and the scale.


So after the shock and frustration and anger and shame settled in I was totally depressed. How did I let myself get this fat? I know better. I've watched my mother struggle with her weight for decades. So the why is important and in this journey I'll be trying to work on that too. But I decided on Monday that what to do next was the next step.

And so at lunch I had to walk down to the mailbox to get the company's mail. It's a short walk and I've done it a million times. But this time I decided that once I got the mail I would just keep on walking; not as in leaving, but as in walking around the building to be more active. And so I began. Monday I did one lap which equals maybe a tenth of a mile. But it was hot and I had waited until right before the end of my lunch so I didn't have time to more. Tuesday I did two laps. The came the first big hurdle. Wednesday came with 88 degrees and a lot of humidity.  Fat brain tried to talk me out of walking. 'It's too hot and muggy' she said. 'You'll get all sweaty and then have to sit at the desk stinking for the rest of the day, don't do it.'  But Wants to be Thin Meri decided to just do it. And so in the iPhone went the earbuds and on came Keith Urban and I walked. This time I made it three laps.  The same on Thursday.

I got home last night (Thursday) and started changing out of my work clothes. And there was the scale again. UGH!  Do I dare? Fat Brain said, 'don't do it, it's too soon, why bother.' But Wants to be Thin me said 'what the hell' and I stepped on.  Two pounds down from Monday.

Okay, so it's only two pounds. I know I've lost and gained that much three million times in the last thirty years.  But something feels different this time. I feel like that huge number on the scale flipped a little switch.

Now I know there will be ups and downs and I know that there will be plateaus.  That is the point of writing this all down. I want a record of how I'm feeling on this journey so maybe I can look at it and use it to push through those times.

Today I walked four laps around the building, albeit the last laps was interrupted by a friendly co-worker.

I'm also going to talk about food choices and cravings, but that's for another day.

So here it goes....... Let's work on this time being the last.

New York New York! A Day promoting Keith Urban in the city.

Deb and I had a blast yesterday. We went down to New York to promote Keith Urban's concert at Madison Square Garden on October 8.

The day started for me REALLY early at 3:30 am with a sleepy shower. We were out the door by 4:30 and headed to the train station in Stamford, CT which is only 40 miles outside New York. That's where the promoting began. We had the early morning train riders laughing on the platform as I stuck flyers everywhere I could. We handed some out to interested people and then headed into the Grand Central Station.

As soon as we arrived we went straight to Rockefeller Plaza for the taping of The Today Show. We handed out more flyers in line and met some really nice ladies from Atlanta who were in town for business. One of them said she came to New York often and was going to look into tickets for the MSG show! We also met a really nice lady from Columbus, Ohio who had seen Keith in Cincinatti. It seems Keith is popular all over.

We got a pretty good spot (or so we thought) by the Today Show barricade and waited for the show to start. We were a but worried when the crew put a table of supplies right in front of us knowing there was no way we would get on TV with that in front of us, so we decided to look for a better spot. We saw the crew setting up lights for the outside shot and positioned ourselves behind a few other people at the railing. As we held up our signs the camera man (Dave) pointed at us and motioned for us to move over a bit so he could be sure to get us on camera, and HE DID!! Deb could see on the monitor that we made it onto the show. After our 3 minutes of fame (LOL) we called Dave over to say thank you! He was very nice and we found out that his wife is a huge Keith fan. We talked a bit and he said they were definitely going to the MSG show and he even took a picture of us to show to his wife when he got home.

Next it was over to Times Square. We thought that would be a great place to maximize the flyer efforts and boy were we right. Once we got there we found out that this was the day for Broadway on Broadway, which is a huge event where a lot of the Broadway performers perform live and free for the public. It's a very popular event especially with the locals. So, after a quick breakfast to refuel we were off handing out flyers. I have a lot more respect for the people who do that every day for a living in Times Square. Its not as easy as it looks. Luckily we got a really good response from the people who would accept the flyers. Quite a few people seemed excited to see Keith was performing locally and a lot more commented on him and Nicole being at the US Open last week. LOL New Yorkers really seem to have their fingers on the pulse of what's going on.

After a while handing out flyers we decided to take another little break and we headed over to the Hershey store. Having visited the city many times in the past the store is a favorite desination and we knew that they had a live running banner that goes across over the store. Patrons can put their message on the banner and I thought that would be a fun way to get the message out there about Keith at MSG! So in the store we went. The nice clerk told me that my message "See Keith Urban at Madison Square Garden - October 8th" could be shown for 15 minutes and I could buy as many 15 minutes as I wanted. :) She also said that I could chose what times the message would show as long as the banner was on. So, I bought 60 minutes worth and picked out four different times for the message to show on the banner, the first one starting immediately. Just before I left her the clerk said she wasn't really a country music fan but she thought Keith is cute. :) We had a nice little conversation about Keith's music and his talents (other than his looks) and then it was time to go.

We headed outside to take some pictures and video of the banner and then headed off to hand out more flyers. By now the Broadway on Broadway audience was getting really big. We waded in and I was able to give out almost all of the rest of flyers to people as they waited for the next performance. Again it was fun to stop and talk to people about Keith. Most who knew who Keith is were very complimentary and it was fun to talk to others who said "who?" as I gave them a flyer.

By now it was about 1 pm and we were exhausted and hungry again so we went into the Hard Rock Cafe for a bite to eat. The waiter (JR) who brought us our food noticed the flyer and asked about Keith. He talked to us a bit and took a picture with me too.

All in all I handed out 400 flyers during the day.

Finally it was time to head home. The train was pretty packed on the way back to Stamford and so we had to share our seats with two ladies who were going home from a girl's weekend in the city. One was from South Norwalk, CT and the other from Mass. They joked with me a bit over the KU t-shirt and then seemed pretty impressed that we had spent the day promoting Keith's show.

The day ended in front of the TV where we had taped the Today Show. It was fun to see ourselves on camera and the signs looked really good!

When will it end?

Yesterday a friend and I were discussing the "Octo-mom" and the subject of privacy and the stalkerazzi came up. It steams me to no end that the stalkerazzi get away with hounding, chasing, and basically stalking everyone they want, and all for the sake of "news".

Several questions came to mind. Is it really news that woman took two children home from the hospital? Should we care? Does someone cross the line from private citizen to public figure by having a litter of children? Is there a line any longer?

So I did a little research and this is what I found...

The right of privacy is restricted to individuals who are in a place that a person would reasonably expect to be private (e.g., home, hotel room, telephone booth). There is no protection for information that either is a matter of public record or the victim voluntarily disclosed in a public place. People should be protected by privacy when they "believe that the conversation is private and can not be heard by others who are acting in an lawful manner." Am.Jur.2d Telecommunications § 209 (1974).

and then there's this. ....

• unreasonable intrusion upon the seclusion of another, for example, physical invasion of a person's home (e.g., unwanted entry, looking into windows with binoculars or camera, tapping telephone), searching wallet or purse, repeated and persistent telephone calls, obtaining financial data (e.g., bank balance) without person's consent, etc.
• appropriation of a person's name or likeness; successful assertions of this right commonly involve defendant's use of a person's name or likeness on a product label or in advertising a product or service. A similar concept is the "right of publicity" in Restatement (Third) Unfair Competition §§46-47 (1995). The distinction is that privacy protects against "injury to personal feelings", while the right of publicity protects against unauthorized commercial exploitation of a person's name or face. As a practical matter, celebrities generally sue under the right of publicity, while ordinary citizens sue under privacy.
• publication of private facts, for example, income tax data, sexual relations, personal letters, family quarrels, medical treatment, photographs of person in his/her home.
• publication that places a person in a false light, which is similar to defamation. A successful defamation action requires that the information be false. In a privacy action the information is generally true, but the information created a false impression about the plaintiff.

So if I'm reading that correctly, how DOES the stalkerazzi get away with all that they do?? Why don't people sue more often?

Yes, I understand that there are differences between how “public figures” and private citizens are treated, or there are supposed to be. Is the Octo-Mom public because she went on tv to talk about her life and children? She was being vilified in the press by even her own mother, so wasn’t it really in her best interests to tell the world her side? Plus, well since she was broke, the money she’s making from interviews and her website can really come in handy raising those poor children.

That said, did Octo-Mom give up her right to privacy by going on TV? I’m not so sure. And even if she did, does that excuse the behavior of the stalkerazzi when they followed her home and INTO HER GARAGE when she brought those children home ???? Shouldn’t those people have been arrested for at the very least trespassing? I don’t understand why no one seems to feel this is a problem. If it happened to you, wouldn’t you want those people arrested?

Everything I’ve read leads me to conclude that even though Ms. Octo-Mom has been thrust into the public eye, and even placed herself there, she has not given up her right to privacy.
I just pray that someday people start taking all of this type of behavior seriously.

Sooner or later someone is going to be killed again, just like Princess Diana, by the stalkerazzi. I wonder how many bodies its going to take for people to wake up and protect the right we all have to be left alone.

Deb and I went to Scotland for two weeks in September. It was the trip of a lifetime. You know how vacations don't always live up to the expectations and plans? Well this one did!

We started in Edinburgh

The castle is gorgeous bit "touristy". They seem to have cleaned everything up and it's not as "real" as it could be, if that makes sense. We also went to Holyrood Palace, which is the Queen's working palace when she's in Scotland. It was beautifully decorated and there were some very cool rooms. The portrait gallery had dozens of amazing portraits. That is the room they use to knight people. Behind the palace is the ruins of an Abbey, and some pristine gardens. The view is breathtaking with mountains on one side and the city on the other. We probably should have stayed another day in Edinburgh because our first day there we ended up sleeping and catching up on the time. We also had a nice lunch at the Hard Rock and I was able to get a few pins and a cool sweatshirt.

Our next stop was in Killin - we next stayed in a tiny village about 75 miles north of Edinburgh. It’s in "farm country" and there are sheep and cows everywhere. Driving was a bit of a challenge for Deb but she got used to it very quickly. We stopped on the way at a little family restaurant and found out we were only minutes away from where Ashley Judd's husband is from LOL. Our B&;B was really nice and the couple who run it were helpful and sweet. The weather had turned and we had a couple days with on and off rain, but nothing too bad. We used Killin as a base to see Stirling Castle and the William Wallace monument, even though Killin was farther away than we thought it was. There were little skits at both Stirling and Wallace Monument which really brought the places to life. I made it 1/2 way up the spiral staircase of the monument before I chickened out. William's sword is massive and they said he would have had to have been 6' 6" to use the thing. On our way home we stopped at Doune Castle which we found out was where they had filmed the Monty Python Holy Grail movie. It was much more of a ruin and seemed haunted, at least to me. We also braved our first "one-track- single lane" road to visit Rob Roy's grave. It is in a beautiful little cemetery by a church on a hill. Very pretty and serene.

Next we headed to Inverness. It’s a long winding drive from Killin to Inverness but by then Deb was really doing great at driving. The trip up is beautiful and took us by a lot of lakes (including Loch Ness). I believe this is when we stopped at Urquart Castle which is right beside Loch Ness. It’s mostly in ruins but it was very interesting. I also loved the lifesize trebuchet, which is basically the weapon they used to throw boulders at castles. It was really neat to see one up close, even if it was a reproduction. We also got our first real view of Loch Ness, which is totally gorgeous and huge. Its the largest body of fresh water in the UK.

Inverness is more of a working class city but it’s really nice. They seemed to have tried hard to develop their downtown area to be visitor friendly. Our bed and breakfast too was nice, although a little more stuffy than the first two.

The first day in Inverness we were going to go on a cruise to see dolphins but our timing was a bit off. We decided that for the money (about $50 each US) that it was a bit expensive to go out on a boat and “maybe” see some dolphins, so instead we went looking for some seals LOL. We ended up at a neat little restaurant right on the water and had a really good lunch. Afterwards I took a bunch of pictures and then we headed off to look for more places to see. We ended up back at the B&B and then had a nice Italian meal for dinner. (I think we were both getting a bit tired of tatties and sausage LOL).

Over the next few days we centered ourselves around Inverness. We went to Culloden. This is the battlefield where Bonnie Prince Charlie was finally defeated by England’s forces. It was a very spiritual place and I could really feel the ghosts there. A cool feature of the place was the stone markers many of the clans had placed around the battlefield including one from Clan Campbell. We also went to Brodie Castle, which was closed LOL and then to Cawdor Castle. Cawdor is a fully intact castle that people seem to really live in part of the year. There were family photos all over the place. They also had a gorgeous garden complete with a maze. We stopped at a shopping center for lunch one day and had some really good soup and bread and of course had a traditional McDonald’s meal in Inverness as well LOL.

On Sunday we tried to find the Mormon Church in Inverness but couldn’t so we headed off towards the Isle of Skye and our next stay. On the way we stopped at Loch Ness again to see the “Nessie” stuff. It’s a bit silly because they have this whole center about debunking the “myth” of Nessie. Honestly, I’d rather they hadn’t LOL. I would be more interested to hear the stories of the people who claim to have seen something rather than the science of why nothing that large could exist in Loch Ness. Never the less, we took a cruise on Loch Ness which was gorgeous. There was a mist hanging over the water down the loch and it was very mysterious. It was easy to see why people see a monster in the loch. We got a good view of the countryside around the loch and also of Urquart Castle from the water.

It took a while to get to Skye but it was worth the drive. The scenery there is starker and less lush than the middle of the country, but just as gorgeous. We stayed at a little inn called The Ferry Inn in the village of Uig. Like many villages in the rural parts of Scotland we saw Uig is very small but pretty. Many of the homes in Scotland are painted white. We asked someone about this and they said it was just a tradition. There are tons more sheep on Skye walking near or on the road. Add to that the fact that many of the roads on Skye are also “one track” or single lane roads and driving becomes a real adventure.

On Skye we visited Dunvegan Castle. This is the castle owned by the McLeod’s. It on a rock jutting out into … I don’t know if it’s technically the Atlantic Ocean, but it’s close. It was a beautiful castle and the gardens were gorgeous. Too bad it was raining because I would have liked to have walked through the gardens more. We did see what we think was a hedge hog running around and that was fun.

One of the features Dunvegan offers it boat trips to see the Atlantic seals which live on the small islands nearby. Even though it was raining they were still offering the trips, so we paid our 4 pounds and got on the little boat. It was an open boat which could seat maybe 10 people. There were four other adults, a small child, the pilot (named Colin) and us and it seemed pretty full. So off we went out to look at the seals. It was such fun! Colin got us really in close to the little islands the seals were on and I got some great pictures. Colin was quiet but knowledgeable and seemed to like all of the questions Deb and I were asking. We agreed afterwards it was one of the best parts of our trip.

On Skye we also visited the Skye Silver Shop. They had tons of hand-crafted silver and gold jewelry so I was very happy. My only problem was that I couldn’t afford everything I liked LOL.
We left Skye and headed to Fort William. On our way we stopped at Eilean Donan Castle. Reported to be the most photographed and beautiful castle in Scotland (don’t know who thought that up LOL) it has been used in several movies and TV series, including “Highlander”. The castle is pretty intact and has a cool bridge leading to it. Our favorite part was the cute guide who gave us lots of info in the great hall. He was charming and flirty and I could have stood there all day listening to that gorgeous voice. The castle was great and we learned a lot but the best part was it seemed very authentic and that was cool. You could truly imagine the lords and ladies and such living their lives in that beautiful place.

Our B&B in Fort William was called The Glentower Observatory. It is a pretty building original built as a true observatory, to look at the stars. It was comfortable and Kevin, the owner, was really nice. They had a cute little Scottie name Jacque. We would walk up and try to say hello to him and he would “woof” turn his back and put his tail up and walk away grumbling the whole time. It was hilarious. Our room was huge and comfortable and we had a great view of the Loch.

Our first day in Fort William was one I think we were both really looking forward to. That was the day we took our trip on the Jacobite Express steam train. This is the train they used in the Harry Potter movies and it travels over the Glenfinnan Viaduct, also used in the movies. While waiting to leave we had the pleasure of meeting three Welshmen who were visiting as well. They were very nice and took our picture in front of the train. The ride was a lot of fun. We had bought “first class” tickets. I was hoping we would sit in the same type of car as in the movies, but those were sold out, so our carriage was just as nice. We were even served tea and scones while on our way.


The train’s journey goes through some beautiful countryside and it was difficult not to take pictures out the steamy windows the whole day. After about 2 hours or so the train stops in Glenfinnan (more about this little village later) and then continues on to the seaside village of Mallaig. Mallaig is a pretty fishing village and was fun to see. I spent the time taking pictures on the dock and watching the fishermen and seagulls. Deb and I met up with the Welsh fellows again there and we had a nice time getting to know them a bit better. Then it was back onto the train for the return journey. This time the engine was on the other end of the train so our windows were less steamy and I got a cool video of us going over the viaduct.
Once back in Fort William we did some laundry and had dinner.

The next day we headed again to Glenfinnan. Glenfinnan is the site where Bonnie Prince Charlie met up with the Highlanders to make his march to Edinburgh. It is also the place of The Highlander memorial. In addition, this place has also been used quite a bit in movies and television. The Loch is the “Black Lake” in the Harry Potter movies and Glenfinnan is the place where the fictional Duncan McLeod from the Highlander TV series was born and raised. Sadly the visitor’s center was closed that day due to an electrical outage, so we decided to head back to Fort William. We stopped at a little roadside tourist trap called “Treasures of the Earth”. It was an exhibition of gemstones and minerals. They had jade and quartz and diamond etc. There were HUGE rocks full of topaz and jade and a ton of fossils as well. It was a fun little side trip. We also saw another castle ruin. We were going to head back down to the Eilean Donan area that evening but I wasn’t feeling well so we went back to the BB for an early evening.

The next day we started out at the Glenfinnan Visitor’s Center so we didn’t miss it and then headed down to Dalhousie Castle in Edinburgh for our last two nights in Scotland. By now I felt horrible. I had an ear infection (I think) which made me really dizzy and nauseous. I spent the trip to Dalhoausie under a sweatshirt lying down in the car. Poor Deb had to navigate on her own.
We did stop once to meet Hamish (a Highland bull) and then on to Dalhousie.

Dalhousie is a working, restored castle used as a hotel and spa. It is beautifully done, although we stayed in “The Lodge” because … well … we didn’t want to pay LOTS of money to stay in the castle. I felt better our first morning there and was able to take part in the Falconry lesson and demonstration we had planned. Even though the birds weren’t very cooperative that day we were able to fly two birds and hold a huge eagle. We also saw dozens of other birds up close including some gorgeous owls. That night (after a nap) we had a 5-star meal in The Dungeon Restaurant at the castle. It was such a good meal and even though I still felt bad, I was able to eat until I could barely walk.

The next day it was time to head home. We made it back to the airport in good time and even met some nice Mormon ladies on the bus LOL.

All-in-all the once-in-a-lifetime trip to Scotland was everything I wanted it to be. We saw some beautiful and gorgeous scenery, some fun animals and tons and tons of other things. We did miss a few things we had planned, but as one of our B&B hosts said, we aren’t regretting what we didn’t see, we’re reveling in what we did.

Fast cars and rednecks

I've loved sports since I can remember. It probably has something to do with my parents' football obsession, but one of the things I watched often when I finally got my own television was ABC's Wide World of Sports.

WWofS was a fantastic series. Not only did they show every sport imaginable, but they had fantastic commentary. Even if you were barely interested in the sport they were showing (boxing for example) they made it exciting and educational.

One of the sports I have always been fascinated with is auto racing, NASCAR in particular. Okay, some people don't think its a sport, but you try sitting in a REALLY hot vehicle for hours going more than 200 mph just inches away from 40 other guys doing the same thing. Racing IS a sport.

Now some people think the only people who like NASCAR are beer-guzzling red necks who only use NASCAR as an excuse to get drunk and loud. Nah... NASCAR fans come from everywhere, heck some of us don't even like beer! :)

My roommie and I have often had a discussion about what MAKES someone a redneck. Jeff Foxworthy did a lot to define the term but for me it's more than being from the country and having something on blocks in your front yard. Deb says my brother is a redneck. Well, he does like beer and he used to like NASCAR (before it got too "slick"). He drives a truck and works outside, so maybe she's right.

Either way, most of the NASCAR fans I've met have just been really, really American. They are patriotic and passionate. They are hard working and love their families. They are fiercely loyal and like to have a hell of a lot of fun.

And so I'm a casual NASCAR fan. I've never been to a race, but I watch them almost every weekend during the seasion. My favorite driver is Dale Earnhardt Jr. A lot of people are Junior fans because of his father, but not me. I was drawn to Dale initially because he reminded me of my brother, Jon. I told Jon that once and he was pissed LOL.

My other favorite is Dario Franchitti. It's probably just that he's totally adorable and I LOVE his accent, but I'm his number one fan :)

A couple weeks ago I found out that one of Junior's cars was going to be on display at a local mall. I just HAD to go see the car. I really didn't think it would be one that Junior had used, but the guy there said it was. It was annoying not to be allowed to sit in the car, even though they were letting kids do it (I probably would have had a hard time getting in anyway) but I did get to touch the 88! Next year... we go to a race.